Developing living information systems through systems tailorability: Deferred systems design

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.An interpretivist investigation of computer-based business information systems was conducted in two commercial companies and two higher education institutes, by using both quantitative questionnaire survey and qualitative interview research methods. The investigation focused on the social and organisational context of information systems development and usage in these organisations. The utility of structured methodologies is now being questioned by some researchers who are calling for alternative approaches, and this investigation draws on that alternative strand of thinking. The collected data primarily reveals that the development and usage of information systems happens in changing organisations, which suggests that the design and usage of information systems must cater for such a changing or dynamic environment. Therefore the data is interpreted using a philosophical outlook encompassing the notion of "living" information systems and Critical Theory, and this philosophical stance regards information technology as liberating human endeavour in organisations. Five sub-concepts and the concept of deferred system's design are derived from the data, which have been formulated to account and cater for change in information systems environments. The concept of deferred system's design encourages the design of information systems which allow for organisational human behaviour, consisting of organisational change, uncertainty, and learning, to be mediated by information technology. A systems design principle called `deferred system's design decisions' is derived to enable designs of tailorable information systems, which may be regarded as one form of living information systems to facilitate such organisational behaviour. An intersubjective theoretical model called the spiral of change model of tailorable information systems is proposed to explain and understand better the changing organisational environment in which information systems must be developed and in which they must function. To inform practice a computer tool is proposed which enables conceptions of " tailorable information systems that employ the principle of deferred system's design decisions and enables modelling changing or dynamic information systems

Deferred Systems Software Model for Semantic Information Sharing in Context on the Web

This research reports on the deferred system software model to inform semantic and contextual information sharing in Web applications. Contextual information sharing requires software models that can lead to tight coupling of the Web application and the system environment. The problem addressed concerns how to improve the coupling of a Web-based system and the system environment to facilitate information sharing in context. The generalised Deferred System’s Design model and the Deferred-Specified IT/IS Matrix are presented as conceptual tools to guide design. The System-System Environment Interface is introduced as the software mechanism to cater for contextual information sharing. The Web itself and the discww Web application are used to exemplify deferred systems that reflect the system environment and enable contextual information sharing

The Structure of Information and Knowledge in a Market Research Company: Systems or Webs?

Interpretivist research in progress in a market research company is reported. Market research is information and knowledge intensive. The problem addressed concerns sharing information and knowledge among business partners over multiple computer networks. The aim of the research is to develop appropriate concepts for knowledge work. The second order concept of web is developed and contrasted with the system concept. For knowledge work, the web concept is proposed as a conceptual tool to develop applications better suited for business organisations dealing in information and knowledge

A value chain model for mobile data service providers

The UK Mobile telecoms industry is experiencing some challenging conditions such as debts from spectrum auctions, a saturated subscriber base and commitments to build new network infrastructure. In this paper, we address these competitive challenges and introduce a new revenue generating business model based on a case study of the BTAirwave service that provides flexible IT/IS architecture. The model we propose is based on providing data services to new markets (utilities, finance and manufacturing industry). We challenge the current structure of the mobile telecoms sector and propose radical changes to the current model of both infrastructure and roles of the service providers (SPs). The current model is primarily aimed at services for the consumer and business markets. The objective of the mobile data service provider (MDSP) concept that we propose is to address the competitive challenges by identifying new markets to increase the subscription base thus boosting earnings. We propose the use of a MDSP to identify opportunities for data transmission and present suitable delivery frameworks to deliver the technology to meet these requirements. Instead of the mobile network operator and SPs delivering services just to the consumer market we envisage services to utilities, manufacturing, logistic and banking opening up new opportunities for the hardware devices. The competitive challenges identified will be addressed by proposing a model, which suggests mobile network operators diversify to mobile data services.Mobile data Data revenue models Value chain model Mobile network operators Telecommunication policy