IT项目管理论文英文.docx

IT项目管理论文英文.docx

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IT项目管理论文英文

ACaseAnalysisofInformationTechnologyManagementinaPublicUniversity

ABSTRACT

Usingacasestudyapproach，thisstudyinvestigatestheissuesofITmanagementinapublicuniversityin

Malaysia，calledTheUniversity.FindingsindicatethatTheUniversitylacksofcommonapproachtodecisionmakingorforumformakingcomprehensiveassessmentsofITplanandfundingstrategy.Campusinformationsystemwasdevelopedinanuncoordinatedmanner，reflectinginterestsofdifferentdepartmentalunits，anddecisionsupportsystemisalmostnon-existence。

AnewITplanningstructurewithclearrolesandresponsibilitiesisproposedtoovercomeexistingbarrierstoeffectivecampusinformationsystem.

1。

0INTRODUCTION

Universityhasaspecialroleintheknowledgeeconomyasitisconcernedwithinformationandtheroleofinformationinthedeliveryandcreationofknowledge（McRobbie＆Palmer,2001）。

Everyuniversitythataspirestobecompetitiveinthe21stcenturyhighereducationenvironmenthastomakethemosteffectiveuseofIT（Gayleetal。

2003）.ITshouldbeoneimportantstrategy,amongothers，thatmustbepursuedbyanyuniversity（Titthasiri，2000）。

ThereasonisthattherevolutionofIThasradicallytransformeduniversitiesandcausedaredefiningofstudent，lecturer,andadministrativestaffroles,needs，andexpectations,andislikelytocauseprofoundshiftsinuniversityfunctionsandstructures。

Therefore，universitiesneedtotakeanimaginativeleapindevisingtheirstrategyviainnovativeuseofITtoimprovethequalityandflexibilityoftheirinstitutionsandmanagement。

ProperITmanagementiscrucial，asITisnowfundamentaltotheteaching，learningandresearchmissionofamodernuniversity（McRobbie＆Palmer,2001）.ResultsfromfewstudiesconductedinMalaysiahoweversuggestedthatmostpublicuniversitiesinMalaysiahaveyettoimplementcomprehensivestrategicITplans（Ismailetal。

，2007）,wherebytheextent,modeandqualityofITutilizationintheMalaysianacademicenvironmentarestillbehindthoseofdevelopedcountries（Vicziany＆Puteh,2004）.DespitemanygreateffortsdonebythegovernmentofMalaysiatocreateanewgenerationofknowledgeworkers,mostpublicuniversitieshaveyettoeffectivelyintegrateITintotheiradministrative,andteachingandlearningapproaches（Juhary，2005）。

Therefore,usingacasestudyapproach，thisstudyaimstoinvestigateingreaterdepthcurrentpracticesofITmanagementofapublicuniversityinMalaysia（hereafterreferredtoas

TheUniversity）。

FindingsfromthisstudyareimportanttotheMalaysianpublicuniversitiesiftheywanttomoveintothetoptierandbeamongtheworldtop—rankeduniversities。

2。

0LITERATURE

LedererandSethi（1988）definedstrategicITplanasaprocesswhereanorganizationdeterminesaportfolioofcomputer—basedapplicationstohelpachievebusinessobjectives.Itconsistsofstrategyforbothinformationplanningandmanagement,includingtheuseandfeaturesofIT（Gallliersetal。

，1995）.Withawell—developedstrategicITplanthatfitintouniversitybroaderstrategicplan,universitycanuseITmorecompetitively，identifiesnewandhigherpaybackITapplications,andbetterforecastsonITresourcerequirements（Basuetal.，2002）.

TheimportanceofstrategicITplantothesuccessofcampusinformationsystemswashighlightedbymanyresearchers。

However,resultsofthesestudiessuggestthatmostuniversitieslackunderstandingofhowtodevelopanITstrategicplan.Inthisregard，severalresearchershaveproposedastrategicITmodelforuseinthespecificcontextofhighereducationinstitutions（e。

g.Tithasiri，2000;Ishak＆Alias，2005；Suhaimeeetal.,2006;MdBasir＆Nordin,2006）.However，Hevneretal.（2000）warnedthatmanyITinitiativeshavefailedduetothespecificationgapbetweenthedescriptionoftherecommendedsystemsandthedetailneededforactualsystemimplementation.EvenorganizationwithasolidITframeworkfailswhenitcomestoimplementation（Devlin＆Meyerson，2001）.Inmanycases,thisgapexistsduetothepoorITplanningteamstructure（McCredie，2000;Nakatani&Chuang,2005）。

Otherdominantinfluencingfactorsincludelackofcommitmentfromtheseniormanagement，bureaucraticstruresistancetochange，tightbudget，andlackofinternalexpertise（Teo&Ang，2001;Nakatani＆Chuang，2005）.

Malaysia,sincetheinceptionofVision2020in1991and

MSCin1996，hasregardednewtechnologiesasacriticalfactorinensuringthatMalaysianeconomicdevelopmentwillcontinueatthehighestlevel（Juhary，2005）.Ironically,ViczianyandPuteh（2004,p。

19）arguedthatdespitevariousITprogramsestablishedbythegovernment，“MalaysiangovernmentstrategieshavenotplacedmuchemphasisoneducationandtheuseofIT”。

Ismailetal.（2007）arguedthatITplansmustbewellsupportedbyasolidITstructure，fundingandgovernancesystem,andmoreimportantlyconcertedeffortsfromallparties,particularlycommitmentfromtheuniversitytopmanagementtoleadthecampuscommunitytotransformtheplansintoactions。

3.0METHODS

Toachievetheobjectivesofthisstudy，acasestudyapproachisadoptedasitenablesthecaptureofrealityinconsiderablygreaterdetailthanispossiblewiththesurveyapproach.Forthispurpose，apublicuniversityisselectedasasubjectofthisstudy，wherebyaseriesofinterviewswerecarriedoutwithbothusersandprovidersofTheUniversitycampusinformationsystems.First,interviewswereconductedwithDirectorandseveralstaffmembersofITDepartment.TheinterviewsessionsseektounderstandcurrentITplanning，funding,andstructureandtheirimpactoncampusinformationsystems。

ThesecondinterviewsessionswereconductedwithseveralDeansandDepartmentalHeadstoseekandclarifyinformationgatheredfromthefirstinterviewsessions.ThissecondsessionalsoseekstounderstandhowITisbeingusedtomakeuniversityorfacultydecisions。

Finally,aseriesofinterviewswereconductedwithseverallecturersandadministrativestaffmemberstounderstandtheunderlyingproblemsfacedbyusersofcampusinformationsystems。

Informationwasalsogatheredfromtheuniversitywebsitesandprintedreports。

4.0THEUNIVERSITYPROFILE

TheUniversitywasestablishedin1984,withauniquemissiontoprovideacademicexcellenceintheareasofbusinessmanagement，ITandqualitymanagementeducation。

Itcomprisesof13AcademicFaculties，8AdministrativeDepartments，and11InstitutesandCentersofExcellence.Itcurrentlyhasaround23,000undergraduatestudentsandover2,000postgraduatestudents,supportedbyastrong1,150lecturersand1，300administrativestaffmembers.

4。

1InformationTechnologyDepartment

TheUniversityITDepartment,whichwasestablishedin1998,isdividedintofourmainserviceareas：

Academic

ComputingandKnowledgeManagementSystems,UserSupportService,ITInfrastructure,andAdministrativeApplication.Itissupportedby90dedicatedITofficers，computertechnicians,anddataprocessingoperators。

4.2CampusInformationSystem

TheUniversitycampusinformationsystemhasevolvedthroughseveralstagesofgrowthoverthelasttwodecades。

Currentinformationsystemcanbedividedintotwocategories,UniversityManagementInformationSystem（UMIS）andDataWarehouseInformationSystem（DWIS）.UMISisanintegratedonlinetransactionprocessingsystemthatprovidestheuniversitywithanelectronicmanagementenvironment,whileDWISisanonlineanalyticalprocessingsystemthatextractsandcombinesdatafromonlinetransactionprocessingsystemfordecision-making.DWIS,whichisstillatitsinfantstage，consistsofStrategicInformationSystemapplication，whileotherapplicationsarestillattheplanningstage。

4.3InformationTechnologyInfrastructure

CurrentcampusnetworksystemusesGigabittechnology，whichprovidesInternetaccesstothestudentsandstaffsinteachingandlearningprocesssuchassurfingforcoursecontent，accesstotheuniversityWeb-basedapplicationsystems,andaccesstotheLearningManagementSystem.Ithasalsoestablishedmorethan70wirelessaccesspointsandbasestationsnetworks，providingpervasivecoverageatthemaximumtransmissionspeedof54Mbps.Currently，thereareover

66computerlabsaroundcampuswith2,430personalcomputers.ThehighestcomputerspecificationavailableisPentiumIVwith256MBmemoryand40GBharddisk,whilethelowestisPentiumIIIwith64MBmemoryand10GBharddisk。

ThecurrentratioofPCtostudentsis1:

11and1：

1foradministrativestaffmembers.

4.4InformationTechnologyTeamStructure

Unlikemanyotheruniversitiesworldwide，TheUniversitydoesnothaveaproperITplanningteamstructure。

ThemainITcommitteeisITSteeringCommittee,chairedbyViceChancellor.MembersofthecommitteeincludeDeputyViceChancellors，DirectorsofDepartmentalUnits，andFacultyDeans,whileDirectorofITDepartmentactsasasecretariat.ThecommitteemeetstwiceayeartodiscussandapproveITproposalssubmittedbyUserDepartmentsandtoplanforthefutureITdevelopment,whichcommonlyspanaperiodofsixmonths。

InadditiontotheITsteeringcommittee,ithastheso—calledSystemDevelopmentCommittee。

Thecommitteeisactuallynotacommitteebyitselfbutconsistsofseveralsub-committeesrelatingtoeachmajorapplicationsystemincampus。

EachsubcommitteeischairedbyDirectorsofDepartmentalUnitsresponsibleforthesystem.AgroupofITDepartmentstaffmembers,oftenleadbyasystemanalyst,isassignedtoeachsub—committee。

Asanad-hocbasedcommittee，thereisnoschedulemeetingbutthecommitteewouldmeetwheneverproblemsexist。

5.0ANALYSISO