Browsing by Subject "Information resources management"
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Item A comparative study of task domain analysis to enhance organizational knowledge management: systems thinking and Goldratt's thinking processes(Texas Tech University, 2000-12) Musa, Philip FatingandaThe focus in this research is the evaluation of the effectiveness of two problem solving or task analysis methodologies in order to enhance of knowledge management in organizations. The two methodologies are systems thinking and Goldratt's thinking processes. One of the goals of the research is to investigate the effectiveness of the two theories in managing task domains when controlling for individual differences. The effectiveness of each methodology relative to task domain is investigated. The synergies between the two theories are also investigated. In this research, knowledge management centers more on humans rather than on computers. As a leadoff, a background overview of knowledge and knowledge management is first presented. Within the context of knowledge management, the subject of task analysis or problem solving is then presented. The literature on problem solving is surveyed and a research model using the two methodologies of interest is developed and validated. Fundamentally, knowledge management has to do with the creation of explicit processes that enhance knowledge and learning throughout the organization. Knowledge could be defined more generally as "any text, fact, example, event, rule, hypothesis, or model that increases understanding or performance in a domain or discipline" (Liebowitz and Beckman, 1998, p.49). Maintaining this perspective, knowledge management is defined as "the systematic, explicit, and deliberate building, renewal, and application of knowledge to maximize the enterprise's knowledge-related effectiveness and returns from its knowledge asset" (Liebowitz and Beckman, 1998, p.51). According to Liebowitz and Beckman, knowledge asset refers to the organizational knowledge imbedded in the human resources that make up given organization. Knowledge management requires systematic attention to learning processes, culture, technology infrastructure and measurement (Brown and Massey, 1999). Since organizations are often made of workgroups or teams, and the workgroups are, in turn, made up of individuals, when we speak of organizational learning or knowledge management, aggregation should be preceded by analysis at the individual level. Ten major hypotheses are generated and tested using laboratory experiments. The results of the study would help managers gain a better understanding of how to evaluate programs in general, and the dynamics of the two investigated task analysis methods in particular. Other theoretical contributions and future research plans are discussed.Item A framework for propagating measures of performance throughout organizations using object-oriented technology(Texas Tech University, 1997-05) Marquis, Gerald P.The merging of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) with Object-Oriented Technology (OOT) has been substantively advanced by many authors [Carr and Johansson, 1995; Jacobson et al., 1995; Taylor, 1990, 1995; Yourdon, 1994]. BPR is defined as "The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to bring about dramatic improvements in performance" [Hammer and Stanton, 1995, p. 3]. These business processes will most often span across multiple business functions. A business process is "a set of linked activities that take an input, transform it, and create an output" [Carr and Johansson, 1995, p. 9] while a business function refers to the fragmented simple, repetitive steps that are carried out by single departments within the organization [Hammer and Champy, 1993]. This makes it very difficult for the traditional information systems (IS), that were developed to support business functions, to also support a newly developed business process. Object-oriented technology (OOT) is becoming the paradigm of choice to support business process reengineering due to its flexibility and reusability.Item Comparing structured systems analysis techniques using automation supports(Texas Tech University, 1993-05) Green, Harrison D.A significant problem facing information systems managers is the choice of a methodology for describing system requirements. There are certain limitations to methodologies in common use. The problem is compounded by the recent introduction of Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) Tools. Purchasing such a tool often requires an initial commitment to a methodology. Focusing on the diagraming phase of Requirements Definition, a comparison framework is rigorously developed Two diagraming techniques are selected and tested in an educational setting. Since the experiment was replicated during several semesters, it falls into the category of meta-analysis. Experimental outcomes are sufficiently significant to suggest possible causation. CASE tools provided more support for output quality and ease of learning for the technique that was more rule-oriented.Item Concurrency modeling extensions to the Fusion development methodology(Texas Tech University, 1997-05) Wenzel, Peter W.The "Fusion" software development methodology is a self-claimed second-generation full-coverage development method for object-oriented software covering the traditional analysis, design, and implementation phases as well as providing management tools for software development. Fusion's deficiency is its lack of support for concurrency modeling which is essential in the problem domains of all real-time systems. With this one exception. Fusion is an excellent example of a fully integrated object-oriented development methodology, combining the best of several first-generation object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) methods. The Fusion development methodology may be extended by integrating concurrency modeling into the method, making it more suitable for real-time problem domains. The goals of this thesis are threefold: (1) identify the requirements for modeling concurrency in object-oriented systems, (2) propose extensions to the Fusion object-oriented method for modeling concurrency, and (3) demonstrate the proposed concurrency modeling extensions via a case study. The thesis identifies basic object-oriented concurrency modeling requirements by examining existing concurrency modeling techniques. These requirements are then used to form highly integrated concurrency modeling extensions to the Fusion object-oriented development methodology. Finally, the Fusion concurrency modeling extensions are demonstrated using the telecommunications real-time problem domain of cellular digital packet data (CDPD).