Copyright (c) 2009 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/hhasan Recent documents in Assoc. Prof. Helen Hasan en-us Sun, 31 May 2009 06:31:19 PDT 3600 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/22 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/22 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:54:22 PST IT has a role to play in the current debate on climate change. The current discourse on IT and climate change views IT in a negative light, as a polluter. What remains unrecognized is the critical role of IT as a source of solutions to the climate change problem. We live in a massive, inter-connected Planet Earth Supply Chain. IT provides a range of tools to model, manage and optimize this supply chain. The University of Wollongong Carbon-Centric Computing Initiative (CCCI) seeks to seed a program of research that addresses the climate change problem with a range of computing technologies including (but not limited to): optimization technologies, supply chain management technologies, business process management/process improvement technologies, grid computing (e.g., utility grid) and virtualization technologies, ICT-enabled conferencing and collaboration technologies as well as ICT for knowledge sharing and network-centric advocacy. The contours of this new and exciting space for research and industry development are described in this report authored by three University of Wollongong academics: Prof. Aditya Ghose (Director, Decision Systems Lab, School of Computer Science and Software Engineering), A/Prof. Helen Hasan (Director, ATUL, School of Economics) and Prof. Trevor Spedding (Head, School of Management and Marketing). The report provides insights into a set of representative points within this new space. It describes how existing web infrastructure could be leveraged to devise the optimizing web -- a massive, globally inter-connected network of optimizers helping support decisions that would reduce the global carbon footprint. It describes how computer simulation models can provide the basis for sustainable manufacturing and environmental management in the enterprise. It describes how IT based techniques can help support supply chain optimization audits to determine if and how value might be best derived from the judicious use of optimization technology. It describes the critical role ICT-enabled collaboration technologies can play in reducing the carbon footprint. It also addresses the key role ICT-based knowledge sharing and network-centric advocacy can play in obtaining broader social engagement in this debate. The report addresses the policy dimension to these issues and the need for an industry-academia consortium to drive such an agenda forward. A. Ghose http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/21 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/21 Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:27 PDT Regional communities often encompass the variety of skills and knowledge needed to take advantage of the Internet in order to open up their products and services to the global market place. They can, however, lack the foresight to identify opportunities to bring this diverse capability together and then manage it to carry out projects to successful outcomes. This paper presents a case where economic and technical expertise from a regional university has joined with exceptional artists, working in a struggling local indigenous community, to conduct a project to develop an e-commerce website both to sell their art-works and to promote their rich local culture. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory has been adopted to underpin a study of this project as it provides a multifaceted, holistic and dynamic framework for analysis and presentation of the findings. In this case of participatory research, activity is a suitable unit of analysis where the project team is a collective subject composed of individuals who bring different skills and understandings to bear on a common object, the e-commerce site. In addition to the commercial outcomes, this endeavour has provided intangible benefits in business know-how to the indigenous community. It also provides a place for them to publish their cultural heritage and is a demonstrable example of engagement in regional welfare for the university. A. Hodgkinson http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/20 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/20 Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:24 PDT This paper concerns public emergency situations, which are the responsibility of a select set of organisations in the public, private and community sectors. It reports on an analysis of the knowledge management implications of mobile networks, using wireless technology designed for such situations. This follows the path of a research project concerning the need to integrate technological, logistical and organisational knowledge management issues within and between organisations with regard to their response to emergency situations. The analysis of a secondary case is used to illustrate and analyse the issue using a realistic and holistic approach. H. Pousti http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/19 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/19 Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:22 PDT There is current interest in design science as a research method in the field of Information Systems. This paper explores this proposition by incorporating established theories into the design research process. These include a view of information systems as essentially socio-technical, notions of tool mediation and expansive learning from Activity Theory and the concept of emergence from Complexity Theory where good design outcomes come from non-deterministic and organic processes. A case of innovative collaborative systems development illustrates how this view of design science may be of value. H. Hasan http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/18 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/18 Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:19 PDT This paper describes research into problems commonly experienced when implementing an off-the-shelf information system into the complex work-practices of an organisation. Encountering such an occurrence, the authors employed a grounded theory approach to study the case though the collection, analysis and interpretation of a variety of data. The case concerned the troubled introduction, into a large educational institution, of a complex class timetabling system that was already well established in another similar organisations. Unanticipated problems encountered by various stakeholders in the system during and following the implementation of the system are documented and classified into three categories: knowledge issues, system issues, and organisational issues. Aspects of these categories are analysed for this particular case and then generalised to provide lessons for those in any similar situation. H. Hasan http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/17 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/17 Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:16 PDT In the ideal organisational environment, the voluntary transfer of information and knowledge would be the norm, and this understanding would underpin ongoing collective sense-making, leading to appropriate and creative actions for organizational outcomes. Workplaces are full of learning opportunities and in work life, socially based learning is occurring all the time. This paper describes Go*Team, a micro world simulation, for helping enculture the importance of collaborative processes that are at the heart of a knowledge sharing culture. The design of Go*Team and ways of playing the game are discussed, as are ways that Go*Team can be applied in order to gain a better understanding of the collective processes and behaviour of people in organizations. L. Warne http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/16 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/16 Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:13 PDT The holistic and insightful nature of the (cultural-historical) Activity Theory has led to its use by several researchers as a suitable vehicle for understanding and analysis in many areas of IS research and practice. This paper demonstrates the application of Activity Theory to the study of socio-technical systems which mediate complex, collective activities in the modern workplace and in everyday life. Vignettes from five ongoing research projects are reported in order to illustrate not only the explanatory power of the Activity Theory research framework but also its use in determining appropriate methods used to manage the data collection and analysis processes as well as its interpretation., The paper demonstrates the variety of IS topics where an Activity Theory based approach is able to add richness and insight. K. Crawford http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/15 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/15 Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:11 PDT While many progressive enterprises are becoming more network-centric, many research-oriented organisations retain a traditional hierarchy with an ego-centric culture. Paradoxically, network-centrism is associated with technology, innovation and creativity, the hallmarks of cutting-edge research. Using concepts of emergence from complexity theory, this study takes a developmental, action research approach to the application of social network analysis in legitimising a network of research groups in a traditionally managed institution. The results indicate that an emergent network is as valid an organisational structure as an imposed hierarchy for research management. The study also demonstrates the use of social network analysis and similar technological applications in democratising organisational decision-making in respective of group innovation. H. Hasan http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/14 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/14 Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:08 PDT Conversational technologies such as discussion forums, chatrooms, Weblogs or blogs and Wikis have transformed the way information is exchanged and disseminated in civil society but their take up in corporations is slow. One reason for this is the way they democratise organisational information and knowledge with consequential changes in the distribution of power, rights and obligations. The authors will discuss the opportunities and the threats associated with the corporate Wiki and the implications of this for the future of the field of Information Systems. H. Hasan http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/13 http://works.bepress.com/hhasan/13 Wed, 28 May 2008 14:14:05 PDT This paper tells the story of the development of the Australian Standard in Knowledge Management that is due for release at the end of 2004. It does this in the context of the nature of this Standard and with the knowledge of the lengthy and sometimes difficult process that was undertaken. It is hoped that this view of the Standard and its development will encourage its adoption and acceptance by the KM community. H. Hasan