Research

ITM Faculty Research

ITM faculty at the Lubar College of Business are leaders in their field in conducting academic and applied research across a wide range of ITM topics. With high-quality research publications in leading journals, and significant experience in collaborative research projects with business, our faculty can lend expertise to the IT challenges your organization faces. Please contact the CTI director for more information.

Using Teams to Change Attitudes in ERP Implementation Projects

Dr. Mark Srite has developed an attitude change model for team-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) learning (with co-authors Austin Kwak, Ross Hightower, and Dave Haseman) to address an important gap in research on learning user training in the successful adoption of ERP systems. Because the successful implementation of ERP systems has dramatically increased operational efficiency and business performance, most of large- and medium-sized firms have adopted ERP systems. Their implementation accounts for 30 percent of all major organizational changes. However, many ERP projects have not been successful and have even lead to financial problems, with 40 to 60 percent of ERP implementation classified as “failures.” While there has been a rich body of ERP research on specific topics such as adoption and implementation, assimilation, job characteristics and satisfaction, extant research remains relatively scant in examining team-based ERP learning. A change in the attitude of a user toward an ERP system can be influenced by team cohesion in the learning and training process.

Exploring the Use of New Technologies to Deliver Medical Care

Dr. Mariam Zahedi is investigating new options for the delivery of medical care by using patients’ real avatars. Working in conjunction with researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin and supported by an initial grant from the Clinical & Translational Science Institute (John and Jeanne Byrnes Fund), the work involves web-based systems, data collection from volunteer patients, and data analysis to identify the drivers of technology adoption. Dr. Mariam Zahedi has been Principal Investigator (PI) and team leader working with colleagues from MCW, including Dr. Reza Shaker (Co-PI) and Dr. Patrick Sanvanson. UWM information technology professors Huimin Zhao and Hemant Jain, as well as Dr. Nitin Walia (Ashland University), also collaborate on the project.

Mobile Development for SAP

Dr. Ross Hightower is co-author of the book Mobile Development for SAP with Dr. Dave Haseman for SAP Press. SAP, the world leader in software for businesses, is also a leader in the mobile application development space. The book is a “soup-to-nuts” description of the SAP Mobile Platform. The book covers installation and administration of the software, as well as beginning to advanced application development. In addition to being an SAP Press best seller for several months, it was one of the top five SAP Press sellers in 2013. In addition to the book, the authors developed and continue to support the global curriculum in mobile application development for the SAP University Alliance.

A Process Model with Medical Home Application

Dr. Atish Sinha is collaborating with researchers at the Texas A&M Rural and Community Health Institute on a project to develop a process-based practice transformation model for the nationally acclaimed Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition program at the National Committee for Quality Assurance. PCMH is the most widely adopted way for transforming primary care practices into medical homes. Based on his experience in developing process models for data warehousing maturity, Dr. Sinha and his co-researchers are currently engaged in eliciting knowledge from healthcare professionals for developing the key process areas for transforming practices to adhere to PCMH guidelines.

Student Research Projects

Advanced ITM students are available for semester-long student projects, supervised by CTI-affiliated faculty members, in the areas of ERP, mobile apps, big data, business intelligence & analytics, and process & workflow management. Please contact the CTI director for more information.

Recent projects:

• Five ITM students worked on a mobile app development project for MGIC in Spring 2016. The app focuses on the recording and tracking of the sales activities of MGIC employees. Once implemented, it would allow sales employees to add, view, update, or delete their sales activities with ease. They can also keep track of their weekly points target.  The app addresses the following client requirements: 1) Activity analysis – The main driving need for the app is to track activities performed by the sales agents.  The users must be able to add the activities and able to edit the added entries to correct errors or to add additional information. 2) Device specific application – Every sales agent has an iPad provided by the company; the app has to be written in Swift. 3) Ease of use – The mobile app is to be used on-the-go in the field; therefore, it needs to be easy to navigate and use. 4) Gamification – Sales agents will use this application to self-track their activities to meet their pre-determined goals (target values set by the company).  And to encourage usage, the app should be “fun” to use.
• Three ITM students worked on a Big Data Project for MGIC, evaluating several options for business intelligence and data warehouse platforms, including Apache Hadoop and SAP HANA.  They presented their recommendations to MGIC management.
• A team of students in the Systems Analysis and Design course worked on a semester-long project for MGIC, analyzing the requirements and designing specifications for a mobile app that MGIC sales agents could use on the Salesforce.com site.
• Two students teams in the Systems Analysis and Design course were assigned to a project for Northwestern Mutual, focused on automating and streamlining the processing from front-office trades through its middle-office functions and finally back-office functions. By avoiding manual re-entry of data, the Investment Operations group is able to save significant time and effort.