MIS Doctoral Dissertations: 1992-1993

Many modern businesses have implemented information technology in a seamless inter-functional manner based on integrated databases. However, few business schools have followed suit by integrating information technology seamlessly into core curricula. Proprietary enterprise resource planning software packages show promise but have not been adopted in a widespread manner by academic departments for various reasons. Consequently, large numbers of business students are not as prepared for the work environment as they could be. This case study describes the initial processes to integrate information technology intensively into a university’s core business curriculum. It illustrates the application of change management and the use of Product Model to develop web-based applications for classes and database applications for end-users. Benefits for students and other stakeholders explained.

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Infusing Information Technology into the Core Business Curriculum: A Change Management Project

This dissertation proposes and creates a new methodology for the information requirements determination phase in the development of a computerized information system. The new methodology prescribes the use of normative analysis from a universal enterprise information model. The methodology can be used within the classical systems development life cycle or in the early stages of the system prototyping approach.
Information requirements determination is the most critical phase but is not well supported by most integrated information system development methodologies. Streamlining that phase, which is the basic intention of the new methodology, can yield substantial micro and macro economic gains. That is particularly promising for small businesses, which typically do not determine information requirements or build computerized information systems properly.
The feasibility of constructing a universal enterprise information model is implied from General Systems Theory research regarding contrived social organizations, including businesses. From the perspective of information required to support such organizations, all businesses are very similar to each other.
In the model preparation stage, enterprise information structures of 153 organizations and examples from sixty-one publications were examined. The subjects represented several geographic regions and industry classifications and were examined over several years. The publications included database text and case books and manuals from proprietary systems.
The model was constructed using practices of General Systems Theory and relational database design. It was validated by comparing it to enterprise information structures of several small organizations to determine whether the model could have been used to generate those enterprise information structures. In the final stage, the model was successfully used to rapidly create enterprise information structures for seven small organizations.
This research demonstrates that creation of a universal enterprise information model is indeed possible and that model can be used with normative analysis to more easily accomplish information requirements determination. The benefits of the new methodology are as great for individual organizations as for the information systems industry.

Donald Albert Carpenter

Papers

Development of an information requirements determination methodology: Utilization of normative analysis from a universal enterprise information model