Academic Dishonesty – A preliminary researchers’ view

Increasingly academe is facing the challenge of dealing with allegations of plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty plagues both the degree acquisition process as well and the publishing process. Academic dishonesty within the university space has been clouded in mystery, as many universities are not willing to break the code of silence. However, within the academic publishing space, several respectable journals had to withdraw published papers citing academic dishonesty as a concern. At the core of academic dishonesty is the researcher and their perceptions of issues affecting academic dishonesty. The purpose of this research is to develop a better understanding of researchers’ attitudes to issues of academic dishonesty. This study is quantitative in nature and primary data in the form of Likert scale questions were collected from developing researchers. The questionnaire data were statistically analysed, and a framework was developed to outline emerging researchers’ perceptions of academic dishonesty. Key findings included academic dishonesty is influenced by several issues such as academic pressure, electronic deterrents, writing challenges, outsourcing, data challenges, plagiarism, database challenges, and electronic sources. This is important because by better understanding researchers’ perceptions to academic dishonesty, (1) appropriate training interventions can be implemented (2) higher quality research will be produced and (3) research funding will not be wasted

Towards understanding the process of e-Government application design in South Africa

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2014.This research explores issues related to the design and development of South African e-Government applications. The South African government from the 1960s has invested substantially in computer technology for the purposes of automating government bureaucracy. Contemporary computer applications in the form of e-Government use the Internet as a platform to make services more accessible to citizens. It is estimated that South Africa is spending approximately $1.5 billion a year on government ICT initiatives. The design and development of e-Government applications has not been extensively researched. There are gaps in the academic literature in that no current theory or model adequately explains or outlines how e-Governments applications can be optimally designed and developed to meet the expectations of the various stakeholders that have an interest in the e-Government application. To understand how an e-Government application moves from conceptualisation through development to operationalisation, data was acquired inter alia through interviews with knowledgeable civil servants from different departments. The data was analysed using principles of content and interpretive analysis and this analysis was used to formulate a theoretical conjecture concerning the issues affecting e-Government application design and development. One finding is that e-Government performance can be improved by proactive change which recognizes the limits of the current situation and the potential of the new system. Using appropriately trained civil servants and drawing on the skills of middle management is critical to the success of e-Government applications. Outsourcing can be helpful, but it has to be overseen by appropriately skilled civil servants. Meaningful evaluation of the applications and the people involved in these processes is a central issue. The government space is complex with multiple agendas that have relatively little alignment. Government is traditionally not readily receptive to the use of Hi-tech solutions. There is an inherent 'conflict' between the tendency of technology to be most effectively used as an instrument of integration and the structure and philosophy of the organisation, which is profoundly based on attitudes of strict departmental boundaries

Application of PLS-SEM for small-scale survey: an empirical example of SMEs

Recent developments in Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) have been claimed to add some sophistication onto quantitative research methods' usage in terms of their research versatility, efficiency and practicality in a range of disciplines including Information Systems, Marketing, and People Management research. Although covariance based SEM (CB-SEM) is most prominent, application of partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is an attractive alternative. This paper examines and applies the characteristics of PLS-SEM onto SMEs to see whether the efficiency, practicality and versatility assumptions, as claimed, do actually contribute to SMEs' business entrepreneurship in practice. The research question is therefore 'Do the embedded PLS-SEM assumptions of research versatility, practicality and efficiency actually translate into practical reality in SMEs operating in an emerging economy context?' We used a quantitative method data analysis technique as a precursor to help us identify the types of challenges faced by SMEs at both the micro and macro levels of analysis. Primary survey data from 212 Bangladeshi SMEs located at various geographic districts provide the study's population. We assess the application of the technique as a research methodological tool and its limitations provided the basis for us to develop and validate a partial least square based structural equation model (PLS-SEM) as part of a small scale survey-based research on SMEs. These methodological insights then led to a successful framing of SMEs in a model that contributes to a process of identifying which types of challenges are more critical for SMEs' growth. Our results show that for SMEs to be competitive, the business and research benefits of our modelling and methodological technique should be given foreseeable attention by both academics and business practitioners. This methodological perspective is yet to gain researchers and professional practitioners' attention from SMEs' business perspective. By applying the statistical PLS technique to Business and Management Studies research we are contributing to a deeper understanding and knowledge creation in examining the assumptions, the design and application of a sophisticated research tool for the development of People Management, Business and SME theory and practice with a focus on an emerging economy

Over-viewing Development Methodologies in the Context of e-Government

e-Government will most probably reshape the South African civil society, as is happening in the rest of the world. Government organizations, large corporations, medium and small business, are all now actively trying to establish a presence of some kind on the World Wide Web. This paper describes ongoing research into e-government systems development methodologies

Towards An E-Government Solution-A South African Perspective.

Public Administratio

Digital Vaccination Records: Exploring Stakeholder Perceptions in Gauteng, South Africa

Electronic health (eHealth) is one of the focus areas of the South African Department of Health (DoH), with the ultimate goal being the development of an electronic health record (EHR) for every citizen. A commonly used subset of eHealth data, vaccination records, is still not yet fully digitised in South Africa. This study aimed to determine the perceptions of key stakeholders (doctors, nurses, parents, and school administrators) about a digital system for vaccination records for minors in South Africa’s Gauteng Province. Using a prototype online, cloud-based vaccine records management system created during the research, called e-Vaccination, quantitative and qualitative interaction-related data from 118 participants was collected using a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on Lund’s (2001) USE user perception framework, which considers usefulness, satisfaction, ease of use, and ease of learning. This study found that the participants supported the use of the digital vaccine records management system, with an emphasis on five identified factors: user friendliness, graphical design, practicality, user experience, and usability. Accordingly, this article recommends that policymakers and system designers carefully consider these factors in the design and development of South Africa’s digital vaccination records management system.

Plagiarism and ghostwriting: The rise in academic misconduct

The aim of this paper is to review the current situation regarding plagiarism and ghostwriting, and to stimulate debate about how universities should respond to the rise in these forms of academic misconduct. The apparent upsurge in academic misconduct means that universities today face one of the greatest challenges to academic integrity they have had to deal with ever since the university system came into existence some 800 years ago. Plagiarism and ghostwriting are undermining the integrity of university degrees to an extent not seen before. Academia and fraud are not strangers. Universities have a long history of cheating of one sort or another, often associated with examinations, but also with research. In the past this cheating involved activities such as smuggling notes (commonly called ‘crib sheets’) into examinations, and consulting them even under the watchful eyes of invigilators. It also involved students obtaining sight of an examination paper in advance. The fraudulent creation of research results has also been an issue. However, in the 21st century, the opportunities for cheating have exploded. This has resulted in universities becoming more concerned about ensuring the integrity of their examination processes and the degrees they award. Our paper focuses on cheating in the writing of dissertations or theses required at undergraduate or postgraduate level, with an emphasis on plagiarism and ghostwriting. We do not propose a simple solution to these problems, as preventing or stopping cheating is not just a matter of catching the wrongdoers. Cheating is endogenous to the current university education system, and needs to be addressed in terms of not only prevention and detection but also how people who are found to engage in such misconduct are treated. We suggest that creative ways of promoting learning would help to minimise cheating at universities. It is also important to ensure that the issue is discussed openly among students and faculty staff