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Item Integrated Model For Tailoring Gamified Information Systems In Higher Education Institutions In A Developing Economy.(University Of Ghana, 2023-02) Ofosu-Ampong, K.Gamification, a new concept for adding game design elements to make activities more engaging is pervading many information systems. As a multidisciplinary research area, gamification integrates human motivation, technology, task characteristics and human-computer interaction design. The motivation and fun surrounding gamified information systems (GIS) result from their potential benefits to institutions. However, a dearth of research and theory exists on how gamified interventions change behaviours in education, coupled with many challenges in conducting gamification research, particularly in developing economies (DE). Also, most of the GIS have been evaluated and adopted based on a one-size-fits-all approach. However, learners differ in their acceptance, motivation, engagement, and continuance use of technology. The thesis, therefore, examines the learner acceptance, engagement, and continuance use of GIS. Its purpose is to develop a theoretical and practical-oriented framework for tailoring gamification to a target audience in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ghana. To achieve this purpose, the study employed three theories, namely, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA). Posited in the tenants of the positivist research paradigm, 30 hypotheses were developed and tested through a quantitative survey by comparing their predictions with the observed gamified data collected from 442 participants in an HEI in Ghana. First, using the UTAUT theory, I investigated students’ (n=185) gaming experience, perception, and acceptance of adding game design elements to learning management systems (LMS) in HEIs in Ghana. The findings show that the learner characteristics necessary for technology acceptance encompass demographic features (age, gender), expectations (performance (PE), effort (EE)) and psychological components (social influence (SI), motivation) in Ghana’s higher education. The study found that institutional-based trust in existing technologies is a payoff to accepting new technologies. Prompting the need to re-establish trust in the digital era of accelerated innovation in education. The study further found that after the acceptance of the existing technologies (LMS), students' need to accept GIS is influenced by expected high performance, less effort, attitude, and the existence of social influence. Compared to the UTAUT model, this research found three typologies based on the significant factors in the data analysis that is critical for explaining behavioural intention and technology acceptance. The results from this study proved that two constructs (PE and EE) of the original UTAUT model may be considered as technology and learner attributes, while the remaining two (SI and facilitating conditions (FC)) may be considered as institutional factors or outcomes. A significant omission and less reliance in the conceptualisation of the original UTAUT model is the institutional-based trust (TR) and attitude (ATT). However, these factors produced a substantial improvement in the variance explained in technology acceptance and behavioural intention. Importantly, the extensions (TR and ATT) form the new psychological safety factors in the UTAUT model and serve as the necessary conditions for the uptake of information systems in DE. These typologies, hitherto missing in the original UTAUT model, suggested the concept of technology acceptance has gained prominence in HEIs in DE but in the context of technology and learner attributes, institutional factors, and psychological safety factors. Second, using the SDT, the study examined how game design elements support and enhance students’(n=124) basic psychological needs in learning and the need to clarify the role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in GIS engagement. This study found three types of learning outcome measures (type of game elements, psychological need, and level of satisfaction) that is critical for a learner to make a decision and engage with the GIS. Importantly, feedback, interactivity and aesthetic appeal were identified as positive elements for maintaining and motivating engagement. The reward systems which include points, badges and leaderboards were found to be stronger than competition-based elements in motivating learning outcomes. In this regard, competition-based learning on gamified platforms is not a salient practice to enhance students learning outcomes. The study further showed that merely providing students with reward systems does not necessarily lead to user competence, and a higher level of satisfaction is associated with a higher level of learner engagement, thus reducing students’ turnover intention. Hence, a diverse and not a one-size-fits-all reward system should be tailored towards the individual learning progress. Third, to show the feasibility of the GIS approach in education, I applied the MOA framework and developed a model to examine students' continuance use behaviour. To demonstrate the importance of learner characteristics and outcomes of gamification, I conducted an evaluation (n=133) of a gamified version and investigated the efficacy of aesthetic experience, information technology capability, and information quality regarding learner continuance behaviours. The study found the opportunity ability motivation (OAM) framework as the appropriate interplay between learner characteristics, the platform, and the gamification elements. In applying the OAM framework, the findings suggest that for a behaviour change to take place, there is a need for an opportunity to experience it or try it (triability). However, for triability to lead to acceptance or intention to use, there should be ability to perform the behaviour and this ability includes learner characteristics and the ease of cognitive understanding of the GIS. Motivation therefore becomes an outcome because an opportunity has been created to perform the behaviour. The findings also revealed that self-expansion and meaning are the key determinants of aesthetic experience (appeal) of GIS. These new findings suggested that the concept of aesthetic experience, an aspect of both hedonic and utilitarian value has gained prominence in Ghana’s higher education. The result of this finding draws scholarly attention to aesthetic experience as a parsimonious yet powerful construct that compliments the notion of continuance use behaviour and engagement with GIS. The originality and contribution of the study to research and practice are as follows. First, the findings of the three objectives culminate into an Integrated Theoretical Model of HEI-Gamification Configuration (HEIGC) for tailoring gamification offerings in HEIs based on three clusters: Learner characteristics, Learner outcomes (critical decision stage) and Learner continuance behaviour. The model priorities for policymakers suggest that attitudes about accepting these types of platforms in education is primarily driven by their affordances i.e., psychological safety (autonomy, competence and social influence) and personality traits (PE, EE, Trust, aesthetic appeal and gamification elements) in DE HEIs. Second, this study addresses the limited results and evaluation of gamification and uncovers the efficacy of engaging and motivating learning behaviour change in Ghana and West Africa’s higher education. Hitherto absent in literature, this doctoral study addresses the lack of gamification research findings from the DE context. Third, the model provides eight theoretical constructs on acceptance, motivation, engagement, and outcomes of gamification, including a six-step practitioners’ guideline for tailoring gamification strategy to motivate HEIs to become more purpose-driven. The contribution of the study has resulted in three peer-reviewed articles, one book chapter and three full conference papers. The candidate has served the Association of Information Systems (AIS) and Gamification Community as the Vice President and Secretary of the Special Interest Group on Game Design and Research (AIS SIGGAME) since November 2019.Item Towards The Development Of Contextually Relevant And Industry-Responsive Graduate Information Systems Curricula For Sub-Saharan Africa.(University Of Ghana, 2023-02) Mark-Oliver, K.The relevance of academic programmes, including information systems (IS), to meeting stakeholder expectations, continues to be a concern for both researchers and practitioners. For example, on one hand, industries expect IS graduates to acquire the relevant competencies needed for organisational performance. This expectation is congruent with governments‘ expectation of graduates acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills that make them employable and also solving national socio-economic challenges. On the other hand, IS academics focus on independent autonomous research and further knowledge that is not necessarily focused on vocation. This, for example, conflicts with government, industry and students‘ expectations of graduates being employed after obtaining degrees. Furthermore, new societal challenges emerging as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, call for disruption-responsive IS curricula. These multiple, and sometimes conflicting expectations, from different actors, constitute an institutional complexity which currently confronts IS curriculum innovation in SSA. IS departments in SSA are expected to navigate this institutional complexity in their efforts to develop or revise contextually relevant and responsive IS curricula. However, empirical evidence and theoretical explanations of how relevant academic programmes in IS respond to the SSA context have not been adequately explored. A review of the information systems curriculum and the institutional complexity literature delineates, among others, four interlinked research gaps, which have also been echoed in practice and somewhat by the global IS body, the Association of Information Systems (AIS). First, there is the need to explore the IS competencies required of mid-level management IS professionals relevant to organisations in SSA. Mid-level IS managers occupy positions between entry-level and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) position. Second, there is the need to explain how institutional logics and agent actions influence IS curriculum innovation in SSA. Third, there is the need to explain the consequences of the influences of institutional logics and agent actions on the responsiveness of IS curricula in SSA. Lastly, there is the need to explore the nature of graduate IS programme offerings in SSA. Consequently, the overarching purpose of this doctoral study is to develop a framework for the development of contextually relevant and industry-responsive graduate information systems curricula for Sub-Saharan Africa. To explore the nature of graduate IS programme offerings and mid-level management IS competencies, the study adopted the MSIS 2016 global IS competency model to guide the collection and analysis of data. Again, the study also adopted the institutional theory, and specifically the institutional logics perspective, to explain the influences of institutional logics and agents‘ actions on the development of IS curricula. The curriculum responsiveness perspective was used to examine the responsiveness of graduate IS curricula in SSA. This study, based on the critical realism paradigm, adopted a mixed-method research approach (Delphi study with 56 experts, a case study and a survey of 200 university websites) because the different research questions required different methods. For the first research objective, this study found that, in SSA, mid-level management IS professionals, play a hybrid of technical and non-technical roles and require individual foundation competencies (IFC), IS-specific competencies and competencies in a domain of practice. In addition, organisations emphasise IFCs more than IS-specific skills for mid-level IS management positions in SSA. IFCs, though difficult to develop through education and training are essential to look out for during hiring. For example, in this study, a trait like ―ability to be flexible and adapt to change‖ which is a lower competency, was identified to be important for mid-level IS managers. Hitherto silent in literature, this study is the first to focus on mid-level management IS competencies, particularly from an SSA and a socio- technical perspective. For the second research objective, this study captured the influence of new institutional logics, such as the development and the de-colonialism logics, at the societal level on graduate IS curriculum innovation in SSA. Previous studies had only identified the state, the market, the corporation, the religion, the community, the family, and the professionalism as enduring institutional logics of western societies that influence social behaviour. The church logic and the decolonisation logic, though existing at the societal and organisational levels respectively, do not influence graduate IS curriculum innovation. In addition, this study captured the academic logic at the field level, the interdisciplinary logic at the organisational level, and the Computer Science and IS logics at the individual level, to influence graduate IS curriculum innovation in SSA. Furthermore, these societal, field, university and individual level institutional logics contradicted each other presenting an institutional complexity to graduate IS curriculum innovation in SSA. However, the IS department resolved conflicting logics through mechanisms such as decoupling practices, faithful appropriation of congruent logics, hybridisation of logics and pursuit of dominant logics. For the third research objective, this study found that: First, graduate IS curricula in SSA are economically responsive by responding to the university's economic needs, and students’ economic needs. Second, graduate IS curricula in SSA are disciplinary responsive by responding to the local and global IS disciplinary identity. Third, graduate IS curricula in SSA are pedagogically responsive by accommodating IS entry experiences and IS learning resources. Fourth, graduate IS curricula in SSA are culturally responsive by accommodating the internal organisational culture and the culture of dependent organisations. Fifth, the technological and disruptive responsiveness are new dimensions uncovered in this study. Graduate IS curricula in SSA are technologically responsive, by accommodating ICT trends and the institutional ICTs and also disruptively responsive by being resilient to emergencies such as global pandemics and disasters and planned changes. For the fourth research objective, the following findings were discovered. First, graduate IS programmes in SSA are hybrid and are focused on providing generalist, domain-driven specialist or technology-driven specialist competencies and are more dominant in public universities than private universities. In addition, graduate IS course offerings provide IS-specific, individual foundational and domain of practice competencies such as business, computing, health, education, public policy, development, geography, government and mining reflecting the immediate local contextual needs in SSA. Prior to this research, there had been the general belief that academic programmes in IS, just like IS developed in the west, carry the values, aspirations, and interests of western societies. There have, therefore, been calls for IS curriculum researchers and practitioners in SSA to focus on ―decolonising‖ IS, and in particular ―Africanise‖ IS curricula, in SSA universities. In response, the study contributes theoretically and empirically to the understanding of graduate IS curriculum innovation in SSA in a number of ways. First, the study, arguably the first, extends the institutional logic perspective to IS curriculum innovation in SSA and uncovered beyond the existing seven institutional orders of western societies, the role of the logics of development and possibly de-colonialism in shaping IS curriculum decisions in SSA. These findings open the need to explore how the development and de-colonialism logics, specific to the SSA region and other developing countries, influence the development, implementation, adoption and use and consequences of information systems. Second, the study also explains how other institutional logics at different levels influence IS curriculum innovation. Such a socio-technical multi-level analysis of IS curriculum innovation is uncommon in extant literature. These contributions, among others, have been published in two book chapters and a conference proceeding.Item Understanding Ability, Opportunity, And Motivation Rationalization In Online Romance Scams(University Of Ghana, 2023-02) Barnor, B.J.N.Advancements in information and communication technology (ICT) have made it easier for various public and private sectors to perform effectively. However, the growth in ICTs is accompanied by new and emerging challenges for people and countries to contend with, notably cybercrime. Cybercrime is described as the use of computers and computer-related technologies, which includes the internet, to commit crimes such as fraud, child pornography, identity theft, and invasion of privacy. Despite the borderless nature of these crimes, one type of crime reverberates in West Africa; online romance scams – a scheme in which scammers pretend to have genuine affection for victims in order to acquire their love and then use that goodwill to persuade the victims in order to exploit them. While cyberspace in relation to cybercrimes is made up of three players – attackers, defence, and victims, extensive evaluation of literature shows a paucity of studies that consolidate evidence from the attackers’ perspectives. It is, therefore, essential to investigate the triggers of attackers’ behaviours in order to understand the mechanisms that unite to cause cybercrime to occur. The dearth of studies that take the perpetrators’ dimension into perspective implies a lack of studies that explore their behavioural dynamics as well as the strategies they employ in exploiting their victims. As a result, this study developed three research objectives to fill these gaps. The first objective is to unearth the mechanisms that trigger cybercriminal behaviours. The second is to explore the dynamics of cybercriminal behaviours, and the third is to explore the strategies that online romance scammers employ in finding, priming, and defrauding their victims. To achieve the study’s objectives, this research consolidates three theories: Routine Activity Theory (RAT), Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) framework, and Neutralisation Theory (NT). The combination of these theories was in an effort to address their weaknesses in relation to cybercrime studies. Based on existing fraud studies, this thesis operationalised the conditions that need to be present for a crime to take effect, leading to the development of a conceptual framework. To put this into perspective, the study draws on the tenets of critical realism and uses a qualitative single case study approach to investigate the activities of a cybercrime syndicate in Ghana. The choice for this approach was informed by the fact that using a single case study allows the researcher to question old theoretical relationships and investigate new ones, resulting in a more thorough study. As a site for such research, Ghana is not out of place, as sufficient anecdotal evidence indicates that the country, along with Nigeria, is one of the main hubs for West African scams. The first research objective sought to unearth the mechanisms that trigger cybercriminal behaviours. In this regard, four mechanisms were elicited through theoretical re-description and retroduction. These are motivation, opportunity, ability, and neutralisation. Concerning motivation, the study revealed an interplay of various socio-economic factors, including unemployment, low-level income, low-level education, and quick money syndrome, as the primary driving forces behind the commission of online romance scams. Regarding opportunity, the research found that online romance scam perpetrators take advantage of weaknesses in regulatory laws to commit romance scams. Concerning ability, the study pointed out two forms: social and technical abilities. A representational finding from this dimension indicated that scammers hold a high level of interactional social ability that aids them in keeping their victims believing seemingly legitimate truths, which turn out to be lies. Whereas ability is a trigger on its own, a leveraged ability becomes an opportunity when a technical ability is outsourced. Lastly, concerning their neutralisation strategies, this research suggested that perpetrators moderate the severity of their offences by engaging in selective social comparisons. The second objective sought to explore the behavioural dynamics of cybercriminal behaviours. Findings in this regard brought to the fore three-stage behavioural dynamics: creation, maturation, and decline. The creation stage was noted in the study as the starting stage of an individual’s ingress into the commission of online crimes. The research found that at this stage, cybercriminals possess little to no skills in committing cybercrimes and have no clear sense of direction. Perpetrators further graduate to the maturation stage when they begin to engage in carefully calculated multiplicity of internet crimes. While the maturation stage may last for a while, the decline stage sets in when perpetrators are unsuccessful in their fraud attempts due to an interplay of various factors, including security upgrades on dating and e-commerce platforms. Traditional and other forms of depravities also become attractive at this stage. These findings’ uniqueness stems from the fact that cybercriminal behavioural dynamics in relation to romance scam seems unclear in prior literature, making this research perhaps one of the first. The results of the third objective revealed two approaches that cybercrime perpetrators employ in finding, priming, and defrauding their victims. These included scammer-led and victim-led strategies. The scammer-led strategy involves instances where scammers pose as men and lead their victims (mostly females) into presumably romantic relationships that later turn out to be fake. While this approach has been featured in prior literature from the victims’ point of view, this study exposed some key elements worthy of note. Such include the use of tests to ascertain the legitimacy of the relationships and the use of victims’ addresses as a transit for shipping items obtained through e-commerce frauds. In the victim-led strategy, scammers pose as young ladies and allow victims (mostly males) to make demands in the form of naked photographs and webcam videos in exchange for money. Scammers who use this strategy sting their victims by blackmailing them. Again, this finding is unique because the victim-led approach in the scammers’ persuasive techniques has arguably not been documented in previous studies, making this study a pioneering one in that regard. This research makes the following contributions in terms of research, theory, methodology, practice, and policy. The study contributes to research by expanding the romance scam persuasive techniques, which has hitherto been developed using data from victims and dating platforms. The study further contributes to theory by developing and empirically testing a conceptual framework on how romance scam perpetrators rationalise their motivation, opportunities, and abilities. This was done by combining the RAT, MOA, and NT. This was a necessary move in that it contributes to addressing the debate surrounding the RAT for its inability to comprehensively address online crimes and also its inability to explain why offenders become motivated to commit crimes. The development of the framework is not limited to romance scams, as it may serve as a reference framework for studying other forms of online crimes (e.g., cyberbullying, hacking, pharming, digital piracy, etc.). Concerning the study’s contribution to methodology, this thesis aggregated primary evidence directly from romance scam perpetrators in an effort to ostensibly fill the gap in the lack of offender-side data representation in cybercrime literature. Regarding practice, this study presents rich information to developers and managers of dating platforms on the strategies online crime perpetrators employ to circumvent security features. Concerning policy, the study provides adequate information for law enforcement agencies and ISPs on the need for collaboration to combat cybercrime in Ghana and perhaps, West Africa. Notable outputs from this thesis are publications in two conference proceedings and two book chapter publications. One of the conference publications titled “Rationalising Online Romance Fraud: In the Eyes of the Offender” was nominated for the best paper award at the 2020 Americas Conference on Information Systems.Item Integrated Model For Tailoring Gamified Information Systems In Higher Education Institutions In A Developing Economy(2023-02) Ofosu-Ampong, K.Gamification, a new concept for adding game design elements to make activities more engaging is pervading many information systems. As a multidisciplinary research area, gamification integrates human motivation, technology, task characteristics and human computer interaction design. The motivation and fun surrounding gamified information systems (GIS) result from their potential benefits to institutions. However, a dearth of research and theory exists on how gamified interventions change behaviours in education, coupled with many challenges in conducting gamification research, particularly in developing economies (DE). Also, most of the GIS have been evaluated and adopted based on a one-size-fits-all approach. However, learners differ in their acceptance, motivation, engagement, and continuance use of technology. The thesis, therefore, examines the learner acceptance, engagement, and continuance use of GIS. Its purpose is to develop a theoretical and practical oriented framework for tailoring gamification to a target audience in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ghana. To achieve this purpose, the study employed three theories, namely, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the Self- Determination Theory (SDT) and the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA). Posited in the tenants of the positivist research paradigm, 30 hypotheses were developed and tested through a quantitative survey by comparing their predictions with the observed gamified data collected from 442 participants in an HEI in Ghana. First, using the UTAUT theory, I investigated students’ (n=185) gaming experience, perception, and acceptance of adding game design elements to learning management systems (LMS) in HEIs in Ghana. The findings show that the learner characteristics necessary for technology acceptance encompass demographic features (age, gender), expectations (performance (PE), effort (EE)) and psychological components (social influence (SI), motivation) in Ghana’s higher education. The study found that institutional-based trust in existing technologies is a payoff to accepting new technologies. Prompting the need to reestablish trust in the digital era of accelerated innovation in education. The study further found that after the acceptance of the existing technologies (LMS), students' need to accept GIS is influenced by expected high performance, less effort, attitude, and the existence of social influence. Compared to the UTAUT model, this research found three typologies based on the significant factors in the data analysis that is critical for explaining behavioural intention and technology acceptance. The results from this study proved that two constructs (PE and EE) of the original UTAUT model may be considered as technology and learner attributes, while the remaining two (SI and facilitating conditions (FC)) may be considered as institutional factors or outcomes. A significant omission and less reliance in the conceptualisation of the original UTAUT model is the institutional-based trust (TR) and attitude (ATT). However, these factors produced a substantial improvement in the variance explained in technology acceptance and behavioural intention. Importantly, the extensions (TR and ATT) form the new psychological safety factors in the UTAUT model and serve as the necessary conditions for the uptake of information systems in DE. These typologies, hitherto missing in the original UTAUT model, suggested the concept of technology acceptance has gained prominence in HEIs in DE but in the context of technology and learner attributes, institutional factors, and psychological safety factors. Second, using the SDT, the study examined how game design elements support and enhance students’(n=124) basic psychological needs in learning and the need to clarify the role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in GIS engagement. This study found three types of learning outcome measures (type of game elements, psychological need, and level of satisfaction) that is critical for a learner to make a decision and engage with the GIS. Importantly, feedback, interactivity and aesthetic appeal were identified as positive elements for maintaining and motivating engagement. The reward systems which include points, badges and leaderboards were found to be stronger than competition-based elements in motivating learning outcomes. In this regard, competition-based learning on gamified platforms is not a salient practice to enhance students learning outcomes. The study further showed that merely providing students with reward systems does not necessarily lead to user competence, and a higher level of satisfaction is associated with a higher level of learner engagement, thus reducing students’ turnover intention. Hence, a diverse and not a one-size-fits-all reward system should be tailored towards the individual learning progress. Third, to show the feasibility of the GIS approach in education, I applied the MOA framework and developed a model to examine students' continuance use behaviour. To demonstrate the importance of learner characteristics and outcomes of gamification, I conducted an evaluation (n=133) of a gamified version and investigated the efficacy of aesthetic experience, information technology capability, and information quality regarding learner continuance behaviours. The study found the opportunity ability motivation (OAM) framework as the appropriate interplay between learner characteristics, the platform, and the gamification elements. In applying the OAM framework, the findings suggest that for a behaviour change to take place, there is a need for an opportunity to experience it or try it (triability). However, for triability to lead to acceptance or intention to use, there should be ability to perform the behaviour and this ability includes learner characteristics and the ease of cognitive understanding of the GIS. Motivation therefore becomes an outcome because an opportunity has been created to perform the behaviour. The findings also revealed that self-expansion and meaning are the key determinants of aesthetic experience (appeal) of GIS. These new findings suggested that the concept of aesthetic experience, an aspect of both hedonic and utilitarian value has gained prominence in Ghana’s higher education. The result of this finding draws scholarly attention to aesthetic experience as a parsimonious yet powerful construct that compliments the notion of continuance use behaviour and engagement with GIS. The originality and contribution of the study to research and practice are as follows. First, the findings of the three objectives culminate into an Integrated Theoretical Model of HEIGamification Configuration (HEIGC) for tailoring gamification offerings in HEIs based on three clusters: Learner characteristics, Learner outcomes (critical decision stage) and Learner continuance behaviour. The model priorities for policymakers suggest that attitudes about accepting these types of platforms in education is primarily driven by their affordances i.e., psychological safety (autonomy, competence and social influence) and personality traits (PE, EE, Trust, aesthetic appeal and gamification elements) in DE HEIs. Second, this study addresses the limited results and evaluation of gamification and uncovers the efficacy of engaging and motivating learning behaviour change in Ghana and West Africa’s higher education. Hitherto absent in literature, this doctoral study addresses the lack of gamification research findings from the DE context. Third, the model provides eight theoretical constructs on acceptance, motivation, engagement, and outcomes of gamification, including a six-step practitioners’ guideline for tailoring gamification strategy to motivate HEIs to become more purpose-driven. The contribution of the study has resulted in three peer-reviewed articles, one book chapter and three full conference papers. The candidate has served the Association of Information Systems (AIS) and Gamification Community as the Vice President and Secretary of the Special Interest Group on Game Design and Research (AIS SIGGAME) since November 2019.Item Mutual Understanding In Interoperable Financial Management Systems Development In The Public Sector Of Ghana: A Sensemaking Theory Perspective(University Of Ghana, 2022-08) Acheampong, B.The extent to which stakeholders have a shared understanding of a project in terms of its goals, processes, roles, and outcomes is known as mutual understanding (MU). MU is a focal cognitive outcome that stems from episodes of cognitive activities—sensegiving and sensemaking—during the ongoing dialogue among the diverse stakeholders of a project. The link between MU and the success of a project has been well established in research on information systems. A closer examination of information systems development (ISD) research, however, reveals the lack of a theoretical and practice-oriented understanding of how MU is created and sustained among key stakeholders throughout the phases of an ISD project. To address this lack of understanding, the purpose of this study is to develop a framework to explain the creation and sustenance of mutual understanding between stakeholders in the development of an interoperable financial management system (IOFMS) in the public sector of a developing economy. In the public sector, interoperability occurs when independent information systems of different governmental departments, agencies, units and external partners work together (exchange information) efficiently and effectively in a predefined or agreed-on fashion. The development of interoperable systems in the public sector is complex, in that it involves unifying diverse interests, emotions, and political nuances. This makes it an ideal setting for investigating how MU is created and sustained. Further, three interrelated research gaps have been identified in the literature: the need for more theorisation in interoperability research, the need for more social theories in integrated financial management information systems research, and the need to examine how barriers or influencing factors shape the development of interoperable platforms in government. To address the above gaps, three research questions are examined in this study: (a) What are the triggers for creating and sustaining mutual understanding in the development of an IOFMS in a developing economy? (b) How do ISD project mechanisms (problem definition, requirement analysis, development, and implementation) affect the sensemaking process and outcomes during the development of an IOFMS in a developing economy? (c) What are the factors that influence the creation and sustenance of mutual understanding in the development of an IOFMS in a developing economy? This study employs sensemaking theory and the paradigm of critical realism to explore the mechanisms that underpin the creation and sustenance of mutual understanding in the development of an IOFMS. A case study of the payroll add-on systems in the public sector of Ghana is the vehicle for this exploration. As an example of a developing economy, Ghana provided the opportunity to examine a government institution that had experienced the development and implementation of three new systems that were interoperable with an existing payroll management system. The payroll add-on system consists of three independent, interoperable modules: the Electronic Salary Payment Voucher, the Electronic Payslip, and the Third-Party Referencing System. Through the paradigm of critical realism and the analytical techniques of Miles and Huberman, the study led to the development and verification of a framework and 14 findings that explain how MU is created and sustained throughout the development of interoperable systems. Concerning the first research question, the findings suggest that in the development of interoperable systems in the public sector, a mix of major planned and unplanned events tend to trigger organisational actors to engage in sensemaking and sensegiving activities. ISD is thus more likely to start as a major event or activity involving senior management in this setting. These events may originate from internal contradictions and ambiguities or from an external stimulus. The triggers tend to increase in severity as a project progresses to meet the demands of its later stages/phases. The project stages/phases and their mutually agreed-on deliverables also serve as triggers for sensemaking in subsequent phases of the project. Previous research has not identified the increasing severity of triggers or the function of project stages as triggers for sensemaking. Concerning the second research question, previous studies outlined three sensemaking processes: creation, interpretation, and enactment. However, these processes had not been explored in ISD projects. The findings of this thesis confirm these processes and then outline the mechanisms that characterise each of them. This thesis establishes the creation mechanisms as sense integration, data integration, and developing and distributing new data/information for use; the interpretation mechanisms as prototyping, joint reviewing, consultation, testing, and training; and the enactment mechanisms as formalisation and institutionalisation, the establishment of consent, illustration/demonstration, and documentation. Beyond outlining these mechanisms, the study also explains how they affect MU in interoperable systems development. For example, enactment mechanisms can serve as protective mechanisms that reduce or remove the potential for actors to revoke, undermine, subvert, or weaken the ‘sense’ or mutual understanding that has been established. Concerning sensemaking outcomes, the study reveals four levels of MU that hierarchically span the ISD project phases. It was found that MU starts as a shared understanding at the senior management level and then progresses to broader consensus beyond the senior management. As more consensus is gained, there is a need to demonstrate the viability of the ‘sense’ that has been made. The focus, therefore, moves to the technical expression of the shared understanding (e.g. a prototype), which can serve as an enactment mechanism to protect the shared understanding. In addition to the technical expression, measures may be taken to ensure that the MU is institutionalised and formalised. At the start of a project, mutual understanding may manifest as shared understanding between the developer and the senior management on the client side, but as the project progresses, it expands to include other organisational members, thereby institutionalising the new understanding. This progressive perspective of MU in ISD projects and interoperability research is a novel contribution of this study. Concerning the third research question, this thesis identifies factors that can stall a project [inhibitors]—financial resources, context-based experiences, and negative emotions—and factors that reinforce the need for sensemaking or demonstrate its value [enablers]—technology [prototypes] and cognitive frames. This categorisation of influencing factors is not mentioned in the sensemaking literature, but it is important. Sensemaking processes have the potential to create or affect the cognitive framing of the project actors. When the processes or tangible outcomes [prototypes] adequately address the context-based experiences of the beneficiary actors, MU is a more plausible outcome. Hence, this study establishes that understanding the relationships between influencing factors is as important as identifying the factors. The originality and contributions of this study to research and practice are as follows. This study is the first to propose a framework that explains how the triggers, processes, outcomes, and influencing factors of MU change throughout the phases of ISD projects. This provides knowledge to researchers and practitioners that hitherto could not be found in other studies. Although projects may differ in scale and the nature of stakeholder interaction, the framework and findings of this study can be adapted as a guide for other IOFMS and ISD projects in the public sector. The study also suggests that the techno-organisational perspective of interoperability should be the focus of academics and practitioners. The findings of this study indicate that both actors and technology shape MU and project outcomes. The above contributions have been published in one book chapter and one conference paper (see Appendix D). A manuscript is also under preparation for submission to Information Systems, a tier 4 journal in the information systems discipline.Item Affordances and Constraints of Seaport Smart Service Systems in a Developing Country: A Case Study from Ghana(University of Ghana, 2020-10) Amankwah-Sarfo, F.This study seeks to understand affordances and constraints of seaport smart service systems in a developing country context. Smart service systems refer to configurations of smart technologies, people and processes to co-create value for stakeholders. Examples of smart service systems discussed in information systems literature are smart homes, smart cities, smart health, and smart energy. While traditional service systems relied on people and physical processes, smart service systems rely on sensing and autonomous machine capabilities. Thus, based on their awareness and monitoring capabilities, smart service systems sense and respond to dynamic environmental conditions to co-create value for people, other systems, and themselves. Information Systems (IS) studies on smart service systems are limited in three main ways. First, existing IS research lack theoretical foundation. The focus has rather been on conceptualisations and literature reviews. There is, therefore, the need for in-depth and theory-driven studies to investigate smart service systems' use and effects in an organizational context. Second, extant IS literature on smart service systems has focused more on application areas such as smart health, smart building, smart government, smart grid, smart transportation, smart environment, smart home, and smart lifestyles. The area of seaport smart service system is yet to receive attention in IS research. Third, existing theoretical perspectives in affordance conception conceptualise affordances as action possibilities that emerge from interactions between technologies and goal-oriented actor(s) or user(s) while constraints are hindrances that prevent actors from using the technology to achieve intended goals. However, extant IS studies have concentrated on only the affordance-actualization process. Little or no research focuses on the constraint process of technology affordances theory. To address the research gap, the research questions that guided this study are: (a) why would a developing country seaport deploy smart service systems for security and container handling? (b) how are the uses of smart service systems for developing country seaport enabled or constrained? (c) what are the consequences of using smart service systems in a developing country seaport? Responding to these questions, this thesis employed the interpretivist research paradigm, the qualitative methodology, the case study method, and the technology affordances and constraints theory to understand the use of smart service systems in seaport in Ghana, a developing country. Ghana was selected because its main seaport in Tema had recently deployed smart service systems to address challenges of manual security processes and paper-based container handling systems. Accordingly, this study uses a two-case study comprising a smart seaport security service system and a smart container handling system in Ghana’s Tema Port. The findings show that deployment of smart service systems for seaport can enable autonomous access control, autonomous data capturing, data analytics and dashboard reporting, online submission of documents, and improved security and container handling services. The findings also show that smart service systems can be constrained by inadequate data storage capacity, internet and power supply instability, smart device breakdowns. The study contributes to research, theory and practice. With respect to research, this study extends existing knowledge in smart service systems in two ways. First, the study provides an understanding of affordances, constraints and consequences of using seaport smart service systems in a developing country context. Second, this study has extended the literature from a limited focus on conceptualisations and literature reviews to theory-driven empirical studies on seaport smart security service and container handling service systems. For theory, this study contributes to the technology affordances and constraints theory by refining the theory in two ways. First, the study extends the existing types of technology affordances by introducing smart technology affordance as a new type in smart service system context. Second, the study introduces affordance-constraint process as a complement to the existing affordance-actualization process. This study also extends the application of technology affordances and constraints theory from human as the only actors to include smart objects as actors in smart service systems studies in IS. Based on the research findings, this study offers four implications for practice. First, management can adopt cloud computing to address the constraint of inadequate storage capacity resulting from big data generation. Second, to address the constraint of device breakdowns, management can procure robust smart artefacts as well as establish and enforce risk assessment and maintenance schedule. Third, management can provide standby smart power generators to take over when the national grid goes off. Finally, port authorities can contract multiple internet service providers to address the problem of internet outages.Item Business Strategy and Business Models of Digital Enterprises in a Developing Economy: Conceptualizing the Link(University of Ghana, 2019-10) Ansong, E.The rapid advances in digital technologies have led to the rising need for the development of strategies to harness its potential, especially in the field of Information Systems. Despite this growing importance, there is still a fuzzy understanding of what constitutes a comprehensive Digital Business Strategy (DBS) which encompasses the dominant dimensions of strategic actions in the digital economy. It is worthwhile to note that the digital business strategy transcends one functional area in businesses. In another breadth, most economic actors have difficulties in understanding the digital economy and are not always aware of the problems digital firms face. This difficulty has been attributed to the peculiarities of digital technologies and the specific characteristics of the digital economy. The above issues led to the conduct of this thesis which was guided by the critical realist paradigm to develop a theoretical digital business strategy framework which explains the value-creation strategic actions that underpin business models of digital enterprises in a developing economy. These include the four main dimensions of digital business strategy (Governance, Coordination, Competence and Flexibility). Based on this underpinning purpose and the gaps identified in existing research, the thesis sought to achieve three primary objectives. First, the study was set in motion through the conduct of a survey to explore the business models of the digital enterprises operating within Ghana’s digital economy. The findings suggest that among human, physical, and intangible assets, financial assets were the least utilized assets in the operations of the digital enterprises. This stems from the fact that the online financial business sector is still in its nascent stages in most developing economies. The findings further suggest that all digital enterprises leverage accessible and low-cost social networking services as part of their operations and use them as an avenue to engage with their target customers. The rapid advances in digital technologies have led to the rising need for the development of strategies to harness its potential, especially in the field of Information Systems. Despite this growing importance, there is still a fuzzy understanding of what constitutes a comprehensive Digital Business Strategy (DBS) which encompasses the dominant dimensions of strategic actions in the digital economy. It is worthwhile to note that the digital business strategy transcends one functional area in businesses. In another breadth, most economic actors have difficulties in understanding the digital economy and are not always aware of the problems digital firms face. This difficulty has been attributed to the peculiarities of digital technologies and the specific characteristics of the digital economy. The above issues led to the conduct of this thesis which was guided by the critical realist paradigm to develop a theoretical digital business strategy framework which explains the value-creation strategic actions that underpin business models of digital enterprises in a developing economy. These include the four main dimensions of digital business strategy (Governance, Coordination, Competence and Flexibility). Based on this underpinning purpose and the gaps identified in existing research, the thesis sought to achieve three primary objectives. First, the study was set in motion through the conduct of a survey to explore the business models of the digital enterprises operating within Ghana’s digital economy. The findings suggest that among human, physical, and intangible assets, financial assets were the least utilized assets in the operations of the digital enterprises. This stems from the fact that the online financial business sector is still in its nascent stages in most developing economies. The findings further suggest that all digital enterprises leverage accessible and low-cost social networking services as part of their operations and use them as an avenue to engage with their target customers. Ghana, an online database named “http://dbizbase.com/” has been developed. This database serves as a one-stop-shop for information concerning digital enterprises in Ghana. Second, a research paper was published in 2019, Volume 21, edition 2 of the Journal of Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance. The journal is ranked by the Association of Business Schools (ABS) and Scopus. This article was developed from the first research objective, which sought to model the digital economy of Ghana. The article was titled "Surviving in the digital era–business models of digital enterprises in a developing economy" which according to google scholar citation metrics has so far been cited 11 times one month after publication. The DOI number is 10.1108/DPRG-08-2018-0046. Keywords: Digital Business Strategy; Digital Enterprises; Digital Economy; Developing Economy; Critical Realism; Digital Entrepreneurship