Information Technology Innovation and Service Delivery: Case of University of Nairobi Student Management Information System

Abstract

The unprecedented rapid growth in technology has seen organizations make drastic changes to the way they operate and do business, this cap abled with the upheaval of innovation, in order to remain relevant and competitive and give clients and customers value for money, many organizations are looking out for new ways and methods of doing their core business and operations. This research study sort to answer the question of how the University of Nairobi has used IT innovation for better service delivery using the student management system, with the following objectives; to document IT innovation journey as evidenced by the SMIS, to establish how the University of Nairobi has used IT innovation for better service delivery using the student management system and the challenges of using IT innovation for service delivery. The research design was longitudinal case study with the University of Nairobi, student management information system as the choice of case study. The researcher utilized interview guides with a view of getting in-depth knowledge and understanding of the research objectives. The study followed through the continuous improvement journey of the SMIS from 2002 to 2016 and noted the milestones and how service delivery had improved throughout this period. The study established that the SMIS has changed operations at the University of Nairobi to be more effective and efficient by offering quality services. One key unique finding that the study deduced was that the SMIS is an inborn and in house developed system; this enables the system to be customized to meet users’ requirements thus giving the university a niche over other institutions, the quality of service, information produced, system responsiveness and the usefulness contributed to the overall net benefit of the system. The research findings collaborated well with the IS theories of diffusion of innovation theory and the information systems success model. The study further noted useful factors to consider when introducing and adopting IT innovation to the organization for service delivery so as to cope with challenges of introducing innovation in an organization.