Browsing by Author "Uys, J. W."
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- ItemA framework for exploiting electronic documentation in support of innovation processes(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-03) Uys, J. W.; Du Preez, N. D.; Lutters, E.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The crucial role of innovation in creating sustainable competitive advantage is widely recognised in industry today. Likewise, the importance of having the required information accessible to the right employees at the right time is well-appreciated. More specifically, the dependency of effective, efficient innovation processes on the availability of information has been pointed out in literature. A great challenge is countering the effects of the information overload phenomenon in organisations in order for employees to find the information appropriate to their needs without having to wade through excessively large quantities of information to do so. The initial stages of the innovation process, which are characterised by free association, semi-formal activities, conceptualisation, and experimentation, have already been identified as a key focus area for improving the effectiveness of the entire innovation process. The dependency on information during these early stages of the innovation process is especially high. Any organisation requires a strategy for innovation, a number of well-defined, implemented processes and measures to be able to innovate in an effective and efficient manner and to drive its innovation endeavours. In addition, the organisation requires certain enablers to support its innovation efforts which include certain core competencies, technologies and knowledge. Most importantly for this research, enablers are required to more effectively manage and utilise innovation-related information. Information residing inside and outside the boundaries of the organisation is required to feed the innovation process. The specific sources of such information are numerous. Such information may further be structured or unstructured in nature. However, an ever-increasing ratio of available innovation-related information is of the unstructured type. Examples include the textual content of reports, books, e-mail messages and web pages. This research explores the innovation landscape and typical sources of innovation-related information. In addition, it explores the landscape of text analytical approaches and techniques in search of ways to more effectively and efficiently deal with unstructured, textual information. A framework that can be used to provide a unified, dynamic view of an organisation‟s innovation-related information, both structured and unstructured, is presented. Once implemented, this framework will constitute an innovation-focused knowledge base that will organise and make accessible such innovation-related information to the stakeholders of the innovation process. Two novel, complementary text analytical techniques, Latent Dirichlet Allocation and the Concept-Topic Model, were identified for application with the framework. The potential value of these techniques as part of the information systems that would embody the framework is illustrated. The resulting knowledge base would cause a quantum leap in the accessibility of information and may significantly improve the way innovation is done and managed in the target organisation.
- ItemTrends in a South African industrial engineering journal : a textual information analysis perspective(Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineerg, 2010-05) Uys, J. W.; Schutte, C. S. L.; Esterhuizen, D.Industrial engineering (IE) is a multi-disciplinary field, with its research borders broadening into a wide range of sub-disciplines. The South African Journal of Industrial Engineering (SAJIE) has been the official voice of IE research in South Africa for the past 22 years. In the interests of evaluating research scope, it is worth determining how IE fields have been covered by this journal. What are the current topics in IE, and how do they align with IE publication trends in other countries? This article attempts to investigate these issues in an objective way by using a text analytical technique to analyse the SAJIE publication collection. Due to the growth in the quantity of accessible textual information, and the growing importance of this type of information to business people and industrial engineers alike, the relevant text analytical method is also outlined.