Global software development (GSD) business model has gained recognition over the years for achieving competitiveness in the global market. However, its implementation is not easy due to its complex nature and the various challenges it faces. Project management is a vital area in software development with significant impact to the GSD process. Companies adopt GSD without knowing its implications which lead to failure of their project management processes. Existing project management practises do not address the core issues of GSD, which makes the process more intricate. This research paper investigates the project management practices in GSD and identifies its critical success factors with the development of a framework that will facilitate software companies to implement GSD successfully.
It is well known that small and medium enterprises (SME) are important drivers of economic growth, particularly in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, typically many SMEs operate as informal enterprises which limits their access to finance. Access to appropriate levels of credit (i.e., get credit) is generally a necessary condition but not sufficient condition for improvement in socio-economic outcomes (i.e., make impact). Thus, improving access to credit is still a desirable goal. This paper uses a DEA-based multi-method approach to explore the “ICT Capabilities & Going Legit & Get Credit & Make Impact” path. The results show that there are statistically significant links between ICT Capabilities and legitimization of SMEs (i.e., going legit), ICT capabilities and get credit, and going legit and get credit. Given this desirability of improving access to credit (i.e., get credit), these results suggest that the increasing the level ICT capabilities should result in increases in the levels of going legit and get credit.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a well-known business management system used for improving effectiveness in organisations. In the current digital era, cloud ERP systems have evolved which are taking precedence over the traditional ERP due to convenience of remote information access in real-time with benefits of cost saving, flexibility and scalability. These systems are especially helpful to SMEs which usually are constrained in resources. However, there have not been many studies that look at the critical success factors for cloud ERP adoption in SMEs. This paper develops an integrative framework using technology-organisation-environment (TOE) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) models to investigate the individual, environmental, technological and organisational levels of cloud ERP adoption in SMEs for identifying factors for success. The findings will provide new insights on cloud ERP adoption and will help both academia and practitioners increase understanding for future research and implementation.
There is an increasing publication of scholar articles that describe the ubiquitous nature of mobile technologies as an enabler of mobility. However, there is limited empirical evidence that indicates the defined service interaction moments wherein mobile Health (mHealth) technologies could be useful and are actually used during the execution of work activities with minimal disruption in a clinical setting. The nature of healthcare professionals work activities often requires mobility and continuous management of information but the predominant use of paper-based systems and desktop computer workstations cause time and location constraints. This ultimately defeats the purpose of health information technologies to provide automation of work activities and enhance performance efficiency at points-of-care during service delivery. Hence, it is arguable that mHealth technologies could somewhat redress time and location constraints at points-of-care in clinical practice. The study adopts an interpretivist approach to understand work activities of healthcare professionals in relation to the integration of mHealth technologies, by means of service design as a strategy. Preliminary findings show that, there are specific forms of mHealth applications developed by clinicians but it can be disruptive during work activities while consulting with patients. Ultimately, the study indicates how the interplay between human and machine agencies influence work activities. Furthermore, mHealth technologies would integrate into workflow of professionals at points-of-care where coordinated care involves several professionals for communication purposes. The overall intended outcome of this study would contribute as groundwork on which future studies could design mHealth technologies specific to the work practices of healthcare professionals in sub-Saharan Africa public hospitals.
The effect of R&D investment on firm performances is subject of a number of internal factors. The dynamics of this effect is unclear in the literature. Based on the knowledge-based view and theory of intellectual capital, this research establishes a theoretical model to test the interrelationships among R&D investment, intellectual capital, organizational learning, and firm performance. We obtained seven years' panel data from two data centers, and applied mediation and moderation models to investigate the interrelationships. Our findings showwhile intellectual capital fully mediates the relationship between R&D investment and firm performance, organizational learning moderates the relationship between R&D investment and human capital. Our results show the important roles of intellectual capital and organizational learning in enhancing the effectiveness of R&D investment.
This article outlines a case study of a team of secondary school students creating a commercially deployed immersive Virtual Reality (VR) game as part of their learning. Given the limited amount of relevant literature on the learning outcomes from students creating and deploying VR games to the commercial marketplace, the study adopted a grounded theory approach to explore the initial ideas, themes and constructs that emerged from a preliminary interview study. From this study, we identified the emergent constructs in their learning process as being authenticity, agency (including processes) and innovation. Although the students developed their technical skills through this activity, most of the ideas that were expressed in the interviews related to the opportunities offered by engaging with innovative technology in an authentic context. Through dealing with stakeholders, gathering and responding to feedback, understanding design requirements and the commercial aspects of VR game development and deployment, the student team created their own powerful learning experience.
Data produced by government have enormous importance; in addition to providing the information needed to run governance tasks related to internal processes, they can be used to create new sources of value by combining public datasets with private organisations’ data. In this regard, many countries have implemented Open Government Data (OGD) to unlock the potential value of public data. This study study is concerned with how government agencies create regulations about adopting OGD. The research examined five studies which investigated OGD programs in five different countries, and in one political and economic union. Drawing on the results of the analysis of the selected studies, it presents a list of categorised benefits based on OGD actors’ perspectives. Three categories of benefits are identified, namely 1) technical and operational, 2) economic, and 3) political and societal. This study gives a practical insight into how government agencies can use innovation to create, deliver and benefit from sustainable OGD value.
It is always prudent that the business environment adopts technological platforms such as ecommerce, but there is a need to ascertain the risks involved to optimize the benefits. The current paper examines the impact of e-commerce on corporate governance and ethics in the retail sector. The research involved gathering the opinions of suppliers, customers, employees, government workers, traders, and as well as investors. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative approach. Quantitative data were gathered using a questionnaire administered on a corporate retail organization from different levels of workers, while indepth interviews were used for the qualitative data. Results from the questionnaire indicated meager customer relationship management on e-commerce platforms, stringent excess control rather than regulatory requirements and inadequate monitoring of the behavior activities of clients on e-commerce platforms. Also, the investors felt that e-commerce impact on shareholder activity was not satisfactory especially with regards to meetings, but they indicated agreement on the enhancement of resources with regards to the generation of organizational profits. The results show that overall satisfaction as a proxy for good corporate governance is dependent on investors and the government. However, issues such as difficulty in describing physical goods, elimination of unethical practices and untrustworthiness of intermediaries require inter-organizational compliance between different organizations and their stakeholders to manage risk on e-commerce platforms. It is therefore pertinent upon the organization and their stakeholder board to reduce the adverse impact on e-commerce through coordinated training on ethics and risk management to enhance mutual benefit for the entities involved.
Youth today suffer from many socio-economic problems and struggle to operate in the current economic environment. Wellbeing service provision to youth@risk is inadequate to deal with the complexities of societal challenges which are amplified by the fast technology advances in a continuously changing environment. This paper aims to consider the provision of online counselling to enhance current face-to-face services from the provider’s perspective. The case of a volunteer-based online counselling service that has been in operation since 2010 is considered to establish the aspects that influence this type pf service. Related literature was reviewed to determine the issues reported from current studies and a taxonomy of digital services was used to analyse the service objectives of the service provider. Data collected from sessions with the facilitators and observations of a chat session was analysed to establish their experience of online counselling. The findings were interpreted to answer the research question. The contribution of this paper is in response to the many appeals for more empirical research on real cases. It can be concluded that an online counselling service is a viable extension of face-to-face counselling but more research is needed to understand its benefit to the clients and the ability to ensure a sustained service, especially in developing contexts.
