INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACTIVITIES - DATA - INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACTIVITIES - DATA - INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACTIVITIES - DATA - INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACT

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INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACTIVITIES - DATA - INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACTIVITIES - DATA - INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACTIVITIES - DATA - INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACTIVITIES - DATA - INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACTIVITIES - DATA -

INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION - ACTIVITIES - DATA - INFORMATION STRATEGY PLANNING - ORGANIZATION

Bringing Pancasila to the University of Surabaya

Defining unity in the university’s diverse information services by applying Information Strategy Planning

By Jelmer Rijkes On behalf of the

University of Surabaya

University

of Groningen

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To let fate choose your situation invites defeat.

Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

Author: J.J. Rijkes

Title: Bringing Pancasila to the University of Surabaya: Defining unity in the university’s diverse information services by applying Information Strategy Planning

Subject: Information Strategy Planning at the University of Surabaya Study major: Technical Management Science (University of Groningen) Mentor University of Groningen:

1

^st

Prof. PhD CEng J.L. Simons 2

^nd

Prof. PhD E.O. de Brock Published in: 2006

Organization: Management Information System Department (University of Surabaya) Mentor University of Surabaya:

LLB MSc Margaretha Wahyuni Dwi Sulistyawati (Ibu Sulis)

(Manager Management Information System Department)

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P r e f a c e

First and foremost I would like to thank the University of Surabaya, and in particularly Ibu Sulis and the staff of the International Office for making this research position available to me. And for their never-ending Javanese hospitality and support they gave during this large endeavour. Next to that, I would like to thank all my colleagues at the MIS, Academic, HRD and Finance department for their patience and willingness to cope with the “Londo”, who on regular basis invaded their workspace with his funny Indonesian accent. Not forgetting my parents - my dedicated support crew in “It Heitelân” - for taking care of all those daily tasks while their son was far away from home. My beloved sister, for her sharp and endless stream of comments and suggestions. And off course my mentor-professors at the University of

Groningen for steering and moulding this research into an academically sound piece of work.

Jelmer Rijkes

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M a n a g e m e n t s u m m a r y

This research applies Information Strategy Planning (ISP) to the core administrative

departments of the University of Surabaya (Ubaya), with the goal of aligning its information services to its information needs. This effort is part of Ubaya's broader long-term business objective of improving the management information facilities and the efficiency of its supporting departments.

Through the four architectures of ISP: the information, the information system, the technical and organization of the information function architecture, an evaluation and redesign is presented of Ubaya's information services. The following key results are derived thereof.

1. The creation of a blueprint of the common data infrastructure

2. The grouping of the new set of information systems and data collections through the use of the business areas

3. Recommendations for dealing with the deficiencies in Ubaya's ICT management

Ubaya's common data infrastructure represents a large collection of entity types. The focus in the determination of this data set is on the information needs of the business functions and not on the already presented data in the current systems. This process based technique is therefore a far more stable approach, and thus creates more durable data collections. It also combines and rationalizes all the common data objects, which is an important feature in Ubaya’s case, where the majority of data objects are used by more than one system/department. And who are currently spread out over many different non integrated systems.

For these data objects, Ubaya's business functions and organizational units; comprehensive interaction analyses are created. The results thereof clearly show the extensive character of the business functions - a lot of organizational units are working on the same business function. And the common use of data sources - many business functions are using more than one subject area.

Six business areas are defined for the grouping of the new recommended set of information systems (22 in total) and data collections (6), namely:

Students, Education, Education infrastructure, Personnel, Financial and Management.

From these business areas - the areas that form a solid base and relatively autonomous development areas - Ubaya can choose which information system to develop from the proposed set of systems. They can instantly see for the chosen projects; which other systems are affected by this decision, who the main users are and which entity types are used. The abovementioned interaction analysis now easily translates into relationships between the data collections, the information systems and the main users.

One of the most pressing concerns for Ubaya is the lack of a solid ICT management framework. Especially in the case of an organization wide integration move, there will be a strong demand for good and clear ICT management. Each of the below presented items constitute one of the observed deficiencies that needs to be addressed.

1. Lack of clear organization wide policies on the use ICT

2. No coordinating platform for ICT development projects

3. Lack of professional project management techniques

4. Lack of strong managerial backing for this undertaking

5. Short fallings in data and application management

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C o n t e n t s

Preface...2

Management summary ...2

Contents ...2

Chapter 1 : Introduction ...2

1.1 The assignment ... 2

1.2 Topic ... 2

1.3 Audience ... 2

1.4 Note on English language - Bahasa Indonesia... 2

1.5 Structure of the research ... 2

Chapter 2 : Problem diagnosis...2

2.1 Problem introduction ... 2

2.2 Introduction to the organization... 2

2.2.1 The University of Surabaya’s internal environment ... 2

2.2.2 The University of Surabaya’s external environment ... 2

2.3 Problem area ... 2

2.3.1 The Management Information System Department (MIS) ... 2

2.3.2 Central administrative departments ... 2

2.3.3 The ICT infrastructure of Ubaya’s central administrative departments... 2

2.4 Problem investigation ... 2

2.4.1 The problems ... 2

2.4.2 Evaluating and structuring the problems ... 2

2.4.3 Solving the problems ... 2

2.5 Problem definition ... 2

2.5.1 Business objective... 2

2.5.2 Central research question... 2

2.5.3 Sub questions ... 2

2.5.4 Research scope... 2

2.5.5 Research constrains... 2

2.5.6 Research assumptions ... 2

2.5.7 Research Results ... 2

2.6 Methodology... 2

2.6.1 Diagnosis Design Change model ... 2

2.6.2 Information Strategy Planning... 2

2.6.3 Data gathering methods ... 2

2.6.4 Concepts used ... 2

2.7 Summary... 2

Chapter 3 : Defining the information architecture ...2

3.1 Organization ... 2

3.2 Data... 2

3.3 Activities... 2

3.4 Relationship: Organization - Data – Activities... 2

3.5 Summary... 2

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Chapter 4 : Evaluating current architectures ...2

4.1 Analysis of the current technical architecture... 2

4.1.1 Technical architecture and infrastructure... 2

4.1.2 Organizational policies and local conditions ... 2

4.1.3 Evaluation technical architecture... 2

4.2 Analysis of the current organization of information function... 2

4.2.1 Organizational units involved in providing information services... 2

4.2.2 The information functions ... 2

4.2.3 RAEW analyse: organizational units versus information functions ... 2

4.2.4 Policies... 2

4.2.5 Evaluation organization of the information function... 2

4.3 Analysis of the current information system architecture ... 2

4.3.1 Information systems... 2

4.3.2 Data collections... 2

4.3.3 Relationship between the information systems and data collections... 2

4.3.4 Information systems under development ... 2

4.3.5 Support for Ubaya’s business functions ... 2

4.3.6 Evaluation information system architecture ... 2

4.4 Summary... 2

Chapter 5 : Designing improved architectures ...2

5.1 Blueprint of the information architecture ... 2

5.1.1 General findings... 2

5.1.2 Data (Entity types) ... 2

5.1.3 Activities (Business functions) ... 2

5.1.4 Relationship: Organization - Data - Activities... 2

5.1.5 Summary information architecture ... 2

5.2 Blueprint of the information system architecture ... 2

5.2.1 Information systems, data collections and their relationship... 2

5.2.2 Distribution of the information systems and data collections... 2

5.2.3 Prioritizing the information systems and business areas ... 2

5.2.4 Summary information system architecture ... 2

5.3 Blueprint of the organization of the information function... 2

5.3.1 Summary organization of the information function... 2

5.4 Summary... 2

Chapter 6 : Conclusion and recommendations ...2

Chapter 7 : Reflection on the assignment ...2

7.1 The research... 2

7.2 The ISP methodology ... 2

7.3 Distant guidance/learning ... 2

7.4 Working/living in a different country ... 2

Bibliography ...2

Tables ...2

Figures...2

Abbreviations ...2

Appendix...2

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C h a p t e r 1 : I n t r o d u c t i o n

This chapter introduces my research assignment at the University of Surabaya. It gives an overview, together with an explanation, of all the chapters this paper entails. Besides mentioning the structure of the paper, this chapter discusses in short the background of the assignment, the derived topic and its intended audience. The next chapters are used for a more in depth description of the assignment.

1.1 The a ssign ment

The project is conducted in the name of the Management Information System Department of the University of Surabaya, situated in the city with the same name in the Republic of Indonesia. It serves as a report on one of their most pressing issues of the moment: the reorganization of the central database systems. Redesigning these information systems in such a way that they fit the current needs of the university. At the same time it is a final thesis project for the author who is a Technical Management Science student at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). The third party involved in this project is the Office of International Affairs, who provided this position through their International Volunteer Programme. This research commenced at the beginning of December 2004.

1.2 Topic

This paper is part of a larger undertaking that started at the beginning of 2004. Back then it was decided by the IT department of the university that the database systems weren’t good enough for the organization, and a solution had to be found to deal with this problem. In anticipation of this solution all database related information system projects were halted, and a Taskforce Database was established for analysis of the present state of the database systems.

While the reports of the Database Taskforce are more internally and technically focussed, this paper accommodates the need for an outsider’s perspective and puts more emphasis on the organizational side of the story. More abstract and more design orientated; it deals with the topic on a more conceptual level. In short: this research intends to contribute to the

understanding of the information systems that are present in the organization and wants to provide the foundation of the systems still to be developed.

1.3 Audien ce

The intended audience of this paper is: the management of the Management Information System Department (department and sub units), Rector and Vice-Rectors of the university, the members of Taskforce Database, Taskforce R&D, management of the central administrative departments, and the mentor-professors of the University of Groningen. And all other people who are interested in the contents of this research. Some background knowledge on ICT is definitely a requirement for understanding this paper.

1.4 No te on En glish l an guage - Bah asa Ind onesi a

This paper is being written in English, despite the fact that it is directed to an Indonesian organization with Indonesian employees located in Indonesia itself. The English languages skills are sufficient at the top of the organization but below the management level there is hardly any knowledge of it. That’s why a translation of the management summary in

Indonesian is given. All with the intention of: improving the understanding and dispersion of

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this research. Often you’ll find the abbreviations: “Id” and “En” written in this text, the first one stands for an Indonesian translation the other for an English one.

1.5 Stru cture of th e res ea rch

The first phase translates the assignment into a workable problem definition and explains the methodology that is used in obtaining the defined research goals (Chapter 2). The second phase defines the information needs of the organization (Chapter 3). The evaluation phase starts thereafter. In here the current state of the architectures is being assessed (Chapter 4).

The design phase entails the construction of the blueprints of the architectures (Chapter 5).

The paper ends with a conclusion and recommendations chapter (Chapter 6). Not shown in the diagram below and added at a later stage of the research is the reflection Chapter 7. In here - in retrospect - an evaluation is written about the whole research process. In the

introduction part of each chapter a short note is given on the place and contents of the chapter in this research.

Problem diagnosis

Evaluate architectures

Design architectures

Conclusion &

recommendations Bringing Pancasila to the University of Surabaya

Define information architecture

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Introduction

Chapter 1

Figure 1: Research structure

A detailed overview of the research structure is given below and of course, in even more

detail, in the contents section above.

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Chapter 1 : Introduction 1.1 The assignment 1.2 Topic

1.3 Audience

1.4 Note on English language - Bahasa Indonesia 1.5 Structure of the research

Chapter 2 : Problem diagnosis 2.1 Problem introduction

2.2 Introduction to the organization 2.3 Problem area

2.4 Problem investigation 2.5 Problem definition 2.6 Methodology

2.7 Summary

Chapter 3 : Defining the information architecture 3.1 Organization

3.2 Data 3.3 Activities

3.4 Relationship: Organization - Data – Activities

3.5 Summary

Chapter 4 : Evaluating current architectures 4.1 Analysis of the current technical architecture

4.2 Analysis of the current organization of information function 4.3 Analysis of the current information system architecture

4.4 Summary

Chapter 5 : Designing improved architectures 5.1 Blueprint of the information architecture 5.2 Blueprint of the information system architecture

5.3 Blueprint of the organization of the information function

5.4 Summary

Chapter 6 : Conclusion and recommendations Chapter 7 : Reflection on the assignment

7.1 The research 7.2 ISP methodology

7.3 Distant guidance/learning

7.4 Working/living in a different country

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C h a p t e r 2 : P r o b l e m d i a g n o s i s

This chapter converts the assignment of the Management Information System Department into a solid problem definition with clear research goals. The problem introduction phase gives a detailed description of the research assignment, clearly articulating the expectations of the management. After that, the University of Surabaya is introduced to the reader: painting the background of this research. The next phase focuses on the problem areas of the research - a first step is taken to describe and identify the relevant organizational units, aspects and processes. Where the problem introduction only reveals the effects of the ICT problems, now it is up to the problem investigation phase to dive deep into the causes of these problems. They are evaluated and structured in order to transform the problem situation into an organizational problem.

¹

A problem - or a part thereof - that can be solved by answering the research question that is defined in the problem definition section. The last phase explains the way the research question is answered, by defining the methods and concepts (the research tools) that are used in this paper.

²

Problem introduction

Introduction organization

Problem area

Problem diagnosis Problem investigation

Problem definition

Methodology Problem

diagnosis

Evaluate architectures

Design architectures

Conclusion &

recommendations Structure research

Define information architecture

Figure 2: Structure of the problem diagnosis phase

2.1 Prob lem in trodu cti on

The original assignment was stated as: design the integrated database system for the

University of Surabaya. This statement is derived from an instrumental assessment that could sound like: “our database system is not good enough... we need a new one”.

³

For getting closer to the causes of this instrumental assessment, it has to be transformed to a functional one. A functional assessment, that serves as the initial central problem statement of the diagnosis phase. The result of this conversion is:

There are discrepancy between the information services and information needs of the organization.

This allows the researcher a broader perspective on the issue and thus easier access to the real

1 Definition organizational problem: a problem formulated by a management-organization expert on the basis of a sound and professional management-organization diagnosis. Translated from: Leeuw, A.C.J., de (2000), Bedrijfskundig management: Primair proces, strategie en organisatie, Van Gorcum, Assen, p. 287.

2 The basis of this problem finding methodology is taken from de Leeuw. A detailed description can be found in the methodology section: paragraph 2.6. Source: Leeuw, A.C.J., de (2000), Bedrijfskundig management: Primair proces, strategie en organisatie, Van Gorcum, Assen, pp. 278-343.

3 Leeuw, A.C.J., de (2000), Bedrijfskundig management: Primair proces, strategie en organisatie, Van Gorcum, Assen, p. 288.

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causes of the problem. Information services in this context means: All activities, facilities and procedures that are used to fulfil the information needs of an organization.

⁴

The issue originated from a major organizational restructuring of the University of Surabaya.

Which started when the new Rector, Bapak Wibisono, replaced the former one at the end of 2003. The rector also initiated reforms in the ICT department of the university; the MIS Department. The newly appointed staff of this department decided that the current database systems were unfit to fulfil the current needs of the university. These systems were found to be lacking many of the required functionalities and were not able to form an integrated data collection, at least not to the extend that is wanted by the management.

⁵

The effects of this problem on the organization are twofold. First the management of the university is not able to get information in an easy timely manner. This hampers them in their decision-making process. Which in turn effects the organization as a whole. A part of the decisions that are being made, are based on incomplete insufficient information. Or are made too late because of the speed (or the lack of it) of the reporting process.

6&7&8

Second the effectiveness of the supporting departments are negatively influenced. They can’t perform their functions to there full capacity because of the quality of the current information systems.

These inefficiencies in the supporting units create an extra burden on Ubaya’s overhead costs.

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Direct action was taken in the form of establishing the already mentioned Taskforce Database and temporary postponing all database related projects. This taskforce focuses on topics like:

the condition of the databases, data corruption, report functionalities, data transfers, data capturing processes, and more. So far the taskforce has made an examination of the most important parts of the database systems.

¹¹

(A translated summary of this report can be found in Appendix 14.) And completed a comprehensive analysis of the business processes that are conducted at a selected group of departments (see Appendix 15 for a summary of this report).

¹²

Other departments were summoned to analyse their business processes as well but these reports still have to be published.

The management wants to gain knowledge and insight into this complex undertaking with the findings of the taskforce and this research. Firstly, in steering the development processes of the new information systems. Secondly, they want to use it as a foundation for current and future system development. And lastly, they see it as a support tool for issuing the tender of these IT projects. Prior to elaborating this issue any further some comments are given about the settings of this research.

2.2 Introdu cti on to th e organi zation

In this section a short introduction is presented of the University of Surabaya, the organization where the project is situated. This introduction serves to create the organizational background

4 Simons, J.L., Verheijen, G.M.A. (1991), Informatiestrategie als managementopgave, Kluwer Bedrijfswetenschappen/Stenfert Kroese uitgevers, Deventer, p. 216.

5 Interview with Manager MIS, see Appendix 1.

7 Budi Hartanto, et al (2003), Laporan Hasil Analisa Sistem Database Universitas Surabaya, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya, pp. 1-3.

8 Wibisono Hardjopranoto, et al (2003), Rencana Strategis Ubaya 2010, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya, pp. 8,11.

10 Interview with Manager Sub Unit Software & Database Application, see Appendix 1.

11 Budi Hartanto, et al (2003), Laporan Hasil Analisa Sistem Database Universitas Surabaya, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya.

12 Budi Hartanto, et al (2005), Bagan Alur Dokumen Sistem Kerja, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya.

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of the later presented problem areas, and to put the previously described central problem into perspective. It’s divided in two main sections; first a description of the university’s internal environment, followed by an account on its external environment.

2.2.1 The U niversity of Sur abaya’s internal e nvir onm ent

The University of Surabaya - also known as Ubaya - is one of the many private universities in Indonesia. Even in its hometown it has several competitors. However Ubaya belongs to the group of the more affluent universities of Indonesia. It is well respected and has developed a strong international orientation. For example: this year (2005) they are organizing the international AUAP University Conference.

Ubaya is the continuation of the former Trisakti University and is since 1968 known under the present name. At the moment it has 400 employees, 300 lecturers and over 11.000 students spread out over five faculties, one non-degree programme, four masters programmes and many departments, which in turn are located on three campuses. A Detailed organizational chart of Ubaya can be found in Appendix 17.

The university is roughly divided in three segments (see Figure 3):

- Academic Affairs

- Supporting of Academic Affairs - Administration and Technical Services

The first segment provides the actual teaching and research services. The second one supports the efforts of the first; think about the library and laboratory facilities and the numerous student services. The last segment; supports the university as a whole by offering

administrative and technical services. Among others they provide the ICT infrastructure, the student administration and the maintenance of the facilities. One of the many supporting departments within this segment is the Management Information System Department. A description of this department is given in the problem area section.

Figure 3: Organizational chart of Ubaya

Ubaya has two campuses in Surabaya, namely: Tenggilis and Ngagel, and another one in the

village of Trawas. Campus Tenggiles is by far the biggest one of the three. Hosting the

majority of the students, all the faculties, the central university library and several other

facilities. Ngagel still holds an important administrative function, it’s accommodating among

others: the Academic Student Administration, the Human Resource Development and the

Finance Department. The Department of Polytechnics is also located there. The third - Trawas

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- Campus is still in development; there are just a couple of buildings and a lot of trees up there. No significant ICT facilities are present in this campus. Subsequently it will be left out of this research.

The following courses are being taught at Ubaya: Economics, Engineering, Pharmacy, Laws, Psychology and the non-degree programme of the Polytechnics Department. Next to that it has a master programme and several study centres covering a wide range of social and business related aspects.

¹³

Ubaya can be depicted as a service organization. It produces no tangible goods. Instead it tries to sharpen the minds and the abilities of its students (teaching), seeks to increase the

understanding of the world around us (research), and tries to apply this knowledge to the benefit of the Indonesian society (implementation)

In short; Ubaya’s primary processes are:

- Teaching - Researching

- And implementing the research findings

Whereas the former leans more towards mass production the latter two are more orientated towards highly customized projects (professional services).

¹⁴

2.2.2 The U niversity of Sur abaya’s external e nvi ronm ent

There is quite a lot of competition among universities in Indonesia, Ubaya competes with them on a national level for new students. Entrants are coming from all over the archipelago to study in Surabaya. Basically all these universities are fishing in the same pool of

candidates. As Ubaya's main source of income is made out of college fees - like most private universities - its survival depends on the number of registered and paying students. The quality aspect is served through scholarships and a compulsory entrance exam, with this tool the university tries to lure the more intelligent students to its institution. The better the results on the entrance exam, the lower the students' entrance fee.

On international level, the competition is less severe. Only a few universities have the capacity to provide an English program for foreigners. Ubaya is one of them. It's a different story when we take a look at the competition between Indonesian and foreign universities. A lot of Indonesians leave their country to go and study abroad. There are far more students leaving the country than vice versa. A foreign degree is regarded as a highly valuable asset in Indonesia. For outgoing and incoming students and many other international activities; Ubaya has setup a new facility, dedicated to serve this internationalization trend.

Tertiary education is an expensive commodity in Indonesia. The overwhelming majority of the countries citizen can't afford it. Only about 10 percent of the population can enjoy this privilege.

¹⁵

Even less students can afford to enter Ubaya.

Indonesia is still recovering from the 1997 crisis that economically, socially and politically ravaged the country. But it's beginning to show the first signs of improvement. Consumption is on the rise again, foreign investors are returning to the country. Even the national economy promises a healthy growth this year, however it’s still performing below its full potential. The parliament and presidential elections of last year were an outright victory for democracy.

They were held in a peaceful and fairly honest manner. The new president has declared

13 Most of the information in this paragraph is derived from: Wibisono Hardjopranoto, et al (2004), Universitas Surabaya, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya.

14 Leeuw, A.C.J., de (2000), Bedrijfskundig management: Primair proces, strategie en organisatie, Van Gorcum, Assen, pp. 347-384.

15 International Labour Organization (1996), Human Resource Development in Asia and the Pacific in the 21st Century, Geneva, Table 7.

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corruption the nation's number one decease and is actually implementing measures to combat it. Something his predecessors failed to do.

The country still sighs under an enormous weight of problems, problems like: poverty, malnutrition, bureaucratic red tape, corruption, smuggling and the skyrocketing cost of fuel subsidies. But it seems that this nation has found its way up again.

¹⁶

The government demands that all universities apply the so called: “Tri-dharma perguruan tinggi” ideology. This means that academic organizations have to fulfil three basic functions:

educate students, perform research and implement these to the benefit of society. The government also provides the permit to run an university and accreditates lecturers and faculties. Kopertis and BAN are the government organization that runs these services.

¹⁷

Decentralization efforts over the last years moved the focus from the central government agencies to their regional colleagues. This change was accompanied with the abandoning of nation wide regulations and the implementation of new regional ones. Whether this has been a good or bad thing for the nation’s education efforts is a fairly ambiguous issue. For more information on this topic I would like to refer to M.M. Rijkes her thesis.

¹⁸

2.3 Prob lem area

The description of the problem area is the first step in narrowing down the scope of the research. It serves as a model for analyzing the problems that are discussed in the next section. In this model, several elements of Ubaya are represented in the form of systems. Not surprisingly, this approach is known as: thinking in systems. It basically provides a tool kit for modelling, analysing, designing and realizing of organizational change.

¹⁹

In this case it helps to focus the problem diagnosis by choosing which part of the organization, with what kind of perspective is being investigated.

It can be said that the discussed problem is an organization wide problem, since its effects are felt throughout the whole of Ubaya. The outcome of the decision-making processes is

affecting every single organizational unit. Further on, the high overhead costs are negatively influencing the university’s cost structure. What could be done with these funds if they could be allocated for other business activities? Depicting the whole university as the problem area is, however, far from feasible. Instead; the organizational unit of the Management Information System (MIS) Department, Ubaya’s main administrative departments and the aspect of ICT have been chosen as the areas to be investigated.

The Management Information System Department sub-system

²⁰

is chosen because of their direct responsibility to the central problem (paragraph 2.3.1). The central administrative departments sub-system, since their data form the informational backbone of Ubaya, which

16 Information in these two paragraphs is obtained from several articles published in the Economical and Political outlook of 2005. Source: The Jakarta Post, PT Bina Media Tenggara, Jakarta.

17 Interview with Manager MIS.

18 Rijkes, M.M. (2002), Decentralisation and the Distribution of Power: A research on the Department of Education in the Province of Bali, Faculty of Management and Organisation, University of

Groningen. Groningen.

19 Leeuw, A.C.J., de (2000), Bedrijfskundig management: Primair proces, strategie en organisatie, Van Gorcum, Assen, p. 93.

20 Definition sub-system: part of an object collection of a system, thereby considering all the relations between those objects. Source: Leeuw, A.C.J., de (2000), Bedrijfskundig management: Primair proces, strategie en organisatie, Van Gorcum, Assen, p. 103.

It is noted that this concept can be similar to the Indonesian definition of sub-system but not necessarily so. In Indonesia the term “subsistem” is commonly known as an organizational unit within an

organization.

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gives them a direct link to this information problem (paragraph 2.3.2). The faculties are left out of this study because of their relative autonomy within the organization. Their

involvement is limited to that of being a user of the ISs of the previously discussed departments. And lastly, the ICT infrastructure aspect-system is included for even more obvious reasons; it’s all about ICT here. For practical motives this facet is going to be narrowed down to only the ICT aspects that are relevant for the informational services of Ubaya’s central administrative departments (paragraph 2.3.3).

2.3.1 The Mana gem ent Inform ation System Departm ent (MIS)

To prevent any confusion on the name of this department, it is called by and abbreviated in its English form. Its Indonesian counterpart is known as SIM (Sistem Informasi Manajemen), but this abbreviation is avoided in this paper.

After a drastic reorganization that started in 2003 - the department made a fresh start in June 2004. By then its managers were replaced, new ones were appointed to the sub units, a new structure was implemented and several new staff functions were created. The department now entails 18 employees and has a budget of about $116.400 for the year 2004-2005.

Figure 4: Organizational chart MIS

Despite its official name, providing management information is actually quite a small activity within MIS. The bulk of the tasks is performed on operational level and is related to

maintenance and development of the ICT infrastructure.

The following sub units fall under MIS:

- Network Hardware and Telecommunications (Hardware) - Software and Database Applications (Software)

- And strangely enough the; Central Archive and University Museum

The last sub unit is not taken into further consideration, because of the lack of relevance to this research. Next to these sub units, MIS has a Central Administration and some staff functions for supporting and counselling purposes. See Appendix 18 for a complete description of all the staff functions and sub units.

The primary process of the MIS Department is turning ICT requests into ICT services. Figure 5 portrays this process. The customers of MIS start this process by making an ICT request.

Because the requests are predominantly service products, the participation of the customer is

often needed. They have to make some effort (spend time and money) in order to use the

service: this can be in the form of data input, specification of a new information system (IS)

or simply the time spend in using the telephone system. With this input: MIS provides the

ICT service by using its ICT infrastructure, resources, data collections and the (sub) processes

that binds these three factors together.

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MIS

ICT requests (Manpower & Budget)

Customers

ICT services

ICT

Sub processes Resources

Data collections

Figure 5: Primary process of the MIS Department

Within the sub unit Software, two other primary processes can be found. First of all the IS development process and secondly the IS maintenance process. The first process is of special interest to this research and thus shown in Figure 6. It is of special interest; because the MIS staff generally believes that this is the place were it “all” went wrong in the past. The process basically runs like this: customers of MIS - Ubaya’s departments - request a new IS. A special budget is being allocated to this project or it is done with funds from the general MIS budget, specifications are provided and in corporation with the customer the new IS is being build.

MIS

Requests new IS Manpower

Budget Specifications

Customers

New IS

Figure 6: IS development process

The MIS Department has to manage a comprehensive ICT infrastructure, ranging from simple workstation maintenance to the PABX telephone system and the administration of the

distributed database systems. After introducing the central administrative departments in the next paragraph, a first impression of the ICT infrastructure is presented.

²¹

2.3.2 Cent ral adm inistrative departm ents

The following departments represent the heart of Ubaya’s administrative activities. A short introduction is given for each of them. It includes an overview of their structure and their main business activity. Figure 7 shows their position in the organizational structure of Ubaya.

21 Most of the information in this paragraph is derived from an interview with the MIS Manager, see Appendix 1.

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Figure 7: Organizational chart of Ubaya’s Administration & Technical Services segment

The Bureau of Academic Student Administration (Academic)

²²

administrates all the students and their schooling activities. For example: each semester they make the study planning for the students, hereby linking the students with the courses and provide scheduling by attributing a location, date and time. It registers among others: new students, class presence and the grades obtained by the students. The students can request their transcript of grades at this department and register for the courses in the new semester. The department is divided into two sub units: one for student admission, registration and teaching tasks and one for the processing of all the academic data.

The Human Resource Development Department (HRD)

²³

- in other countries often known for its three-letter acronym: HRM - services and administrates all the labour related activities of Ubaya. Activities like employee recruitment, registration, leave, training and follow up study programs. It takes care of the employee related welfare issues. Implements new labour regulations and all the rector's decisions concerning employee matters (wage rise, promotion, etc.). It also registers Ubaya’s lecturers and their accreditations.

HRD has two sub units, namely: the HRM administration unit and the central documentation administration unit. The first one recruits new employees and arranges the training programs the latter one performance the job appraisals and administrates the welfare programs.

Facilities Department

²⁴

(Formally known as the General Administration Department) This department services all the buildings and other facilities in Ubaya. It refills the water dispensers, takes care of Ubaya’s stock inventory, keeps an eye on the furniture and it has the expertise to provide legal support and advice. Further on the outgoing and incoming payments are disbursed and collected here. For example: employee wages are disbursed and suppliers paid through here. Two sub units fall under this department: one that takes care of the campus infrastructure and one that is responsible for logistics and the inventory.

As in most organizations the Finance Department (Finance)

²⁵

works in the background of the organization and translates all the business processes into costs and benefits, and expenses and receipts. Two sub units can be distinguished in this organization, namely: the Finance and Accountancy sub unit. The first one is responsible for making and checking the university’s and her (sub) departments’ budgets. The accountancy sub unit registers all these cost and benefits, expenses and receipts in their journals. Further on there are three coordinating

22 Id: Biro Administrasi Akademik Kemahasiswaan (BAAK).

23 Id: Biro Administrasi Pengembangan Sumberdaya Manusia (Adpesdam).

24 Previously called: the Central Administration Department (Id: Biro Administrasi Umum, BAU).

25 Id: Direktorat Administrasi Keuangan.

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positions in Finance: The Cashier, College Fee and Tax coordinator. The Cashier releases the money for payments and receives the money from income. The College Fee coordinator oversees all the incoming college fee payments (the tuition and entry fees) and the

accompanied complaints about those payments. This is a rather important position since most of Ubaya's income is based on these college fees. The last coordinator administrates and pays the wage tax of Ubaya's employees.

Purchasing Department

²⁶

is a specialized unit that provides (mandatory) assistance for departments who want to buy goods. In many instances a purchase has to be (by rule) performed via this unit and may not be done by Ubaya's departments themselves.

2.3.3 The ICT infrastructur e of Ubay a’s central a dm i nistrati ve departm ents

The last part of the problem area analysis consists of a description Ubaya’s ICT infrastructure.

Three aspects of Ubaya’s ICT infrastructure that are going to be discussed here are: the present information systems, followed by, the technical infrastructure (hardware and software) and some information on organizational ICT issues.

Information systems

Next to many specific locally deployed database applications (DBA), Ubaya has several more centrally orientated information systems (IS) up and running. These important systems can, for example, be found in: the Academic and the Finance Department. Two of the central administrative departments are using other software for their ISs then the centrally used DBMS of MIS. However the data of these departments are transferred to and stored in this central data storage. They form - together with several other applications from multiply departments - the database backbone of Ubaya (see Table 1 and Figure 8).

An important part of this database backbone is formed by the so called: Package (Id:

Gabungan) information system. This system is a combination of data from the Academic, the HRD and the Finance Department. The part dedicated to the Finance Department represents the core financial information system of Ubaya. Table 1 shows the translated IS names together with their original Indonesian ones. In the last column, an example is given of the kind of data they process.

In this paper I will only use the English names of the information systems.

IS name (En) IS name (Id) Department Build (year)

Description

Academic Akademik Academic 1984 Records: students, attendance, course and transcripts data

Lecturers²⁷ Dosen HRD 1998 Records: Lecturers, teachings, accreditation, employees, job performance appraisal data Package

- Academic - HRD - Finance

Gabungan:

- Akademik - SDM - Keuangan

Several 1998 Combination of ISs:

- Students, attendance, transcripts and courses data

- Lecturers, employees, teachings, honoraria data

- Accounting, budgeting, cashier data Online course

registration

Perwalian online Academic 1999 Online course registration via terminals at Ubaya

26 Id: Tim Pembelian.

27 Note that the name of the IS doesn’t cover its contents, the “Lecturers” IS holds information on teaching and non teaching employees and many other HR related topics.

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IS name (En) IS name (Id) Department Build (year)

Description Online

Internet course registration

Administrasi KRS online

Academic 2000 Online course registration via Internet

Purchasing Department

Tim pembelian Purchasing 1998 Records: procurement data General

administration

Administrasi umum Facilities 2002 Records: stock, inventory data Info Ubaya info.ubaya.ac.id Several 1997 For external web applications use,

communication between students, lecturers and Ubaya, data: students, lecturers, academic advisors Internal

Ubaya

Internal.ubaya.ac.id Several 2002 For internal web applications use, communication between departments of Ubaya, e.g.: MIS, Finance, Academic

Table 1: Summary of the departments and their Information systems

The central data storage serves as a bridge to the Info Ubaya and Internal Ubaya server, where the data is being held for web applications and query purposes. For the course registration process two special applications have been developed that can access the central data storage directly. This application runs twice a year (for each semester) and is a fairly complicated affair. Part of the data has to be moved to another server and the information systems that are using this data have to be redirected in order to use the correct table(s).

²⁸

MIS Department

Data storage:

Academic Student Administration (Academic IS)

Data storage:

Human Resource Development (Lecturers IS)

Central data storage:

Multiply data collections from several departments (Finance, HRD, Academic,

Facilities, Purchasing, and other)

Web and SQL data storage:

Multiply data collections for web applications and query

functionalities Data transfers

Data transfer

Internet applications

Data for Online course

Registration

Data used by Web applications

Figure 8: Data transfers within Ubaya²⁹

At the moment the Finance and HRD Department are both developing a new information system to support their business processes. They’re still in the early phase of development.

The HRD system is supposed to replace the old Lecturers IS. The Finance system is going to integrate the old autonomous systems of the cashier, budget and in time the accountancy sub unit.

29 Budi Hartanto, et al (2003), Laporan Hasil Analisa Sistem Database Universitas Surabaya, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya, p 17.

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Technical infrastructure

The fibre optic network and the PABX telephone system form the backbone of the ICT infrastructure. Especially the organization wide intranet is of vital importance for Ubaya. It services: the Internet needs, the distributed database systems and the email applications.

Although the telephone system maybe of equal value to Ubaya, there are plans to outsource this service to a third party provider. Considering this and the fact that the database systems have no relation to this piece of infrastructure it is left out of the research.

³⁰

On average the technical specifications of the servers and workstations at Ubaya can be depicted as reasonably up to date.

³¹

The total number of workstations present at Ubaya is not exactly known, but about a 1000 of them are under direct service by the hardware unit of MIS. A total of plus/minus 800 computers are connected to Ubaya’s intranet and a number less than that have access to the Internet. A radio link between campus Ngagel and Tenggilis has been established to form one single network that spans both campuses. The Trawas campus is not included in this organization wide network.

³²

There are several DBMSs in use at the investigated departments. The MIS Department uses the FoxPro for Dos software for its central database. They also employ a newer version of this DBMS for a minor application that is printing the diploma certificates. Visual FoxPro is the name. This newer version can facilitate the demand for web data processing. However it is, only used for this application.

PHP and ASP are used in the web applications in Ubaya. These scripting languages can access the FoxPro for Dos tables on the web servers. Currently this done via the ODBC connection-functionality of the server’s operating system. The tables on the web server can also be accessed via a MS SQL Client application. Comprehensive queries can be released upon the data collections by this program.

Both the Academic and the HRD Department are using a different DBMS for their

information systems. The Academic Department uses Informix for their Academic DB and the HRD Department uses QA for their Lecturers DB. Via the previously discussed data transfers, these data collections are moved and converted to the central FoxPro for Dos database of MIS. The two web dedicated servers are also quipped with the MS SQL Server 2000 software. This program is capable of searching and sorting data via a client-server system.

^33&34

IS name DBMS Location: server (office-campus)

Academic Informix Server Academic Department (Academic-Ngagel)

Lecturers QA Server ubaya2 (MIS-Ngagel)

Package - Academic - HRD - Finance

FoxPro for Dos Server ubaya2 (MIS-Ngagel) & ubaya3 (MIS-Tenggilis)

Online course registration

FoxPro for Dos Server ubaya1 (MIS-Tenggilis) Online Internet

course registration

PHP (ODBC)

FoxPro for Dos (tables)

Server info.ubaya.ac.id (MIS-Ngagel) Purchasing

Department

FoxPro for Dos Server ubaya2 (MIS-Ngagel) & ubaya3 (MIS-Tenggilis)

31 To give an indication: on average Ubaya’s computers are equipped with a Pentium 3 central processing unit, see Appendix 2.

32 Interview with Manager Sub Unit Network Hardware & Telecommunications, see Appendix 1.

34 Budi Hartanto, et al (2003), Laporan Hasil Analisa Sistem Database Universitas Surabaya, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya, p 12.

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IS name DBMS Location: server (office-campus) General

administration

FoxPro for Dos Server ubaya2 (MIS-Ngagel) & ubaya3 (MIS-Tenggilis) Info Ubaya PHP (ODBC)

FoxPro for Dos (tables) MS SQL Server 2000

Server info.ubaya.ac.id (MIS-Ngagel)

Internal Ubaya PHP (ODBC)

FoxPro for Dos (tables) MS SQL Server 2000

Server internal.ubaya.ac.id (MIS-Ngagel)

Table 2: Summary of the DBMSs and the locations of the Information systems

The information systems that run the FoxPro for Dos software can be accessed through the preinstalled Novell NetWare client. When the users log on to Novell, they can access a menu with links to the appropriate applications. These menu links are shortcuts that point to the FoxPro for Dos applications on the ubaya2 server. This DBMS uses the distributed

presentation client-server architecture.

³⁵

The server takes care of the data management, data analysis and data presentation functions. And the client only reformats the data presentation part to suit the individual workstation’s display specifications.

³⁶

Organizational issues

If Ubaya’s organizational units want to have new information system, they have to consult the 2

^nd

Vice Rector first. He decides - with assistance from MIS - if and how this IS going to be realized. This is the formal procedure, in practise however, the organizational units enjoy a great deal of freedom in the making and developing of the ISs. For hardware and standard software applications the departments can contact the Purchasing Department directly. But only if the project costs are below a certain threshold. If not, they have to refer to the 2

^nd

Vice Rector. At present there are no software or hardware standardization policies in place, nor has the MIS Department got the authority to enforce such standards.

There is a central budget for the ICT infrastructure at Ubaya. This money is allocated to MIS to pay for the network and other common ICT facilities. The departments have their own individual budget for hardware maintenance and procurement. Costs for small IS projects are being deducted from the MIS budget, while bigger ones have to be paid by the departments themselves, or can receive additional funds from the university through the 2

^nd

Vice Rector.

The Finance and HRD department have gained funds – for their current database projects - out of a special program for the development of Ubaya’s supporting departments.

Most departments lack the expertise for developing and maintaining their ICT material. These departments are dependent on MIS’s services or, if applicable, a 3

^rd

party provider (if they have outsourced their ICT). This doesn’t hold for the Academic Department and the Faculty of Engineering, they posses their own ICT staff and are able to develop and build their own systems. To overcome this lack of expertise in the departments; MIS has appointed and trained a network and database representative in most departments.

^37&38

Nolan has develop a model, to depict in which development phase an organization is, by looking at the way it applies and controls its automation processes.

³⁹

Four aspects are being described in six different phases.

These aspects are:

35 Hoffer, J.A., George, J.F., Valacich, J.S. (2002), Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 3the Edition, Prentice-Hall International, Upper Saddle River, pp. 536-538.

38 Interview with Manager Sub Unit Network Hardware & Telecommunications, see Appendix 2.

39 Simons, J.L., Verheijen, G.M.A. (1991), Informatiestrategie als managementopgave, Kluwer Bedrijfswetenschappen/Stenfert Kroese uitgevers, Deventer, pp. 35-37.

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a) Type of application

b) Management and specialization c) Planning and control

d) Method of financing and user’s attitude

And the six phases are:

1) Initiation phase 2) Recognition phase 3) Management phase 4) Integration phase 5) Data orientation phase 6) Saturation phase

When applying this model to Ubaya, it becomes clear that the organization can be placed for the different aspects in either the 3

^rd

, 4

^th

, 5

^th

and 6

^th

phase, with the emphasis on the

integration and data orientation phase. This means that:

a) On the type of application aspect: Ubaya wants to rebuild the central database systems and is becoming aware of the benefits of organizational integration of these information systems (phase 5).

⁴⁰

b) On the aspect of management and specialisation: the management and the users want to make the systems more effective and they’re starting to understand the tactical and strategic importance of information (phase 4, 5 and 6).

c) On the planning and control aspect: the management tries to align the information demands with the information services, and it recognizes the lack of policies on strategic level (Phase 4 and 5).

d) On the financing and users aspect: the users have their own budget, but for the more costly projects they still have to consult the higher management. Thus, there are still strong measures in place for cost containment (phase 3 and 4).

Phases

Initiation Recognition Management Integration Data orientation Saturation

Aspects 1 2 3 4 5 6

a) Type of application U

b) Management & specialization U U U c) Planning & control U U d) Financing & users U U

Table 3: Nolan’s phase model for ICT (U =Ubaya)

After describing and modelling the problem area in this paragraph, the investigation continues with an enquiry into the (perceived) problems that are related to this area.

2.4 Prob lem in vesti ga ti on

During the first round of interviews - held with the staff of the MIS Department - many problems concerning the present state of ICT and other issues related to the before mentioned problem area were articulated. This broad approach was used for getting a clear picture of the situation that lies behind the central problem of diagnosis phase, which is: The discrepancy

40 The 4^th (integration) phase is not chosen for reason that Ubaya already deploys network based DBMSs and there’s already a fairly high degree of interaction between the ISs.

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between the information services and information needs of the organization. First an overview of all the relevant problems is given, together with their problem owners, i.e. the people who express and perceive those issues as being a problem (paragraph 2.4.1). Some problems have multiple problem owners and where possible extra information has been given to clarify the issue. The main source of this additional information is derived from the

Taskforce Database report.

In Appendix 1 the complete set interview-notes can be found. After this summary the problems are structured and evaluated on aspects like: type of problem, solubility, urgency and relevancy (paragraph 2.4.2). Followed with a first glance into possible ways to resolve these problems (paragrap2.4.3). This problem investigation lays the foundation of this paper’s problem definition.

2.4.1 The problem s

1) Management information functionality (University management, Manager MIS).

One of the most striking discoveries was the state of the management information functionality at Ubaya. It actually hardly exists within Ubaya and it was even less before the big reorganization of MIS in 2003. The making of management reports is a fairly difficult, time-consuming and error prone task. For example: the only management information currently produced by MIS is the annual report for the rector. The making of it costs about 2 months. The process runs through several departments where data is collected by directly copy pasting from the operational data sources, then transformed, shifted and aggregated until it is suitable for the end-report. All these activities are done manually - no automated process whatsoever is involved.

⁴¹

2) DB query functionality (Manager MIS).

An attempt has been made to overcome this problem by using a SQL based DBMS, but this solution was not adequate enough. This DBMS has got the needed query

functionalities, but for now, it is not being used to its full extend. Further on it always contains old(er) data, data that is unfit for management reporting.

⁴²

3) DB integration functionality (Manager Sub Unit Software & DBA, Internal Advisor MIS).

A lot of complaints were directed towards the lack of DB integration functionalities in the current database systems. The MIS staff and the staff from the other departments spend a lot of time on copying, mapping and transferring data from one system to another. Even though the track record, of these data transfers are good. The solution is a far from ideal.

It causes a lot of data redundancy, and makes the data vulnerable for: data-

inconsistencies, missing data and lost updates. Moreover it creates a gap between the actual data at the departments and the data on the centralized server.

⁴³

4) Semantic heterogeneity of data (Manager Sub Unit Software & DBA).

Not only are the DBMSs different among departments; also the semantics of their data collections are heterogeneous. Related data elements in the diverse DB systems have a different meaning, interpretation or intended use.

⁴⁴

For example; the date element

41 Budi Hartanto, et al (2003), Laporan Hasil Analisa Sistem Database Universitas Surabaya, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya, p. 2.

42 Budi Hartanto, et al (2003), Laporan Hasil Analisa Sistem Database Universitas Surabaya, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya, pp. 3,4.

43 Budi Hartanto, et al (2003), Laporan Hasil Analisa Sistem Database Universitas Surabaya, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya, pp. 2-4.

44 Balsters, H., Brock, E.O., de (2003), ‘Federation views as a basis for querying and updating database fedrations’, SOM Research Report, 03A34, Research School of Systems Organisation and

Management, University of Groningen, Groningen, p. 2.