Abstract
Ph.D. (Information Management)
The current economical perspective is an economy based on information, where individual, group and societal existence are dependent on the notion of informational flexibility. Informational flexibility relates to the ability of the management of the organisation to alter the information architecture to meet the changing needs and wants of the users of information in a speedy, cost-effective manner without losing any of the characteristics of the information. Thus, informational flexibility may be regarded as the new core capability that can increase the longevity of the organisation as a provider of goods and services. In order for the organisation to sustain competitiveness and curb costs, the fundamental architecture and architecting process of the organisation need to be flexible. To date no management tool existed to act as a controlling mechanism in analysing the effectiveness of the structuring of information to mitigate the ever-changing business environment. The intent of the current study is to provide managers with a matrix incorporating the elements of information auditing and enterprise architecture to measure the effectiveness of the information architecture. Considering the aforesaid, the objective of the study is to determine the current challenges of an information architecture and the potential contribution of information audit methodologies to measure the effectiveness of an information architecture.
The key findings of the study include the fact that although the current business environment is still prone to traditional methods of consuming information, businesses are searching for new avenues and ways to do business. The findings suggest that the key to unlocking the success of the organisation is the architecture of data and information as fundamental part of the organisational system.
From a South African perspective, the notion of information architecture is known and acknowledged, but limited implementation of comprehensive information architectures exists. It should also be noted that the maturity and the need for an information architecture will determine the use of formal and/or informal information architecture methodology to measure or control the facets of an information architecture. The result of applying the Delphi technique indicated that the information architectural elements of contextualisation, audit, governance, flexibility and administration should be measured to determine the effectiveness of an information architecture. The elements identified as...