Design Models for Service-based Software Application

Context: The use of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) offers a new and distinct approach to creating software based applications (SBAs) around the idea of integrating distributed autonomous computing resources. A widely available realisation of an SOA exists in the form of web services. However, to date no standard techniques have emerged for developing SBAs. There is also a lack of consistency in describing the concept itself, and the published literature offers little evidence derived from the experience of developing `real world examples. Aims: The objective of the work described in this thesis was to conduct a series of studies to explore systematically the concept of what constitutes an SOA by using the published literature, to employ this to construct a proof of concept SOA design model based on a real world problem, and in doing so, to investigate how well existing design notations are able to support this architectural style. Method: The research described in this thesis has been conducted in an evolutionary manner by employing a range of empirical methods. A mapping study was performed to investigate how the concept of SOA is interpreted by the research community. Based upon this model of SOA, a participant-observer case study was employed to construct an SOA design model and a use case model for an energy engineering application to demonstrate use for a real world problem. Finally, expert knowledge was employed for evaluation of the case study through the use of walkthroughs. Results: From the mapping study we created an integrated model of what constitutes an SOA for the use with the case study. The case study outcomes include a design for a renewable energy control system together with codified experience of constructing and recording the SOA design model. The experience of employing the walkthrough method for evaluation, and the outcomes of the evaluation are also discussed. Conclusion: From this research we conclude that the SOA research community needs to develop a clearer shared understanding and agreement on the model of what constitutes an SOA and the vocabulary used to describe the SOA concept. This will aid designers to communicate their mental models more effectively and will provide the semantics needed for devising the new notations that this study implies are needed for SBA design. Further, some lessons about SBA design have been derived from the case study experiences

Integrating knowledge seeking into knowledge management models, frameworks, and strategies

Knowledge management (KM) is something that we as humans have practiced for generations by means of sharing stories around the fireplace, passing down recipe books, teaching trade crafts to children and showing young adults how to hunt. This primitive version of KM was not described as an area of development or expertise within organisations until 1995 when Nonaka and Takeuchi’s SECI model revolutionised the world of KM. Since then, many KM researchers have contributed to the field and tried to establish its true foundations. As a result, many KM models and frameworks have emerged leading to a call for the standardisation of KM terminology, and the harmonisation of about 160 existing KM models and frameworks. What has been strikingly overlooked in all these KM models and frameworks is the idea of knowledge seeking as a necessary theoretical component and as a key KM process. Only recently there have been a few attempts to integrate knowledge seeking into KM models and frameworks. With a view to taking this development further, this study achieves two things. First, the study assesses the theoretical status of knowledge seeking in some of the established KM models, frameworks and strategies, and reviews the work of KM researchers who have grappled with the idea of knowledge seeking. Second, the study describes some of the key features of knowledge seeking in a sample of companies. Four companies were selected according to their type and size. They included a small business intelligence consulting company, a branch office of a country-wide IT company, a department within a larger insurance company, and a company that deals with financial software. Using questionnaires and descriptive statistical methods to generate, analyse and interpret the data, the study delineates some of the key features of knowledge seeking in the workplace by asking where people seek knowledge to solve problems, where they seek knowledge under the pressure of time, and where they would prefer to seek knowledge in ideal circumstances. On the basis of the data, the study revises Han Lai and Margaret Graham’s KM life cycle model, which is the latest version of a KM model that integrates knowledge seeking. Additionally, the study adapts Hansen et al’s codification versus personalisation KM strategy. The study therefore contributes to the theoretical aspects of KM by showing that knowledge seeking deserves sustained analysis in KM models and frameworks as a KM process, and it contributes to KM practice by showing the implications of knowledge seeking for KM strategies. CopyrightDissertation (MIS)--University of Pretoria, 2012.Information Scienceunrestricte

Evaluating e-Training for public library staff: A quasi-experimental investigation.

A comparative evaluation framework of instructional interventions for implementation of online training for public library staff would enable a better understanding of how to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and efficacy of training in certain training environments. This dissertation describes a quasi-experimental study of a two-week, asynchronous online training course that was provided at four levels of instructional intervention to public library staff in the United States. The course content addressed the complex issues of difficult patron policy development and situational coping techniques. The objective of the study was to develop and demonstrate a theoretically grounded, evidence-based impact evaluation framework. The framework was used to assess the relative impact of an online course for public librarians at four levels of instructional intervention. The researcher investigated the relationships between the type of e-Training instructional interventions and the short- and long-term impacts on participants' knowledge, self-efficacy, and workplace performance. The study used a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design that included a pretest, posttest and three-month delayed posttest with follow-up survey. 194 participants completed all three phases of the study. The evaluation tools measured course content related knowledge and self-efficacy at all three phases (pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest) and assessed workplace application of training at 3-month follow-up. The results of this study contributed to evaluation theory and learning theory literature applied to the online learning environment and informed public library staff online training practices and evaluation methodologies

Understanding decision-making at the rural-urban fringe: the cases of the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve, South Africa and the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve, Canada

As urban areas continue to expand into rural areas the world is experiencing a loss of productive agricultural land and diminishing natural habitats and associated ecosystems. The space where urban meets rural is known as the rural-urban fringe and what happens in these areas ultimately determines urban development patterns. Despite being such an important area, the rural-urban fringe is poorly understood and is often described as a “blurry” space – blurry in land patterns because it is where multiple uses collide and in how individuals interact in this space (since actors with often diverse opinions on how land should be used coexist there). Furthermore, there is no single body of scholarly literature that explains why and how decisions get made in rural-urban fringe areas. This thesis contributes to filling this gap in literature by helping to (i) understand and explain decision-making processes at the rural-urban fringe; (ii) create an analytical framework for understanding decision-making dynamics at the rural-urban fringe within two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves: the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve, South Africa and the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve, Canada; and (iii) construct a theory of decision-making for better outcomes at the rural-urban fringe. The analytical framework is divided into two parts with components drawn from problem-solving (including governance and management) and critical (critical political economy and resilience) theories. The premise is that each part contributes to a holistic understanding that they cannot accomplish on their own. The analytical framework is used as the analytical platform for consideration of the research data and is the basis on which the thesis’ theoretical contribution is built. Specifically, each case study is first examined within the context of existing governance and management processes. This reveals the character of key issues and dynamics and the resulting policy responses. The cases are then located within the broader analytical contexts of critical political economy and resilience. This reveals the historical and structural dynamics often overlooked or neglected in problem-solving approaches. The thesis reveals that in both case studies, government policy notwithstanding, decision-making within the rural-urban fringe is primarily determined by neoliberal ideologies of economic development and ‘return on investment’. What emerges from the application of the analytical framework to the two case studies is a theory of decision-making for better outcomes at the rural-urban fringe wherein "better" means a process for achieving outcomes in line with the stated goals of policies and plans, generally framed by the idea of sustainable development. The theory asserts that effective decision-making for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable outcomes at the rural-urban fringe requires six conditions to be in place: (1) sufficient economic resources; (2) adequate knowledge; (3) forgiving time scale; (4) capable state; (5) robust legal structure; (6) favorable global context. All six are important though at this stage it cannot be said with absolute certainty whether better-for-all decisions may emerge in the absence of one or more of these conditions. This theory makes a meaningful contribution to the scholarship on the rural-urban fringe and advances knowledge by articulating a new integrated approach to better decision-making that addresses the explanatory weaknesses identified by this thesis for each of the five bodies of literature considered

Massachusetts Domestic and Foreign Corporations Subject to an Excise: For the Use of Assessors (2004)

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