Barriers to implementation of IT in educational institutions

A quantitative content analysis of Turkish state universities' official websites in terms of their preparedness and actions during emergency distance education in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic period

Most universities worldwide had to temporarily interrupt face-to-face education and start Emergency Distance Education (EDE) due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It is useful to identify the difficulties and problems that universities faced in this process in order that they can carry out a similar process more efficiently in the future. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct an in vivo examination of EDE from the institutional perspective within the scope of universities during the pandemic period in Turkey. To this end, all state university websites were searched according to 27 criteria which were determined to set out the EDE readiness status of universities. The results revealed that higher education institutions had difficulty in providing sufficient pedagogical and technical guidance to academic staff due to the rapid transition. With respect to students, distance course contents, activities and announcements were not equitably accessible for students from foreign countries and those with disabilities owing to the lack of information and communications technology (ICT) tools, internet connection, translation, etc. A remarkable number of higher education institutions preferred the features of distance education tools such as cost, familiarity, stability, availability of technical support, and short preparation time rather than their pedagogical affordances.

Systems change in UK HEIs: how do culture, management, users and systems align?

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to assess the implementation of integrated information systems in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) via multiple internal stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach analyses the implementation strategy of two HEIs and assesses the impact of new systems on working practices. This involves interviews with various stakeholder groups from the HEIs, capturing 35 interviews.

Findings

Results indicate that growth of alternative power bases emerge within both HEIs, as well as new roles and responsibilities for administrative staff, and different working practices for academics. Varying levels of importance are given to people and culture, management support, user involvement and clarity of communication and systems' requirements at project pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation stages.

Practical implications

This study provides lessons of HEIs planning to undertake significant change by implementing integrated information systems. Challenges emerge around fit, complexity, training, communication and consultation. Benefits gained and emerging challenges show some commonality between the two case HEIs, pointing the way forward for other “large” (student number determined) HEIs embarking on similar change.

Originality/value

The UK HEI sector is experiencing major change emphasising cost reduction and operational efficiency. Understanding challenges relating to significant systems change in complex settings with varying stakeholder demands has considerable sectoral value.

Building Ambidextrous Supply Chains in SMEs

Ambidexterity involves developing competencies to excel simultaneously on the exploration and exploitation dimensions. Few studies in literature discuss ambidexterity in a supply chain context. The research presented in this paper highlights issues that act as barriers and deserve attention in implementing ambidextrous supply chain strategy in SMEs. To develop a relationship structure existing among these variables, Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) technique is used. Further, variables' impact and dependency is calculated using Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) approach. ISM algorithm proves to be a better tool as compared to a large-scale generic questionnaire based study due to its iterative nature that helps to bring forth issues that are difficult to identify otherwise. SMEs in India under tremendous pressure to excel on exploration and exploitation dimensions would be the major beneficiaries of this study. The hierarchy based structure and the classification of factors based on their impact and dependence, will enhance the understanding of SMEs mangers/owners to improve supply chain performance by eliminating barriers and thereby implementing ambidextrous strategy across the supply chain.

Cultural change through the implementation of an enterprise system

Purpose

Organisations spend a lot of money, time and resources on enterprise system (ES) implementation and often they do not realise the expected benefits from these complex systems. There is a gap in the literature in providing sufficient insight into the implementation process or how an ES might influence or contribute to a culture change. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap in the ES literature around culture by exploring the implementation that was undertaken within a large UK university.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper contributes to the higher education (HE) and ES literature through an in-depth study of an ES, Strategic Information Technology Services (SITS) implementation within a university in the UK. The study was undertaken over a three-year period where one of the authors was embedded within the organisation.

Findings

Using a cultural analysis framework, the extensive rich data were analysed and the outcomes indicate that SITS has had a huge influence on the culture of the university; the technology’s rigid structure has imposed many changes that had not been anticipated.

Originality/value

ES have recently emerged in the HE sector where they are intended to support the management of student data and provide strategic management information. Although there are many studies which have explored important aspects of the implementation of ES, one area that appears to have been under-researched is how these systems are implicated in culture change within organisations. The results of this study will enable managers as well as IT specialists to gain rich insights into an ES implementation in the HE sector and to use this knowledge for future implementations.

Identifying and overcoming barriers to deployment of information technology projects in hotels

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate potential barriers to deployment of information technology (IT) projects and evaluate strategies to overcome them in hotel companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data were collected through a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews from IT managers, chief information officers, and hotel general managers.

Findings

The research findings demonstrate that barriers to IT implementation occur in three different stages. They are pre-implementation (cost and return on investment, resistance by owners/executives); during the implementation (integration, time delays, vendor communication problems, and resistance by employees); and post-implementation (inadequate training and resistance from customers).

Research limitations/implications

The research findings suggest a contingency approach where organizations should employ various specific strategies depending on the situation to overcome these barriers. Multiple theoretical perspectives should be utilized to evaluate potential barriers to IT projects and utilize specific strategies to overcome them.

Originality/value

This is one of the first empirical studies which provide specific theoretical and practical implications on barriers when implementing IT projects in hotels.

Requirement Paradigms to Implement the Software Projects in Agile Development Using Analytical Hierarchy Process

The primary focus of a successful organization is to deliver the high quality product to fulfil the client's needs. In the software industry, quality requirements play a major role for the projects to be successful. Quality requirements are influenced by the users, clients and stakeholders analysis to reduce the burden of requirement engineering process. So it is essential to select only the appropriate requirements that could be associated with the final product. This empirical research presents a framework by using Analytical Hierarchy Process to calculate the critical attributes that are influencing from the requirement selection to requirement prioritization in an uncertain environment. The experiment was accomplished by calculating the relative importance of those attributes, through the survey carried out with the help of agile experts. The utility measure is obtained from these attributes demonstrating the improvement in the performance. Consistency ratio is also evaluated for the comparison matrix.