Kevin A. Johnston

The Use of Mobile Phones by South African University Students

Mobile phones are an integral part of our modern lives. This study explores the use and role of mobile phones among South African university students. Four main categories are used to examine the students’ mobile phone use: reasons to use mobile phones, pattern of mobile phone use, purchasing factors, and behaviour-related issues. Through a quantitative approach data was collected from 362 participants using a survey. The key findings indicate that the main reason South African university students (mainly from the University of Cape Town) use a mobile phone is for socializing, as well as for safety and privacy purposes. Usability and price emerged as the top purchasing factors. The respondents showed some signs of addiction to their mobile phones. Differences in mobile phone use by gender were found, with female students showing increased mobile phone use for safety and socializing, interest in brand and trends, as well as signs of addiction. The findings could prove beneficial to marketers, mobile phone developers, universities, parents, and researchers exploring mobile phone adoption and usage pattern in a developing country such as South Africa.

Global Virtual Teams: How to Manage Them

The emergence of the internet, multimedia, collaborative software environments and group support systems has created new opportunities for organizations to form global virtual teams (GVTs) to work on complex virtual projects, and remain competitive. This development in information and communication technology over the last decade and a half has added a new dimension to management and has sparked a new line of research. This paper has collated literature to provide the reader with pertinent definitions and challenges faced by managers when managing virtual/distributed teams and projects and the different methods used to manage these challenges. One of the researchers has worked in a virtual team for 7 months, and conducted an ethnographical study. It was found that communication was the core challenge to the success of a global virtual team. Other issues linked to this core challenge of communication were trust, cultural differences, team cohesion, software, collaboration, and environmental challenges.

Key Issues for Cios in South Africa

Business strategy, operations, communication and technology have converged and resulted in increased demand for business flexibility. Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are particularly challenged because they operate at the intersection between information technology, their organisations, and society. Amidst increasing emphasis on cost‐efficiency, information technology resource investment and emergence of new technologies, stakeholders need to understand the most relevant issues within a three‐ to five‐year period. This study was undertaken to contribute to the body of knowledge around key information systems issues in South Africa, with its unique social issues. Thirty‐one responses were received from South African CIOs surveyed in late 2004. The top issues were: Security and control, Building a responsive IT infrastructure, IT value management, Service delivery, and Improving IS strategic planning. The ranked list of issues was compared to previous studies, and further analysed by industry and source of IT services (in‐house, outsource or combination). Industry and the sourcing of information services were found to have an effect on the ranking of key issues.

A Guide to Educating Different Generations in South Africa

The majority of academics teaching Information Systems today were born somewhere between 1943 and 1981 (Baby Boomers or Generation X), while the majority of students were born after 1982 (Net Generation or iGeneration). One generation is always tasked with educating another generation, which has different likes and dislikes. This paper reviews papers written on educating the two different generations in South Africa, what academics (Baby Boomers and Generation X) need to know to better educate students (Net Generation and iGeneration). Six South African papers on learning preferences, and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) were reviewed. Over 1500 university students in 7 South African Universities, plus 122 IS academics were involved. Gaps in perceptions and usage were identified between generations, and recommendations made as how to treat the gaps to better facilitate the education of the Net and iGenerations. Vodcasting (video on demand) was introduced to a first year class of 605 students in 2011 at the University of Cape Town, South Africa as a learning supplement. At the end of the course, students were surveyed on amongst other issues, the benefits of vodcasting. The study revealed that the students favoured the use of interactive, practical and visual learning styles. The academics underestimated the students’ affinity for interactive and online learning, and failed to grasp the effects of the use of mobile phones and social networking on students learning styles.

TOWARDS AN ORGANISATIONAL READINESS FRAMEWORK FOR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: AN INVESTIGATION OF ANTECEDENTS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN ORGANISATIONS' READINESS FOR SERVER VIRTUALISATION

The lack of unifying frameworks to investigate emerging technologies and changing practices in organisations remains a major challenge to the Information Systems body of knowledge. This study developed and validated a new conceptual readiness framework NOIIE (an acronym for National e‐readiness, Organisational preparedness, Industrial relationships, Internal resistance and External influence), for investigating organisational readiness for emerging technologies and applications. Server virtualisation was used as a pilot technology to investigate the antecedents for the readiness of 83 South African organisations for emerging technologies through a quantitative approach and an online survey. The readiness of South African organisations for server virtualisation was impressive, as 73% of organisations surveyed had implemented server virtualisation to one extent or another. The NOIIE framework was validated, as national e‐readiness, organisational preparedness and industrial relationships were found to be highly significant and positive contributors to organisational readiness for adopting server virtualisation in South African organisations. The NOIIE framework could be further developed and used to investigate other emerging technologies in organisations in developing countries.

How SMEs in Western Cape of South Africa use ICT

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to change the way organizations do business in either a positive or negative way. ICTs benefits however usually supersede its negatives, hence business owners both large and small are moving to the digital world. Although there has been studies on ICTs effect on business organizations, little has been done on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), in developing countries.The research was conducted to identify how SMEs in the Western Cape of South Africa use ICT. Issues examined included currently employed ICT, person to computer ratios, spending and acquisition of ICT, and adoption of new ICT. The research found that SMEs in the Western Cape are using a wide range of ICT, with 88% using networks, and 70% using some form of customer relationship management software. The person to computer ratio was computed and 78% of SMEs in the Western Cape showed a 1:1 (person:computer) ratio. Spending habits with regards to three ICT sectors (hardware, software and services) were analysed and although majority of SMEs showed no adjustment in their spending habits, 30% did claim an increase is expected for both software and hardware spending. SMEs are intending to adopt more ICT in the future. The majority of SMEs claim to have achieved significant amounts of value from the use of ICT.

A Descriptive Literature Review and Classification of Insider Threat Research

Insider threat is an information security problem. It specifically refers to the users of an information system exploiting their legitimate access rights to that system, in order to perform malicious acts. The purpose of this paper is to describe the body of knowledge of insider threat research through a descriptive literature review. The scope of the report is academic research articles. The objective of this study is to create a classification of insider threat research. This was achieved by gathering relevant journal articles and categorizing them. A classification was created, comprising five main categories: ‘Insider Threat Mitigation’, ‘Theoretical Perspectives’, ‘Insider Threat Management’, ‘Insider Threat Overview’ and ‘Insider Threat Behavior’. The key findings are that the main volume of research is currently concentrated in the ‘Theoretical Perspectives’ and Insider ‘Threat Mitigation’ categories. Comparatively, there is very little research in any of the other categories, with ‘Insider Threat Management’ being particularly sparse. There is a clear opportunity for future research in the three under-researched areas, particularly in ‘Insider Threat Management’, where there are numerous frameworks and standards to use as research guidelines.

Identifying ICT Entrepreneurship Potential in Students

Literature relating to personality and entrepreneurship focused largely on the personality characteristics of general entrepreneurs. The focus of a study done in South Africa was on personality characteristics and temperaments of potential Information and Communication Technology (ICT) entrepreneurs. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness and usefullness of using personality characteristics to identify potential ICT entrepreneurs. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter was used to ascertain the personality characteristics of the participants. Two simple entrepreneurial tests were used to determine the entrepreneurial ability of the participants. The two phenonena (temperament and entrepreneurial ability) of the participants were then compared. Third and forth year information systems students from the University of Cape Town and current ICT entrepreneurs made up the population sample.

ICTs for the Broader Development of South Africa: An Analysis of the Literature

The purpose of this research is to ascertain whether Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been valuable in the provision of broader development to South African citizens. A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on data in the form of peer reviewed academic literature. The data is therefore not primary as the works of authors are subjected to the relative and subjective scrutiny of the authors themselves (Walsham, 1995). Thus the underlying philosophy of the study is one of an interpretivism nature. The study found that ICT has been a key contributor to development in areas such as agricultural supply chains and also served as a key enabler in the provision of health care for the poor. The study also found that ICTs are an integral part of development policies aimed at bettering the lives of the poor. However, an understanding of the context in which ICTs are implemented is vital in ensuring the success of ICT projects. The analysis and understanding of exactly how ICTs contribute towards development can provide a basis from which further studies can be conducted and also provide a pragmatic insight into how development can be achieved through the use of ICTs. The study highlights avenues for future research, especially with regards to ICTs for the development of South Africa and the role ICT plays in improving civil society.

What It Means To Be a Teacher in a Higher Education Context Today - With Emphasis on South Africa

The purpose of this paper is to highlight what it means to be a teacher in a higher education context, with some emphasis on South Africa. The teaching component was examined from several aspects. The approach taken is that of a provocative essay rather than of a formal academic paper. It is argued that many academics should see themselves as both teachers and researchers, and it is shown what it means to be a teacher in a higher educational context today. The paper aims to contribute to the field of IS research by sensitising academics to possible different approaches to teaching.