An ontological modelling of user requirements for personalised information provision

The knowledge economy offers opportunity to a broad and diverse community of information systems users to efficiently gain information and know-how for improving qualifications and enhancing productivity in the work place. Such demand will continue and users will frequently require optimised and personalised information content. The advancement of information technology and the wide dissemination of information endorse individual users when constructing new knowledge from their experience in the real-world context. However, a design of personalised information provision is challenging because users’ requirements and information provision specifications are complex in their representation. The existing methods are not able to effectively support this analysis process. This paper presents a mechanism which can holistically facilitate customisation of information provision based on individual users’ goals, level of knowledge and cognitive styles preferences. An ontology model with embedded norms represents the domain knowledge of information provision in a specific context where users’ needs can be articulated and represented in a user profile. These formal requirements can then be transformed onto information provision specifications which are used to discover suitable information content from repositories and pedagogically organise the selected content to meet the users’ needs. The method is provided with adaptability which enables an appropriate response to changes in users’ requirements during the process of acquiring knowledge and skills.

A conceptual framework for aligning business and information systems from organisational learning perspective

The three decades of on-going executives’ concerns of how to achieve successful alignment between business and information technology shows the complexity of such a vital process. Most of the challenges of alignment are related to knowledge and organisational change and several researchers have introduced a number of mechanisms to address some of these challenges. However, these mechanisms pay less attention to multi-level effects, which results in a limited un-derstanding of alignment across levels. Therefore, we reviewed these challenges from a multi-level learning perspective and found that business and IT alignment is related to the balance of exploitation and exploration strategies with the intellec-tual content of individual, group and organisational levels.

Enhancing fieldwork learning with technology: practitioner's perspectives

This research paper reports the findings from an international survey of fieldwork practitioners on their use of technology to enhance fieldwork teaching and learning. It was found that there was high information technology usage before and after time in the field, but some were also using portable devices such as smartphones and global positioning system whilst out in the field. The main pedagogic reasons cited for the use of technology were the need for efficient data processing and to develop students' technological skills. The influencing factors and barriers to the use of technology as well as the importance of emerging technologies are discussed.

Higher Education: Understanding the impact of distance learning mode on user information assimilation and satisfaction

There is increasing pressure to capture of video within Higher Education. Although much research has looked at how communication technologies enhance information transfer during playback of video, consideration of technical issues seems incongruous if we do not consider how presentation mode affects information assimilated by, and satisfaction of, learners with a range of individual differences, and from a range of different backgrounds. This paper considers whether a relationship exists between the media and presentation mode used in recorded content, and the level of information assimilation and satisfaction perceived by learners with a range of individual differences. Results aim to inform learning practitioners whether generic delivery is justified, or whether tailoring content delivery enhances the experience of specific learner groups.

Evaluating the interdependencies between managing business change, IT sourcing and IT governance

Organisations need the right business and IT capabilities in order to achieve future business success. It follows that the sourcing of these capabilities is an important decision. Yet, there is a lack of consensus on the approach to decid-ing where and how to source the core operational capabilities. Furthermore, de-veloping its dynamic capability enables an organisation to effectively manage change its operational capabilities. Recent research has proposed that analysing business capabilities is a key pre-requisite to defining its Information Technology (IT) solutions. This research builds on these findings by considering the interde-pendencies between the dynamic business change capability and the sourcing of IT capabilities. Further it examines the decision-making oversight of these areas as implemented through IT governance. There is a good understanding of the direct impact of IT sourcing decision on operational capabilities However, there is a lack of research on the indirect impact to the capability of managing business change. Through a review of prior research and initial pilot field research, a capability framework and three main propositions are proposed, each examining a two-way interdependency. This paper describes the development of the integrated capa-bility framework and the rationale for the propositions. These respectively cover managing business change, IT sourcing and IT governance. Firstly, the sourcing of IT affects both the operational capabilities and the capability to manage business change. Similarly a business change may result in new or revised operational ca-pabilities, which can influence the IT sourcing decision resulting in a two-way rela-tionship. Secondly, this IT sourcing is directed under IT governance, which pro-vides a decision-making framework for the organisation. At the same time, the IT sourcing can have an impact on the IT governance capability, for example by out-sourcing key capabilities; hence this is potentially again a two-way relationship. Finally, there is a postulated two-way relationship between IT governance and managing business change in that IT governance provides an oversight of manag-ing business change through portfolio management while IT governance is a key element of the business change capability. Given the nature and novelty of this framework, a philosophical paradigm of constructivism is preferred. To illustrate and explore the theoretical perspectives provided, this paper reports on the find-ings of a case study incorporating eight high-level interviews with senior execu-tives in a German bank with 2300 employees. The collected data also include or-ganisational charts, annual reports, project and activity portfolio and benchmark reports for the IT budget. Recommendations are made for practitioners. An understanding of the interdependencies can support professionals in improving business success through effectively managing business change. Additionally, they can be assisted to evaluate the impact of IT sourcing decisions on the organisa-tion’s operational and dynamic capabilities, using an appropriate IT governance framework.

Towards a framework for managing IT-enabled change, sourcing and governance

In the resource-based view, organisations are represented by the sum of their physical, human and organisational assets, resources and capabilities. Operational capabilities maintain the status quo and allow an organisation to execute their existing business. Dynamic capabilities, otherwise, allow an organisation to change this status quo including a change of the operational ones. Competitive advantage, in this context, is an effect of continuously developing and reconfiguring these firm-specific assets through dynamic capabilities. Deciding where and how to source the core operational capabilities is a key success factor. Furthermore, developing its dynamic capabilities allows an organisation to effectively manage change its operational capabilities. Many organisations are asserted to have a high dependency on - as well as a high benefit from - the use of information technology (IT), making it a crucial and overarching resource. Furthermore, the IT function is assigned the role as a change enabler and so IT sourcing affects the capability of managing business change. IT sourcing means that organisations need to decide how to source their IT capabilities. Outsourcing of parts of the IT function will also outsource some of the IT capabilities and therefore some of the business capabilities. As a result, IT sourcing has an impact on the organisation's capabilities and consequently on the business success. And finally, a turbulent and fast moving business environment challenges organisations to effectively and efficiently managing business change. Our research builds on the existing theory of dynamic and operational capabilities by considering the interdependencies between the dynamic capabilities of business change and IT sourcing. Further it examines the decision-making oversight of these areas as implemented through IT governance. We introduce a new conceptual framework derived from the existing theory and extended through an illustrative case study conducted in a German bank. Under a philosophical paradigm of constructivism, we collected data from eight semi-structured interviews and used additional sources of evidence in form of annual accounts, strategy papers and IT benchmark reports. We applied an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), which emerged the superordinate themes for our tentative capabilities framework. An understanding of these interdependencies enables scholars and professionals to improve business success through effectively managing business change and evaluating the impact of IT sourcing decisions on the organisation's operational and dynamic capabilities.