Information Technology Demands Research Articles

The strategic impact of information technology deployment, part 4

The growth and rate of change of information technologies demands that investigation of its challenges and the constituents of its successful deployment remain at the forefront of scholarly endeavor. The contexts of technology adoption, in terms of geography, sector and organizational size, require ongoing investigation for typological trends and deficiencies. Future information technology research should seek to further its methodological toolkit in order to develop greater richness of insight. Business leaders of the future will require enhanced understanding of information technologies, and therefore training and education in the subjects will need to be provided accordingly.

Improving the retention of women in the IT workforce: An investigation of gender diversity interventions in the USA

AbstractTo meet the high demand for information technology (IT) professionals, organizations must become more effective at attracting and retaining women. Ninety‐seven percent of companies surveyed by Forbes in 2011 had implemented diversity and inclusion interventions. Despite these efforts, the percentage of women working in IT continues to decline, raising questions about the effectiveness of current organizational interventions aimed at increasing gender diversity. This study sought to gain a better understanding of these organizational interventions by developing a comprehensive framework based on comparative case studies of 9 organizations. The framework integrates intervention characteristics and barriers IT women experience and the coping methods they use to address barriers. This paper presents propositions based on this theoretical framework to guide further research on the effectiveness of gender diversity and inclusion interventions in IT.

Impact of Information System on Transformation of Human Resource Performance: An Exploratory Study in Oromia Radio and Television Organization

In the last few decades, emerging hyper-competitive era has increased the demand of information system and technology on human resource management for competitiveness. The revolution of information system and technology is completely and rapidly redefining the way of things are done in almost every field of human activity. Many firms are looking for utilizing the two elements (human resources and information system) as strategic weapons to compete. In particular, information system is demonstrated for human resource management that referred as human resource information system (HRIS). The HRIS is an integrated system mostly used to collect data, govern, record and to deliver and present data for human resource and hence promotes and transforms appropriateness of transforming human resource performance. This paper focuses on the impact of information system on transformation of human resource performance, the case of Oromia radio and television organization in Ethiopia. Both literature studies and interviews were done in this study to accrue information.

An Effective Demand Planning Process for Better IT Services

The information systems play a crucial role mainly in operative planning and management in any given Organization. Within this paper, a clear demonstration of the significance of Information Technology (IT) demands planning process for customer operations & support will be discussed. The paper will also cover the various ways to surmount any gaps in information technology coverage. The IT Demand Planning represents a set of processes and information technologies necessary to satisfy customer demands in the process of planning. The main reason behind the IT Demand Planning process is to assist any business in weighing its potentiality regarding profits. Indirectly, it has the upper hand in determining an Organizations capacity, financing, and stakeholder confidence (Sheldon 2006). A proper IT Demand Planning process is an essential feature when defining customer demands and directing them to a single entity inside any IT organization for implementation.

EFFECTS OF GREEN PROCUREMENT ADOPTION ON THE SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE AT BATA SHOE COMPANY LIMITED, KENYA

Purpose: This purpose of the study was to determine the effects of adopting green procurement on the supply chain performance at Bata shoe company in KenyaMethodology: This study adopted descriptive research design. The target population was 120 employees working in different levels of management who are directly involved in managing distribution activities in the organization. The sampling frame was the Human Resource register at BATA Kenya. The population sample was 120 respondents. Structured questionnaires containing both open ended and closed ended questions were used to collect primary data. The questionnaires were filled and returned for analysis. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics like percentages, standard deviations, frequency tables among others. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 17 software was used.Results: Results indicated that quality management, organizational policy, information technology integration and demand management have a positive and significant relationship on supply chain performance at BATAUnique contribution to theory, practice and policy: This study recommends that BATA should review its organizational policy on JIT implementation to improve its supply chain performance especially in regards to better human resource management practices. BATA should also enhance its Information Technology Integration to promote information sharing and support its ERP systems.

A computer-supported management of photographic documentation in plastic surgery - System development and its clinical application

Photographic documentation is very important for plastic, reconstructive, and especially aesthetic surgery procedures. It can be used to improve patient care as well as to carry out scientific research. The results of our previous studies confirmed a strong demand for Information Technology (IT) systems dedicated to plastic surgery. Unfortunately, most of the solutions of this type are not suited to the actual needs. For this reason we decided to develop a reliable system for photographic documentation storage. The Plastic Reconstructive Esthetic Surgery Photo System (PRESsPhoto) was developed and finally deployed in the Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Clinic of the Medical University in Łódź (Poland). Preliminary single-center performance tests proved that the PRESsPhoto system is easy to use and provides, inter alia, rapid data search and data entry as well as data security. In the future the PRESsPhoto system should be able to cooperate with Hospital Information Systems (HIS). The process of development and deployment of the PRESsPhoto system is an example of good cooperation between health care providers and the informatics, which resulted in a system that meets the expectations of plastic surgeons.

Wage Inequality of IT Professionals in India

Using annual survey data from 6 cities in different regions of India, the author analyzes the rapid increase in wage inequality of information technology (IT) professionals in India from 2002 to 2015. The author describes within-group and between-group wage inequality trends and decompose wage inequality change into changes in the distribution of IT professionals in IT sectors attributes, both observed and unobserved, and changes in the returns to those attributes. The author finds that growing regional wage disparities, rising returns to unobserved IT skills, and rising returns to IT education explain most of the wage inequality increase. Rising IT skill premiums are due primarily to increasing relative demand for IT skilled professionals within IT sectors rather than to demand shifts across IT sectors. The timing of wage inequality change has been erratic, suggesting a key role played by reform policies.

UTILIZATION OF WHATSAPP APPLICATION AS DISCUSSION MEDIA IN BLENDED LEARNING

Educational challenge now is to meet the demands of information technology on the culture of the younger generation. Students as young people always carry a smartphone as a means of communication and information anywhere. They are so accustomed to the convenience of online environments, especially social media applications. It is also a challenge for educators to be able to make these habits in order to be a good habit. Educators are challenged to change the online habit so it can be used in learning. It is certainly related to the need of students to use social media applications to learn. Learning that can bridge the online social media applications with offline learning was Blended Learning. This study sought to integrate learning technologies so as to improve the quality of student learning. Social media Applications that are widely used and can be integrated in learning is the messenger application. Messenger application is used to communicate synchronously, so it can be positioned as a discussion media One of these application was Whatsapp messenger applications, which can send text, pictures and even sound. Whatsapp capabilities can be utilized to conduct in online learning of Blended Learning.

Knowledge-Based Network Management System for Movable and Deployable ICT Resource Unit

When a disaster occurs, the demand for information and communication technology (ICT) services drastically increases. To meet such demands, a national project was undertaken in Japan to develop the Movable and Deployable ICT Resource Unit (MDRU). One challenge regarding the MDRU is securing operators to work the units in emergency situations. As ICT service users have diverse and frequently changing demands, strong technical skills and practical knowledge are required for the administration of MDRUs. In this paper, we propose a knowledge-based network management system to alleviate the burden on administrators. To deal with the structural changes to network systems that frequently occur with changes in ICT service demand, we introduce modularization techniques into our previous research. The proposed system can be easily reconfigured by join/disjoin modules corresponding to changes in the system configuration of the MDRU. The results of our experiments using the implemented experimental system confirm that the proposed system can be applied to MDRU operation and effectively supports administrators.

Information and communication technology demands at work: the association with job strain, effort-reward imbalance and self-rated health in different socio-economic strata.

PurposeThe use of information and communication technology (ICT) is common in modern working life. ICT demands may give rise to experience of work-related stress. Knowledge about ICT demands in relation to other types of work-related stress and to self-rated health is limited. Consequently, the aim of this study was to examine the association between ICT demands and two types of work-related stress [job strain and effort-reward imbalance (ERI)] and to evaluate the association between these work-related stress measures and self-rated health, in general and in different SES strata.MethodsThis study is based on cross-sectional data from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health collected in 2014, from 14,873 gainfully employed people. ICT demands, job strain, ERI and self-rated health were analysed as the main measures. Sex, age, SES, lifestyle factors and BMI were used as covariates.ResultsICT demands correlated significantly with the dimensions of the job strain and ERI models, especially with the demands (r = 0.42; p < 0.01) and effort (r = 0.51; p < 0.01) dimensions. ICT demands were associated with suboptimal self-rated health, also after adjustment for age, sex, SES, lifestyle and BMI (OR 1.49 [95 % CI 1.36–1.63]), but job strain (OR 1.93 [95 % CI 1.74–2.14) and ERI (OR 2.15 [95 % CI 1.95–2.35]) showed somewhat stronger associations with suboptimal self-rated health.ConclusionICT demands are common among people with intermediate and high SES and associated with job strain, ERI and suboptimal self-rated health. ICT demands should thus be acknowledged as a potential stressor of work-related stress in modern working life.

IT Governance-An Integrated Framework and Roadmap: How to Plan, Deploy and Sustain for Improved Effectiveness

The issues, opportunities and challenges of effectively managing and governing an organization’s Information Technology (IT) demands, investments and resources has become a major concern of the Board and executive management in enterprises on a global basis. A rapidly growing number of organizations have become increasingly dependent on a broad array of technologies to manage and grow their businesses. IT is an integral part of most organizations today and will certainly become more critical in the future. This paper proposes a comprehensive and integrated IT governance framework and roadmap which identifies the appropriate current and emerging best practices methodologies for each of the major IT Governance components that must be addressed in any approach and is critical for companies to achieve more effective alignment and management of IT. The framework can serve as a guideline for any organization to select and customize the appropriate approach applicable to its environment, plans, priorities, capabilities and available resources. The findings and implications are based on extensive primary and secondary research and are grounded in a review of current and emerging industry and government best practices and select case studies of leading global and regional organizations based on the recently published book by the author entitled, “Implementing Effective IT Governance and IT Management,” published by Van Haren Publishers, 2015.

Information and communication technology demands: outcomes and interventions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review four demands employees face when communicating through information and communication technologies (ICTs). The authors review the outcomes associated with each demand and discuss relevant interventions to provide a set of evidence-based recommendations. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the following demands associated with ICTs: response expectations, constant availability, increased workload and poor communication. The authors draw upon empirical research to highlight outcomes and intervention strategies, before discussing implications for research and practice. Findings – The findings suggest that there are diverse outcomes associated with each demand. The outcomes were not inherently negative as evidence suggests that positive performance outcomes can arise from response expectations and constant availability, although they may be allied by health and well-being costs. Practical implications – A number of practical strategies are described to help organizations address computer-mediated communication demands, including tailored training, organizational policies and role modeling. The paper also outlines suggestions for future research on the dark side of IT use. Originality/value – This paper integrates four interrelated demands that employees can face when communicating through technology. The authors extend knowledge by analyzing interventions which enables a synthesis of implications for practice.

Perjalanan Penerapan Sistem Informasi Open Source Koha di Perpustakaan Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta dari tahun 2006 s.d. 2010

The title of the research is "The chronology of the application of open source information system Koha in the library of Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta from 2006 to 2010. "The background of this research is that the development of the information technology demands the library to use the technology. UMS' library was the first and its private-university library using Koha system as the automatic system in Indonesia. Koha's complete features and its development raised confusion UMS' library staff. The use od English language and the small number of the community of Koha users in Indonesia sometimes lead to misinterpretation.The method used in this research was the qualitative method, and its approach was the case study. The reason of using these was that the case happened was unique and the forms of the questions were how and why.The result of the research was that there were 3 periods of the chronology of Koha application in UMS library, namely: pre-Koha, whilst using Koha, and developing of Koha system. The application of Koha system in UMS library had been in accordance with the cycle of the development of the information system. This cycle includes influential factors were: (1) the rectorat's supports, (2) human resource and leadership, (3) trend in the library, (4) integration, (5) theneed of the system, (6) the data analyze, (7) conmunication, (8) good cooperation, (9) socialization, (10) open source, (11) financial condition, (12) the quality of the system, (13) the readiness of the facilities. Besides, the research found that were some factors as the theoretical contributors namely: good communication and cooperation, socialization, abd the readiness of the facilities. It also found that there were one was lost factor, namely: user interface.

Building a medical research cloud in the EASI‐CLOUDS project

SummaryThe demand for Information Technology (IT) resources is constantly growing in the scientific area. The ability to store and process increasing amounts of data has transformed many research disciplines like the life sciences, which now rely on complex data processing and data analytics. Cloud computing can provide researchers with scalable and easy‐to‐use hardware and software resources and allows on‐demand access to services, tools, or even complete work environments.The European research project EASI‐CLOUDS has developed a service delivery platform with special regard to service integration, monitoring and management, and the negotiation of service level agreements. In order to demonstrate the capabilities of the platform, a medical‐use case was devised and implemented in close partnership with the Charité University Hospital that has a high demand for computing resources, especially in the field of magnetic resonance imaging‐related diagnostics of brain diseases. This use case can serve as a blueprint for the development of cloud‐based services for medical research. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Higher Education and the Adoption of Cloud Computing Technology in Africa

With the emergent demand for information technology (IT) services, African Universities should consider adopting cloud computing to meet with this growing demand on different IT services, Cloud computing could provide good business models for African universities since these universities often do not have enough resources and knowledge to manage the necessary information technology (IT) support for educational, research and developmental activities that must be delivered in a higher education environment, while cloud computing aims to eliminate these complexities from the user. This paper describes the importance and the challenges facing higher education in Africa, introduction to cloud computing technologies, services and deployment models, adoption of cloud computing in higher education as a possible solution despite the challenges facing higher education in Africa.

I/E Selective Activation based Knowledge Reconfiguration mechanism and Reasoning

As the role of information collection becomes increasingly important in the enormous data environment, there is growing demand for more intelligent information technologies for managing complex data. On the other hand, it is difficult to find a solution because of the data complexity and big scaled amount. Accordingly, there is a need for a special intelligent knowledge base frame that can be operated by itself flexibly. In this paper, by adopting switching function for signal transmission in the synapse of the human brain, I/E selective activation based knowledge reconfiguring mechanism is proposed for building more intelligent information management system. In particular, knowledge network design, a special knowledge node structure, Type definition, I/E gauge definition and I/E matching scheme are provided. Using these concepts, the proposed system makes the functions of activation by I/E Gauge, selection and reconfiguration. In a more efficient manner, the routing and reasoning process was performed based on the knowledge reconfiguration network. In the experiments, the process of selection by I/E matching, knowledge reconfiguration and routing & reasoning results are described.

Business Intelligence as a Service

Demand for business intelligence (BI) applications continues to grow even at a time when demand for most information technology (IT) products is low, showing the importance of BI products for a modern organization. However, globalization changes the way organizations use BI, where geographic location and time independency is becoming more and more important. Gartner's hype-cycle on BI depicts the technology of BI as a Service as being almost on top of the hype cycle, indicating there are high expectations of this new technology. This research advances on existing literature on business intelligence and cloud computing from a development perspective by introducing the concept of business intelligence as a service (BIaaS). The most important deliverable is the BIaaS capability maturity model (CMM) that is introduced here. The BIaaS CMM explains the conceptual model of BIaaS by the creation of the first BIaaS capability model containing key capabilities of BIaaS. The capability model is further enhanced with maturity levels depicting the importance of each BIaaS capability, a maturity matrix suggesting a roadmap for BIaaS solution development, and a BIaaS assessment model introducing a tool for finding problem areas in existing BIaaS solutions. The developed BIaaS CMM ought to support (starting) BIaaS vendors to develop BIaaS solutions by providing an assessment tool for BIaaS solutions. The assessment outcome provides the current maturity of the BIaaS solution and also includes problem areas for solution improvement. The introduction of the CApability Maturity Positioning (CAMP) method for the development of a maturity matrix, which results in the BIaaS maturity model, is significantly different from conventional maturity modeling. To calculate the weight of each capability from the BIaaS capability model, a thorough product review of existing business intelligence and cloud computing products is performed. Analysis of the results and normalizing the outcome of that analysis together with the introduction of a calculation mapping, is input for the creation of the maturity matrix. The maturity matrix is the essential foundation for the developed business intelligence as a Service capability maturity model, which is the main deliverable of this research.

Job Embeddedness of Information Technology Professionals: The Effects of Gender

There is a growing need to meet the demand for information technology (IT) professionals at a time when supply is not only failing to keep pace with the growth in the IT sector, but also as IT workers are finding many opportunities to move from one job to another. It is imperative that organizations find ways to retain these valuable and skilled employees. One construct that has been introduced to measure reasons employees choose to stay in their current position is job embeddedness. This research explores the effect of gender on the dimensions of job embeddedness, including an employee's fit with the organization, potential sacrifice involved in leaving, and links to others in the organization. Using data collected from a survey of a large government agency, we found that there are significant differences between males and females in terms of job embeddedness.

Computer Digital Image Processing Application and Research

This paper Based on the analysis of the characteristics of image information and image information technology, analyzes some field demand for image information technology, analyzed the image application of news communication management, Analysis of domestic and foreign research present situation, proposed to increase the image signal, research ideas application depth and the breadth of color and its technology in the field , to accelerate the process of social normalization.

ICT and the Demand for Energy: Evidence from OECD Countries

This paper analyzes the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and energy demand. We construct a comprehensive cross-country cross-industry panel data set covering 13 years, 10 OECD countries, and 27 industries. Using up to 2889 country-industry observations, we find that: (1) ICT capital is associated with a significant reduction in energy demand. (2) This relationship differs with regard to different types of energy. ICT use is not significantly correlated with electricity demand, but is significantly related to a reduction in non-electric energy demand. That is, ICT use comes with a reduction in total energy demand and an increase in the relative demand for electric over non-electric energy.