Inligting as onderneminghulpbron in die Roodepoort administrasie
- Authors: Van Wyk, Brenda
- Date: 1996
- Subjects: Local government -- South Africa -- Roodepoort , Management -- Information services , Information audits
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:9524 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5952
- Description: M.A. , Researchers and futurists like Alvin Toner state that we are currently moving into the information era. In the information economy, information is an alternative source of capital. The role of information in the management of an organisation is being realised by more and more high profile companies and organisations. Information management should form part of top management. Information management does not only consist of the management of information technology. It consists of the whole information spectrum which includes information technology, information services as well as information systems. It implies the management of information as an organisational resource. Many companies and organisations however do not recognise information as a resource. It is therefore not managed as such. In most organisations information management develops in different stages until it reaches a state of maturity. The question arises what the cost implication is if information in this day and age is not managed as a valuable resource. The value of information is often difficult to establish and measure. The value of information depends on its timeliness and usefulness in a specific situation. It is therefore important that the organisation should be aware of the nature of its information resources as well as its location and flow. This can be achieved by a thorough information audit. When the organisation is aware of the extent of its information resources as well as its usage, the relation between cost and value can be determent. A cost-benefit analyses will establish whether the costs spend on information is justified. Because of the intricate nature of information a cost-benefit analyses renders several problems. Its usefulness are often questioned. It goes without saying that where unnessary costs are avoided the organisation will benefit. The process of cost avoidance is seen as a form of cost-benefit analysis. Local government in South Africa is the third tier of government, and currently in a process of change. The principles of Public Administration plays an important part in the management of local government. The absence of the profit motive in local government is often used as a reason why general management principles are not applied. Information plays an important role in local government decision making. An information audit in the Roodepoort Administration identified several important information resources. Through interviews and a case study it was established that information management does not occur on top level. Information is not recognised as a resource. This does not lead to cost avoidance. This study concludes that the Roodepoort Administration is in an early stage of information management, where information technology is managed to a certain degree. The lack of information management in the Roodepoort administration causes unnessary costs, departmentalisation and duplication of information. The recognisation of information as an organisational resource in the Roodepoort Administration, and in local government as a whole will assure effective and cost-effective decision making and administration. Cost avoidance will lead to accountable administration of communities.
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Information audit as a management tool at a teachers training college
- Authors: Gxwati, Ntombizandile Irene
- Date: 2009-01-12T07:23:52Z
- Subjects: Information audits , Information resource management , Teachers colleges , Cicira College of Education
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:14783 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1860
- Description: M.Inf. , Information is a vital resource for every enterprise for innovation and effective decision-making. In other words, information is vital in all spheres of national development. It is vital for development planning and for building an internationally competitive economy. People need information to participate in a democratic process and thus without information the best and most idealistically development plans are likely to fail. As a result of the importance of information in an enterprise, it requires to be managed effectively in order to establish whether the information assets of a particular enterprise are in line with business objectives or not. Information auditing techniques such as InfoMapp have been developed in order to guide an auditor on how to go about auditing information resources of a particular enterprise. Cicira College is a teacher’s training college and its information assets need to be managed and audited like other resources. Hence this study has been undertaken to establish whether the information assets available at Cicira College meet its goals and objectives. The InfoMapp method developed by Burk and Horton has been used to conduct the information audit at Cicira College. This technique has been chosen because of its ability to match the information assets with strategic planning.
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Developing a scaleable information architecture for an enterprise wide consolidated information management platform
- Authors: Van der Walt, Pieter Willem
- Date: 2009-01-15T13:10:59Z
- Subjects: Information organization , Management information systems , Information technology , Information audits , Information resources management
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:14794 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1870
- Description: D.Litt. et Phil. , This research addresses the concept of “information architecture” as a way of visualising and describing the various information assets and interaction of these assets within the organisation. The research further provides definitions of information and contextualises the information audit and information model as key tool for the information manager in establishing the information architecture. The establishment of the information architecture is illustrated through a case study within a large conglomeration of companies requiring a scaleable information architecture in order to address its information requirements. Through a process of interviews the information requirements of key decisions makers are established. These requirements are translated into an information architecture that forms the basis of support in delivering future information requirements for the company. The results of this research have been successfully implemented and now form the foundation of all future information management projects within this particular case study.
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Information as a resource in academic institutions
- Authors: Raphela, Mashudubele Isaiah
- Date: 2012-08-13
- Subjects: Information resources management -- South Africa , Information policy -- South Africa , Information audits , Academic libraries -- South Africa
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:9126 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5582
- Description: M.Inf. , The research study investigates the importance of information as a resource in academic institutions. The study serves to answer questions appertaining to management of information as a resource, such as, what is information resource management? How should information as a resource be managed in academic institutions? How should information be audited? Which stages should be followed in developing information policy? The interrelationships of information as a resource, information auditing and information policy as managerial components are discussed. Information audit and information policy become the major components of management of information as a resource. Information in various enterprises is becoming increasingly recognized as a resource. The study purports to indicate that information as a resource can be managed like other traditional resources such as labour, entrepreneurship, capital and natural resources to use it for competitive advantage. The aims of information audit and information policy are to serve as fundamental development of an information managerial strategy. The information audit enables the information service to pursue the most significant strategic marketing of its information resources. The necessary breadth of information auditing techniques, such as Burk and Horton's "Infomap" are required to fulfill a wide variety of objectives. They analyze the effective methodology for auditing information resource controls and help to identify relevant and accurate information resources for the purpose of learning, teaching and research. The purpose of developing information policy is prompted by the objective of which the information enterprise would successfully like to achieve. It is more appropriate to develop a set of information policies, each of which is concerned with a specific area of operation or focussed on other topics of interest and informational value within the academic institution. At the ultimate end the University of the North is singled out as a model for the development of information policy.
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A conceptual framework for information technology project management auditing
- Authors: Muka, Jean-Paul Mbuyamba
- Date: 2012-11-06
- Subjects: Information technology management , Project management , Electronic data procesing - Auditing , Information audits
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:7356 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8112
- Description: M.Tech. , In this age of ever-increasing competition, organisations are facing unprecedented pressure to meet the combined obligations of showing returns to shareholders, and staying ahead of the competition. To meet these obligations, organisations have become increasingly dependent on technology, as an enabler. This dependency suggests that technology projects have become strategically more important than ever for organisations; yet the success of technology projects remains questionable. Furthermore, organisations do not have simple mechanisms to allow them to quickly and accurately trace the causes of IT project management failures. One of the causes of project management failures is the inability and/or unwillingness of project managers to adhere to project management best practices adopted by their organisations. This research proposes a simple and repeatable model to help organisations determine whether they are indeed following the project management best practices which they purport to follow. The research methods consisted firstly of a wide review of relevant literature on auditing, project management, and IT governance. Secondly, empirical data was collected and analysed. Thirdly, modelling was used to develop a conceptual model for auditing IT project management. The empirical study is based on a semi-structured interview, involving ten project managers in charge of IT projects. The findings from this research confirm that project managers do not adhere to project management best practices which they purport to follow. Consequently, this dissertation concludes that IT project managers must adhere to best practices adopted by their organisations, regardless of how impractical or inconvenient that may seem; the proposed model for auditing IT project management helps them achieve just that.
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