A practical framework for assessing business intelligence competencies of enterprise systems using fuzzy ANP approach

As traditional concept in management, decision support had a remarkable role in competitiveness or survival of organisations and following, as modern impression, nowadays business intelligence (BI) has various applications in achieving desirable decision supports. Consequently, assessing BI competencies of enterprise systems can enable decision support in firms. This paper presents a practical framework for assessing the business intelligence capabilities of enterprise systems based on a set of novel factors and utilising fuzzy analytic network process (FANP). Through this, the construct of BI competency is decomposed into three main competency parts including ‘managerial’, ‘technical’ and ‘system enabler’ sub-goals, five main factors and 26 criteria. Using this framework, the BI competency level of enterprise systems can be determined which can help the decision makers to select the enterprise system that best suits organisations’ intelligence decision support needs. In order to validate the proposed model, it is applied to a real Iranian international offshore engineering and construction company in the oil industry to select and acquire ERP system. This research provides a complete frame (factors, criteria and procedures) for firms to assess their proposed software and systems in the field of BI competencies and functions

A Review for the Online Social Networks Literature (2005-2011)

Although Online Social Networks (OSNs) such as MySpace, Facebook, and Youtube are still under development; they have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated these sites into their daily practices. There are hundreds of OSNs, with various technological affordances, supporting a wide range of interests and practices. However, impact of OSNs is increasingly pervasive and numerous researchers worked on different aspects on social networks. There is no research work for identification and classification of this literature. So, the purpose of this study is to presents a literature review for research works in OSNs. The review covers 132 journal articles published from 2005 to 2011. The reviewed articles classified OSNs literature into four distinct categories: the “Application”, “Survey and Analysis”, “Concept”, and “Technique”. The findings of our study reveal that “applications” were the most frequently category has been considered in the literature. Also, the subject of social networking is somehow overlooked in developing and under-developed countries. This review will provide a source for anyone interested in discovering research trends in social network sites literature, and will help to simulate further interest fields in the area. Keywords: Social network sites (SNSs), Online Social Networks (OSNs), Social media, Social networking

Business Intelligence Systems Adoption Model: An Empirical Investigation

Decision support and business intelligence systems have been increasingly adopted in organizations, while understanding the nature of affecting factors on such adoption decisions need receiving much academic interest. This article attempts to provide an in-depth analysis toward understanding the critical factors which affect the decision to adopt business intelligence (BI) in the context of banking and financial industry. In this regard, it examines a conceptual model that shows the impacts of different technological, organizational, and environmental factors in the decision to adopt BI by a firm. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis and test the relevant hypothesis. The results of this article which are derived from theoretical discussion of hypothesizes show that from nine hypothesized relationships—perceived tangible and intangible benefits, firm size, organizational readiness, strategy, industry competition and competitors absorptive capacity—affect BIS adoption in the surveyed cases

The impact model of business intelligence on decision support and organizational benefits

Purpose – Decision support (DS), as a traditional management concept, have had a remarkable role in competitiveness or survival of organizations and nowadays, business intelligence (BI), as a brand modern impression, has various contributions in supporting decision-making process. Although, a variety of benefits are expected to arise from BI functions, researches, and models that determining the effect of BI functions on the decisional and organizational benefits are rare. The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between BI functions, DS benefits, and organizational benefits in context of decision environment. Design/methodology/approach – This research conducts a quantitative survey-based study to represent the relationship between BI capabilities, decision support benefits, and organizational benefits in context of decision environment. On this basis, the partial least squares (PLS) technique employs a sample of 228 firms from different industries located in Middle-East countries. Findings – The findings confirm the existence of meaningful relationship between BI functions, DS benefits, and organizational benefits by supporting 15 out of 16 main hypotheses. Essentially, this research provides an insightful understanding about which capabilities of BI have strongest impact on the outcome benefits. Originality/value – The results can provide effective and useful insights for investors and business owners to utilize more appropriate BI tools and functions to reach more idealistic organizational advantages. Also it enables managers to better understand the application of BI functions in the process of achieving the specified managerial support benefits. Keywords Decision support benefits, Organizational benefits, BI functions, Business intelligence (BI) benefits, Partial least squares (PLS) technique Paper type Research pape

Studying Project Managers' skills of ERP system Implementation Projects

Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) is a complex and costly process which usually results in serious risks. The majority of previous research projects have been conducted in identifying ERP Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in order to identify the main factors enhance success achievement. Project managers' skills of ERP system implementation projects as one of such facilitating factors, are not well studied and its different aspects are discussed in the extant literature. With this in mind, this research aims at studying and identifying the most related project managers' skills of ERP system implementation projects which proposes a classification scheme along with a ranking model. The paper, based on the results of the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) categorizes 18 identified skills into four distinct groups of managerial, project management, human resource and technical. The results of this study have provided a very useful reference for scholars and managers to identify the relevant issues of ERP implementation projects managers' skills

Investigating the Relationships between IT Communication Tools Usage and the Youth Depression Level

Information technology tools with its attractions play an important role in the lives of people and makes people to interact closely with these tools, which can lead to a social isolation. This study was designed to determine the possible association between the use of these tools and the youth depression level. To this end, after designing research model, considering the available 390 IT tools such as mobile, social networking sites and computer games, youth users were selected randomly to complete the designed questionnaire and for the purpose of data analysis Partial Least Square (PLS) method was used. The results showed that there is a positive relationship between the use of computer games and depression. However, no significant association was found between the use of mobile phone and depression and also the relationship between the use of social networks and depression level was found to be negative

Studying RFID Consumer Acceptance Using TAM: the Case of IUST Students

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is used in numerous applications and offers a plethora of interesting potential new applications. However, this potential raises issues that require addressing to achieve its widespread acceptance by consumers. This paper investigated the factors that affect consumer acceptance of RFID technology using the technology acceptance model (TAM). To this end, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed among Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) students and gathered data were analyzed using multivariable linear regression method. The results proposed that convenience, culture, and regulation were the principal factors influencing the consumers’ acceptance of RFID. The results of the paper can provide insight to organizations in providing RFID enabled products to their customers and also facilitated its development in the society

Identification and Classification of Business Intelligence System Implementation Projects' Critical Success Factors in Iran

Nowadays, many organizations take Business Intelligence (BI) systems to improve their decision making processes. Although many organizations adopted BI systems, not all implementations are successful. This paper seeks to identify critical success factors (CSFs) that impact on successful implementation of BI systems in organizations. So, at first, through literature reviews, 26 success factors were identified. After that a questionnaire has been developed and then filled by domain experts who had at least three years of experience in ITIL implementation and consultation in Iran. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) has been used for data analysis, which finally classified critical success factors into four groups named as “organizational”, “human”, “project management”, and “technical”. The results of this study provide a very useful reference for scholars and managers to identify the relevant issues of BI projects in Iran

E-Learning Systems and its Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Perceived Compatibility

In recent years, the topics related to electronic learning have attracted the attention of many scholars. Despite the increasing attention of researchers to the study of electronic learning systems, the focus on outcomes and the results from the use of these systems has been less considered. The present study is designed to investigate the effects of the use of electronic learning systems on its outcomes. To this end, 3 major outcomes from the use of an e-learning system, including learning support, communication with others (social structure), and educational performance, have been investigated, taking into account the mediating role of perceived adaptability. The statistical population of this study is the students of Mehr Alborz University who currently use the electronic learning system. The results of this research indicate a positive and direct relationship between the use of the e-learning system and its outcomes. Also, the mediating role of perceived compatibility factor has been confirmed in this research

Critical Success Factors for the Implementation of Business Process Management Systems

Nowadays, with the development of organizations and complexity of business processes, the management and control of such organizations are much more important than before. Therefore, having a determined prospect toward Business Processes Management (BPM) is significant. Since the BPM systems are electronic systems and they are used for supporting, monitoring and managing the processes and other activities in the organization, therefore for preventing misemployment of valuable resources in applying BPM systems and the protection of organization against possible risk of system application, it is necessary to be aware of the critical factors before taking any action. Accordingly, this research paper is conducted to present critical success factors for the implementation of BPM systems in Iran. In this regard, 34 critical factors were identified and presented to the experts through a questionnaire and the answers were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis method. The statistical population consists of managers, experts, suppliers, and developers of information systems having at least 3 years of experience in BPM systems. The designed questionnaires were distributed among the statistical sample and 128 completed questionnaires were returned and analyzed. Finally, 27 key factors categorized into 5 main groups as the following priorities: managerial, organizational, procedural, human-related, and technical. The result of this research can assist the suppliers and the users of BPM systems either in successful application process or confrontation with possible troubles