Investigating enterprise application integration (EAI) adoption in the local government authorities (LGAs)

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis focuses on investigating Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) adoption in the Local Government Authorities (LGAs). EAI has emerged to support organisations to integrate their Information Technology (IT) infrastructures and deliver high quality of services. Despite the fact that several private and public organisations have adopted EAI, its application in LGAs is limited. This may illustrate that LGAs develop EAI solutions at a slower pace and they can be characterised as a laggard comparing to other sectors. The small number of EAI applications in LGAs has resulted in limited research in this area with many issues, like its adoption requiring further investigation. Literature indicates various models that analyse various factors influencing EAI adoption in the private and public domain. However, the applicability and validity of these models is arguable and under research in LGAs, as these were proposed to support the decision-making process in other sectors and not in LGAs. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, none of the existing EAI adoption models explored the importance of factors during different phases of the adoption lifecycle. Notwithstanding, the implications of EAI have yet to be assessed, leaving scope for timeliness and novel research. Thus, the researcher demonstrates that it is of high importance to investigate this area within LGAs and result in research that contributes towards successful EAI adoption. This thesis makes a step forward and contributes to the body of knowledge as it: investigates factors influencing the decision making process for EAI adoption in LGAs (Figure 3.2), analyses and proposes the adoption lifecycle phases (Figure 3.3), maps and prioritises the importance of EAI adoption factors on different phases of the adoption lifecycle (Chapter 5 for empirical results) and in doing so, to propose a model for EAI adoption in LGAs (Figure 3.7). The researcher claims that such an EAI adoption process in LGAs is significant and novel as: it extends established norms for EAI adoption, by including Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique for prioritising the importance of factors, thus, enabling LGAs to produce more robust proposals for EAI adoption. The researcher discusses on EAI adoption by using a qualitative, interpretive, multiple case study research strategy. Findings from three case organisations exhibit that such an approach contributes towards more robust decisions for EAI adoption and indicates that it is acceptable by the case organisations. Despite these results cannot be generalised, yet they can allow others to relate their views with the ones reported in this thesis. This thesis proposes, tests and presents a novel model for EAI adoption in LGAs and contributes to the body of knowledge by extending the literature

EVALUASI NUTRISI JERAMI PADI DENGAN BERBAGAI MACAM BIOAKTIVATOR NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION RICE STRAW WITH VARIOUS BIOACTIVATORS

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kandungan Nutrisi jerami padi yang di fermentasi dengan berbagai macam bioaktifator. Penelitian ini menggunakan Rancangan Acak Lengkap (RAL) non faktorial terdiri dari 4 ulangan dan 5 Perlakuan. Faktor yang diteliti adalah faktor perlakuan fermentasi jerami padi dengan berbagai macam bioaktifator “P” terdiri dari 4 taraf P0= jerami padi tanpa fermentasi (Kontrol), P1 = Bioaktifator bio sapi, P2 = BioaktifatorF + Booster, P3 = Bioaktifator SOC dan P4 = Bioaktifatorpromix. Parameter yang diamati adalah kadar air (%), kadar abu (%), kadar protein kasar (%), kadar lemak kasar (%), kadar serat kasar (%). Perlakuan fermentasi dengan menggunakan berbagai macam bioaktifator terhadap nutrisi jerami padi menunjukkan berbeda tidak nyata pada pengamatan kadar airPerlakuan P2 (fermentasi jerami padi menggunakan bioaktifator f+boooster ) 15.36% merupakan perlakuan yang terbaik. Kadar lemak kasar dan bahan ekstrak tanpa nitrogen (BETN). Berbeda nyata pada pengamatan kadar serat kasar. Berbeda sangat nyata pada pengamatan kadar abu dan protein kasar.

Inhibiting Factors For E-Government Adoption: The Pakistan Context

Developing countries are facing immense challenges in moving to electronic forms of government (e-Government) for integrated service provision. This research considers an Asian economy, within an underdeveloped context, through a particular focus upon Pakistan. This region, over many years, has experienced economic and political instability, poor governance and deteriorating government institutions. Consequently, there is a need to reconsider the tiers of government, in particular Local Government (LG), including their internal operational activities through the potentially beneficial adoption of e-Government systems. There is clearly a requirement to deliver end-to-end ‘joined-up’ public services in this respect to key stakeholders, e.g. citizens. This research identifies factors which inhibits e-Government adoption and proposes an achievable approach to enacting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enabled delivery of services. The contribution is to identify the significant problems of meeting stakeholder demands which are attributed to several issues within LGs’ organisational, social, operational, political, strategic, and technological structures

ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SHARING IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Recently local authorities have been placed under enormous pressure due to problems arising from poor decision-making in relation to the sharing of personal information. While in some circumstances the incompetence of agency employees is identified as the cause, in other circumstances organisational failure, implicitly driven by inter-organisational distrust, is to blame for inappropriate decisions taken with regards to sharing information. Sometimes implicit policies and regulations set by policy makers are blamed, while at other times, explicit rules of confidentiality and data-protection acts are accused. During the last decades, several Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in the United Kingdom have started to employ Inter-Organisational Information Systems (IOIS) to support information sharing and networked collaboration within their departments in order to meet a diverse range of citizen needs including housing services, social care services, education services, etc. However, reaching this level of cross-agency collaboration is not easy and requires additional time and effort by individuals and agencies involved. Therefore, this paper proposes and validates a novel conceptual framework that can be used as a tool for decision-making while sharing information electronically. The framework consists of four main levels: (a) investigation and presentation of factors influencing Electronic Information Sharing (EIS) in LGAs based on external environment, organisational capacity, technology environment, EIS characteristics, and inter-departmental environment, (b) investigation and presentation of the processes that an LGA department should carry out to decide whether to share information with another department, (c) mapping of the influential factors on the participation phases, and (d) prioritisation of the factors influencing EIS in LGAs in different decision-making phases

Investigating the situated culture of multi-channel customer management:A case study in Egypt

This paper investigates the influence of national culture on customers' behavior and customers' choice of channel through the customer life cycle stages. An exploratory in-depth single case study in a multinational organization in Egypt was conducted. Specifically, 31 in-depth interviews were conducted with members of staff in marketing, IT, retail and customer services departments, and external prospects/customers. Based on an interpretive approach, the authors have articulated a situated cultural approach based on structuration theory to identify the cultural dimensions that have provided an understanding of the cultural influence on customers' channel choice. The results highlighted that verbal, human interaction, traditional shopping, and cash based were the themes for customers' channel choice through the four stages of customer life cycle. The results also show that the customers' channel choices were linked to the following Egyptian cultural dimensions: collectivism, market price relationship, emotional, power distance, low trust, uncertainty avoidance, and universalism

Investigating factors influencing local government decision makers while adopting integration technologies (IntTech)

The emergence of innovative and revolutionary Integration Technologies (IntTech) has highly influenced the local government authorities (LGAs) in their decision-making process. LGAs that plan to adopt such IntTech may consider this as a serious investment. Advocates, however, claim that such IntTech have emerged to overcome the integration problems at all levels (e.g. data, object and process). With the emergence of electronic government (e-Government), LGAs have turned to IntTech to fully automate and offer their services on-line and integrate their IT infrastructures. While earlier research on the adoption of IntTech has considered several factors (e.g. pressure, technological, support, and financial), inadequate attention and resources have been applied in systematically investigating the individual, decision and organisational context factors, influencing top management's decisions for adopting IntTech in LGAs. It is a highly considered phenomenon that the success of an organisation's operations relies heavily on understanding an individual's attitudes and behaviours, the surrounding context and the type of decisions taken. Based on empirical evidence gathered through two intensive case studies, this paper attempts to investigate the factors that influence decision makers while adopting IntTech. The findings illustrate two different doctrines - one inclined and receptive towards taking risky decisions, the other disinclined. Several underlying rationales can be attributed to such mind-sets in LGAs. The authors aim to contribute to the body of knowledge by exploring the factors influencing top management's decision-making process while adopting IntTech vital for facilitating LGAs' operational reforms

Manajemen Stakeholder pada Sekolah Berdasarkan Standar Nasional Pendidikan (SNP) Menggunakan Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)

Kondisi stakeholder merupakan hal yang sangat penting dalam mencapai keberhasilan proyek. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah merancang strategi yang tepat agar Kepala Sekolah dapat melakukan manajemen stakeholder. Data primer didapatkan dari Standar Nasional Pendidikan (SNP) dan data sekunder atau data pendukung yang didapatkan dari   Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Pada penelitian ini menggunakan analisis Management Stakeholder dalam Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Hasil penelitian utama menunjukan bahwa hasil strategi stakeholder tergolong menjadi Key Player sebanyak 3 stakeholder, yaitu Kepala sekolah, Menteri pendidikan nasional dan Komite sekolah. Keep Informed sebanyak 1 stakeholder, yaitu Karyawan / Tata usaha. Keep Satisfied sebanyak 3 stakeholder, yaitu Guru, Siswa dan Orang tua siswa dan Minimal Effect sebanyak 0 stakeholde

Learning during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic literature review

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed education worldwide. Learning that is usually done offline has turned into online learning to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The purpose of writing this article is to describe the latest and updated learning conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. What kind of learning was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, was the learning effective, how was the learning outcome, and the challenges faced. The systematic literature review is used to find answers to this article's purpose by synthesizing 53 articles selected according to the criteria. The synthesis results found that online learning was carried out using video conference as a substitute for face-to-face meetings, discussions, exams, and learning feedback using supporting applications. The internet was the direct support. Most of the learning shows significant results. Learning outcomes cannot be concluded whether it is good or not. There are many challenges during learning. It indicates that the world of education is not fully ready to transform from offline learning to online learning. A standard platform for online learning and rules of learning is required to minimize negative impacts and pay attention to the socio-emotional aspect

Investigating enterprise application integration (EAI) adoption in the local government authorities (LGAs)

This thesis focuses on investigating Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) adoption in the Local Government Authorities (LGAs). EAI has emerged to support organisations to integrate their Information Technology (IT) infrastructures and deliver high quality of services. Despite the fact that several private and public organisations have adopted EAI, its application in LGAs is limited. This may illustrate that LGAs develop EAI solutions at a slower pace and they can be characterised as a laggard comparing to other sectors. The small number of EAI applications in LGAs has resulted in limited research in this area with many issues, like its adoption requiring further investigation. Literature indicates various models that analyse various factors influencing EAI adoption in the private and public domain. However, the applicability and validity of these models is arguable and under research in LGAs, as these were proposed to support the decision-making process in other sectors and not in LGAs. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, none of the existing EAI adoption models explored the importance of factors during different phases of the adoption lifecycle. Notwithstanding, the implications of EAI have yet to be assessed, leaving scope for timeliness and novel research. Thus, the researcher demonstrates that it is of high importance to investigate this area within LGAs and result in research that contributes towards successful EAI adoption. This thesis makes a step forward and contributes to the body of knowledge as it: investigates factors influencing the decision making process for EAI adoption in LGAs (Figure 3.2), analyses and proposes the adoption lifecycle phases (Figure 3.3), maps and prioritises the importance of EAI adoption factors on different phases of the adoption lifecycle (Chapter 5 for empirical results) and in doing so, to propose a model for EAI adoption in LGAs (Figure 3.7). The researcher claims that such an EAI adoption process in LGAs is significant and novel as: it extends established norms for EAI adoption, by including Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique for prioritising the importance of factors, thus, enabling LGAs to produce more robust proposals for EAI adoption. The researcher discusses on EAI adoption by using a qualitative, interpretive, multiple case study research strategy. Findings from three case organisations exhibit that such an approach contributes towards more robust decisions for EAI adoption and indicates that it is acceptable by the case organisations. Despite these results cannot be generalised, yet they can allow others to relate their views with the ones reported in this thesis. This thesis proposes, tests and presents a novel model for EAI adoption in LGAs and contributes to the body of knowledge by extending the literature.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo