An analysis of the factors that influence effectiveness in information technology student project teams
- Authors: Patrellis, Yiota
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Information technology -- Management , Project management , Teams in the workplace , Organizational effectiveness
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10800 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/199 , Information technology -- Management , Project management , Teams in the workplace , Organizational effectiveness
- Description: More and more organizations are making use of teamwork. Effective teams are also important from an Information Technology (IT) perspective, since teamwork forms an integral part of all software development activities. It is therefore extremely important that IT students are able to work together as an effective team. These statements lead to the following questions – How can IT student project teams be effective and what obstacles need to be overcome in order to ensure effectiveness? This dissertation reports on an exploratory study of second and third year IT project teams and exposes factors that lead to ineffectiveness. Firstly, the problems experienced by the groups seem to have the largest detrimental effect on effective team functioning. Secondly, the project mark is also affected by the priority issue that is associated with the particular task. Thirdly, the issues of time management, communication, conflict management, compromise, social loafing and group cohesion also play an important role in team effectiveness. This dissertation sets out to prove that the key to "effectiveness" lies in empowering the student to deal with all possible dilemmas that may be faced when working in teams in the tertiary team situation. The benefits of these actions will hopefully lead to the realization of “effectiveness” in the tertiary team situation and ultimately, in the student’s work environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Patrellis, Yiota
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Information technology -- Management , Project management , Teams in the workplace , Organizational effectiveness
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10800 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/199 , Information technology -- Management , Project management , Teams in the workplace , Organizational effectiveness
- Description: More and more organizations are making use of teamwork. Effective teams are also important from an Information Technology (IT) perspective, since teamwork forms an integral part of all software development activities. It is therefore extremely important that IT students are able to work together as an effective team. These statements lead to the following questions – How can IT student project teams be effective and what obstacles need to be overcome in order to ensure effectiveness? This dissertation reports on an exploratory study of second and third year IT project teams and exposes factors that lead to ineffectiveness. Firstly, the problems experienced by the groups seem to have the largest detrimental effect on effective team functioning. Secondly, the project mark is also affected by the priority issue that is associated with the particular task. Thirdly, the issues of time management, communication, conflict management, compromise, social loafing and group cohesion also play an important role in team effectiveness. This dissertation sets out to prove that the key to "effectiveness" lies in empowering the student to deal with all possible dilemmas that may be faced when working in teams in the tertiary team situation. The benefits of these actions will hopefully lead to the realization of “effectiveness” in the tertiary team situation and ultimately, in the student’s work environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
CBiX a model for content-based billing in XML environments
- Authors: De Villiers, Peter
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: XML (Document Markup Language) , Access control , Pricing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10802 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/208 , XML (Document Markup Language) , Access control , Pricing
- Description: The new global economy is based on knowledge and information. Further- more, the Internet is facilitating new forms of revenue generation of which one recognized potential source is content delivery over the Internet. One aspect that is critical to ensuring a content-based revenue stream is billing. While there are a number of content-based billing systems commercially available, as far as can be determined these products are not based on a common model that can ensure interoperability and communication between the billing sys- tems. This dissertation addresses the need for a content-based billing model by developing the CBiX (Content-based Billing in XML Environments) model. This model, developed in a phased approach as a family of billing models, incorporates three aspects. The rst aspect is access control. The second as- pect is pricing, in the form of document, element and inherited element level pricing for content. The third aspect is XML as the platform for information exchange. The nature of the Internet facilitates information interchange, exible web business models and exible pricing. These facts, coupled with CBiX being concerned with billing for content over the Internet, leads to a number of decisions regarding the model: The CBiX model has to incorporate exible pricing. Therefore pricing is evolved through the development of the family of models from doc- ument level pricing to element level pricing to inherited element level pricing. The CBiX model has to be based on a platform for information inter- change that enables content delivery. XML provides a broad family of standards that is widely supported and creating the next generation Internet. XML is therefore selected as the environment for information exchange for CBiX. The CBiX model requires a form of access control that can provide access to content based on user properties. Credential-based Access Control is therefore selected as the method of access control for CBiX, whereby authorization is granted based on a set of user credentials. Furthermore, this dissertation reports on the development of a prototype. This serves a dual purpose: rstly, to assist the author in understanding the technologies and principles involved; secondly, to illustrate CBiX0 and therefore present a proof-of-concept of at least the base model. The CBiX model provides a base to guide and assist developers with regards to the issues involved with developing a billing system for XML- based environments.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: De Villiers, Peter
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: XML (Document Markup Language) , Access control , Pricing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10802 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/208 , XML (Document Markup Language) , Access control , Pricing
- Description: The new global economy is based on knowledge and information. Further- more, the Internet is facilitating new forms of revenue generation of which one recognized potential source is content delivery over the Internet. One aspect that is critical to ensuring a content-based revenue stream is billing. While there are a number of content-based billing systems commercially available, as far as can be determined these products are not based on a common model that can ensure interoperability and communication between the billing sys- tems. This dissertation addresses the need for a content-based billing model by developing the CBiX (Content-based Billing in XML Environments) model. This model, developed in a phased approach as a family of billing models, incorporates three aspects. The rst aspect is access control. The second as- pect is pricing, in the form of document, element and inherited element level pricing for content. The third aspect is XML as the platform for information exchange. The nature of the Internet facilitates information interchange, exible web business models and exible pricing. These facts, coupled with CBiX being concerned with billing for content over the Internet, leads to a number of decisions regarding the model: The CBiX model has to incorporate exible pricing. Therefore pricing is evolved through the development of the family of models from doc- ument level pricing to element level pricing to inherited element level pricing. The CBiX model has to be based on a platform for information inter- change that enables content delivery. XML provides a broad family of standards that is widely supported and creating the next generation Internet. XML is therefore selected as the environment for information exchange for CBiX. The CBiX model requires a form of access control that can provide access to content based on user properties. Credential-based Access Control is therefore selected as the method of access control for CBiX, whereby authorization is granted based on a set of user credentials. Furthermore, this dissertation reports on the development of a prototype. This serves a dual purpose: rstly, to assist the author in understanding the technologies and principles involved; secondly, to illustrate CBiX0 and therefore present a proof-of-concept of at least the base model. The CBiX model provides a base to guide and assist developers with regards to the issues involved with developing a billing system for XML- based environments.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Integrating information security into corporate culture
- Authors: Thomson, Kerry-Lynn
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Computer security -- Management , Corporate governance , Corporate culture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10801 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/132 , Computer security -- Management , Corporate governance , Corporate culture
- Description: Introduction: There are many components that are required for an organisation to be successful in its chosen field. These components vary from corporate culture, to corporate leadership, to effective protection of important assets. These and many more contribute to the success of an organisation. One component that should be a definitive part in the strategy of any organisation is information security. Information security is one of the fastest growing sub-disciplines in the Information Technology industry, indicating the importance of this field (Zylt, 2001, online). Information security is concerned with the implementation and support of control measures to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronically stored information (BS 7799-1, 1999, p 1). Information security is achieved by applying control measures that will lessen the threat, reduce the vulnerability or diminish the impact of losing an information asset. However, as a result of the fact that an increasing number of employees have access to information, the protection of information is no longer only dependent on physical and technical controls, but also, to a large extent, on the actions of employees utilising information resources. All employees have a role to play in safeguarding information and they need guidance in fulfilling these roles (Barnard, 1998, p 12). This guidance should originate from senior management, using good corporate governance practices. The effective leadership resulting from good corporate governance practices is another component in an organisation that contributes to its success (King Report, 2001, p 11). Corporate governance is defined as the exercise of power over and responsibility for corporate entities (Blackwell Publishers, 2000, online). Senior management, as part of its corporate governance duties, should encourage employees to adhere to the behaviour specified by senior management to contribute towards a successful organisation. Senior management should not dictate this behaviour, but encourage it as naturally as possible, resulting in the correct behaviour becoming part of the corporate culture. If the inner workings of organisations are explored it would be found that there are many hidden forces at work that determine how senior management and the employees relate to one another and to customers. These hidden forces are collectively called the culture of the organisation (Hagberg Consulting Group, 2002, online). Cultural assumptions in organisations grow around how people in the organisation relate to each other, but that is only a small part of what corporate culture actually covers (Schein, 1999, p 28). Corporate culture is the outcome of all the collective, taken-for-granted assumptions that a group has learned throughout history. Corporate culture is the residue of success. In other words, it is the set of procedures that senior management and employees of an organisation follow in order to be successful (Schein, 1999, p 29). Cultivating an effective corporate culture, managing an organisation using efficient corporate governance practices and protecting the valuable information assets of an organisation through an effective information security program are, individually, all important components in the success of an organisation. One of the biggest questions with regard to these three fields is the relationship that should exist between information security, corporate governance and corporate culture. In other words, what can the senior management of an organisation, using effective corporate governance practices, do to ensure that information security practices become a subconscious response in the corporate culture?.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Thomson, Kerry-Lynn
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Computer security -- Management , Corporate governance , Corporate culture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10801 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/132 , Computer security -- Management , Corporate governance , Corporate culture
- Description: Introduction: There are many components that are required for an organisation to be successful in its chosen field. These components vary from corporate culture, to corporate leadership, to effective protection of important assets. These and many more contribute to the success of an organisation. One component that should be a definitive part in the strategy of any organisation is information security. Information security is one of the fastest growing sub-disciplines in the Information Technology industry, indicating the importance of this field (Zylt, 2001, online). Information security is concerned with the implementation and support of control measures to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronically stored information (BS 7799-1, 1999, p 1). Information security is achieved by applying control measures that will lessen the threat, reduce the vulnerability or diminish the impact of losing an information asset. However, as a result of the fact that an increasing number of employees have access to information, the protection of information is no longer only dependent on physical and technical controls, but also, to a large extent, on the actions of employees utilising information resources. All employees have a role to play in safeguarding information and they need guidance in fulfilling these roles (Barnard, 1998, p 12). This guidance should originate from senior management, using good corporate governance practices. The effective leadership resulting from good corporate governance practices is another component in an organisation that contributes to its success (King Report, 2001, p 11). Corporate governance is defined as the exercise of power over and responsibility for corporate entities (Blackwell Publishers, 2000, online). Senior management, as part of its corporate governance duties, should encourage employees to adhere to the behaviour specified by senior management to contribute towards a successful organisation. Senior management should not dictate this behaviour, but encourage it as naturally as possible, resulting in the correct behaviour becoming part of the corporate culture. If the inner workings of organisations are explored it would be found that there are many hidden forces at work that determine how senior management and the employees relate to one another and to customers. These hidden forces are collectively called the culture of the organisation (Hagberg Consulting Group, 2002, online). Cultural assumptions in organisations grow around how people in the organisation relate to each other, but that is only a small part of what corporate culture actually covers (Schein, 1999, p 28). Corporate culture is the outcome of all the collective, taken-for-granted assumptions that a group has learned throughout history. Corporate culture is the residue of success. In other words, it is the set of procedures that senior management and employees of an organisation follow in order to be successful (Schein, 1999, p 29). Cultivating an effective corporate culture, managing an organisation using efficient corporate governance practices and protecting the valuable information assets of an organisation through an effective information security program are, individually, all important components in the success of an organisation. One of the biggest questions with regard to these three fields is the relationship that should exist between information security, corporate governance and corporate culture. In other words, what can the senior management of an organisation, using effective corporate governance practices, do to ensure that information security practices become a subconscious response in the corporate culture?.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
The development of a model for organising educational resources on an Intranet
- Authors: Sing Min, Yvonne Monica
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Intranets (Computer networks) , Education -- Computer network resources , Internet in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10799 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/221 , Intranets (Computer networks) , Education -- Computer network resources , Internet in education
- Description: The twenty-first century has found education at the crossroads of change. There are burgeoning challenges facing the modern educator. To rise to the importuning, educators find themselves turning to Information Technology for the answers. The technologies utilised in attempts to overcome the challenges often include the Internet and electronic educational resources. Although the Internet is not unduly called the Information Highway, it is also fraught with misleading and incorrect information. Educators’ arduous searches result in few good and useable resources. Thus, to store, organise and efficiently retrieve the discovered resources is a matter of time-saving. The aim of the study was to develop a method to organise and retrieve educational resources in an efficient and personalised manner. In order to do this, an exploration into pedagogy and educational paradigms was undertaken. The current educational paradigm, constructivism, proposes that each learner is an individual with unique learning and personal needs. To develop a new model, the current models need to be understood. The current solutions for the organising of educational resources are realised as several software packages, also called e-learning packages. A list of criteria that describes the essential requirements for organising educational resources was established. These criteria were based upon the pedagogical principles prescribed by educators and the practical technological frameworks necessary to fulfil the needs of the teaching/learning situation. These criteria were utilised to critique and explore the available solutions. It was found that although the available e-learning packages fulfil a need within their genre, it does not meet with the core requirements of constructivism. The resource base model seeks to address these needs by focussing on the educational aspects of resource delivery over an Intranet. For the purposes of storing, organising and delivering the resources, a database had to be established. This database had to have numerous qualities, including the ability to search and retrieve resources with great efficiency. Retrieving data in an efficient manner is the forte of the star schema, while the storing and organising of data is the strength of a normalised schema. It is not standard practice to utilise both types of schemas within the same database. A star schema is usually reserved for data warehouses because of its data retrieval abilities. It is customary to utilise a normalised schema for operational databases. The resource base model, however, needs both the storage facilities of an operational database and the efficient query facilities of a data warehouse. The resource base model, therefore, melds both schemas into one database with interlinking tables. This database forms the foundation (or the back-end) of the resource base. The resource base model utilises web browsers as its user interface (or front-end). The results of the study on the pedagogy, the current e-learning solutions and the resource base were written up within this dissertation. The contribution that this dissertation makes is the development of a technique to efficiently store, organise and retrieve educational resources in such a manner that both the requirements of constructivism and outcomes-based education are fulfilled. To this end, a list of technological and pedagogical criteria on which to critique a resource delivery technique has been developed. This dissertation also elaborates on the schema designs chosen for the resource base, namely the normalised schema and the star schema. From this schema, a prototype has been developed. The prototype’s function was two-fold. The first function is to determine the feasibility of the technique. Secondly, to determine the success of the technique in fulfilling the needs expressed in the list of criteria
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Sing Min, Yvonne Monica
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Intranets (Computer networks) , Education -- Computer network resources , Internet in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10799 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/221 , Intranets (Computer networks) , Education -- Computer network resources , Internet in education
- Description: The twenty-first century has found education at the crossroads of change. There are burgeoning challenges facing the modern educator. To rise to the importuning, educators find themselves turning to Information Technology for the answers. The technologies utilised in attempts to overcome the challenges often include the Internet and electronic educational resources. Although the Internet is not unduly called the Information Highway, it is also fraught with misleading and incorrect information. Educators’ arduous searches result in few good and useable resources. Thus, to store, organise and efficiently retrieve the discovered resources is a matter of time-saving. The aim of the study was to develop a method to organise and retrieve educational resources in an efficient and personalised manner. In order to do this, an exploration into pedagogy and educational paradigms was undertaken. The current educational paradigm, constructivism, proposes that each learner is an individual with unique learning and personal needs. To develop a new model, the current models need to be understood. The current solutions for the organising of educational resources are realised as several software packages, also called e-learning packages. A list of criteria that describes the essential requirements for organising educational resources was established. These criteria were based upon the pedagogical principles prescribed by educators and the practical technological frameworks necessary to fulfil the needs of the teaching/learning situation. These criteria were utilised to critique and explore the available solutions. It was found that although the available e-learning packages fulfil a need within their genre, it does not meet with the core requirements of constructivism. The resource base model seeks to address these needs by focussing on the educational aspects of resource delivery over an Intranet. For the purposes of storing, organising and delivering the resources, a database had to be established. This database had to have numerous qualities, including the ability to search and retrieve resources with great efficiency. Retrieving data in an efficient manner is the forte of the star schema, while the storing and organising of data is the strength of a normalised schema. It is not standard practice to utilise both types of schemas within the same database. A star schema is usually reserved for data warehouses because of its data retrieval abilities. It is customary to utilise a normalised schema for operational databases. The resource base model, however, needs both the storage facilities of an operational database and the efficient query facilities of a data warehouse. The resource base model, therefore, melds both schemas into one database with interlinking tables. This database forms the foundation (or the back-end) of the resource base. The resource base model utilises web browsers as its user interface (or front-end). The results of the study on the pedagogy, the current e-learning solutions and the resource base were written up within this dissertation. The contribution that this dissertation makes is the development of a technique to efficiently store, organise and retrieve educational resources in such a manner that both the requirements of constructivism and outcomes-based education are fulfilled. To this end, a list of technological and pedagogical criteria on which to critique a resource delivery technique has been developed. This dissertation also elaborates on the schema designs chosen for the resource base, namely the normalised schema and the star schema. From this schema, a prototype has been developed. The prototype’s function was two-fold. The first function is to determine the feasibility of the technique. Secondly, to determine the success of the technique in fulfilling the needs expressed in the list of criteria
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
WSP3: a web service model for personal privacy protection
- Authors: Ophoff, Jacobus Albertus
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Data protection , Computer security , Privacy, Right of
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10798 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/272 , Data protection , Computer security , Privacy, Right of
- Description: The prevalent use of the Internet not only brings with it numerous advantages, but also some drawbacks. The biggest of these problems is the threat to the individual’s personal privacy. This privacy issue is playing a growing role with respect to technological advancements. While new service-based technologies are considerably increasing the scope of information flow, the cost is a loss of control over personal information and therefore privacy. Existing privacy protection measures might fail to provide effective privacy protection in these new environments. This dissertation focuses on the use of new technologies to improve the levels of personal privacy. In this regard the WSP3 (Web Service Model for Personal Privacy Protection) model is formulated. This model proposes a privacy protection scheme using Web Services. Having received tremendous industry backing, Web Services is a very topical technology, promising much in the evolution of the Internet. In our society privacy is highly valued and a very important issue. Protecting personal privacy in environments using new technologies is crucial for their future success. These facts, combined with the detail that the WSP3 model focusses on Web Service environments, lead to the following realizations for the model: The WSP3 model provides users with control over their personal information and allows them to express their desired level of privacy. Parties requiring access to a user’s information are explicitly defined by the user, as well as the information available to them. The WSP3 model utilizes a Web Services architecture to provide privacy protection. In addition, it integrates security techniques, such as cryptography, into the architecture as required. The WSP3 model integrates with current standards to maintain their benefits. This allows the implementation of the model in any environment supporting these base technologies. In addition, the research involves the development of a prototype according to the model. This prototype serves to present a proof-of-concept by illustrating the WSP3 model and all the technologies involved. The WSP3 model gives users control over their privacy and allows everyone to decide their own level of protection. By incorporating Web Services, the model also shows how new technologies can be used to offer solutions to existing problem areas.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Ophoff, Jacobus Albertus
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Data protection , Computer security , Privacy, Right of
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Information Technology)
- Identifier: vital:10798 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/272 , Data protection , Computer security , Privacy, Right of
- Description: The prevalent use of the Internet not only brings with it numerous advantages, but also some drawbacks. The biggest of these problems is the threat to the individual’s personal privacy. This privacy issue is playing a growing role with respect to technological advancements. While new service-based technologies are considerably increasing the scope of information flow, the cost is a loss of control over personal information and therefore privacy. Existing privacy protection measures might fail to provide effective privacy protection in these new environments. This dissertation focuses on the use of new technologies to improve the levels of personal privacy. In this regard the WSP3 (Web Service Model for Personal Privacy Protection) model is formulated. This model proposes a privacy protection scheme using Web Services. Having received tremendous industry backing, Web Services is a very topical technology, promising much in the evolution of the Internet. In our society privacy is highly valued and a very important issue. Protecting personal privacy in environments using new technologies is crucial for their future success. These facts, combined with the detail that the WSP3 model focusses on Web Service environments, lead to the following realizations for the model: The WSP3 model provides users with control over their personal information and allows them to express their desired level of privacy. Parties requiring access to a user’s information are explicitly defined by the user, as well as the information available to them. The WSP3 model utilizes a Web Services architecture to provide privacy protection. In addition, it integrates security techniques, such as cryptography, into the architecture as required. The WSP3 model integrates with current standards to maintain their benefits. This allows the implementation of the model in any environment supporting these base technologies. In addition, the research involves the development of a prototype according to the model. This prototype serves to present a proof-of-concept by illustrating the WSP3 model and all the technologies involved. The WSP3 model gives users control over their privacy and allows everyone to decide their own level of protection. By incorporating Web Services, the model also shows how new technologies can be used to offer solutions to existing problem areas.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
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