Search

A major objective of the Society for Information Management (SIM) is to foster communication about information resource management among professionals in the field line and staff executives, managers, educators, and other professionals. One way in which the Society pursues its objectives is an annual paper competition. The call for papers for the competition was issued through a wide variety of professional journals and through mailings to SIM institutional members. To qualify for the competition, a paper must describe a management information systems (MIS), a technique for improving MIS activity, or the management of the MIS activity; the work described must be in-place and implemented and must have been evaluated and judged to have had a significant impact on the organization involved, i.e., contribution to improved profit, service, communication, etc. Four primary criteria are used to evaluate entries that are, innovation, reapplicability, implementation, and impact. The essence of the work and its impact/results are to be emphasized.

This article presents the winners of the MIS Quarterly 2006 Best Paper Award. M. Lynne Markus, Charles Steinfield, Rolf Wigand, and Gabe Minton wrote the prize winning article, "Industry-Wide Information Systems Standardization as Collective Action; The Case of the U.S. Residential Mortgage Industry."

Information, which is the critical resource provided by information systems (IS), is available in increasing volumes due to rapid technological progress. This causes a tension between the cognitive limitations of individuals and their access to large volumes of information. This tension is important not only for individuals but also for teams, which are increasingly making important organizational decisions. Recognizing this tension, this paper investigates the relationship between information volume and decision performance in IS-enabled teams. We use information processing and schema theories to develop a contextualized theoretical model, wherein information volume has a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) effect on decision performance, and this effect is moderated by three context-relevant attributes of the team members: computer self-efficacy, computer anxiety, and learning goal orientation. We conducted two complementary studies, with similar experimental contexts and procedures but different types of participants and different tasks. In these studies, 236 individuals in 118 dyads (Study 1) and 200 individuals in 60 small teams (Study 2) made decisions over time using an enterprise resource planning system for a competitive virtual firm in a business simulation. We used objective data on system use and decision outcomes, along with survey data, to test the theoretical model. The two complementary studies find consistent results supporting the curvilinear relationship between information volume and decision performance and find that this relationship is flattened by high computer self-efficacy. Study 1 also supports the hypothesized steepening effects of high computer anxiety and learning goal orientation on the curvilinear relationship. Study 2 does not support these effects of computer anxiety and learning goal orientation but highlights some boundary conditions for them. Together, the studies provide insights into how information volume affects decision performance in IS-enabled teams, and how context-relevant team member attributes moderate this relationship and themselves affect decision performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how an individual's disaster experience affects his or her perceptions of sociotechnical safety factors (risk, information assurance, resilience) and perceived usefulness of hospital information systems (HIS). This paper consists of two studies focusing on different aspects: a quasi-field experiment conducted with employees in three hospitals affected by a severe snowstorm (labeled a federal disaster) (N = 103), where we compare the perceptual factors in the context of the disaster experience (with versus without recall), and a comparative study between a first sample group (with disaster experience) and a second, contrast sample group (with no disaster experience) of hospital employees (N= 179) from two similar hospitals. The results show that the disaster experience changes the relationships among the perceptual factors that affect perceived usefulness. Individuals tend to perceive negative factors (such as risk) as having greater effects when they actually have direct experience in a disaster situation than in a normal situation. Positive factors (such as information assurance and resilience) have a lesser impact among individuals who have disaster experience (with versus without recall). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper questions common assumptions in the dominant representational framings of information systems success and failure and proposes a performative perspective that conceives IS success and failure as relational effects performed by sociomaterial practices of IS project actor-networks of developers, managers, technologies, project documents, methodologies, and other actors. Drawing from a controversial case of a highly innovative information system in an insurance company-considered a success and failure at the same time- the paper reveals the inherent indeterminacy of IS success and failure and describes the mechanisms by which success and failure become performed and thus determined by sociomaterial practices. This is explained by exposing ontological politics in the reconfiguration and decomposition of the IS project actor-network and the emergence of different agencies of assessment that performed both different IS realities and competing IS assessments. The analysis shows that the IS project and the implemented system as objects of assessment are not given and fixed, but are performed by the agencies of assessment together with the assessment outcomes of success and failure. The paper demonstrates that by reframing IS success and failure, the performative perspective provides some novel and surprising insights that have a potential to change conversations on IS assessments in both the IS literature and IS practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent interest in studying information system habits, our understanding of how these habits develop and operate in an organizational context is still limited. Within organizations, IS habits may develop over long periods of time and are typically embedded within larger, frequently practiced, higher-level work routines or task sequences. When new systems are introduced for the purpose of at least partially replacing incumbent systems, existing IS habits embedded in these routines may inhibit adoption and use of the new systems. Therefore, understanding how work-related IS habits form, how they enable and inhibit behavior, and how they can be disrupted or encouraged requires that we examine them within the context of organizational and individual level work routines. The current study integrates psychology and organizational behavior literature on cognitive scripts and work routines to examine IS habits as they occur embedded within larger, more complex task sequences. The objective of the paper is to contribute to the IS habit literature by (1) situating IS habits within the context of their associated work routines and task sequences, and (2) providing a theoretical understanding of how incumbent system habits can be disrupted, and how development of new system habits can be encouraged, within this context. We draw from extant research in psychology, organizational behavior, and consumer behavior to offer propositions about context-focused organizational interventions to break, or otherwise discourage, the continued performance of incumbent system habits and to encourage the development of new system habits. Specifically, our theoretical development includes script disruption techniques, training-in-context, and performance goal suspension as organizational interventions that disrupt incumbent system habits. We further theorize how stabilizing contextual variables associated with modified work routines can facilitate the development of new system habits. The paper concludes by discussing the importance of combining intervention strategies to successfully disrupt incumbent system habits and encourage development of new system habits and thus facilitate adoption of new systems [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While criteria or principles for conducting positivist and interpretive research have been widely discussed in the IS research literature, criteria or principles for critical research are lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose a set of principles for the conduct of critical research in information systems. We examine the nature of the critical research perspective, clarify its significance, and review its major discourses, recognizing that its mission and methods cannot be captured by a fixed set of criteria once and for all, particularly as multiple approaches are still in the process of defining their identity. However, we suggest it is possible to formulate a set of principles capturing some of the commonalities of those approaches that have so far become most visible in the IS research literature. The usefulness of the principles is illustrated by analyzing three critical field studies in information systems. We hope that this paper will further reflection and debate on the important subject of grounding critical research methodology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper informs the literature on the business value of information technology by conceptualizing a path from IT assets--that is, commodity-like or off-the-shelf information technologies--to sustainable competitive advantage. This path suggests that IT assets can play a strategic role when they are combined with organizational resources to create IT-enabled resources. To the extent that relationships between IT assets and organizational resources are synergistic, the ensuing IT-enabled resources are capable of positively affecting firms' sustainable competitive advantage via their improved strategic potential. This is an important contribution since IT-related organizational benefits have been hard to demonstrate despite attempts to study them through a variety of methods and theoretical lenses. This paper synthesizes systems theory and the resource-based view of the firm to build a unified conceptual model linking IT assets with firm-level benefits. Several propositions are derived from the model and their implications for IS research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents commentary on a paper in the current issue entitled "Fashion Waves in Information Systems Research and Practice" by Baskerville and Myers (B&M). In their paper B&M identified correlations between topics covered in information systems (IS) practitioner and research literature, and based on those findings offered recommendations for the conduct of IS research. The authors evaluate those recommendations and express agreement with some of them, but offer a competing explanation for the patterns B&M observe in the literature.

In this paper, we propose a partial solution to the problem of the relevance of information systems research by adjusting doctoral programs to the specific needs and talents of doctoral students that have significant prior professional life experience. The purpose of this paper is first to recognize that the "professionally qualified doctoral student" (PQDS) has a different type of knowledge that may give her/him some advantages over other students, including greater symbolic capital. We examine the epistemic evidence for the claim that part of their practical experience constitutes a specific type of "applicative" knowledge that should be considered as different from but of equal value to theory, which has been the mainstay of academic education. Three independent lines of academic research contribute such evidence: the communities of practice literature, philosophical perspectives on applicative knowledge, and cognitive sciences. We argue that PQDSs may benefit from doctoral programs with specific features designed to leverage their practical knowledge. In turn, they may be able to "boundary span" and publish research results in forms that are appreciated by their professional communities. Finally we discuss some practical institutional issues that could be addressed if we are to sustain this profile of researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizing phenomena into classes is a pervasive human activity. The ability to classify phenomena encountered in daily life in useful ways is essential to human survival and adaptation. Not surprisingly, then, classification-oriented activities are widespread in the information systems field. Classes or entity types play a central role in conceptual modeling for information systems requirements analysis, as well as in the design of databases and object-oriented software. Furthermore, classification is the primary task in applications such as data mining and the development of domain ontologies to support information sharing in semantic web applications. However, despite the pervasiveness of classification, little research has proposed well-grounded guidelines for identifying, evaluating, and choosing classes when modeling a domain or designing information systems artifacts. In this paper, we adopt the cognitive notions of inference and economy to derive a set of principles to guide effective and efficient classification. We present a model for characterizing what may be considered useful classes in a given context based on the inferences that can be drawn from membership in a class. This foundation is then used to suggest practical design rules for evaluating and refining potential classes. We illustrate the use of the rules by showing that applying them to a previously published example yields meaningful changes. We then present an evaluation by a panel of experts who compared the published and revised models. The evaluation shows that following the rules leads to semantically clearer models that are preferred by experts. The paper concludes by outlining possible future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the role of power and politics in setting standards. It examines the interaction of external contingencies, powerful agents, resources, meaning, and membership of relevant social and institutional groupings in generating successful political outcomes. To study these interactions, the paper adopts the circuits of power, a theoretical framework taken from the social sciences, and applies it to understanding the creation and development of the first standard in information security management. An informal group of UK security chiefs sparked off a process which led first to BS7799, the British standard, and later to ISO 17799, the international standard. The case study portrays how the institutionalization of this ad hoc development process results from the interactions of power among the stakeholders involved. The case study also shows how the different interests and objectives of the stakeholders were influenced by exogenous contingencies and institutional forces. The paper discusses theoretical and practical implications for the future development of such standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the differences in user acceptance models for productivity-oriented (or utilitarian) and pleasure-oriented (or hedonic) information systems. Hedonic information systems aim to provide self-fulfilling rather than instrumental value to the user, are strongly connected to home and leisure activities, focus on the fun-aspect of using information systems, and encourage prolonged rather than productive use. The paper reports a cross-sectional survey on the usage intentions for one hedonic information system. Analysis of this sample supports the hypotheses that perceived enjoyment and perceived ease of use are stronger determinants of intentions to use than perceived usefulness. The paper concludes that the hedonic nature of an information system is an important boundary condition to the validity of the technology acceptance model. Specifically, perceived usefulness loses its dominant predictive value in favor of ease of use and enjoyment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information systems researchers have a long tradition of drawing on theories from disciplines such as economics, computer science, psychology, and general management and using them in their own research. Because of this, the information systems field has become a rich tapestry of theoretical and conceptul foundations. As new theories are brought into the field, particularly theories that have become dominant in other areas, there may be a benefit in pausing to assess their use and contribution in an IS context. The purpose of this paper is to explore and critically evaluate use of the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) by IS researchers. The paper provides a brief review of resource-based theory and then suggests extensions to make the RBV more useful for empirical IS research. First, a typology of key IS resources is presented, and these are then described using six traditional resource attributes. Second, we emphasize the particular importance of looking at both resource complementarity and moderating factors when studying IS resource effects on firm performance. Finally, we discuss three considerations that IS researchers need to address when using the RBV empirically. Eight sets of propositions are advanced to help guide future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In information systems, most research on knowledge management assumes that knowledge has positive implications for organizations. However, knowledge is a double-edged sword: while too little might result in expensive mistakes, too much might result in unwanted accountability. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the lack of attention paid to the unintended consequences of managing organizational knowledge and thereby to broaden the scope of IS-based knowledge management research. To this end, this paper analyzes the IS literature on knowledge management. Using a framework developed by Deetz (1996), research articles published between 1990 and 2000 in six IS journals are classified into one of four scientific discourses. These discourses are the normative, the interpretive, the critical, and the dialogic. For each of these discourses, we identify the research focus, the metaphors of knowledge, the theoretical foundations, and the implications apparent in the articles representing it. The metaphors of knowledge that emerge from this analysis are knowledge as object, asset, mind, commodity, and discipline. Furthermore, we present a paper that is exemplary of each discourse. Our objective with this analysis is to raise IS researchers' awareness of the potential and the implications of the different discourses in the study of knowledge and knowledge management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While information technology (IT) has been transforming the business landscape for a long time now, it is only recently that empirical evidence demonstrating the positive impact of IT on firm performance has begun to accumulate. The strategic importance of a firm's IT capabilities is prompting an increasing number of companies to appoint chief information officers (ClOs) to effectively manage these assets. Such moves are reflective of changes in top management thinking and policy regarding the role of IT and firms' approaches to IT governance. This paper uses the event study methodology to examine market reactions to announcements of new ClO positions. Findings strongly support the notion that, for firms competing in industries undergoing IT-driven transformation, announcements of newly created CIO positions do indeed provoke positive reactions from the marketplace.While information technology (IT) has been transforming the business landscape for a long time now, it is only recently that empirical evidence demonstrating the positive impact of IT on firm performance has begun to accumulate. The strategic importance of a firm's IT capabilities is prompting an increasing number of companies to appoint chief information officers (ClOs) to effectively manage these assets. Such moves are reflective of changes in top management thinking and policy regarding the role of IT and firms' approaches to IT governance. This paper uses the event study methodology to examine market reactions to announcements of new CIO positions. Findings strongly support the notion that, for firms competing in industries undergoing IT-driven transformation, announcements of newly created CIO positions do indeed provoke positive reactions from the marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes a qualitative methodology, revealed causal mapping (RCM), to investigate the phenomenon of software operations support expertise. Software operations support is a large portion of the IS work performed in organizations. While we as researchers have access to generalized theories and frameworks of expertise, very little is known about expertise in this critical area. To understand software operations support expertise, a mid-range theory is evoked from interviews with experts and the construction of RCMs from those interviews. The results of this study indicate that software operation support expertise is comprised of five major constructs: personal competencies, environmental factors, support personnel motivation, IS policies, and support personnel outcomes. Additionally, this study revealed that these constructs interact differently in contexts where software support is the main activity versus contexts where the focus is development. This study demonstrates that the use of the RCM methodology yields constructs of software operations support expertise that are not suggested by generalized theory. In addition, the use of RCM as an evocative, qualitative methodology reveals the interaction and linkages between these constructs. This paper also provides a history of and tutorial to the RCM methodology for use by the research community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GDSS has enjoyed about a decade and a half of vigorous research activity. Throughout this time, a problem that has occupied the research community is the inconsistent research results that have been obtained. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the reason for these inconsistencies is rooted in the epistemological mode that has prevailed and to offer an alternative epistemological lens that might help advance our understanding of GDSS use and research. Using qualitative research methods and a symbolic interactionist theoretical basis, this paper examines how a particular group used a GDSS over two meetings. The findings indicate that GDSS use may result in reactions from its users that are difficult to capture using conventional methodological assumptions, thereby helping explain why past results have not been consistent. Based on these findings, a shift in focus is advocated from an emphasis on the technology to an emphasis on human interaction, one that embraces the reasons underlying past inconsistencies rather than attempting to overcome them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model of the information systems (IS) applications portfolio and illustrates how its "health" can be assessed through an example from process manufacturing. The health assessment is based on an evaluation by senior managers of a business unit's portfolio of information systems. This assessment is made on five separate, but related, attributes of each system in the portfolio: importance, investment, technical quality, use, and management value. The "Health Grid" is introduced as a way of representing the IS applications portfolio in order to facilitate the assessment and interpretation of its health. One of the advantages of using the grid is to make such an assessment explicit, transparent, and discussible. In an example, the Health Grid is used to assess and interpret the IS applications portfolio of the most profitable business unit in a large process manufacturing firm. The applications portfolio, consisting of 18 systems, was generally assessed as requiring attention. For example, there was no evidence of any relationship between the investment in a given system and its management value. The paper includes a suggested approach for using the Health Grid and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach. A description of the changes made to the IS portfolio in the example firm after the initial data collection completes the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a research study, carried out over the period 1993 to 1995, of the efforts made in India to develop and use geographical information systems (GIS)(n2) to aid district-level administration. We give a detailed description of our research approach, drawing from contextualism as a broad research methodology and using actor-network theory for analytical purposes. The main section of the paper provides an in-depth analysis of a major GIS initiative from a particular Indian government ministry. We conclude that the creation and maintenance of a relatively stable set of key actors with aligned interests related to the GIS technology had not been achieved in any of the districts studied by the end of the research period. Our analysis leads to implications for future action that go beyond traditional prescriptions, such as improved participation or better training, toward the need for higher-level interventions in such areas as educational processes and administrative structures. We then turn to criteria for judging the merits of an intensive research study and illustrate to what extent this study satisfies the criteria. Finally, we draw conclusions on the contribution of this paper to the promotion of intensive research and to the opening up of new fields of IS research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article defines and discusses one of these qualitative methods--the case research strategy. Suggestions are provided for researchers who wish to undertake research employing this approach. Criteria for the evaluation of case research are established and several characteristics useful for categorizing the studies are identified. A sample of papers drawn from information systems journals is reviewed. The paper concludes with examples of research areas that are particularly well-suited to investigation using the case research approach.
This article discusses the use of one qualitative technique, the case research strategy, in studies of information systems. It provides some suggestions about how to conduct and evaluate case study research. A sample of case-based research from selected IS journals is categorized according to a set of characteristics developed in this paper. The articles in the sample are then evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major corporations have tried in recent years to formalize planning processes in their MIS organizations in response to the growing importance of information processing to corporate business functions. This paper examines the function of long-range planning in an MIS organization with particular attention to the issues management process.
This paper critiques the process, identifies both successes and difficulties, and suggests ways in which other organizations contemplating issues management might develop, implement, and maintain this component of the overall planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expert systems are emerging as a powerful tool for decision making. Integrating expert systems with decision support systems may enhance the quality and efficiency of both computerized systems. This article examines possible connections between the two technologies and discusses some issues related to their integration.
The objective of this article is to describe and discuss some issues of DSS/ES integration. Attaining this goal will be difficult for the following reasons. First, there is no consensus on what an ES is, and what constitutes a DSS [8]. Second, there are varying opinions regarding the potential for integration of these technologies. This paper will summarize the current state of DSS/ES integration, and present two frameworks for integration: ES integration into the conventional DSS components,. Expert systems are emerging as a powerful tool for decision making. Integrating expert systems with decision support systems may enhance the quality and efficiency of both computerized systems. This article examines possible connections between the two technologies and discusses some issues related to their integration.
The objective of this article is to describe and discuss some issues of DSS/ES integration. Attaining this goal will be difficult for the following reasons. First, there is no consensus on what an ES is, and what constitutes a DSS [8]. Second, there are varying opinions regarding the potential for integration of these technologies. This paper will summarize the current state of DSS/ES integration, and present two frameworks for integration: ES integration into the conventional DSS components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of IT investments and worker composition on the productivity of life insurance companies. The majority of previous IT productivity studies follow a technological imperative, hypothesizing a direct relationship between higher IT investments and increased productivity. This paper shifts the focus toward the organizational imperative, which views returns on IT investments as a result of the alignment between technology and other critical management choices. Specifically, the study focuses on the alignment between IT investments and worker composition, measured in terms of relative numbers of clerical, managerial, and professional positions to the total number of employees. Hypotheses are tested using a data set compiled over a 10-year period for 52 life insurance companies. With respect to prior research, the study is novel in its adoption of a model of productivity that accounts for both separate and combined effects of IT investments and worker composition. Premium income per employee and total operating expense to premium income are used as indicators of productivity. Study findings show that increases in IT expenses are associated with productivity benefits when accompanied by changes in worker composition. Life insurance companies that have decreased their proportion of clericals and professionals while at the same time investing in IT have experienced productivity improvements. On the other hand, companies decreasing their proportion of managers while investing in IT are found to have reduced productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is strong evidence that data items stored in organizational databases have a significant rate of errors. If undetected in uses those errors in stored data may significantly affect business outcomes. Published research suggests that users of information systems tend to be ineffective in detecting data errors. However, in this paper it is argued that, rather than accepting poor human error detection performance, MIS researchers need to develop better theories of human error detection and to improve their understanding of the conditions for improving performance. This paper applies several theory bases (primarily signal detection theory but also a theory of individual task performance, theories of effort and accuracy in decision making, and theories of goals and incentives) to develop a set of propositions about successful human error detection. These propositions are tested in a laboratory setting. The results present a strong challenge to earlier assertions that humans are poor detectors of data errors. The findings of the two laboratory experiments show that explicit error detection goals and incentives can modify error detection performance. These findings provide an improved understanding of conditions under which users detect data errors. They indicate it is possible to influence detection behavior in organizational settings through managerial directives, training, and incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of theories and methodological weakness have been pointed out as two distinct but related problems in empirical management information systems (MIS) research. Reinforcing the existing belief that too much attention has been devoted to "what" as opposed to "why" or "when" relationships exist, this paper focuses on a subset of model building and methodology issues involving the systematic discovery and representation of causal relationships. Our analysis of the existing empirical MIS literature reveals the need to build richer causal models, to increase the flexibility of model representation, to integrate the isolated worlds of pure latent and pure manifested variables, and to provide a tighter linkage between the exploratory and confirmatory research phases. Based on philosophy of science and advances in the fields of experimental economics and sociology, we propose a foundation for developing richer models by explicitly considering the exogeneity and endogeneity of constructs and a manipulative account of causality, and by recognizing the role of incentives, agent, and organizational characteristics in MIS models. Since richer models require more flexible tools and techniques, the paper describes the representational shortcomings and statistical pitfalls of factor-analytic methods commonly deployed in empirical research. We suggest that weak exploratory phase tools and approaches may allow violations of causal assumptions to pass undetected to the confirmatory phase. Since confirmatory tools like LISREL also make factor-analytic assumptions, these violations are not likely to be detected at the confirmatory phase either. We propose using TETRAD, a non-parametric tool, at the exploratory phase for its ability to accommodate a wide variety of causal models. The findings are summarized within an integrated framework, which enhances the likelihood of discovering relationships through richer theoretical support and powerful exploratory analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper responds to the research note in this issue by Van Dyke et al. concerning the use of SERVQUAL, an instrument to measure service quality, and its use in the IS domain. This paper attempts to balance some of the arguments they raise from the marketing literature on the topic with the well-documented counterarguments of SERVQUAL'S developers, as well as our own research evidence and observations in an IS-specific environment. Specifically, evidence is provided to show that the service quality perceptions-expectations subtraction in SERVQUAL is far more rigorously grounded than Van Dyke et al. suggest; that the expectations construct, while potentially ambiguous, is generally a vector in the case of an IS department; and that the dimensions of service quality seem to be as applicable to the IS department as to any other organizational setting. Then, the paper demonstrates that the problems of reliability of difference score calculations in SERVQUAL are not nearly as serious as Van Dyke et al. suggest; that while perceptions-only measurement of service quality might have marginally better predictive and convergent validity, this comes at considerable expense to managerial diagnostics; and reiterate some of the problems of dimensional instability found in our previous research, highlighted by Van Dyke et al. and discussed in many other studies of SERVQUAL. across a range of settings. Finally, four areas for further research in this area are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information Richness Theory (IRT) has enjoyed acceptance by information systems researchers throughout the last decade, but recent unfavorable empirical evidence has precipitated a shift away from it and a search for a new theory. Because of this shift, a new definition of communication richness is needed to succeed the IRT definition. Since its inception, IS research on communication richness has been limited to the perspective of positivism and, more recently, interpretivism. In this study, a new perspective to the study of communication richness in computer mediated communication, critical social theory (CST), is introduced. The paper outlines (1) a CST-based definition of communication richness and compares it with positivist and interpretivist definitions of communication richness and (2) a CST-based social action framework for empirical study of organizational communication in any media use situation. The CST definition and framework are used in an intensive investigation of an episode of the managerial use of electronic mail in a company to illustrate how research on communication richness can be conducted from the CST perspective. This illustration also points cut the usefulness of the CST perspective in recognizing instances of communication richness in electronic mail communications that would escape detection in not just the IRT perspective in particular, but also positivist and interpretive perspectives in general. Finally, the paper concludes by outlining the potential for future IS research on organizational communication and information technology from the CST perspective. In addition to the specific contribution to the development of a new theory of communication richness in electronic media, this study also contributes an example of CST research on IS and extends the domain of the CST-IS research program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses two questions. First, how does an organization allocate its environmental scanning resources among all the potential sources of information in the environment? Second, how does an organization allocate responsibility for acquiring environmental information? Specifically, when does an organization choose to monitor an environmental source within its hierarchy, and when does it outsource the task? In the former case, when does the responsibility for acquiring information rest with the ultimate user, and when is it delegated, either to a subordinate or to a central environmental scanning unit? The paper proposes a set of economic arguments to answer these questions. Borrowing from transaction cost theory, the paper develops the concept of information specificity to parallel the idea of asset specificity. Information specificity has two dimensions- knowledge specificity and time specificity. The paper uses transaction cost theory and agency theory to propose that the information acquisition choices made by managers and organizations are based on the specificity of the desired information. In making its arguments, the paper introduces the notion of cognitive transaction and agency costs to complement the behavioral costs that are the focus of traditional transaction cost and agency theory logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commitment to an information systems (IS) development project is widely believed to affect the eventual success of the system. Problems arising from low commitment have also been described. However, there has been little research on the factors that influence the level of commitment to an IS project. This paper provides some initial insights into the determinants of commitment based on a longitudinal study of an IS project that was stopped and then restarted on several occasions over a 17-year period (1975-1992). The paper draws four types of determinants - project, psychological, social, and structural - from the organization behavior literature and uses them to explain six decisions that were made during the 17-year period. A comparison of these six decisions suggests that project determinants play a central role during the initial commitment decision, but the other determinants assume greater importance in later stages. Moreover, it seems that in this case study, project and psychological determinants affected the decision to increase commitment, whereas social and structural determinants influenced the decision to withdraw commitment to the project Some implications for practice and future research are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harnessing information technology to manage documents is one of the most important challenges facing IS managers in this decade. It is important because most of the valuable information in organizations is in the form of documents such as business forms, reports, letters, memos, policy statements, contracts, agreements, etc. Moreover, most of the important business processes in organizations are based on, or driven by, document flows. Electronic Document Management (EDM) promises major productivity and performance increases by applying new technology to documents and document processing. The purposes of this paper are to show the value of new technology for managing documents, to illustrate the variety of ways this value can be realized, to develop some structure for understanding this rapidly evolving field, and to suggest some actions IS managers can take now to prepare for this revolution in information management. The paper argues that the IS Department, as the developers and managers of the technical infrastructure for EDM, will be in a position to lead this evolution as major change agents like they did in the EDP and MIS eras; but some specific actions will be needed to assume this leadership role. This paper explores the scope and importance of EDM in more detail and illustrates how it expands our view of information management. It is designed to help structure the field by approaching it from three perspectives: technologies that are making EDM possible, the application areas in which business value is being realized, and the roles and responsibilities of several departments that will be involved in developing EDM. The paper suggests what IS managers can do now to begin preparing for this major advancement in information management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a new type of information system rarely described in the MIS literature, probably because very few such systems exist today. The system, which we have labelled as an organizational effectiveness system (OES), is designed to ensure the health and well-being of an organization in an increasingly complex and turbulent world. Its purpose and net effect are to allow the organization to be flexible and responsive. PRISM, a system developed at Federal Express Corporation, is an imitable example of such a system. As an advanced multi-technology system, it includes core personnel functions, expanded personnel and organizational functions, and extensive external interface features. The PRISM system permits significant and constant interactions with all managers and all employees. This paper describes PRISM in considerable detail, as well as its impact and benefits. By extrapolating from the Federal Express experience, critical success factors are derived for the development and implementation of organizational effectiveness systems in other organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for top management involvement in the exploitation of information technology (IT) is a recurring theme of information management. Previous research has suggested that this involvement is linked, with a two-way relationship between CEO and CIO. This paper reports on an exploratory research study that set out to identify the determinants of a successful two-way relationship. CEOs and CIOs were interviewed indepth in 14 large organizations based in the United Kingdom. This paper describes an explanatory framework that links the quality of the CEO/CIO relationship to identified attributes of each of the parties, and of their host organization. Successful relationships seem to be linked to a shared vision of the role of IT as an agent of transformation. The CIOs in these successful relationships may have extensive IT backgrounds, but they are accepted into the top management team and are seen to contribute beyond their functional responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although institutional theory has become a more dominant perspective in information systems research, studies have only paid scant attention to how field dynamics and organizational processes coevolve during information technology institutionalization. Against this backdrop, we present a new conceptualization based on the "traveling of ideas" metaphor that distinguishes between theorization of ideas about IT usage across an organizational field and translation of such ideas into practical use of IT within particular organizations. Drawing on these distinct analytical views, we posit that IT institutionalization is constituted through recursive intertwining of theorization and translation involving both linguistic and material objects. To illustrate the detailed workings of this conceptualization, we apply it to a longitudinal study of mobile IT institutionalization within Danish home care. We demonstrate how heterogeneous actors within the Danish home care field theorized ideas about mobile IT usage and how these ideas translated into different local arrangements. Further, our account reveals a complex institutionalization process in which mobile IT was first seen as a fashionable recipe for improvement but subsequently became the subject of controversy. The paper adds to the emerging process and discourse literature on IT institutionalization by shedding new light on how IT ideas travel across a field and within individual organizations, how they transform and become legitimized over time, and how they take on different linguistic and material forms across organizational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtually all of the extensive previous research investigating the effect of information systems proficiency on performance has been conducted at the individual level. Little research has investigated the relationship between IS proficiency and performance at the group level. In this paper, we argue that IS proficiency at the group level may be more than the simple sum or average of the IS proficiency of individual group members.Rather, effective group-level IS proficiency may also be a function of how a group's IS proficiency is distributed across its members. Relying on concepts associated with social network analysis (SNA), we introduce the concept of centrality-IS proficiency alignment. We argue that groups will perform better if their more proficient members are highly central in the group's communication and workflows network. Data from 468 employees in 32 workgroups show that centrality-IS proficiency alignment is significantly and positively related to performance across multiple systems examined individually and with the portfolio of systems examined as a whole. This approach effectively integrates the structural and resource perspectives of SNA,providing a roadmap so that others may follow a similar approach to address broader questions of group-level user-system interactions in the IS literature and more general questions of central resource alignment in the broader organizational literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information privacy refers to the desire of individuals to control or have some influence over data about themselves. Advances in information technology have raised concerns about information privacy and its impacts, and have motivated Information Systems researchers to explore information privacy issues, including technical solutions to address these concerns. In this paper, we inform researchers about the current state of information privacy research in IS through a critical analysis of the IS literature that considers information privacy as a key construct. The review of the literature reveals that information privacy is a multilevel concept,but rarely studied as such. We also find that information privacy research has been heavily reliant on student -based and USA-centric samples, which results in findings of limited generalizability. Information privacy research focuses on explaining and predicting theoretical contributions, with few studies in journal articles focusing on design and action contributions. We recommend that future research should consider different levels of analysis as well as multilevel effects of information privacy. We illustrate this with a multilevel framework for information privacy concerns. We call for research on information privacy to use a broader diversity of sampling populations, and for more design and action information privacy research to be published in journal articles that can result in IT artifacts for protection or control of information privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic information technology alignment remains a top priority for business and IT executives. Yet with a recent rise in environmental volatility, firms are asking how to be more agile in identifying and responding to market-based threats and opportunities. Whether alignment helps or hurts agility is an unresolved issue. This paper presents a variety of arguments from the literature that alternately predict a positive or negative relationship between alignment and agility. This relationship is then tested using a model in which agility mediates the link between alignment and firm performance under varying conditions of IT infrastructure flexibility and environmental volatility. Using data from a matched survey of IT and business executives in 241 firms, we uncover a positive and significant link between alignment and agility and between agility and firm performance. We also show that the effect of alignment on performance is fully mediated by agility, that environmental volatility positively moderates the link between agility and firm performance, and that agility has a greater impact on firm performance in more volatile markets. While IT infrastructure flexibility does not moderate the link between alignment and agility, except in a volatile environment, we reveal that IT infrastructure flexibility has a positive and significant main effect on agility. In fact, the effect of IT infrastructure flexibility on agility is as strong as the effect of alignment on agility. This research extends and integrates the literature on strategic IT alignment and organizational agility at a time when both alignment and agility are recognized as critical and concurrent organizational goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptual modeling grammars are a fundamental means for specifying information systems requirements. However, the actual usage of these grammars is only poorly understood. In particular, little is known about how properties of these grammars inform usage beliefs such as usefulness and ease of use. In this paper, we use an ontological theory to describe conceptual modeling grammars in terms of their ontological deficiencies, and formulate two propositions in regard to how these ontological deficiencies influence primary usage beliefs. Using BPMN as an example modeling grammar, we surveyed 528 modeling practitioners to test the theorized relationships. Our results show that users of conceptual modeling grammars perceive ontological deficiencies to exist, and that these deficiency perceptions are negatively associated with usefulness and ease of use of these grammars. With our research, we provide empirical evidence in support of the predictions of the ontological theory of modeling grammar expressiveness, and we identify previously unexplored links between conceptual modeling grammars and grammar usage beliefs. This work implies for practice a much closer coupling of the act of (re-)designing modeling grammars with usage-related success metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an introspective assessment of the current state of management information systems as a research discipline using the "lens" of the informing sciences. Based on this assessment, we observe that the degree to which MIS research is informing its key external clients--practitioners, students, and researchers in other disciplines--has declined over the years. This problem is particularly acute with respect to informing practitioners. Unfortunately, practitioner support may be critical in making up for lost resources caused by declining student enrollments. Despite this dire prognostication, we believe that it is possible to reverse this trend. Drawing upon cognitive science and diffusion of innovations research, we analyze the source of the problem and then present five recommendations aimed at leading MIS journals, scholars, and professional societies for improving the ability of MIS research to engage and inform its external clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolutionary psychology holds great promise as one of the possible pillars on which information systems theorizing can take place. Arguably, evolutionary psychology can provide the key to many counterintuitive predictions of behavior toward technology, because many of the evolved instincts that influence our behavior are below our level of conscious awareness; often those instincts lead to behavioral responses that are not self-evident. This paper provides a discussion of information systems theorizing based on evolutionary psychology, centered on key human evolution and evolutionary genetics concepts and notions. It is argued here that there is often a need to integrate evolutionary and non-evolutionary theories, and four important preconditions for the successful integration of evolutionary and non-evolutionary theories are discussed. An example of integration of evolutionary and non-evolutionary theories is provided. The example focuses on one evolutionary information systems theory--media naturalness theory--previously developed as an alternative to media richness theory, and one non-evolutionary information systems theory, channel expansion theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of positive thinking in the field of information systems (IS). Too often the emphasis at conferences and in published papers is on relatively negative aspects such as whether IS qualifies as a discipline, an alleged identity crisis for IS, and other perceived shortcomings. The authors propose three principles for remedying this state of affairs. Scholars need to give due recognition to the successes that have been achieved in IS, they need to devote less effort to describing problems and more to solving them, and they need to act as more responsible stewards of IS.

What is the intellectual core of the information systems discipline? This study uses latent semantic analysis to examine a large body of published IS research in order to address this question. Specifically, the abstracts of all research papers over the time period from 1985 through 2006 published in three top IS research journals--MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, and Journal of Management Information Systems--were analyzed. This analysis identified five core research areas: (1) information technology and organizations; (2) IS development; (3) IT and individuals; (4) IT and markets; and (5) IT and groups. Over the time frame of our analysis, these core topics have remained quite stable. However, the specific research themes within each core area have evolved significantly, reflecting research that has focused less on technology development and more on the social context in which information technologies are designed and used. As such, this analysis demonstrates that the information systems academic discipline has maintained a relatively stable research identity that focuses on how IT systems are developed and how individuals, groups, organizations, and markets interact with IT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a psychological contract perspective on the use of the open source development model as a global sourcing strategy--opensourcing, as we term it here--whereby commercial companies and open source communities collaborate on development of software of commercial interest to the company. Building on previous research on information systems outsourcing, a theoretical framework for exploring the opensourcing phenomenon is derived. The first phase of the research concerned qualitative case studies involving three commercial organizations (IONA Technologies, Philips Medical Systems, and Telefonica) that had "liberated" what had hitherto been proprietary software and sought to grow a global open source community around their product. We followed this with a large-scale survey involving additional exemplars of the phenomenon. The study identifies a number of symmetrical and complementary customer and community obligations that are associated with opensourcing success. We also identify a number of tension points on which customer and community perceptions tend to vary. Overall the key watchwords for opensourcing are openness, trust, tact, professionalism, transparency, and complementariness: The customer and community need to establish a trusted partnership of shared responsibility in building an overall opensourcing ecosystem. The study reveals an ongoing shift from OSS as a community of individual developers to OSS as a community of commercial organizations, primarily small to medium-sized enterprises. It also reveals that opensourcing provides ample opportunity for companies to headhunt top developers, hence moving from outsourcing to a largely unknown OSS workforce toward recruitment of developers from a global open source community whose talents have become known as a result of the opensourcing experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present an economic learning model that helps to formalize the complex relationships among an offshoring firm's knowledge levels, production costs, and coordination costs. Specifically, we model a domestic firm's use of a selective offshore strategy (i.e., offshoring only a portion of its information technology activities) to exploit, through IT investments or contractual provisions, the foreign vendor's large, scale-driven repository of production knowledge. We illustrate the conditions under which knowledge transfers during offshoring may reduce a domestic firm's in-house production costs, leading to total cost savings in both the short term and the long term. Alternatively, when knowledge transfers are not sufficiently large, some short-lived offshoring projects may generate substantial cost savings to the domestic firm; however, long-lived offshoring projects may cause a disruption in the knowledge supply chain, resulting in substantial losses in the later stages of the project. A firm that fails to realize the costs associated with such a disruption soon enough in the project life may find itself locked into a disadvantageous offshoring agreement without any recourse. However, a domestic firm may be able to overcome a disruption in its knowledge supply chain by exploiting the learning-by-doing production knowledge generated by the foreign vendor's economies of scale. The managerial implications derived from our learning model may help guide firms as they consider the impacts of offshore contracts and knowledge management investments on firm knowledge, production costs, and coordination costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research in the area of information systems acceptance has primarily focused on initial adoption under the implicit assumption that IS usage is mainly determined by intention. While plausible in the case of initial IS adoption, this assumption may not be as readily applicable to continued IS usage behavior since it ignores that frequently performed behaviors tend to become habitual and thus automatic over time. This paper is a step forward in defining and incorporating the "habit" construct into IS research. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to explore the role of habit and its antecedents in the context of continued IS usage. Building on previous work in other disciplines, we define habit in the context of IS usage as the extent to which people tend to perform behaviors (use IS) automatically because of learning. Using recent work on the continued usage of IS (IS continuance), we have developed a model suggesting that continued IS usage is not only a consequence of intention, but also of habit. In particular, in our research model, we propose IS habit to moderate the influence of intention such that its importance in determining behavior decreases as the behavior in question takes on a more habitual nature. Integrating past research on habit and IS continuance further, we suggest how antecedents of behavior/behavioral intention as identified by IS continuance research relate to drivers of habitualization. We empirically tested the model in the context of voluntary continued WWW usage. Our results support the argument that habit acts as a moderating variable of the relationship between intentions and IS continuance behavior, which may put a boundary condition on the explanatory power of intentions in the context of continued IS usage. The data also support that satisfaction, frequency of past behavior, and comprehensiveness of usage are key to habit formation and thus relevant in the context of IS continuance behavior. Implications of these... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most information systems research takes for granted the assumption that IS practice and associated organizational change can be effectively understood as a process of technical reasoning and acting governed by a mix of concerns about software construction, administrative control, and economic gain. Its mission has been to empower managers, IS engineers, and information and communication technology users with knowledge and techniques for effective decision making. However, empirical research frequently encounters human activity that is at odds with the assumed pattern of rational behavior. Recent work tries to explain behavior in IS and organizational change in terms of social processes rather than as a consideration of rational techniques of professional practice. In this paper we address this ambivalence of the IS field with regard to technical/rational knowledge and practice. We draw from the theoretical work of Michel Foucault on power/knowledge and the aesthetics of existence to argue that the rational techniques of IS practice and the power dynamics of an organization and its social context are closely intertwined, requiring each other to be sustained. Furthermore, we develop a context-specific notion of rationality in IS innovation, through which interested parties judge the value of an innovation for their lives and consequently support or subvert its course. We demonstrate these ideas with a case study of a social security organization in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An understanding of culture is important to the study of information technologies in that culture at various levels, including national, organizational, and group, can influence the successful implementation and use of information technology. Culture also plays a role in managerial processes that may directly, or indirectly, influence IT. Culture is a challenging variable to research, in part because of the multiple divergent definitions and measures of culture. Notwithstanding, a wide body of literature has emerged that sheds light on the relationship of IT and culture. This paper sets out to provide a review of this literature in order to lend insights into our understanding of the linkages between IT and culture. We begin by conceptualizing culture and laying the groundwork for a values-based approach to the examination of IT and culture. Using this approach, we then provide a comprehensive review of the organizational and cross-cultural IT literature that conceptually links these two traditionally separate streams of research. From our analysis, we develop six themes of IT-culture research emphasizing culture's impact on IT, IT's impact on culture, and IT culture. Building upon these themes, we then develop a theory of IT, values, and conflict. Based upon the theory, we develop propositions concerning three types of cultural conflict and the results of these conflicts. Ultimately, the theory suggests that the reconciliation of these conflicts results in a reorientation of values. We conclude with the particular research challenges posed in this line of inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has presented a conceptualization, metric, and instrument based on Microsoft Usability Guidelines (MUG; see Agarwal and Venkatesh 2002). In this paper, we use MUG to further our understanding of web and wireless site use. We conducted two empirical studies among over 1,000 participants. In study 1, conducted in both the United States and Finland, we establish the generalizability of the MUG conceptualization, metric, and associated instrument from the United States to Finland. In study 2, which involved longitudinal data collection in Finland, we delved into an examination of differences in factors important in determining web versus wireless site usability. Also, in study 2, based on a follow-up survey about site use conducted 3 months after the initial survey, we found support for a model of site use that employs the MUG categories and subcategories as predictors. The MUG-based model outperformed the widely employed technology acceptance model both in terms of richness and variance explained (about 70 percent compared to 50 percent). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an alternative view of the Information Systems identity crisis described recently by Benbasat and Zmud (2003). We agree with many of their observations, but we are concerned with their prescription for IS research. We critique their discussion of errors of inclusion and exclusion in IS research and highlight the potential misinterpretations that are possible from a literal reading of their comments. Our conclusion is that following Benbasat and Zmud's nomological net will result in a micro focus for IS research. The results of such a focus are potentially dangerous for the field. They could result in the elimination of IS from many academic programs. We present an alternative set of heuristics that can be used to assess what lies within the domain of IS scholarship. We argue that the IS community has a powerful story to tell about the transformational impact of information technology. We believe that a significant portion of our research should be macro studies of the impact of IT. It is important for academic colleagues, deans, and managers to understand the transformational power of the technology. As IS researchers with deep knowledge of the underlying artifact, we are best positioned to do such research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]