INFORMED CONSENT

to participate in an ongoing study of the
Work Systems Method

Georgia State University

Department of Computer Information Systems

Title: Work Systems Method Research

Principal Investigators:Duane Truex , Ph.D., (GSU) and Steven Alter, Ph.D., (University of San Francisco)

I.Purpose of this research:

You are invited to participate in a research study. The purpose of the study is to investigate the development of the Work System Method and is part of an ongoing research project taking place on in several countries under the guidance of the method’s creator, Dr Steve Alter in cooperation with Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Duane Truex. You are invited to participate because you are a professional MBA student having had work experience in one or more for-profit, not-for-profit or governmental organizations. A total including your entire class section is being recruited for this study. Participation will require release for use of an class deliverable.

If you grant permission for use in this research, your work system models become part of a growing database of several hundred work system models treated as field studies which are compared and analyzed in the aggregate or as part of a demographically determined sub set (e.g., as in firms in the financial services or retailers) as we work to improve the Work Systems Method technique for use in teaching and in practice. Typically the data are described in the aggregate. There are times when specific examples of certain activities are desirable. In these instances where examples and text are drawn from a given project the identity of the project author (i.e., you) is removed and the company name is disguised to protect confidentiality. In the space below we ask you to declare your awareness of this project and to further indicate your willingness to participate and have your work system project added to the dataset for further study.

The expected duration of your participation does not extend beyond the scheduled course project deliverable.

To date more than 150 work systems models have been collected and added to the research database. With each iteration of the study we refine the templates, based on student feedback.

II.Procedures:

If you decide to participate, you will be expected to do no more than allow the use of your Work Systems Model, an assigned and required course deliverable to be added to the research database of Work System Models. Your participation in the research extends no further. The detailed project requirements are provided on the course website and have been discussed in class.

III.Risks:

In this study, you will not have any more risks than you would in a normal day of life.

IV.Benefits:

Participation in this study is expected to benefit you personally, by building competence in process modeling and the preparation of or in preparing requirements determination in advance of an information system development or implementation project. Overall, we hope to gain information about how managers model work systems and to use this to advance the field and reduce information system development failure rates.

V.Confidentiality:

We will keep your records private to the extent allowed by law. Dr S Alter, and D. Truex, and unnamed graduate student analysts will have access to the information you provide. Information may also be shared with those who make sure the study is done correctly (GSU Institutional Review Board, the Office for Human Research Protection (OHRP)). We will use a study code number rather than your name on study records. The information you provide will be stored on university and private secured servers available only to the study researchers. Your name and other facts that might point to you will not appear when we present this study or publish its results, unless as indicated above, you agree to less restricted identification. The findings will be summarized and reported in the aggregate or by broad industry and problem typegroupings. You will not be identified personally.

VI.Voluntary Participation and Withdrawal:

As describe earlier Participation in research is voluntary. The deliverable for a course grade however is not optional. While the Work Systems Model assignment is a required part of the course, you do not have elect to have it included in the research study. If you decide to be in the study and change your mind, you have the right elect a change in how the data you provide are to be used or if it is to be included in the study database at all. You may stop participating at any time. Whichever option you choose, you will not lose any benefits to which you are otherwise entitled nor will it adversely affect your project or course grade.

In giving consent you have fouroptions your degree of anonymity and/or participation in this study.

1)Open participation wherein where you acknowledge that your identity and the identity of the organization you are portraying could be disclosed if warranted as essential to the research or for later publication from this research.

2)Where the identity of you as a participant and/or the firm are ‘masked’ by assigning fictitious names or control numbers and referring only to those control identities, if ever identified at all. Only the study researchers will know the real identity of the firm or of you as the model’s author.

3)Wherein your data may be used only when a part of aggregated analysis and never singled out for specific illustration or as a specific example of a particular behavior.

4)You may elect to opt out of the research phase altogether and have the case graded solely for the purpose of meeting course requirements. Opting out will have no negative impact \ on your course or deliverable grade.

VII. Contact Persons:

Contact Dr D Truex at if you have questions about this study. If you have questions or concerns about your rights as a participant in this research study, you may contact Susan Vogtner in the Office of Research Integrity at 404-413-3513 or .

VIII. PARTICIPATION ELECTION and Copy of Consent Form to Subject:: Please signal/choose your election of the degree of participation by circling your choice of participation degree and initial your selection in the box following your circled choice.

1)Open participation wherein where you acknowledge that your identity and the identity of the organization you are portraying could be disclosed if warranted as essential to the research or for later publication from this research. (initialed)______

2)Where the identity of you as a participant and/or the firm are ‘masked’ by assigning fictitious names or control numbers and referring only to those control identities, if ever identified at all. Only the study researchers will know the real identity of the firm or of you as the model’s author. (initialed)______

3)Wherein your data may be used only when a part of aggregated analysis and never singled out for specific illustration or as a specific example of a particular behavior. (initialed)______

4)You may elect to opt out of the research phase altogether and have the case graded solely for the purpose of meeting course requirements. Opting out will have no negative impact \ on your course or deliverable grade. (initialed)______

If you are willing to volunteer for this research, please sign below. We will give you a copy of this consent form to keep.

______

ParticipantDate

______

Principal Investigatoror Researcher Obtaining ConsentDate

Further [Optional] Demographic Data to be used only in the aggregate to create a profile of the study results.

1)Your age is ? (Circle)

a. <22 / b. 22-28 / c. 29-35
d. 36-41 / e. 42-47 / f. >48

2)Work experience

  1. How many years of professional business experience do you have? ______yrs (fractional to the nearest half year. E.g., 7.5)
  2. How many people (both full-time and part-time) did you have reporting to you in your current or most recent position. ______people
  3. How many people worked in your immediate work unit (e.g. department, project, team) #______persons.

3)Rate your self on scale 1-5 with 1 being low or none; and 5 being very high or expert.

My professional roles use IT knowledge and they focus on building, analyzing, or maintaining IT systems. eg., an IT Professional ______(1 to 5)

  1. Which of these following statement best describes your ICT use and familiarity?
  2. My professional roles involve extensive use of various IT systems and applications – e.g., spreadsheet, database, CRM or ERP software (eg,. Are you a Proficient User?)
  3. My professional life requires that I use IT systems but my roles are not associated with IT ( e.g., a regular or ‘normal’ User)
  4. My work requires that use IT occasionally, but it is not particularly important in my work. (e.g., Infrequent User)
  5. My work requires no contact with ICT systems at all.
  1. Have you ever: (circle one)
  2. Taken a course or workshop to be trained in analyzing or designing systems YES NO
  3. Taken a course or workshop to be trained in Six Sigma YES NO
  4. Taken a course or workshop to be trained as a programmer YES NO
  5. Have you ever been deeply involved in projects where you have had to help analyze and or improve systems YES NO
  1. To the best of your knowledge, do you work for a firm that:
  2. Has a proscribed, preferred or commonly used method for analyzing and designing systems. YES NO
  3. Regularly examines and redesigns the way work is accomplished YES NO

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