1. International Business School http://www.ibs.utm.my Universiti Teknologi Malaysia INFORMATION SYSTEMS (IS) INTEGRATION: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND A CASE ANALYSIS Norshidah Mohamed, PhD (Presenter); Batiah Mahadi, PhD; Suraya Miskon, PhD; Hanif Haghshenas; Hafizuddin Muhd Adnan WSEAS 11th International Conference on E-ACTIVITIES (E-ACTIVITIES '13) Nanjing, China 17-19 November 2013

2. 2 OUTLINE Introduction Problem formulation Problem solution Conclusion 3. 3 INTRODUCTION 4. 4 BACKGROUND Traditionally, organizations implement IS to solve internal business problems Emergence of islands of IS Give rise to IS integration 5. 5 BACKGROUND .. cont What is IS integration? Data integration came about with users having to access many databases [40] IS integration is regarded as functions and processes of a single organization [2] IS integration is stage toward strategic alignment between business an d IT [13]. 6. 6 PROBLEM FORMULATION 7. 7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS RQ1a: What are the types of IS integration in organizations? RQ1b: What are the levels of IS integration in organizations? RQ2: What are the challenges in achieving a higher level of IS integration in an institution of higher education sector using an adaptation of Tornatzky & Fleischer [61] innovation adoption framework? 8. 8 PROBLEM SOLUTION 9. 9 RESEARCH DESIGN RQ1a: RQ1b: RQ2: Review of literature Case analysis Research questions Data collection method: Physical and electronic archival records e.g. meeting minutes, Website references, audit records and posters to collect data about the case. 10. 10 RESEARCH DESIGN .. cont Bibliographic databases used: Scholar Google Proquest Ebscohost ACM IEEE Springer Gale IGI-Global E-books 11. 11 RESEARCH DESIGN .. cont Tornatzky & Fleisher [61] used technological, organizational and environmental factors to describe technology adoption Chowanetz et al. [16] added business factor to explain IS integration This research integrates Tornatzky & Fleisher [61] and Chowanetz et al. [16] and added another factor i.e. knowledge to explain IS integration. 12. 12 FINDINGS Integration in IS 1. Organizational integration integration between different departments and functional units in an organization [56]; the extent to which discrete and interdependent organizational units or components form a unified whole [2] RQ1a 13. 13 FINDINGS .. cont Integration in IS 2. IS integration the degree to which different systems of an organization are interconnected and are capable of communicating to each other (e.g. islands of technology integration). RQ1a Perspective #1 14. 14 FINDINGS .. cont Integration in IS 2. IS integration the degree to which two or more independent organizations have standardized business processes and those processes are firmly linked through telecommunications technologies and computers [18; 37; 56; 58; 60; 62; 63; 64]. RQ1a Perspective #2 15. 15 FINDINGS .. cont Types of IS Integration 1. Strategic integration whether different integrated systems are supporting an organizations core strategic plans [13; 22]. 2. Horizontal integration how easy decisions are made and data are passed among the islands of technology [22]. 3. Vertical integration This form of integration enables access to information at various levels of the organization hierarchy [22]. RQ1a 16. 16 FINDINGS .. cont Types of Integration 4. Electronic integration deployment of computers and communication systems among relevant actors in adjacent stages of value chain [68]. 5. Communication network integration deployment of integrated communication networks by transmitting information around the globe through including satellites, cable or fibers [66]. RQ1a 17. 17 FINDINGS .. cont Types of Integration 6. Physical integration cooperation between several departments or production facilities of an organization which are dispersed in various geographical zones [22]. 7. Data integration sharing a number of databases [7; 30]. 8. Temporal integration provides access to historical data RQ1a 18. 18 FINDINGS .. cont Types of Integration 9. Semantic integration several application components using the same data provide the same concept thus preserving the semantic [65]. 10.Context integration several application components are synchronized automatically with regard to context descriptors like user login. RQ1a 19. 19 FINDINGS .. cont Types of Integration 11.Presentation integration when several application components used by the same users provide equally designed user interface elements for equal presentation and interaction functions [65]. 12.Process integration involves the minimization of communication and coordination effort between activities of a process [5]. RQ1a 20. 20 FINDINGS .. cont Types of Integration 13.Electronic data integration many internal applications using many different protocols over LAN and WAN [11]. 14.Specification integration shares the similar characteristics by those of middleware integration [32]. RQ1a 21. 21 FINDINGS .. cont Types of Integration 15.Compatibility integration level of compatibility between different system components. 16.Ergonomic integration is concerned with users comfort with graphical interface, software, keyboard, and hardware. RQ1a 22. 22 FINDINGS .. cont Types of Integration 17.Cognitive integration Intangibility, usefulness, and consistency of communication between user and system. 18.Enterprise integration the combination of organizational and IS integration. RQ1a 23. 23 FINDINGS .. cont Levels of Integration [22] 1. Level I: System-specification integration the lowest level of integration marked by compatibility integration and specification integration on stand-alone basis. 2. Level II: System-user integration this integration is characterized by the integration of users with technology and environment. RQ1b 24. 24 FINDINGS .. cont Levels of Integration 3. Level III: Islands of technology integration linking islands of technology that are dispersed [22]. 4. Level IV: Organization integration marked by value-chain integration [10; 66]. 5. Level V: Socio-organizational integration This level of integration incorporates the social-external (socio) environments e.g. government. RQ1b 25. 25 FINDINGS .. cont Levels of Integration 6. Level VI: Global integration considers three types of integration: (1) international horizontal integration, (2) international temporal integration, and (3) cultural integration. The supply-chain that cuts across geographical border exemplifies this level of integration. RQ1b 26. 26 FINDINGS .. cont Case background R2 A single case study analysis a public institution of higher education sector in Malaysia to explain the types and levels of integration using the taxonomy identified earlier. A total of 12,883 postgraduate students, about 4,455 doctoral students and 11,392 undergraduate students. Established in 1904 and currently recognized as a research university. 27. 27 FINDINGS .. cont R2 A total of 1,160 faculty members who are doctoral degree holders. Offers diverse programs in engineering, management, architecture, computing, education and Islamic studies. It has two main campuses. There are faculties, schools, institutes, research alliances and administrative offices. 28. 28 FINDINGS .. cont R2 various committees at the top management level that make strategic and operational decisions Internal operational and internal functional organizational integration Ongoing efforts to achieve level III (Islands of technology integration) and level IV (organization integration) in parallel. 29. 29 FINDINGS .. cont R2 Organizational ongoing efforts in strengthening coordination among decision- makers, faculty and supporting members of the institution. Coordination requires harnessing both social and technical capabilities including in technological and project management skills for on-going projects; 30. 30 FINDINGS .. cont R2 Technological data integrity in terms accuracy, timeliness delivery and completeness in information systems integration has often been cited as demanding utmost attention. The lack of a repository of historical information is a cited challenge in reporting of trends and making predictive analysis. Further, another key challenge facing the institution is constant technological threats. 31. 31 FINDINGS .. cont R2 Technological data integrity in terms accuracy, timeliness delivery and completeness in information systems integration has often been cited as demanding utmost attention. The lack of a repository of historical information is a cited challenge in reporting of trends and making predictive analysis. Further, another key challenge facing the institution is constant technological threats. 32. 32 FINDINGS .. cont R2 Environmental pressures for the institution to deliver timely reports to these bodies. Some efforts have been made by the ministry to integrate research grants application information. 33. 33 FINDINGS .. cont R2 Environmental pressures for the institution to deliver timely reports to these bodies. Some efforts have been made by the ministry to integrate research grants application information. 34. 34 FINDINGS .. cont R2 Business Challenges exist in aligning operational activities to strategic directions in particular, assuring that information systems integration efforts of the institution are not treated in piece-meal approach, rather, receiving adequate budgetary support and skillful human resources to implement identified key projects. 35. 35 FINDINGS .. cont R2 Knowledge Much still remains to be done in terms managing knowledge. 36. 36 37. 37 CONTRIBUTIONS Integrated the contexts and perspectives of information systems integration Extended the Tornatzky and Fleischer [61] innovation adoption framework and showed the applicability of an adapted framework in explaining the higher education context. 38. 38 CONTRIBUTIONS .. cont Academic administrators, information technology managers and universitys key decision makers may find the outcomes of this on-going research useful to take heed of key challenges and identifying means to overcome barriers in information systems integration. 39. 39norshidah@ic.utm.my Acknowledgment The research is funded through the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and Research University Grant (Vote no. 08J26). The researchers express deep appreciation to the Research Management Centre and K-economy Research Alliance.