The Impact of Electronic Business on the Organisation

E-business is fast becoming an important initiative for companies to consider, one that impacts every aspect of how a business is run. This report investigates the impact of e-business implementation on various aspects of the organisation including; strategy, human resources, customer relationship management, the IT department, technology, the business environment, trust, service management and performance metrics. Implementing ebusiness applications will require process redesign, organisational restructuring and alignment, new job descriptions and reviewed and revised policies. Organisations will also have to examine tax, legal and security issues. E-business is changing all the rules and models. An organisation’s ability to embrace new technology and business models is key to increasing the organisation’s productivity. The Internet economy necessitates a fundamental transformation of traditional organisations. The true benefit of e-business is achieved through the digitisation of the entire value chain. For a successful e-business implementation it is important that decision-makers understand the nature of these changes, their potential impact, plan for them and manage the entire process in such a way as to ensure buy-in of all the relevant stakeholders. The decision to implement an ebusiness initiative should not be undertaken lightly and the benefits that can be gained from such a venture must be investigated thoroughly before deciding to go ahea

Study on the accuracy of school location information in South Africa

Accurate location information is required for proper planning and informed decision making in a variety of sectors. In the basic education sector, accurate school location information is typically required for road, electricity, internet connectivity and water infrastructure planning as well as planning for the delivery of textbooks and public transport (i.e. busses, taxis). The National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) commissioned the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to conduct a study of existing school location information in five NECT education districts (Bohlabela, Bojanala, Mount Frere, Uthungulu and Waterberg). School location information in two existing databases, i.e. Education Management Information System (EMIS) and National Education Information Management System (NEIMS) were assessed. Due to the nature of school buildings (i.e. varying form of schools) it is challenging to automate the identification of schools from satellite imagery by using machine learning/image processing techniques. Manual Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were applied to conduct the study. High resolution satellite imagery and Google StreetView were utilised to ascertain the locations of schools. This study indicated that there are discrepancies between the EMIS and NEIMS databases and that there is a significant amount of school location information that might not be useful for proper planning and informed decision making in certain sectors due to the degree of positional inaccuracy of the data. If the positional accuracy of the incorrect school location information improves, it will have a positive impact on the overall outcomes of planning and decision making

Constructing a leadership competencies development tool: a case study in a university

This paper describes the process used to define the leadership competencies necessary in a university and subsequently develop an instrument to evaluate these competencies. It begins with a brief overview of literature relating to competencies, then reviews the relationship between competencies and performance management. Focusing on the university that is the subject of the case study, it then outlines the university's performance management system, into which the leadership competencies instrument is to be incorporated. Next it describes the steps taken to develop and gain acceptance of the leadership competencies instrument, and finally it reflects upon the lessons learned through developing the instrument

Cross-cultural equivalence of the organisational culture survey in Australia

The aim is to assess the cross cultural equivalence of a South African survey of corporate culture in an Australian context. The factor structure of the Organisational Culture Survey (OCS) as a measuring instrument of organisational culture is analysed to identify if the metric qualities persist in an Australian context. The credentials of the instrument are presented and its' place within a logical positivist paradigm. The difficulties in cross-border use of such instruments is discussed with reference to differences between the national cultures of South Africa and Australia and the significance of those differences for local organisational cultures. The conclusion is that statistical calculations confirm the instrument's validity and consistency within an Australian context, but that further research is required into the experiential and conceptual equivalence of the survey items and factors underpinning the items to establish its utility

Organisational inertia: the OI scale's applicability in an Australian context

This paper investigates if the metric qualities of the South African Organisational Inertia Survey have cross-cultural equivalence in the Australian context. The underlying theoretical model and research in South Africa is discussed and problems associated with assuming cross cultural equivalence of measuring instruments are noted. The results show that a single factor structure with as high internal consistency was extracted in contrast to the South African results of two factors and a high internal consistency. The conclusion from the results is that the instrument's validity and consistency within an Australian context is confirmed. A recommendation is that the model and measuring instrument used in this study need revision given recent trends in related systems and chaos theory

Focus Groups as a Tool to Collect Data in a Community Informatics Project Involving Elderly Rural Women

English abstractFocus group research is increasingly being used as a tool when working with traditionally marginalised communities. This paper describes a case study of how focus groups were used as a data-gathering tool by a research team working with middle-aged women in a remote rural community to design an ICT platform which meets their specific needs. The paper makes a methodological contribution by making a normative comparison between traditional focus groups and a community-based focus group in a rural community in South Africa. Feminist and critical views are discussed as sensitising dimensions and techniques for a community-based focus group approach. A description is given of the informed consent process and how the focus group discussions were piloted and are being used as a data-gathering tool. To date six focus groups have been conducted with a number of participants ranging from fifteen to twenty-three women per focus group. Extracts from the focus group discussions are given to show how appropriate this approach is in a rural community where the culture is inherently oral and decisions are reached by consensus. Group interaction, the need for openness and transparency, and the assurance that everybody gets the same information and is given the opportunity to voice their opinions, are very important in rural communities.French abtract -RÉSUMÉ  Cet article décrit une étude de la façon dont les groupes de discussion ont été utilisés comme un outil de collecte de données, par une équipe de recherche qui travaille avec les femmes d'âge moyen, dans une communauté rurale éloignée de la conception d'un forum pour la technologie de communication et de l’information (TCI) qui répondent à leurs besoins spécifiques . L’article apporte une contribution méthodologique en faisant une comparaison normative entre les groupes de discussion traditionnels et un groupe de discussion communautaire dans une communauté rurale en Afrique du Sud. Des vues féministes et critiques sont discutées comme dimensions de sensibilisation et techniques pour une approche de groupe de discussion communautaire. Une description est donnée du processus de consentement annoncée et la façon dont les groupes de discussion ont été mis à l'essai et sont utilisés comme un outil de collecte de données. À ce jour, six groupes de discussion composés d'une moyenne de vingt-trois femmes chacun ont été etudiés . Des extraits des discussions de groupe sont presentés pour montrer comment cette approche est appropriée dans une communauté rurale où la culture est intrinsèquement orale et les décisions prises par consensus. L'interaction en groupe, le besoin d'ouverture et de transparence, et l'assurance que tout le monde reçoit la même information et a la possibilité d'exprimer leurs opinions, sont très importants dans les communautés rurales.Russian abstract - РЕЗЮМЕ Эта статья описывает конкретный пример того, как фокус группы были использованы в качестве инструмента сбора данных группой исследователей, работающих с женщинами среднего возраста в отдаленной сельской общине для проектирования артефакта ИКТ, которая отвечает их конкретным потребностям. Методологический вклад статьи в нормативном сравнении между традиционными фокус-группами и общинными фокус-группами в сельской общинe в Южной Африке. Феминистские и критические взгляды обсуждаются в качестве сенсибилизирующих размерностей и методов подходящих для общинных фокус-групп . Дано описание процесса обоснованного согласия и как дискуссии в фокус-группах были опробованы и используются в качестве инструмента для сбора данных. На сегодняшний день шесть фокус-групп были опробированы, состоящих в среднем из двадцати трех женщин каждая. Выдержки из обсуждений в фокус-группах показывают, как хорошо подходит этот метод в сельской общине, где культура по своей сути устная и решения на основе консенсуса. Взаимодействие в группах, потребность в открытости и ясности, а также уверенность в том что каждый получает ту же информацию и имеет возможность высказать свое мнение, очень важны в сельских общинах

Overcoming regulatory and technological challenges to bring Internet access to a sparsely populated, remote area: A case study

The South African Government has launched a drive to provide Telecentres to communities and Internet access to schools. The Telecentres are normally centrally located with respect to clusters of schools and other community services. In the context of this drive, a Telecentre was established in Manguzi, a remote town in the KwaZulu Natal province in South Africa. The surrounding schools did not benefit from this centre due to the inappropriate distance between the schools and Telecentre. In addition, the schools could not be connected to Internet directly due to the absence of telephones. In this case study we will show that existing "off-the-shelf" technologies were not applicable to the specific situation and hence there was a need for a new solution. There are unusual challenges in providing Internet connectivity to a "sparsely" populated rural community separated by vast distances from nearest urban development. This case study details how we combined existing Internet access technologies to overcome various obstacles such as the lack of existing telecommunications infrastructure, remoteness of area, as well as political and economic issues. Furthermore the solution implemented had to be cheap, suited to the specific regulatory and geographic environment, robust and suitable for a particular application, namely Web browsing and e-mail. We used the asymmetric nature of the data requirements of the specific applications to our advantage, using radio links and satellite broadcast technology to provide the required connectivity. We will discuss the expected merits of the new solution and its implementation. We will also present our practical findings and discuss how it compared to our expectations. Similar needs and situations exist in other parts of the world, especially those that have a lack of telecommunications infrastructure, very remote rural areas that are very sparsely populated. We hope that the outputs of this paper can contribute to the technology decisions of people responsible for rolling out Internet infrastructure in similar environments

A co-creation design framework to support elderly rural women in refining an ICT platform

Although elderly women living in rural areas of South Africa and other developing nations is the most disadvantaged segment of the population, very little funding is allocated to their development, and social, economic and political empowerment. Despite their meagre resources, these women are very often responsible for looking after their families while the working age men and women migrate to cities in search of employment. The entire community can benefit when women are uplifted and empowered. There is a worldwide belief that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can be of benefit if access is provided. However, researchers do not always agree on how ICTs should be introduced. In addition, Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) initiatives are known to have a notoriously high failure rate. The aim of this research project is to develop a co-creation design framework for Elderly Rural Women (ERW) in Mafarafara (area in Limpopo province of South Africa) that incorporates the implications of the social interplay within the community. The framework will contribute to an understanding of how ERWcan be co-creators of an ICT platform deployed as part of an ICT4D initiative (known as the Digital Doorway project of the CSIR, Meraka). It will also be investigated to what extent co-creation is possible in a remote rural community, when the participants are ERW with limited technical knowledge, in a social structure that may limit free participation. During seven site visits to the community, the research team determined the elderly women’s needs with respect to various aspects of their lives and their exposure to ICTs. An ICT platform was refined in collaboration with the ERW to better address their needs. The initial design approach (combining participatory design, design thinking and co-creation design frameworks, models and steps) was developed by investigating the extant literature. Results of the data collected during site visits were used to develop the interim framework, which was finalised with inputs from experts in the ICT4D and co-creation disciplines. The Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) formulated by Peffers, Tuunanen, Rothenberger and Chatterjee (2007) informed the development of the framework. Structuration theory was used to explicitly outline the social structuration processes that implicitly occurred during the co-creation and refinement of the ICT platform. It was shown how the social processes of signification, domination and legitimation played out during co-creation, and how the co-creation of the artefact simultaneously affected the social structure. In the ICT4D context, the surfacing of the social dynamics is especially important, since cultural differences are at play, and ICT4D projects often fail for social reasons. The use of the DSRM supported by structuration theory contributed to developing an appropriate ICT co-creation design framework for co-creating and refining an ICT platform with ERW in South Africa.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019.TM2019InformaticsPhDUnrestricte

Measurement of organisational inertia: portability of a South African scale in an Australian context

This research investigates whether the metric qualities of the South African Organisational Inertia Scale have cross-cultural equivalence in the Australian context. The underlying theoretical model and research in South Africa is discussed and problems associated with assuming cross-cultural equivalence of measuring instruments are noted. A sample of convenience of 340 participants, constituted from different populations, participated in this investigation. A single factor with a high internal consistency was extracted in contrast to the South African results of two factors with high internal consistencies. Opsomming Hierdie navorsing is daarop gerig om vas te stel of die metriese eienskappe van die Suid-Afrikaanse Organisational Inertia Scale kruiskulturele ekwivalensie in die Australiese konteks het. Die onderliggende teoretiese model en navorsing in Suid-Afrika word bespreek en probleme wat met die aanvaarding van kruis-kulturele ekwivalensie gepaard gaan, word aangedui.n Geleentheidsteekproefvan 340 deelnemers, saamgestel uit verskeie populasies, het aan die ondersoek deelgeneem.'n Enkele faktor met hoe interne konstantheid is onttrek in teenstelling met die Suid-Afrikaanse resultate waar twee faktore met hoe interne konstanthede verkry is