A conceptual framework to enhance performance in virtual information technology project teams
- Authors: Dube, Shopee M.
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Information technology , Communication and technology , Virtual work teams , International business enterprises
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/382429 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/124856 , uj:20967
- Description: Abstract: The globalisation of business and markets is growing rapidly and information and communication technologies (ICT) are developing at a very fast pace. This has resulted in the emergence and formation of virtual project teams, also referred to as global project teams. Virtual project teams have increased global competitiveness as well as investments in several types of projects in manufacturing, telecommunications, information technology, engineering, financial services and construction, and are used as a means of enhancing team performance. From this globalisation of business and markets, virtual project teams are now operating within the boundaries of the operational requirements of the team members. This allows for flexibility of working from anywhere without restrictions imposed by geographical boundaries, differences in time zones and heavily relying on communication technologies. The aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework to improve the performance of virtual project teams, which information technology (IT) project managers can use to better understand how teams can be managed. The quantitative research methodology was employed in this study to collect data using an online questionnaire and the data was analysed using statistical methods. This research methodology allowed the researcher to explore this phenomenon in greater depth. The purposive sampling method (non-probability) was adopted for this study. The key findings of this research are that the following factors improve the performance of virtual IT project teams in South Africa: communication, good leadership, trust, social interaction, team cooperation and commitment. The research further reveals that there is a strong correlation between these factors; hence the factors identified were all essential for the development of the conceptual framework. , Ph.D. (Informatics)
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An information and communication technology innovation system for the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Authors: Kazadi, Antoine Kayisu
- Date: 2014-09-17
- Subjects: Information technology - Congo (Democratic Republic) , Telecommunication - Technological innovations , Communication and technology
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:12323 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12110
- Description: M.Tech. (Engineering: Electrical) , In this study, we explore the DRC ICT environment and propose an ICT Innovation System. We also explore the RSA ICT Innovation System for comparability. The theoretical frameworks used are Actor-network Theory (ANT) and Capability Approach (CA). These frameworks allows us to understand interaction and interrelationship between different actors (human and non-human) i.e. actor-network with aligned interest which is ICT and socio-economic environment for producing successful network. CA allows us to understand ICTs as a commodity that provides opportunities by increasing capability. We use a mixed methods approach, consisting of qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyse the data. The interpretation was made in an integrative manner, findings of qualitative and quantitative are mixed for interpretation. Participants involved in the study were two DRC organizations for qualitative study: Ministry of Health (MoH) and Free University of Great Lakes (FUGL) with which we conducted four interviews. Other participants in the quantitative study are individuals that completed survey questionnaires with one hundred people at Eldorado Park in Gauteng province (RSA) and one hundred at Lemba in Kinshasa province (DRC). The emerged themes from our sampling were ICT partnership public-private; ICT Human resources; ICT Infrastructure; ICT4D (e-health, e-education, e-agriculture, universal access); Government ICT initiatives and ICT services and applications used. Findings as well as recommendations, based on themes and building block, consisting of actors and networks – institutions – knowledge, related to Sectoral Innovation System (SIS) applied to DRC ICT sector realities, showed: the necessity of transnational network between DRC Government - Private ICT Company & Investors - International & Regional Organizations for the establishment of models of ICT innovative projects, ICT legal framework and ICT finance. These actors and network will respond to socio-economic challenges such as poverty, illiteracy and disease through ICTs. We propose an ICT Innovation System for the DRC where the Government agencies, R&D centres, NGOs, public and private ICT companies, international and regional organisations will work together for ICT knowledge diffusion, cheap ICT solutions and an innovative legal for ICT framework specifically for DRC.
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The impact of technology on work-life conflict among academics
- Authors: Kotecha, Kajal Harsukhlal
- Date: 2014-08-19
- Subjects: Information technology - Study and teaching (Higher) , Communication and technology , Work-life balance
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:12124 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/11867
- Description: M.Com. (Human Resource Management) , The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to work after regular working hours has become prevalent in the academic profession. Although ICTs are known to enhance work flexibility, they also seem to encourage academics to use ICT devices after hours for work-related purposes. This consequently questions the work flexibility, which is enabled by ICTs, and the potential impact that this has on the work–life conflict (WLC) experienced by academics. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the phenomenon of technology assisted supplemental work (TASW) and the implications that this has on the WLC experienced by academics at a higher education institution in South Africa. In addition, the moderating roles of gender, marital status and whether or not the respondents had children were factors, in these academics‟ personal lives, which were taken into consideration in investigating the relationship between TASW and WLC. The study adopted a quantitative research approach, and made use of an online survey, composed of three sections, to collect data. Section A included demographic-related questions, while Section B contained questions from a pre-existing WLC scale, and Section C comprised of a pre-existing scale used to assess TASW. The sample consisted of academics from a higher education in South Africa (n = 216). The results of the research engaged in revealed a significant relationship between TASW and WLC. Regarding the relationship between TASW and the three forms of WLC, the results revealed that TASW is significantly and positively related to time-based and strainbased WLC. There is no significant relationship between TASW and behavioural-based WLC. TASW is a significant predictor of WLC. Furthermore, the results revealed that gender, children and marital status all significantly moderated the relationship between TASW and WLC. This study contributes further knowledge to the emerging field of research relating to TASW in a South African context. In addition, this study also emphasises the implications of using ICTs and their potential to encourage academics to extend their working hours. This study therefore questions the benefits of this work flexibility that many academics are privileged to have from using ICTs.
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Internet chat rooms: new meeting places for real identities
- Authors: Marneweck, Maritha
- Date: 2008-10-27T06:38:57Z
- Subjects: Internet , Virtual reality , Communication and technology , Online chat groups , Computer communication systems
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:13291 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1330
- Description: M.A. , The anonymity associated with Computer Mediated Communication has formed the basis of an assumption that fantasy is a prominent feature of interactions taking place via the internet. Some of the literature argues that through fantasy identities all participants are able to become whoever they want to be, creating new virtual communities where equality between members is fundamental in their interactions. The findings of this dissertation suggest, however, that anonymity is limited by the reasons for chat room participation. Further, all the members are not equal, with a clear hierarchy evident as one logs onto the site. This study also argues that the concept of ‘virtual communities’ is not an accurate description of what occurs in chat rooms. The examination of chat rooms as ‘new meeting places’ for real identities is expected to generate more accurate theoretical postulations, in which the significance of the linkages between on- and offline realities is acknowledged. The extended case method was used to examine a chat room, known as Conversations, to investigate the linkages between online participation patterns and offline realities. Issues concerning identity and identity formation informed the principal motives in the selection of a research design that allowed the researcher extensive exposure to the members of this chat room. Since the emphasis was on the discovery of the meaning the chatters themselves attached to their participation, it was important to use a comprehensive research design. To this effect, three complementary data gathering techniques were employed; namely: virtual participant observation, face-to-face participant observation and in-depth interviews. Through this innovative research design the linkages between social opportunities, individual motivation and chat room participation were illuminated. , Meera Ichharam Chris Bolsmann
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The adoption and implementation of the marketing concept in the information, communication and technologies (ICT) sector in South Africa
- Authors: Mazengera, Stewart
- Date: 2010-03-25T06:46:26Z
- Subjects: Information technology marketing , Communication and technology
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/377011 , uj:6705 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3107
- Description: D.Comm. , The marketing concept has been widely accepted as the most important component of marketing academia and practice since the 1950s. Over the decades the marketing concept has grown in stature - from being described as the old marketing concept to the new marketing concept. This was an evolutionary process that catapulted the marketing concept to a philosophy of conducting business that is considered the central tenet of a successful organization. The customer became the dead-end of all corporate efforts. However, the elevation of the marketing concept to the position of such unprecedented importance, and the articulation of market orientation as the implementation construct of the marketing concept represented the genesis of modern marketing and paved the way for generations of practitioners, consultants, and academic researchers. Most academic researchers cast doubt on the veracity of the concept among other issues and the marketing concept’s application and applicable areas became sticking points of argument. Despite much research undertaken, albeit mostly in the Western world, the marketing concept’s acceptance in the ICT sector in South Africa is a case in point. The purpose of the study was to test the adoption and implementation of the marketing concept in the ICT sector in South Africa, as envisaged in literature. The major elements of the study were to find the extent of the chosen respondents’ agreements in terms of the 39 questions in a questionnaire that represented the six pillars of the 21st century marketing concept, as defined in this study. Thereafter, the other sections of the questionnaire detailed the practical adoption and implementation of the marketing concept. The last section required of respondents to rank the six pillars of the marketing concept in terms of importance, the purpose being to lay a foundation for developing a framework that would be used for adoption and implementation of the marketing concept in the ICT sector. The major findings indicated that the ICT sector has accepted the marketing concept to an extent and that there are no differences in acceptance between the major subgroups, i.e. (i) services and manufacturing organizations and (ii) subsidiaries of international organizations and local South African organizations. The results show startling revelations about the ICT sector’s management philosophy. A framework for the adoption and implementation of the marketing concept in the ICT sector in South Africa was developed.
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