Future postgraduate student scholarships

Information systems projects

Measuring the business value of IT outsourcing success

This project will look at developing a comprehensive instrument for measuring the business value of IT Outsourcing Success

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Development of a rigorous measure for outsourcing success
Contriibution to a better theoretical understanding of IT outsourcing success
Research Training of at least one PhD student
At least one Tier 1 and Tier 2 Journal Publiications

Supervisors

Dr Michael Lane and Assoc Prof Anne Rouse (Deakin University) have a PhD in Information Systems and extensive research supervision experience in IT outsourcing.

Mobile Services Transforming Organisational Work

This project willl develop a comprehensive model for understanding the key factors of mobile computing for transforming organisational work

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Development of a theoretical model which explains and informs the adoption of mobile computing in organisational work
Contribution to a better theoretical understanding of the key facilitators and inhibitors for the adoption of mobile computing in organisational work
Research Training of at least one PhD student
At least one Tier 1 and Tier 2 Journal Publiications

Supervisors

Dr Michael Lane and Assoc Prof Raj Rururajan each have a PhD Information Systems while Prof Andy Koronios (University of South Australia) has a PhD in Education. All have extensive research supervision experience.

Business Continuity

This project will develop a framework for understanding and evaluating business continuity in SMEs with a particular focus on the risks associated critical ICT infrastructure

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Development of a theoretical model which evaluates the level of business continuiity prepareness in SMEs
Contribution to a better theoretical understanding of the level of businesss continuity capability and risk exposure of Australian SMEs
Research Training of at least one PhD student
At least one Tier 1 and Tier 2 Journal Publiications

Supervisors

Dr Michael Lane has a PhD in Information Systems.

Prof Gerald Quirchmayr (University of Vienna) has his PhD in Computer Science.

Mr Glen Van der Vyver has a Master of Science from London University and has ten years teaching experience.

RFID technologies transforming supply chain management and customer relationship management

This project will investigate the role of RFID tecnologies in transforming supply chain management and customer relationship management with particular emphasis on data collection and management

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Development of standards and framework for middleware which can integrate RFID technologies with enterprise system for data collection and management
Development of a theoretical framework for managing data collection and storage using RFID technologies
Research Training of at least two PhD student
At least two Tier 1 and Tier 2 Journal Publiications

Supervisors

Dr Michael Lane has a PhD in Information Systems.

Prof Andy Koronios (University of South Australia) has a PhD in Education.

Assoc Prof Raj Gururajan has 20 years of academic research experience in Australia. He is working in the domain of health informatics for the past seven years. He received the West Australian Information Technology and Telecommunication (WAITTA) in 2001 for his wireless development for a private health in Australia; won the Australian Computer Society Award to develop another system in the domain of wireless data management; received Queensland Nursing Council grant in 2004, the only IT project awarded in that year; secured the Toowoomba Health Foundation grant to develop the ‘wrist actigraphy’ project to automate data collection in aged care homes in 2005; won the Australian Research Council grant for an innovative sleep study software development; awarded with a grant from the local district health foundation to study the aspects of mobile learning using hand held devices for post graduate nurses; secured Health Innovation Grant for an evidence based implementation using a business model for a renal unit. In addition, he has accumulated sufficient funds to appoint a Research Fellow to assist his team in the health informatics project (soon to be appointed).

Raj has over 100 refereed articles published in books, journals and international conferences. He is a regular reviewer of the Australian Research Council grants. He is also in the review team of many international conferences as well as journals including the prestigious European Conference on Information Systems and the Journals of Biomedical Systems. Assoc Prof Gururajan is currently the Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Business at USQ. He has developed strong partnerships with India in the health domain and is currently developing a concept of ‘Global Health Village’ with his Indian team.

A performance measurement framework for IT service management to improve crucial IT infrastructure in private and public sector organisations.

The aim of this project is to identify benefits gained by the implementation of the IT infrastructure library (ITIL) and to develop a performance measurement framework for improving IT service management.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Service manamenet process improvement benefits survey to provide a valuable snapshot of the types of benefits measured and reported for each of the 11 ITIL core processes;
Develop Performance Measurement Framework – benefits, metrics, methods;
A glossary/taxonomy to support framework: to provide clarification of terminology and to eliminate duplicate or inconsistent nomenclature;
Evaluation of framework based on three levels: the individual performance measures; the set of performance measures – the performance measurement system as an entity; and the relationship between the performance measurement system and the environment within which it operates.

Supervisors

Dr Aileen Cater-Steel is a Senior Lecturer in Information Systems at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Australia. Her current research interests are software process improvement for small firms and IT service management. She is a qualified SPICE assessor and holds certificates in IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundations and Service Quality Management (ISO/IEC 20000). She has also published research related to IT governance, software development standards, organisational and national culture, and electronic commerce. Prior to her university appointment, Aileen worked in private and government organisations where her career progressed from Programmer, Systems Analyst and Project Manager to IT Manager.

Prof Mark Toleman is Professor of Information Systems at the University of Southern Queensland. His research interests are wide and include IT service management, IT governance, systems development methodologies, research-practitioner nexus, novice developers and information systems education. He has completed three PhD students and three Masters students and he is currently supervising six PhD students and three DBA students. He has published over 100 articles in books, refereed journals and refereed conference proceedings.

Dr Wui-Gee Tan’s IT career spans over 30 years. He spent the first half with multinational corporations in various IT roles and the second, in the academia, involved in teaching, consulting and researching IT. His current research interests include IT project management, IT service management and software maintenance management. He is a certified member of the Project Management Institute and also holds certificates in ITIL Foundation and Service Quality Management Foundation (ISO/IEC 20000) . Wui-Gee received his doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology

Building a conceptual model and framework for IT governance – addressing the theoretical void.

This study aims to enrich and expand the conceptualisation of IT governance by examining the decisions required in managing the core IT resources: data, applications, technology, facilities and people. To date, there has been no agreement on an underlying conceptual model of IT governance. A significant volume of research focusses on structural mechanisms by examining the influence of organisational factors on the specific organisation structure of IT (centralised, decentralised, federal, hybrid). The lack of a comprehensive and unified IT governance framework is symptomatic of the immaturity of IT governance research – a cumulative tradition has not yet been established. Although the number of journal articles related to IT governance has increased in the last few years, there is a shortage of empirical research, related to the lack of unified definition and theoretical framework.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Evaluate/synthesise IT governance frameworks.
Map issues to IT governance frameworks.
Validate mapping with feedback from panel of experts.

Supervisors

Integration of Service Management with CMMI and ISO/IEC 15504

The growing realisation of the importance of IT service management is evidenced by the current development work on CMMI for service delivery (CMMI-SVC). Process areas focused on service delivery activities have been initially drafted and will be scheduled for piloting and refinement in late 2007. This project compares evolution and adoption of ISO/IEC 20000 and SEI's Capability Maturity Model Integration - Service Management Constellation.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Comparison of principles and processes – CMMI-SVC and ISO/IEC 20000
Examine cultural similarities/differences software engineering dominant vs service management dominant organisations.
Propose harmonisation structure and approach to develop ‘middle ground’ and facilitate transition from one framework to the other.

Supervisor

Adoption of IT service management frameworks by SMEs

IT service management process frameworks like ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000 are increasingly being implemented by large organisations in view of the tangible business benefits that they bring to the adopters. SMEs which are dependent on IT to conduct their business could also avail themselves of such benefits through the same adoption. However, SMEs do not have the same level of resources nor are they normally computerised to the same extent as large companies. This study will examine how SME should approach the adoption of such frameworks and identify crucial factors that they should focus on during the implementation stage.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Analyse the elements in the ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000 frameworks that are relevant and beneficial to SMEs
Propose an approach that SMEs can adopt for implementing these frameworks.
Identify a set of critical success factors that SME need to observe when implementing ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000 frameworks.

Supervisors

Risks assessment of IT service management projects.

The implementation of any new IT initiative such as ERP, BPR and CMM is usually fraught with risks many of which could potentially bring about adverse outcomes, both tangible as well as intangible, to the organisation. This is equally applicable to the adoption of IT service management process frameworks such as ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000 This is a multi-case study that will examine specific risk management approaches that organisations which have achieved these process frameworks have taken and to extract a set of crucial factors that have contributed to their success.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Examine how specific organisations have successfully implemented the ITIL or ISO/IEC 20000 frameworks.
Determine, categorise and evaluate the risks encountered during each implementation phase.
Develop a methodology to identify, assess and mitigate risks in ITIL or ISO/IEC 20000 implementation.

Supervisors

The context of the software maintenance function within the ISO/IEC 2000 IT service management process framework.

Software maintenance is defined as the process of enhancing and optimizing deployed software as well as remedying defects. The ISO/IEC 2000 process framework currently does not address this function although it encompasses several processes, like change management, release management and configuration management, that are traditionally associated with the software maintenance function. This study will investigate the context of the software maintenance function within the ISO/IEC 2000 process framework.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Contextualise the software maintenance process within the ISO/IEC 20000 IT service management process framework.
Investigate the relationship between front-end service support processes e.g. incident management and problem management and the software artefacts that are to be changed.
Examine how software maintenance tools could be deployed within the IT service management process cycle.

Supervisors

A systematic method to keep the privacy for digital identity

Digital identity has emerged as a main research area in information security arena since 2003. This project aims to design a systematic method to keep the privacy for digital identity to prevent identity fraud, stop data leaks and to effectively use the d

Supervisors

Dr Jianming Yong is a senior lecturer of Information Systems at the Faculty of Business, University of Southern Queensland. He has been a visiting researcher at Purdue University. Dr. Jianming Yong is a member of IEEE Computer Society.

Digital identity-based systems

More and more digital identity-based systems are building around the world. Digital identity federation and privacy preservation become main concerns. This proposed project tries to address the main concerns by investigating new approaches for both digita

Supervisors

Governing mechanism for information security and laying a new theoretic foundation for security governance

Information security is not only an issue of technology but also an issue of governance. This project aims at building a robust governing mechanism for information security and lays a new theoretic foundation for information security governance

Supervisors

Dr Jianming Yong

Accounting, Operations Research and Information Technology

Projects in: Electronic business intelligence and data mining (SAS), enterprise systems (SAP R/3), IT governance processes and measurement, information systems security (SAP R/3), computer assisted audit techniques (SAS, ACL), knowledge based systems, performance measurement in construction industries, fraud detection, anti-money laundering and audit trail analysis

Supervisor

Prof Peter Best's qualifications are BCom(Hons) (Queensland) First Class, University Medal; MEngSci (Newcastle); PhD (QUT); Fellow and CPA, CPA Australia; CA, The Institute of Chartered Accountatns in Australia (ICAA); Member, Australian Computer Society (ACS); Member, Information Systems Audit & Control Association (ISACA). Prof Best is Head, School of Accounting, Economics & Finance at the University of Southern Queensland. He has held positions at University of Queensland, Newcastle University, Adelaide University, Flinders University and Queensland University of Technology. He has qualifications in accounting, operations research and information technology. His PhD examined the feasibility of machine-independent audit trail analysis in large computer systems . He has performed projects for the South Australian Council of Social Services, Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, CPA Australia, Information Systems Audit & Control Association, Coopers & Lybrand, SAS Institute, Departmant of Primary Industries (Qld), Hall Chadwick, Education Queensland, William Buck, Health Insurance Commision, CS Energy, SAP Australia, Royal Dutch Shell, BDO Kendalls and University of New South Wales ATAX program for the Australian Taxation Office.

Assistive technologies for ageing, aged-care, chronic illness and disabilities

Research into the needs, design, user interface, adoption factors, benefits, costs and other social, political and funding issues associated with assistive technologies for individuals requiring care and support

Supervisors

Prof Youngjoon Seo, Assoc Prof Jeffery Soar, Assoc Prof Trudy Yuginovich (Sci), Dr Mehryar Nooriafshar

Smart homes for the independent living and home care

Design, development, implemention, evaluation of smart home technologies and their capacity to support independent living and access to care and support services

Supervisors

Prof Youngjoon Seo, Assoc Prof Jeffery Soar, Assoc Prof Trudy Yuginovich (Sci), Dr Mehryar Nooriafshar

Reducing avoidance hospital admissions and e-referral to home care

Development, implementation, and evaluation of alternatives to hospital admission and electronic referrals; this includes assessment protocols, electronic referrals, software intelligent agents and economic impact evaluation

Supervisors

A/Prof Jeffery Soar, A/Prof Trudy Yuginovich (Sci)

Seniors, enterprise and regional economical sustainability

Research into issues and development of approaches to address the economic impacts of inceasing numbers of seniors in regions; exploaition and trials of approaches to enable participation in the economy

Supervisor

Assoc Prof Jeffery Soar

Management performance in aged care services

Exploration of issues and development of guidelines and models for optimum management to enhance the quality of service and economic outcomes of residential and community aged care services

Supervisors

Prof Ronel Erwee, Prof Youngjoon Seo, Assoc Prof Jeffery Soar, A/Prof Trudy Yuginovich (Sci)

Optimization techniques for resource allocation in aged care and related areas.

To investigate the most efficient ways of allocating resources within aged and community care; to systematically investigate and determine the optimal service mix within resources availabilty to achieve the best measurable outcomes in quality

Supervisor

Dr Mehryar Nooriafshar

Refining a methodology for assessing and benchmarking the knowledge focus in organisations

Currently in both theory and practice there is a significant gap in tools and techniques for organisations to understand, assess and benchmark their knowledge focus. The challenge for organisations is to understand and assess their knowledge environment /ecosystem and reflect on case studies and comparative data in assisting in making decisions about where to direct effort in knowledge management strategies. Interviews with consulting organisations in the area of knowledge management in Australia (Ernst and Young, Deloittes, BDO Kendalls) revealed that organisations for example professional service firms, request assistance with knowledge mapping, the assessment of the dispersion of knowledge in an organisation and identifying gaps.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

Investigating specific elements of knowledge management namely organizational knowledge strategy, organizational knowledge culture and organizational knowledge process and systems,
Designing a new web-based Knowledge mapping scale that supplements current methodologies in selected oganisations,
Developing case studies of best practices in Knowledge management in organisations

Supervisors

In terms of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies,Prof Erwee has experience in designing quantitative and qualitative scales to assess human resource management themes and dimensions in organisations. These include a leadership and management competencies tool and a diversity management self assessment tool, that are both used in the Australian education sector. In addition she investigated the cross-cultural equivalence of an organisational culture survey as well as an organisational inertia scale in Australia and South Africa. She has designed the initial draft of the knowledge mapping scale to map the context and culture of knowledge in organisations. These refereed journal articles have stimulated ongoing research.

Dr Ray Gordon

Adapted Lean Thinking for Healthcare Services

Lean thinking is rapidly becoming the latest rage in healthcare as it diffuses out of the automotive industry. Unlike manufacturing processes, healthcare process is a social-technical process in which the automation plays a secondary role in comparison to resources experience and skills. Healthcare process is information flow process rather than activity flow process. However, waste and variations significantly affect the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare processes.

This research employs object-cantered strategy, in which the object is the patient. This work identifies non-value added activities from value-added activities in healthcare environment. The work measures the variation in theses activities and identifies target to reduce waste. The object-cantered strategy provides a platform to differentiate sources affecting the non-value activities. For instance, there are four sources for delays resulted from unavailability of patient, scarece resources (surgeon), material or information.

Objective

The project challenges the traditional healthcare practices in adoption of lean thinking with a dual aim. First, to improve information flow as well as process flow customer in an environment that often imposes unexplained deviation from planned activities and second, to create a system that is an effective decision support system for managing and redesigning the healthcare processes.

By the end of the project we will have:

Comprehensive information/process mapping plans
Interdependencies matrices.
Information quality control matrices.

Expected Outcome and Benefits

The project will allow healthcare management to:

determine visible and achievable quantitative targets of leanness;
recognise the interdependencies between various resources and activities;
reengineer the process, including re-deploy the scarce resources;
convert the waste reduction and leanness adoption into dollar amount.

Supervisors

Dr Latif Al-Hakim lectures in management in the Faculty of Business at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. His experience spans industry, research and development and academic institutions.

Latif was awarded his undergraduate degree in 1968. His Masters (1978) and PhD (1983) were awarded from University of Wales (UK). Dr Hakim has published extensively in information management and systems modelling. He is the author and editor of seven books, more than 10 chapters in books and more than sixty papers in various journals and conference proceedings. He has also consulted to a number of major industrial organisations in Australia.

Dr Al-Hakim is the editor-in-chief of the first journal on information quality (International Journal of Information Quality) and Associate editor of the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations.