The design and implementation of effective processes and technology for the delivery of computer-... more The design and implementation of effective processes and technology for the delivery of computer-based information systems (IS) in organisations remains a difficult academic and professional problem. It is difficult to marry the rigorous analysis associated with an engineering-based discipline with the softer people-focused discourse required in developing ISs which essentially model social processes within organisations. Large gaps exist between the social and the technical both in the management and development of ISs [1,2]. Furthermore, the divergence of skills and cultural attitudes between software engineers and IS professionals has not helped in the delivery of robust and flexible systems for organisations [3]. The exploration of other industries and disciplines to find metaphors, models and analogies is of significant value in
IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology
This paper reports on the gap on perceptions of e-government for indigenous inclusion in Tanzania... more This paper reports on the gap on perceptions of e-government for indigenous inclusion in Tanzania. E-government provisions in developing countries are linked with the use of ICT4D to support development plans. Literature indicates that development issues, cultural context and consideration of local communities' requirements play a crucial role in facilitating adoption of e-government systems. Use of mobile phones in local communities and sharing mobile device facilities presents a unique phenomenon on utilizing e-government services in Tanzania. Drawing from in-depth interviews from government officials and citizens, the paper argue that perceived gap between central government and local communities is caused by a number of issues. The results indicate that even with few available e-government services, citizens are still keen to use them. It also emerged that there is a gap on computing facilities, central government was found to have all required minimum devices and support to access e-government services and the same was missing to the local communities. Among citizens, mobile phones were preferred way of accessing e-government services as compared to other means since they are convenient and are more personal and hence providing feeling of ownership. For the e-government services to benefits indigenous communities there is a need to address problems associated with the lack of available key e-government services in rural areas, lack of skills among government officials on public administration and development issues as well as underutilization of mobile phone for e-government services.
Organisations are looking to best practice frameworks such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL... more Organisations are looking to best practice frameworks such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) to improve the quality of their IT Service Management. This paper describes the approach taken by a large UK-based bank in adopting ITIL and gaining certification to BS 15000 and ISO/IEC 20000. The use of cognitive mapping enables a focus on the concepts which drive the manager's view of ITIL implementation. This leads to the identification of themes which are of relevance to IT organisations adopting standards. This paper illustrates the power of actor network theory in explaining and structuring the activities of managers in their practice of service improvement. Additionally it shows how cognitive mapping can be connected to an actor network analysis to tease out the underlying mindset and connected concepts which drive the enrolment activities and influence the translation of participants' interests. The case study illustrates a rich set of lessons to be learnt from success...
The focus of this research paper is on the nature of interaction and mediation that occurs betwee... more The focus of this research paper is on the nature of interaction and mediation that occurs between various users of information technology projects and the technology itself in a community environment. In this report a community refers to a work envioernment. This paper examines how Cultural Historic Activity theory (CHAT) can be applied in seeking to understand the dynamism that exist when people are made to work together in a collaborative way by sharing certain resources. Shared services refer to the process of combining certain back office operations of different entities in such a way as to create professionalism, standardization of services and above all, to reduce the costs of operations and therefore leave the front office to focus on their most important duty: provision of front line services to the members of the public The biggest impact of having information technology sharing at the organisation is that it calls for certain changes to team dynamics and management processes. In this study, various respondents noted that teams must be formed in the right sizes, and that the members of these teams should be made to realize the importance of team work It appears that, Information Technology sharing, being like any other new Information Technology project in the organisation, it has not provided use with any new role of managers. However, in this study, it has been found that there is need to manage new team formations. While the skills of the manager may still remain the same, the dynamics between new teams, based on desired work cultures becomes crucial for successful team work.
This paper describes an approach to teaching e-commerce at a masters level in a course that is en... more This paper describes an approach to teaching e-commerce at a masters level in a course that is entirely coursework assessed. The approach involves students giving weekly presentations of material they have researched based on fairly detailed subject guidance provided by the lecturer. The approach uses extreme programming as an analogy for the structuring of the content and the process through which learning takes place. The way in which subject material is presented to the students, and the learning cycle which takes place are described. Students develop presentation material in response to stories, which set the context and problems, and tasks which set the detailed areas for investigation. These presentations are done for peers and the tutor and are immediately commented on, leading to the revision of presentation material to appear in an assessed portfolio. The e-commerce syllabus is presented in the context of a commercial or government organization seeking to develop and implem...
Communications of the Association for Information Systems
The paper presents an in-depth longitudinal case analysis of the nonimplementation of an informat... more The paper presents an in-depth longitudinal case analysis of the nonimplementation of an information technology (IT) strategy within a UK hospital. The analysis covered the period from 1991 to the present day. The contents of the IT strategy are described and compared to the proposed systems and schedule is contrasted with the actual IT systems delivered. Because the case deals with the national health arrangements within the UK, we begin with a brief description of information management (IM) within the National Health Service (NHS) to provide background for readers outside the UK. This discussion is extended to consider the specific context of IS development. It notes the experience of a single patient being transported through medical procedures to illustrate the relevant systems which are enabled. The case documents the ambitions and achievements of the managers involved and concludes with the observation that their decisions did actually generate added-value to the IS implementation process even though, in the circumstances, no recognised strategy emerged.
Communications of the Association for Information Systems
The interdisciplinary nature of information systems (IS) presents significant challenges for IS t... more The interdisciplinary nature of information systems (IS) presents significant challenges for IS teachers. This paper examines the nature of the IS teaching task. It asks: what are we trying to achieve as IS teachers? What are the characteristics of IS and what might these tell us about how we should be teaching IS? What is the nature of the multiple role of the IS teacher? Where do our curricula come from and how do we integrate research and teaching? Since IS has no unified theoretical foundations, unlike the computational mathematics which underpins computer science, identifying principles on which information systems teaching should be based is difficult. By identifying some of the various roles which IS teachers adopt, this paper seeks to define some overarching principles that should drive IS teaching. Teacher's roles include theoretician, practitioner, priest, counsellor and evangelist. Each of these roles suggests principles for teaching IS. The paper also suggests the key importance of networks of communication in establishing the basis of IS teaching.
International Journal of Business Intelligence Research
This paper examines three approaches to ethics and focuses on the development of character and th... more This paper examines three approaches to ethics and focuses on the development of character and the practice of virtue in business intelligence (BI). The paper describes BI as a tool for mediating the relationships between pairs of stakeholders such as management and customer. Three aspects of the relationship which benefit ethically from the practice of virtues are discussed: the purpose of the BI, the prejudices behind the BI and the power of the stakeholders. The connection between the ethics of BI and the corporate ethics is discussed. Without the practice of virtues, BI may be recruited to support corporate vices of exploitation, exposure, exclusion, coercion, control and concealment. The paper seeks to highlight the importance of ethical issues in BI practice and suggests the development of an ethical balanced scorecard as a vehicle for developing ethical senstitivity.
This paper critiques the idea of full autonomy, as illustrated by Oxford University's Robotca... more This paper critiques the idea of full autonomy, as illustrated by Oxford University's Robotcar. A fully autonomous driverless car relies on no external inputs, including GPS and solely learns from its environment using learning algorithms. These cars decide when they drive, learn from human drivers and bid for insurance in real time. Full autonomy is pitched as a good end in itself, fixing human inadequacies and creating safety and certainty by the elimination of human involvement. Using the ACTIVE ethics framework, an ethical response to the fully autonomous driverless cars is developed by addressing autonomy, community, transparency, identity, value and empathy. I suggest that the pursuit of full autonomy does not recognise the essential importance of interdependencies between humans and machines. The removal of human involvement should require the driverless car to be more connected with its environment, drawing all the information it can from infrastructure, internet and oth...
The use of e-mail as a conferencing medium is explored through the analysis of an online conferen... more The use of e-mail as a conferencing medium is explored through the analysis of an online conference conducted by the UK Science Museum in September 1996. A panel of experts exchanged views with students in nine schools on the subject 'Is IT helping us?'. The paper follows the progression of the conference over eleven days. Three themes are drawn out from the analysis. Firstly, the effect of reduced social presence is explored. Secondly, the way in which participants establish social identity and social groupings is discussed. Thirdly, reasons for the complexity of the threads of conversation are discussed. It is suggested that the ad-hoc way in which participants entered discussions, the ability provided by e-mail to review and comment on past discussion and the preference for short messages all contributed to thread complexity. Participants were aware of the social dimensions of e-mail and adapted their behaviour to suit the medium. Identify themselves: A formal identifier of the student and the school was suggested. It was also suggested that a title identifying the thread of conversation was used.
This poster critically examines the concept of a social machine and redefines it in environmental... more This poster critically examines the concept of a social machine and redefines it in environmental terms as a social commodity designed as an intervention in the web ecosystem. Its effectiveness will depend on the predictions and understanding of the social and technical environment it is placed it. Study of the concept of the social machine clears the way for gaining an understanding of the social construct which is critical for web development. The nature of the social construct in web development in web science is discussed using analogies from environmental science and some areas in need of research are suggested.
The growing forces of increasing global competition, continuing customer demands, and the signifi... more The growing forces of increasing global competition, continuing customer demands, and the significant revolution in Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) solutions, especially Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications, have together put pressure upon many organisations to implement CRM solutions and to switch their organisational processes from being product-centric to being customer-centric. A CRM initiative is not only technology; it is a business strategy supported by technology which automates and enhances the processes associated with managing customer relationships. By the end of 2010, it is predicted that companies will be spending almost $11 billion yearly on CRM solutions. However, studies have found that 70% of CRM projects have failed. Understanding the factors that enable success of CRM is vital. There is very few existing specific research into Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of CRM implementations, and there is no comprehensive view that captures all the aspects for successful CRM implementation and their interrelationships. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the current literature base of CSFs for CRM implementations and proposes a taxonomy for them. Future research work will continue to investigate in depth these factors by exploring the complex system links between CSFs using systems thinking techniques such as causal maps to investigate the complex, systemic networks of CSFs in organisations which result in emergent effects which themselves influence the failure or success of a CRM.
Personal Health Monitoring (PHM) technologies are currently in development to supplement medical ... more Personal Health Monitoring (PHM) technologies are currently in development to supplement medical care environments with health monitoring outside "brick and mortar" settings to better meet the needs of people with long-term illnesses. This review identifies common themes in the current literature discussing ethics of PHM and gaps in need of further research. Identified themes include privacy, autonomy, medicalization, social isolation, visibility and impact on healthcare providers. An in-depth discussion of the ethical issues of PHM was rarely found in the searched literature. Areas in need of further research include inadvertent monitoring and the impact of PHM on families and patient relationships.
Personal health monitoring (PHM) systems capable of gathering pervasive physiological and behavio... more Personal health monitoring (PHM) systems capable of gathering pervasive physiological and behavioural data are currently in development to supplement existing medical resources. As a technology designed to operate in the private sphere, PHM can digitise, record and analyse the lives of patients, creating opportunities for data sharing, mining and social categorisation. Medical care and health outcomes may be improved through increasingly granular monitoring and personalised interventions, but these outcomes may come at the cost of user privacy and related ethical implications. As an emerging technology, the opportunity remains to proactively respond to the potential normative risks of a PHM-enabled future. In this paper, a critical overview of the treatment of privacy, risk and PHM in academic literature is offered. The current discourse is defined by a conceptually narrow definition of privacy among developers of PHM systems and security architecture, which suggests that emerging PHM systems may fail to meet the context-specific privacy expectations of users.
The design and implementation of effective processes and technology for the delivery of computer-... more The design and implementation of effective processes and technology for the delivery of computer-based information systems (IS) in organisations remains a difficult academic and professional problem. It is difficult to marry the rigorous analysis associated with an engineering-based discipline with the softer people-focused discourse required in developing ISs which essentially model social processes within organisations. Large gaps exist between the social and the technical both in the management and development of ISs [1,2]. Furthermore, the divergence of skills and cultural attitudes between software engineers and IS professionals has not helped in the delivery of robust and flexible systems for organisations [3]. The exploration of other industries and disciplines to find metaphors, models and analogies is of significant value in
IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology
This paper reports on the gap on perceptions of e-government for indigenous inclusion in Tanzania... more This paper reports on the gap on perceptions of e-government for indigenous inclusion in Tanzania. E-government provisions in developing countries are linked with the use of ICT4D to support development plans. Literature indicates that development issues, cultural context and consideration of local communities' requirements play a crucial role in facilitating adoption of e-government systems. Use of mobile phones in local communities and sharing mobile device facilities presents a unique phenomenon on utilizing e-government services in Tanzania. Drawing from in-depth interviews from government officials and citizens, the paper argue that perceived gap between central government and local communities is caused by a number of issues. The results indicate that even with few available e-government services, citizens are still keen to use them. It also emerged that there is a gap on computing facilities, central government was found to have all required minimum devices and support to access e-government services and the same was missing to the local communities. Among citizens, mobile phones were preferred way of accessing e-government services as compared to other means since they are convenient and are more personal and hence providing feeling of ownership. For the e-government services to benefits indigenous communities there is a need to address problems associated with the lack of available key e-government services in rural areas, lack of skills among government officials on public administration and development issues as well as underutilization of mobile phone for e-government services.
Organisations are looking to best practice frameworks such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL... more Organisations are looking to best practice frameworks such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) to improve the quality of their IT Service Management. This paper describes the approach taken by a large UK-based bank in adopting ITIL and gaining certification to BS 15000 and ISO/IEC 20000. The use of cognitive mapping enables a focus on the concepts which drive the manager's view of ITIL implementation. This leads to the identification of themes which are of relevance to IT organisations adopting standards. This paper illustrates the power of actor network theory in explaining and structuring the activities of managers in their practice of service improvement. Additionally it shows how cognitive mapping can be connected to an actor network analysis to tease out the underlying mindset and connected concepts which drive the enrolment activities and influence the translation of participants' interests. The case study illustrates a rich set of lessons to be learnt from success...
The focus of this research paper is on the nature of interaction and mediation that occurs betwee... more The focus of this research paper is on the nature of interaction and mediation that occurs between various users of information technology projects and the technology itself in a community environment. In this report a community refers to a work envioernment. This paper examines how Cultural Historic Activity theory (CHAT) can be applied in seeking to understand the dynamism that exist when people are made to work together in a collaborative way by sharing certain resources. Shared services refer to the process of combining certain back office operations of different entities in such a way as to create professionalism, standardization of services and above all, to reduce the costs of operations and therefore leave the front office to focus on their most important duty: provision of front line services to the members of the public The biggest impact of having information technology sharing at the organisation is that it calls for certain changes to team dynamics and management processes. In this study, various respondents noted that teams must be formed in the right sizes, and that the members of these teams should be made to realize the importance of team work It appears that, Information Technology sharing, being like any other new Information Technology project in the organisation, it has not provided use with any new role of managers. However, in this study, it has been found that there is need to manage new team formations. While the skills of the manager may still remain the same, the dynamics between new teams, based on desired work cultures becomes crucial for successful team work.
This paper describes an approach to teaching e-commerce at a masters level in a course that is en... more This paper describes an approach to teaching e-commerce at a masters level in a course that is entirely coursework assessed. The approach involves students giving weekly presentations of material they have researched based on fairly detailed subject guidance provided by the lecturer. The approach uses extreme programming as an analogy for the structuring of the content and the process through which learning takes place. The way in which subject material is presented to the students, and the learning cycle which takes place are described. Students develop presentation material in response to stories, which set the context and problems, and tasks which set the detailed areas for investigation. These presentations are done for peers and the tutor and are immediately commented on, leading to the revision of presentation material to appear in an assessed portfolio. The e-commerce syllabus is presented in the context of a commercial or government organization seeking to develop and implem...
Communications of the Association for Information Systems
The paper presents an in-depth longitudinal case analysis of the nonimplementation of an informat... more The paper presents an in-depth longitudinal case analysis of the nonimplementation of an information technology (IT) strategy within a UK hospital. The analysis covered the period from 1991 to the present day. The contents of the IT strategy are described and compared to the proposed systems and schedule is contrasted with the actual IT systems delivered. Because the case deals with the national health arrangements within the UK, we begin with a brief description of information management (IM) within the National Health Service (NHS) to provide background for readers outside the UK. This discussion is extended to consider the specific context of IS development. It notes the experience of a single patient being transported through medical procedures to illustrate the relevant systems which are enabled. The case documents the ambitions and achievements of the managers involved and concludes with the observation that their decisions did actually generate added-value to the IS implementation process even though, in the circumstances, no recognised strategy emerged.
Communications of the Association for Information Systems
The interdisciplinary nature of information systems (IS) presents significant challenges for IS t... more The interdisciplinary nature of information systems (IS) presents significant challenges for IS teachers. This paper examines the nature of the IS teaching task. It asks: what are we trying to achieve as IS teachers? What are the characteristics of IS and what might these tell us about how we should be teaching IS? What is the nature of the multiple role of the IS teacher? Where do our curricula come from and how do we integrate research and teaching? Since IS has no unified theoretical foundations, unlike the computational mathematics which underpins computer science, identifying principles on which information systems teaching should be based is difficult. By identifying some of the various roles which IS teachers adopt, this paper seeks to define some overarching principles that should drive IS teaching. Teacher's roles include theoretician, practitioner, priest, counsellor and evangelist. Each of these roles suggests principles for teaching IS. The paper also suggests the key importance of networks of communication in establishing the basis of IS teaching.
International Journal of Business Intelligence Research
This paper examines three approaches to ethics and focuses on the development of character and th... more This paper examines three approaches to ethics and focuses on the development of character and the practice of virtue in business intelligence (BI). The paper describes BI as a tool for mediating the relationships between pairs of stakeholders such as management and customer. Three aspects of the relationship which benefit ethically from the practice of virtues are discussed: the purpose of the BI, the prejudices behind the BI and the power of the stakeholders. The connection between the ethics of BI and the corporate ethics is discussed. Without the practice of virtues, BI may be recruited to support corporate vices of exploitation, exposure, exclusion, coercion, control and concealment. The paper seeks to highlight the importance of ethical issues in BI practice and suggests the development of an ethical balanced scorecard as a vehicle for developing ethical senstitivity.
This paper critiques the idea of full autonomy, as illustrated by Oxford University's Robotca... more This paper critiques the idea of full autonomy, as illustrated by Oxford University's Robotcar. A fully autonomous driverless car relies on no external inputs, including GPS and solely learns from its environment using learning algorithms. These cars decide when they drive, learn from human drivers and bid for insurance in real time. Full autonomy is pitched as a good end in itself, fixing human inadequacies and creating safety and certainty by the elimination of human involvement. Using the ACTIVE ethics framework, an ethical response to the fully autonomous driverless cars is developed by addressing autonomy, community, transparency, identity, value and empathy. I suggest that the pursuit of full autonomy does not recognise the essential importance of interdependencies between humans and machines. The removal of human involvement should require the driverless car to be more connected with its environment, drawing all the information it can from infrastructure, internet and oth...
The use of e-mail as a conferencing medium is explored through the analysis of an online conferen... more The use of e-mail as a conferencing medium is explored through the analysis of an online conference conducted by the UK Science Museum in September 1996. A panel of experts exchanged views with students in nine schools on the subject 'Is IT helping us?'. The paper follows the progression of the conference over eleven days. Three themes are drawn out from the analysis. Firstly, the effect of reduced social presence is explored. Secondly, the way in which participants establish social identity and social groupings is discussed. Thirdly, reasons for the complexity of the threads of conversation are discussed. It is suggested that the ad-hoc way in which participants entered discussions, the ability provided by e-mail to review and comment on past discussion and the preference for short messages all contributed to thread complexity. Participants were aware of the social dimensions of e-mail and adapted their behaviour to suit the medium. Identify themselves: A formal identifier of the student and the school was suggested. It was also suggested that a title identifying the thread of conversation was used.
This poster critically examines the concept of a social machine and redefines it in environmental... more This poster critically examines the concept of a social machine and redefines it in environmental terms as a social commodity designed as an intervention in the web ecosystem. Its effectiveness will depend on the predictions and understanding of the social and technical environment it is placed it. Study of the concept of the social machine clears the way for gaining an understanding of the social construct which is critical for web development. The nature of the social construct in web development in web science is discussed using analogies from environmental science and some areas in need of research are suggested.
The growing forces of increasing global competition, continuing customer demands, and the signifi... more The growing forces of increasing global competition, continuing customer demands, and the significant revolution in Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) solutions, especially Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications, have together put pressure upon many organisations to implement CRM solutions and to switch their organisational processes from being product-centric to being customer-centric. A CRM initiative is not only technology; it is a business strategy supported by technology which automates and enhances the processes associated with managing customer relationships. By the end of 2010, it is predicted that companies will be spending almost $11 billion yearly on CRM solutions. However, studies have found that 70% of CRM projects have failed. Understanding the factors that enable success of CRM is vital. There is very few existing specific research into Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of CRM implementations, and there is no comprehensive view that captures all the aspects for successful CRM implementation and their interrelationships. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the current literature base of CSFs for CRM implementations and proposes a taxonomy for them. Future research work will continue to investigate in depth these factors by exploring the complex system links between CSFs using systems thinking techniques such as causal maps to investigate the complex, systemic networks of CSFs in organisations which result in emergent effects which themselves influence the failure or success of a CRM.
Personal Health Monitoring (PHM) technologies are currently in development to supplement medical ... more Personal Health Monitoring (PHM) technologies are currently in development to supplement medical care environments with health monitoring outside "brick and mortar" settings to better meet the needs of people with long-term illnesses. This review identifies common themes in the current literature discussing ethics of PHM and gaps in need of further research. Identified themes include privacy, autonomy, medicalization, social isolation, visibility and impact on healthcare providers. An in-depth discussion of the ethical issues of PHM was rarely found in the searched literature. Areas in need of further research include inadvertent monitoring and the impact of PHM on families and patient relationships.
Personal health monitoring (PHM) systems capable of gathering pervasive physiological and behavio... more Personal health monitoring (PHM) systems capable of gathering pervasive physiological and behavioural data are currently in development to supplement existing medical resources. As a technology designed to operate in the private sphere, PHM can digitise, record and analyse the lives of patients, creating opportunities for data sharing, mining and social categorisation. Medical care and health outcomes may be improved through increasingly granular monitoring and personalised interventions, but these outcomes may come at the cost of user privacy and related ethical implications. As an emerging technology, the opportunity remains to proactively respond to the potential normative risks of a PHM-enabled future. In this paper, a critical overview of the treatment of privacy, risk and PHM in academic literature is offered. The current discourse is defined by a conceptually narrow definition of privacy among developers of PHM systems and security architecture, which suggests that emerging PHM systems may fail to meet the context-specific privacy expectations of users.
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Papers by Neil McBride