For decades, troubled information systems (IS)/information technology (IT) projects have continued to lose billions of dollars all over the world. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
For decades, troubled information systems (IS)/information technology (IT) projects have continued to lose billions of dollars all over the world. The purpose of this paper is to look for the root causes of this widespread and important phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper begins with a concise survey of empirical research and shows that a significant proportion of project failures are derived from the behavior of managers rather than from objective or technical obstacles. Although researchers have made significant efforts to improve the professional conduct of managers, the situation ameliorated only slowly. This raises the issue of a possible hidden cause lying behind the perceived determinants of failure; the authors, therefore, look for the root-cause of this broad noteworthy phenomenon and apply the techniques typical of “root-cause analysis”.
Findings
IS/IT managers handling troubled projects worldwide have nothing in common except for a similar cultural basis. As students, they learned the fundamental concepts of informatics, and it is, therefore, natural to hypothesize a specific cause and effect relationship between these lessons and the ineffective behaviors of managers. A careful analysis shows that computing theories are narrow, self-referential and abstract, and this negatively affects the conduct of managers, who have broad, practical responsibilities.
Practical implications
The cultural causes of runaway projects require advanced theoretical research on the foundations of computer science to create a comprehensive and consistent construct that can support the manifold duties of IS/IT project leaders. A future theoretical structure will underpin innovative courses in universities and professional organizations, making leaders more aware of their roles and more capable of managing them.
Originality/value
In general, when a problem is traced to its origin, it can be eradicated. This work offers evidence that the root causes of troubled projects lie in the management culture, and therefore, the professional preparation of managers needs to be improved so to remove the present difficulties in IS/IT projects.
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Keywords
The concept of information is central to several fields of research and professional practice. So many definitions have been put forward that complete inventory is unachievable…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of information is central to several fields of research and professional practice. So many definitions have been put forward that complete inventory is unachievable while authors have failed to reach a consensus. In the face of the present impasse, innovative proposals could rouse information theorists to action, but literature surveys tend to emphasize the common traits of definitions. Reviewers are inclined to iron out originality in information models; thus the purpose of this paper is to discover the creativity of authors attempting to define the concept of information and to stimulate the progress of studies in this field.
Design/methodology/approach
Because the present inquiry could be influenced and distorted by personal criteria and opinions, the authors have adopted precise criteria and guidelines. It could be said the present approach approximates a statistical methodology.
Findings
The findings of this paper include (1) The authors found 32 original definitions of information which sometimes current surveys have overlooked. (2) The authors found a relation between information theories and advances in information technology. (3) Overall, the authors found that researchers take account of a wide variety of perspectives yet overlook the notion of information as used by computing practitioners such as electronic engineers and software developers.
Research limitations/implications
The authors comment on some limitations of the procedure that was followed. Results 1 and 3 open up new possibilities for theoretical research in the information domain.
Originality/value
This is an attempt to conduct a bibliographical inquiry driven by objective and scientific criteria; its value lies in the fact that final report has not been influenced by personal choice or arbitrary viewpoints.
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Thinkers are still debating about the concept of information while engineers prepare astonishing digital appliances. The purpose of this paper is to address the following…
Abstract
Purpose
Thinkers are still debating about the concept of information while engineers prepare astonishing digital appliances. The purpose of this paper is to address the following questions: what concepts do experts adopt in the working environment? What information do they measure? What can be done to help them?
Design/methodology/approach
This paper offers a concise report of the researches driven on the problem of the information definition. The report consists of three principal sections. The first section is twofold. On one hand, there are comments on the various information theories; on the other hand, the semiotics concepts (that engineers and professionals use in intuitive manner) are illustrated.
Findings
In consequence of the popularity of the semiotic notions – in the second section – the authors define the concept of signifier using the mathematical language, and discuss some features of this mathematical definition.
Practical implications
The third section closes the paper with the illustration of some advantages that the mathematical definition of the signifier offers on the practical plane and from the philosophical perspective.
Social implications
The ensemble of those advantages provides a bridge between the humanist culture and digital engineering.
Originality/value
The theoretical studies on the concept of information seem to be at a standstill. This paper shows how the measurement of the items of information is handy; and various equations can be unified into a comprehensive frame that facilitates the collaboration of experts coming from different areas.
Details
Keywords
– The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a transdisciplinary understanding of the nature of information.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a transdisciplinary understanding of the nature of information.
Design/methodology/approach
The work draws from previous work done on information in several disciplines and contexts, and proposes a new framework for describing and understanding information. It applies the framework to several different situations involving information, explores the insights revealed by the use of the framework and discusses some of the implications.
Findings
Information is usefully described as a situated event that extracts or generates meaning, with the distinction between extracting or generating meaning corresponding to the distinction between semantic and environmental information. A diagrammatic convention based on communications theory and making use of hierarchies of levels is found to provide a powerful means of conveying many of the aspects of the nature of information, and of understanding the role of information in a wide range of applications. An additional specific finding of the work is that information is inherently provisional.
Originality/value
The diagrammatic framework is a new way of presenting, describing and understanding information, and the suggestion that information is inherently provisional is believed to be new.