Information systems professionals now face the automation of their own work in integrated computer aided software engineering. Organizations need to achieve all the leverage possible from costly IT implementations to enhance competitiveness, profitability, and survival in a rapidly changing environment. ICASE technology is a part of the infrastructure necessary to meet this challenge but appears to present significant difficulties in implementation.

In the last twelve years there has been considerable research interest in mathematical programming approaches to the statistical classification problem, primarily because they are not based on the assumptions of the parametric methods (Fisher's linear discriminant function, Smith's quadratic discriminant function) for optimality. This dissertation focuses on the development of mathematical programming models for the three-group classification problem and examines the computational efficiency and classificatory performance of proposed and existing models. The classificatory performance of these models is compared with that of Fisher's linear discriminant function and Smith's quadratic discriminant function. Additionally, this dissertation investigates theoretical characteristics of mathematical programming models for the classification problem with three or more groups. A computationally efficient model for the three-group classification problem is developed. This model minimizes directly the number of misclassifications in the training sample. Furthermore, the classificatory performance of the proposed model is enhanced by the introduction of a two-phase algorithm. The same algorithm can be used to improve the classificatory performance of any interval-based mathematical programming model for the classification problem with three or more groups. A modification to improve the computational efficiency of an existing model is also proposed. In addition, a multiple-group extension of a mathematical programming model …

The purpose of this research is to continue examining the project management process. The management of projects is complicated. It is the complexity of the process that makes a project so difficult to control. This research examines the effect of particular facets of the project manager's skill set and operating environment on management decisions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between selected end-user training programs corporations provide to their employees and subsequent employee performance based on these opportunities.

Managing a software development project presents many difficulties. Most software development projects are considered less than successful, and many are simply canceled. Ineffective project management has been cited as a major factor contributing to these failures. Project management tools can greatly assist managers in tracking and controlling their projects. However, project management tools are very structured and analytical in nature, which is not necessarily supported by decision-making styles of the managers. This research examined the influence that decision style has on a project manager's use of a project management tool.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect on parametric and nonparametric tests using ordinal data when the distances between points changed on the measurement scale. The research examined the performance of Type I and Type II error rates using selected parametric and nonparametric tests.

In this study, neural networks are developed under conditions of nonnormality as alternatives to standard control charts, and their performance is compared with those of standard ‾x and CUSUM control charts.

Service quality as a component of overall Information Systems quality is examined. Three related studies test the SERVQUAL and related instruments (SERVPERF and Importance-weighted SERVPERF) using Information System users. SERVPERF outperformed SERVQUAL in all three studies.

Software implementation projects struggle with the delicate balance of low cost, on-time delivery and quality. The methodologies and processes used to create and maintain a quality software system are expensive to deploy and result in long development cycle-time. However, without their deployment into the software implementation life-cycle, a software system will be undependable, unsuccessful. The purpose of this research is to identify a succinct set of software implementation success criteria and assess the key independent constructs, activities, carried out to ensure a successful implementation project. The research will assess the success of a software implementation project as the dependent construct of interest and use the software process model (methodology) as the independent construct. This field research involved three phases: (1) criteria development, (2) data collection, and (3) testing of hypotheses and discriminant analysis. The first phase resulted in the development of the measurement instruments for the independent and dependent constructs. The measurement instrument for the independent construct was representative of the criteria from highly regarded software implementation process models and methodologies, e.g., ISO9000, Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model (SEI CMM). The dependent construct was developed from the categories and criteria from the Delone and McLean (1992) MIS List of …