An IS perspective on managing change in a university

This thesis aimed firstly to explore what is happening with respect to change in a South African university, and how this change affects those involved, viewed from an IS standpoint. The focus is on determining the essence and nature of organisational change in its usual situation

An IS perspective on managing change in a university

This thesis aimed firstly to explore what is happening with respect to change in a South African university, and how this change affects those involved, viewed from an IS standpoint. The focus is on determining the essence and nature of organisational change in its usual situation

Information technology policy : first steps for the new South Africa

Bibliography: pages 183-200.The fundamental question is not whether South Africa should have a National Information Technology Policy to exploit Information Technology (IT), but more fundamentally what kind of government policies and programs for IT make sense. In today's competitive world what kind of policies and programs will be for the betterment of South Africa's economic and social structures? How can the South African government use IT to increase international competitiveness, and at the same time enhance economic and technological progress and create social improvement in the country? These and many other fundamental questions are the basis for this investigation. The starting point of this research was to compare South African IT to that in other countries; Expert opinion was obtained to identify specific issues, goals and technologies, and to propose ideas for government policies to: i) increase the country's competitiveness, ii) enhance its economic and technological progress, and iii) uplift its people. The main points emerging from this research are that the South African government needs to formulate a National IT Policy in order to direct the development of IT. Competitiveness, progress and social upliftment are inseparable and must be balanced when positioning such a policy. The policy should be directed from a high level to ensure that its recommendations are followed

Awareness and Preparedness of IT managers to digital disruption: A South African Exploratory Case Study

Digital disruption is breaking down long established business models. In most organisations, IT managers are charged with management of technology-enabled change. It is therefore important that IT managers understand the opportunities and challenges posed by digital disruption to aid the organisation\u27s response. The purpose of this study was to explore what South African IT managers perceive, and what their responses (or planned responses) to digital disruption within the context of a financial services organisation are. The study is interpretive, exploratory and qualitative, drawing from situational awareness theory to ground the participants’ perception of digital disruption. The study draws on Disruptive Innovation Theory to assess the participants’ actual (or planned) responses to digital disruption. The findings indicate that IT managers perceive digital disruption as both technological disruption and sense making mechanism for changes in work practices, along with posing several new opportunities and challenges

Barriers to Open Source ERP Adoption in South Africa

Organizations in South Africa (SA) and other economically developing countries are not maximizing the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems. While the costs associated with an ERP system implementation have always been a major factor to many organizations, Open Source Software (OSS) ERP systems are available offering the benefits of an ERP system at a reduced cost to organizations. This paper investigates the adoption factors of Open Source Software Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in economically developing countries by focusing on South African organizations. Using online surveys and a focus group discussion, this empirical study found that knowledge barriers, the lack of sizable providers (or vendors), and ironically low costs, are the adoption barriers that apply to OSS ERP systems for South African organizations. The research further suggests that many of the adoption barriers traditionally associated with OSS might be inherent to all software. The possibility of low costs being a barrier is a novel idea that was identified in this research, and further research to explore this idea is suggested. Understanding the dynamics of the market requirements is crucial for OSS ERP vendors to be able to develop effective strategies. OSS ERP vendors and OSS vendors in general can use this study as a starting point to question some traditionally held notions regarding the OSS business model

Plasma Dynamics

Contains research objectives and summary of research on twenty-one projects split into three sections, with four sub-sections in the second section and reports on twelve research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant ENG75-06242)U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration (Contract E(11-1)-2766)U.S. Energy Research and Development Agency (Contract E(11-1)-3070)U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration (Contract E(11-1)-3070)Research Laboratory of Electronics, M.I.T. Industrial Fellowshi

2016 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1003/thumbnail.jp

The First Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has validated and made publicly available its First Data Release. This consists of 2099 square degrees of five-band (u, g, r, i, z) imaging data, 186,240 spectra of galaxies, quasars, stars and calibrating blank sky patches selected over 1360 square degrees of this area, and tables of measured parameters from these data. The imaging data go to a depth of r ~ 22.6 and are photometrically and astrometrically calibrated to 2% rms and 100 milli-arcsec rms per coordinate, respectively. The spectra cover the range 3800--9200 A, with a resolution of 1800--2100. Further characteristics of the data are described, as are the data products themselves.Comment: Submitted to The Astronomical Journal. 16 pages. For associated documentation, see http://www.sdss.org/dr