For small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Australia the ability to regularly produce new and/or innovative products or services for the marketplace can help ensure organisational survival. This ability to regularly produce products requires a firm to focus on both creativity and innovation. The research reported in this paper investigates entrepreneurial perspectives toward the creativity and innovation processes within Australian technology SMEs. Following a grounded theory approach aligned to the interpretive paradigm this research undertook 21 interviews drawing on 23 individuals from 19 organisations. In relation to the ability to produce new products, two main themes emerged from the interviews, firstly the role of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs and secondly entrepreneurial leadership practices. From the research findings and discussion it can be ascertained that creativity, innovation and leadership practices are the foundations on which entrepreneurs thrive. As such the paper posits that entrepreneurial practices improve organisational creativity and innovation capability and therefore lead to a higher probability of producing transformational outcomes.

Organizations use various types of outsourcing for many reasons, and these have been widely documented in the research literature. However, the impact on both the employees remaining with the organization and those who move to the service provider is often neglected. Prior to the outsourcing arrangement coming into effect, the employees all work for the same organization, but now with two (or more) organizations in place, professionalism and workplace relationships are drastically changed. In this article, the impact of changing workplace relationships on individual professionalism and workplace ethics will be explored.

© 2017 International Business Information Management Association IBIMA. All Rights Reserved. The predominant focus of eLearning information systems remains distance delivery and the blending of this distance education within the classroom. Comparatively, little work has been (or is being) undertaken to advance the use of technologies (eLearning) within the 'classroom only' situation as eLearning is not solely for distance education. Designing effective technologically founded, educational learning that addresses the specific needs of class-based tertiary teaching is the main contribution of this article. Having online content that actively engages students both inside and outside the classroom can only occur following the critical evaluation of the modes of content selection and delivery. Furthermore, perfecting facilitator choices into the future about what technology and content used in which capacity, including whether it is online or face-to-face, would inevitably be valuable to both the learner and the teacher.

While many frameworks are available for eLearning and Information Systems, there is a fundamental lack of understanding of unifying these two elements for use in a university teaching sector. ELearning is trying to find a place where it can fit neatly without too much confusion, however, this has still yet to occur. To eliminate this confusion eLearning Information Systems (ELIS) require a framework that is easy to follow and can adapt to the specific needs of the higher educational sector. This preliminary research provides insights into the problems faced by academics with integrating technology into their classroom.

Overall, the results have indicated that using a framework that is widely accepted in industry and adapting it to use within a classroom have been encouraging. We suggest that with further trials and understanding of this industry framework, would help with the overall engagement of the student in the classroom would improve and consequently this would also have a productive effect on the academic delivering the subject.

This paper presents a comparative case study of the challenges of teaching non-IT content to IT undergraduates. Data was collected over five semesters via a standard University student survey to show how the integration of ELearning Information Systems (ELIS) has led to improved student satisfaction within an undergraduate IT subject. Results from the surveys are discussed in relation to the change history of the subject and indicate that continually updating content and delivery methods (no matter how static the subject area) can lead to improved outcomes. With further development, the combination of collaborative group work and an ELIS will provide an enhanced learning experience for students.

Software development has endured radical change with the introduction of agile methods for creating software solutions. This change has prompted new considerations of how software creation should be managed. While agile methods have changed software development processes, it would be premature to assume that has also induced modification in higher-level project management processes. Software development lifecycles (SDLC) and project management lifecycles (PLC), while
associated, are not the same thing and it is still unclear to what degree the overarching project management tasks, tools or techniques must change or adapt to meet the needs of undertaking successful agile projects.

This exploratory pilot study investigated agile methods used to manage software projects and was conducted via an online survey and restricted to a specific sample audience with significant project experience and with background in both traditional and agile development methods. The results indicate that traditional project management phases and techniques are adapted to fit with agile. However, as the discipline evolves the potential exists for a pure agile project management
framework to surface - one that can be applied to better suit the needs of the management of agile projects as well as projects beyond the realm of software development.

In recent years, technology has enabled financial services organizations to become innovators in the
global market. Financial institutions are critically dependant on technology activity for daily
operations and these organizations are at the forefront of business-oriented technology developments.
Products like the ATM and online banking have given these organizations improved efficiency and
the ability to be competitive by reducing the costs of services. Organizations invest in information
technology for many reasons, for example cutting costs, increase in production and services without
increasing costs, improving the quality of services or products (Lederer et al., 1998). However, in
spite of these innovations, some organizations seem to struggle with alignment issues between IT and
business departments resulting in an ambiguous and sometimes negative perception of IT services.
This work focuses on the building of credibility through education and the development of positive
perceptions of information technology. The findings provide a basis for further studies and possible
trials of differing education formats in technology to further develop both the positive acceptance of
business technologies and assist in improving the commercial environment.

Paper for the 19th International Information Management Association Conference whose major theme was "Innovation Vision 2020: Sustainable Growth, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development". The published paper explored the creativity and innovation process and practices within small Australian technology organisations from an entrepreneurial perspective. It was based upon 21 interviews with senior individuals within 19 organisations. From the findings creativity, innovation and leadership practices are the foundations on which entrepreneurs thrive, showing that entrepreneurial practices improve organisational creativity and lead to a higher probability of producing transformational outcomes.

This paper explores the vendor transition process after the termination or alteration of existing outsourcing contracts and the impact on in-flight projects. A single case study based on a large Australian telecommunications company, which operates a heavily outsourced IT environment is presented. Qualitative techniques were used for data collection and analysis. Data collection was undertaken using on-site semi-structured open-ended interviews. The following key themes were uncovered in the interviews 1) Communication of the vendor transition, 2) The transition period, 3) Confusion during transition, 4) Extending agreements, and 5) Knowledge management. The paper concludes by presenting a number implications and underlying points of interest derived from the findings.

The objective of this paper is to explore the role of leadership in fostering innovation within technology dependent organisations and in particular the ways in which such leadership manifests. The research used a Grounded Theory approach aligned to the interpretive paradigm. In all 21 interviews and 3 focus groups were conducted drawing on 72 individuals from 62 organisations. The main themes identified in this research were: 1) Entrepreneurial Leadership Practice, 2) The Innovative Culture, 3) Attributes of Negotiated Order and 4) Proactive Operational Ethos. The paper concludes by providing consolidated view of innovation attributes in small and large enterprises.

Government, employers and professional societies want university graduates who are more ready for work. The UTS Work-Ready Project is a curriculum renewal initiative that aims to improve graduates' professional attributes and employability skills. The Project provides online teaching and learning resources to support the integration of Work-Ready Learning Activities (WRLA) into the existing curriculum. The paper provides an overview of the UTS Work-Ready Project and the incorporation of WRLA' s into three Information Technology (IT) Management subjects which all included a group assessment item. In each subject, students were surveyed to gain feedback regarding how useful they found a team collaborative decision-making WRLA and whether it helped in their group assessment task. When averaged across the three subjects and the five surveys undertaken 85% of students thought the activity was useful, however there were mixed results in relation to whether the WRLA helped in the group assessment task. Under-graduate students reported the WRLA made no difference to the group assessment task, whereas postgraduates indicated the WRLA did help the team produce their group assessment item.

The paper backgrounds the UTS Work-ready Project which aims to improve graduate professional attributes and employability understandings and skills. The Project makes available online teaching and learning resources to support the integration of Work-Ready Learning Activities (WRLA) into the existing curriculum. The WRLAs are contextualised for each professions workspace to maximise relevance for both students and academics. The paper presents a case-study of the integration and evaluation of contextualised WRLAs to improve teamwork processes into three subjects in the IT Management curriculum. Students were surveyed to obtain feedback on the usefulness of a team collaborative decision-making WRLA and whether it helped in their undertaking of a group assessment task. The survey results were positive when averaged across the three subjects and the five surveys conducted indicate 85% of students thought the activity was useful.

This research in progress explores organizational culture from a project context. The paper takes the form of a case study with two projects, one from an oil company and the other from a bank, presented and analysed using Hofstedes [10] Six Dimensions of Organizational Culture. Data collection was Qualitative using the methods of reflective observation and informal discussion with project team members. The results show that for the bank project the culture of the project and the organization were along similar paths whereas for the oil company project the culture of the project and the organization were dissimilar in a number of dimensions. This research has also developed and pilot tested a questionnaire in relation to organisational culture in the context of projects, however this is not the focus of this paper.

Blogs have become one of the most prominent fonns of social media on the Web. This paper reports on the first part ofa comprehensive study of how a mainstream Australian media organisation is integrating blogs into their business. The research used a qualitative approach and data collection was undertaken using semi-structured interviews with newspaper staff. The findings presented provide an insight into the opportunities to be gained and the challenges to be faced by Australian media organisations as they incorporate blogs in their online offerings.

Conference presentation with abstract published on the conference website

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) was developed as a best practice set of guidelines, procedures and processes aimed at improving IS&T service management within an organization. This paper aims to determine whether organizations that implement ITIL achieve the desired improvements in IS&T service management. The IT popular press, ITIL related web sites and industry white papers have formed the basis for this investigation. After defining the ITIL framework, the factors that drive organizations to adopt ITIL, and the benefits to be gained and the challenges faced when implementing ITIL are presented. Examples of successful ITIL initiatives are also detailed. The paper concludes by drawing on these areas to support the premise that ITIL does have the desired effect for those IS&T departments that take the time to implement this best practice framework and suggests areas for future research.