An empirical analysis of the factors and measures of Enterprise Architecture Management success

Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) is discussed in academia and industry as a vehicle to guide IT implementations, alignment, compliance assessment, or technology management. Still, a lack of knowledge prevails about how EAM can be successfully used, and how positive impact can be realized from EAM. To determine these factors, we identify EAM success factors and measures through literature reviews and exploratory interviews and propose a theoretical model that explains key factors and measures of EAM success. We test our model with data collected from a cross-sectional survey of 133 EAM practitioners. The results confirm the existence of an impact of four distinct EAM success factors, ‘EAM product quality’, ‘EAM infrastructure quality’, ‘EAM service delivery quality’, and ‘EAM organizational anchoring’, and two important EAM success measures, ‘intentions to use EAM’ and ‘Organizational and Project Benefits’ in a confirmatory analysis of the model. We found the construct ‘EAM organizational anchoring’ to be a core focal concept that mediated the effect of success factors such as ‘EAM infrastructure quality’ and ‘EAM service quality’ on the success measures. We also found that ‘EAM satisfaction’ was irrelevant to determining or measuring success. We discuss implications for theory and EAM practice.

Performative digital asset management: To propose a framework and proof of concept model that effectively enables researchers to document, archive and curate their non-traditional research data

This cross disciplinary study was conducted as two research and development projects. The outcome is a multimodal and dynamic chronicle, which incorporates the tracking of spatial, temporal and visual elements of performative practice-led and design-led research journeys. The distilled model provides a strong new approach to demonstrate rigour in non-traditional research outputs including provenance and an 'augmented web of facticity'.

Clash of the titans: Apple, Adobe, and Microsoft under fire at IT pricing inquiry

Today, an Australian parliamentary committee grilled the IT titans - Apple, Adobe, and Microsoft - on price discrimination against Australian consumers. The IT companies were evasive under questioning.

Dynamics of reverse salience as technological performance gap: An empirical study of the personal computer technology system

The evolution of technological systems is hindered by systemic components, referred to as reverse salients, which fail to deliver the necessary level of technological performance thereby inhibiting the performance delivery of the system as a whole. This paper develops a performance gap measure of reverse salience and applies this measurement in the study of the PC (personal computer) technological system, focusing on the evolutions of firstly the CPU (central processing unit) and PC game sub-systems, and secondly the GPU (graphics processing unit) and PC game sub-systems. The measurement of the temporal behavior of reverse salience indicates that the PC game sub-system is the reverse salient, continuously trailing behind the technological performance of the CPU and GPU sub-systems from 1996 through 2006. The technological performance of the PC game sub-system as a reverse salient trails that of the CPU sub-system by up to 2300 MHz with a gradually decreasing performance disparity in recent years. In contrast, the dynamics of the PC game sub-system as a reverse salient trails the GPU sub-system with an ever increasing performance gap throughout the timeframe of analysis. In addition, we further discuss the research and managerial implications of our findings.

The impact of project announcements on property values: An empirical analysis

The study examines the property value impacts of an announcement of a project which has potential environmental impacts as distinct from other studies that address costs associated with under-construction and the operating impacts of developments. The hypothesis is that the announcement of a proposed project with potential environmental impact creates uncertainty in the property market of the affected area, and this impact is greater on properties closer to the project than those farther from it. The results of the study confirm the hypothesis and indicate that the marginal willingness to pay for properties within a 5 km distance declined by AU$17,020 per km proximity to the proposed heavy vehicle route, after the proposed route was announced. The results support the need for more holistic measurement of cost–benefit analysis of projects and provide a basis for improved consideration by policy makers of the rights of affected parties.

Contributing to computing services to benchmarking asset management knowledge management

Asset management has broadened from a focus on maintenance management to whole of life cycle asset management requiring a suite of new competencies from asset procurement to management and disposal. Well developed skills and competencies as well as practical experience are a prerequisite to maintain capability, to manage demand as well to plan and set priorities and ensure on-going asset sustainability. This paper has as its focus to establish critical understandings of data, information and knowledge for asset management along with the way in which benchmarking these attributes through computer-aided design may aid a strategic approach to asset management. The paper provides suggestions to improve sharing, integration and creation of asset-related knowledge through the application of codification and personalization approaches.

Innovation in Road Building: Removing Obstacles for Diffusion of Novel Building Products

How can obstacles to innovation be overcome in road construction? Using a focus group methodology, and based on two prior rounds of empirical work, the analysis in this chapter generates a set of four key solutions to two main construction innovation obstacles: (1) restrictive tender assessment and (2) disagreement over who carries the risk of new product failure. The four key solutions uncovered were: 1) pre-project product certification; 2) past innovation performance assessment; 3) earlier involvement of product suppliers and road asset operators; and 4) performance-based specifications. Additional research is suggested in order to illicit deeper insights into possible solutions to construction innovation obstacles, and should emphasise furthering the theoretical interpretation of empirical phenomena.

An empirical examination of the consequences of national pride: Analyses of survey and experimental data

National pride is both an important and understudied topic with respect to economic behaviour, hence this thesis investigates whether: 1) there is a "light" side of national pride through increased compliance, and a "dark" side linked to exclusion; 2) successful priming of national pride is linked to increased tax compliance; and 3) East German post-reunification outmigration is related to loyalty. The project comprises three related empirical studies, analysing evidence from a large, aggregated, international survey dataset; a tax compliance laboratory experiment combining psychological priming with measurement of heart rate variability; and data collected after the fall of the Berlin Wall (a situation approximating a natural experiment).

IT pricing: Copyright law, consumer rights, and competition policy. A submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications Inquiry into IT Pricing

For a hundred years, since Federation, Australian consumers have suffered the indignity and the tragedy of price discrimination. From the time of imperial publishing networks, Australia has been suffered from cultural colonialism. In respect of pricing of copyright works, Australian consumers have been gouged; ripped-off; and exploited. Digital technologies have not necessarily brought an end to such price discrimination. Australian consumers have been locked out by technological protection measures; subject to surveillance, privacy intrusions and security breaches; locked into walled gardens by digital rights management systems; and geo-blocked.

A decision support framework for prioritization of engineering asset management activities under uncertainty

Engineers and asset managers must often make decisions on how to best allocate limited resources amongst different interrelated activities, including repair, renewal, inspection, and procurement of new assets. The presence of project interdependencies and the lack of sufficient information on the true value of an activity often produce complex problems and leave the decision maker guessing about the quality and robustness of their decision. In this paper, a decision support framework for uncertain interrelated activities is presented. The framework employs a methodology for multi-criteria ranking in the presence of uncertainty, detailing the effect that uncertain valuations may have on the priority of a particular activity. The framework employs employing semi-quantitative risk measures that can be tailored to an organisation and enable a transparent and simple-to-use uncertainty specification by the decision maker. The framework is then demonstrated on a real world project set from a major Australian utility provider.

Estate contestation in Australia: An empirical study of a year of case law

This article reports on a study which reviewed all publicly available succession law judgments in Australia during a 12-month period. The article begins with a brief overview of the relevant Australian law and the method adopted for the case review to provide some context for the analysis that follows. It then shifts to its primary objective: to provide an overview of Australian estate litigation during this period with a particular focus on analysing the family provision contests, which comprised over half the cases in the sample. The article examines how many estates were subject to family provision claims, who were contesting them, and to what extent those challenges were successful. The article also considers variation in estate litigation across Australian states and the impact of estate size on contests. It concludes by identifying the themes that emerged from these judicial cases and outlines their significance for law and practice reform.

Empirical investigation of factors contributing to the psychological safety climate on construction sites

Employees’ safety climate perceptions dictate their safety behavior because individuals act based on their perceptions of reality. Extensive empirical research in applied psychology has confirmed this relationship. However, rare efforts have been made to investigate the factors contributing to a favorable safety climate in construction research. As an initial effort to address the knowledge gap, this paper examines factors contributing to a psychological safety climate, an operationalization of a safety climate at the individual level, and, hence, the basic element of a safety climate at higher levels. A multiperspective framework of contributors to a psychological safety climate is estimated by a structural equation modeling technique using individual questionnaire responses from a random sample of construction project personnel. The results inform management of three routes to psychological safety climate: a client’s proactive involvement in safety management, a workforce-friendly workplace created by the project team, and transformational supervisors’ communication about safety matters with the workforce. This paper contributes to the field of construction engineering and management by highlighting a broader contextual influence in a systematic formation of psychological safety climate perceptions.

Pedagogical practices and support systems of inclusion: Empirical evidence from Chinese societies

China has a massive population of children with disabilities. To address the special needs of these children, special/inclusive education in China has developed dramatically since the early 1980s onwards. This Special Issue puts together seven empirical studies emerging from the Chinese societies. These studies analyse inclusive discourses embedded in the education policy documents; scrutinise professional competence of inclusive education teachers; evaluate inclusive education practices in physical education, mathematics education, and job-related social skills education provided to students with disabilities; debate the required in-class support for inclusive education teachers; and discuss the social attitudes towards people with disabilities. The foci, methods and theories vary across the seven studies, while their aims converge. These studies are seeking best possible approaches and best available resources that facilitate inclusion. Knowledge built and lessons learned from these studies will provide implications for future inclusive education practices in China and beyond.

Islamic fund and asset management: The opportunities and challenges of Islamic REITs

Purpose This paper aims to present a review on the issues and challenges for Islamic Funds and Asset Management, particularly the Islamic Real Estate Trusts (I-REITs) available in Malaysia. The key difference between the Islamic and the conventional investment vehicle is mainly the fund needs to adhere to the Shariah framework. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews and synthesises the relevant literature on the framework of Islamic Asset and Fund Management, particularly the Islamic Real Estate Investment Trusts. The paper then provides insights for further research to address the issues and consider the Shariah framework applicable to other further research works. Findings The paper highlights the opportunities and challenges of Islamic REITs globally. There is a lack of the standardisation in the screening methodology used by the Malaysian I- REITs and Singapore I-REITs as the latter follows the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) guideline to capture the investors mainly from the Gulf countries. In term of tenants’ selection, there is similarity between I-REITs and the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) or ethical investment. The gap between the investments can be bridged if the Islamic funds skewed the investment portfolio towards the social and ethical investment. Even though there is a limitation in the investment universe, I-REITs provide better diversification option and show better performance compared to the equity market during the economic crisis. The introduction of the Shariah-compliant REITs index for Asia Pacific allows the fund managers to benchmark the performance of either the funds or the sector with other investment vehicles. This will encourage more investors to consider I-REIT in the decision making of the asset allocation portfolio and broadening the horizon of the investment. Originality/value The contribution of the study is the examination and analysis of the Shariah framework currently adopted for Islamic REITs. This will assist in the identification of specific issues associated with Islamic REITs that will need to be addressed in the development and application of further research in the aspect of the management and operations to increase the efficiency level and better performance in order to capture more investors in this specific and promising market.

Empirical insights into the development of a service-oriented enterprise architecture

Organisations use Enterprise Architecture (EA) to reduce organisational complexity, improve communication, align business and information technology (IT), and drive organisational change. Due to the dynamic nature of environmental and organisational factors, EA descriptions need to change over time to keep providing value for its stakeholders. Emerging business and IT trends, such as Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), may impact EA frameworks, methodologies, governance and tools. However, the phenomenon of EA evolution is still poorly understood. Using Archer's morphogenetic theory as a foundation, this research conceptualises three analytical phases of EA evolution in organisations, namely conditioning, interaction and elaboration. Based on a case study with a government agency, this paper provides new empirically and theoretically grounded insights into EA evolution, in particular in relation to the introduction of SOA, and describes relevant generative mechanisms affecting EA evolution. By doing so, it builds a foundation to further examine the impact of other IT trends such as mobile or cloud-based solutions on EA evolution. At a practical level, the research delivers a model that can be used to guide professionals to manage EA and continually evolve it.