Boundary Critique and Stakeholder Collaboration in Open Source Software Migration

Author(s):  
Osden Jokonya ◽  
Stan Hardman

This paper investigates the contribution of stakeholder collaboration during an open source software migration using a case study. The case study is based on the Presidential National Commission, a South African government department that migrated from proprietary software to open source software in 2007. The organization was one of the few that migrated to open source software as part of a South African government initiative. The case study consisted of semi-structured interviews with the participants involved in the migration. The interviews centered on the contribution of stakeholder collaboration during the software migration using a boundary critique. The results suggest that stakeholder collaboration can contribute to open source software migration. From a managerial perspective, business leaders must understand the value of stakeholder collaboration in open source software migration. Boundary critique can be an important tool for achieving broader collaboration of stakeholders.

Author(s):  
Osden Jokonya ◽  
Stan Hardman

This paper investigates the contribution of stakeholder collaboration during an open source software migration using a case study. The case study is based on the Presidential National Commission, a South African government department that migrated from proprietary software to open source software in 2007. The organization was one of the few that migrated to open source software as part of a South African government initiative. The case study consisted of semi-structured interviews with the participants involved in the migration. The interviews centered on the contribution of stakeholder collaboration during the software migration using a boundary critique. The results suggest that stakeholder collaboration can contribute to open source software migration. From a managerial perspective, business leaders must understand the value of stakeholder collaboration in open source software migration. Boundary critique can be an important tool for achieving broader collaboration of stakeholders.


1973 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheridan Johns

More than ten years after the turn from non-violence to organised violence by the African opposition in South African the white Nationalist régime remains firmlly entrenched in power. Its security forces have successfully suppressed sabotage campaigns initiated in the early 1960s, unco-ordinated terrorist attacks mounted during the same period, and incipient guerrilla action in South-West Africa in 1966. At the call of the authorities in Salisbury they joined their northern neighbours to defeat armed incursions in Rhodesia during 1967–8, and more recently they have contained sporadic attacks in the Caprivi Strip along the Zambian border. The South African Government appears confident that its forces can continue to thwart any future attempts at domestic insurgency.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1491
Author(s):  
Ahmed S. Alanazi ◽  
Heather Wharrad ◽  
Fiona Moffatt ◽  
Michael Taylor ◽  
Muhammad Ladan

All face-to-face studies were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as they could not be run in person due to rules and guidance linked to social distancing which were in force during the outbreak. Finding and testing an available COVID-secure approach for both participants and researchers was important as was the need to continue conducting such studies during this critical time. At present, the extant literature indicates a clear gap in research that elucidates how to carry out a Q methodology study online, step by step. This paper describes an option for online Q methodology using an approach that simulates all of the steps performed in a face-to-face setting using an open-source software known as Easy-HtmlQ. Using a case study in telemedicine adoption as illustration, this paper also considers the perspective of both research participants and Q methodology researchers via semi-structured interviews. Using Easy-HtmlQ V1.1 in online Q methodology studies appears to be an affordable, practical and user-friendly solution. Some of the benefits associated with running Q methodology studies online were the decreased costs, enabling the recruitment of wider number of participants, providing a COVID-19-secure environment and offering convenience to both participants and researchers during the research process. The findings of this study may contribute to increasing the number of online Q methodology studies in the future, as it has succeeded in offering a feasible approach for Q methodology researchers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lungisani Moyo

ABSTRACT This paper used qualitative methodology to explore the South African government communication and land expropriation without compensation and its effects on food security using Alice town located in the Eastern Cape Province South Africa as its case study. This was done to allow the participants to give their perceptions on the role of government communication on land expropriation without compensation and its effects on South African food security. In this paper, a total population of 30 comprising of 26 small scale farmers in rural Alice and 4 employees from the Department of Agriculture (Alice), Eastern Cape, South Africa were interviewed to get their perception and views on government communications and land expropriation without compensation and its effects on South African food security. The findings of this paper revealed that the agricultural sector plays a vital role in the South African economy hence there is a great need to speed up transformation in the sector.


Author(s):  
Oliver Tafadzwa Gore ◽  

Although policies to widen participation have been implemented in South African higher education since 1994, inequality of achievements persists in universities. The failure of the higher education policy to clearly define ‘disadvantage’ in various interventions seems to have contributed to the continuing inequalities. This study theorises disadvantage using the capabilities approach pioneered by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and argues for a more nuanced definition of disadvantage by exploring the opportunities, agency and achievements available to students in universities. The theorisation is based on findings from a qualitative case study of 26 semi-structured interviews conducted with students from one South African university. Using empirical findings, the theorisation in this study shows how the conversion factors intersect, resulting in some students achieving fewer functionings, which put them at a disadvantage. While gender equality seemingly has been achieved through enrolment figures that show parity levels, some female students are still disadvantaged through subtle forms of discrimination and sexual harassment in universities. This study therefore recommends that higher education policies should consider an expansive definition of disadvantage that encompasses the various dimensions of student wellbeing for all students to have flourishing lives.


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