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Businesses and individuals are increasingly subjected to security breaches and disclosures of personal and financial information. Additionally, as social media, mobile computing applications, and other web based software become pervasive in our daily lives, concerns about the safety and integrity of information is gaining the attention of businesses, individuals and governments on a global basis. Based on survey research of 270 salespersons, this study explores relationships between concerns about internet privacy and the utilization of technology in a global direct sales organization. Quantitative responses were assessed to understand attitudes regarding the use of technology to support sales, service, education, and communications. Statistically significant relationships between age, intention to use technology, usage frequency, and internet privacy concerns were found. The privacy paradox was also confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alignment with business objectives is considered to be an essential outcome of information technology (IT) strategic planning. This case study examines the process of creating an IT strategy for an Australian university using an industry standard methodology. The degree of alignment is determined by comparing the strategic priorities supported by both the IT and university strategic plans, using Sharrock’s ‘four agendas’ framework. The significant differences between the two strategies are examined and explained, revealing the need for IT strategic planning methodologies to include a framework to measure business alignment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study aims at providing organizations with new insight on how IT governance practices impact strategic alignment. The research is conducted as an in-depth case study in a large, multinational manufacturing and service company. The case reveals that improving IT governance practices is not sufficient to achieve high alignment, when the understanding of strategic value of IT is lacking. Improved alignment would require that IT is perceived as a strategic function in the organization and the IT governance treated accordingly. Bringing business and IT socially and culturally closer to each other is also required, but improving alignment on the social and cultural dimensions is dependent on the existence of the strategic direction: achieving alignment is difficult without common objectives between business and IT people. In general, the study illustrates limited impact of IT governance practices on alignment without requisite strategic direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case describes the strategies implemented in the development of an online Master's degree program in Health Professions Education (HPE) and an online short, Master's level diploma program. The strategies presented pertain to three of the main challenges identified: program cohesiveness, a multidisciplinary approach, and information technology literacy. The case describes meetings between the senior instructional designer, the program director, and the members of the development committee, which occurred over a period of approximately one year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate how information technology (IT) investment supports and relates to SCG and its conceptions (transactional and relational). The authors conducted exploratory case studies in two large Brazilian companies and two major suppliers, interviewing top supply chain executives. In the first case, they identified a more relational type of governance that was mainly based on the company's relationship with its suppliers which was driven by the desire to achieve a greater market share. IT investments focused on sales and operations planning projects where all systems were being integrated. In the second case, they identified transactional governance as the predominant form. This reflects the presence of a great number of suppliers, low partnership and low supply on time delivery rate. IT investments are being made to achieve more relational governance through expenditure on e-procurement and greater integration with their suppliers using ERP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents case studies on the management of investment and portfolio related to information technology (IT) by companies in Brazil. Topics discussed include a description of the concepts of IT investment and IT portfolio management, the use of interview techniques and content analysis to collect and evaluate the data, and a detailed analysis of the results. Also mentioned are the steps in managing IT investment.

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Highlights: [•] A new information extraction concept is proposed, entitled sentimental causal rules. [•] Causal rules were used to infer more concise summary of the subject case study. [•] Results prove the efficiency of sentimental causal rules on information extraction. [•] The proposed method is applied on a collection of subject related tweets. [•] We investigated the Kurdish political issues in Turkey as the case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to identify and explain the barriers to application of information technology (IT) in physical education course in schools of Iran- Zarand and to review the current status and determine its significance. The statistical population comprises of all 80 physical education teachers in Iran- Zarand and statistical sample is selected equal to statistical population. Data collection is done by researcher-made questionnaire whose face and content validity is confirmed by experts and its reliability is calculated by Cronbach's coefficient Alpha as 91%. For data analysis, Factor analysis together with Varimax Rotation, One Sample T-test and Friedman test are utilized. According Factor analysis 7 factors are identified and named Human, Facility-equipment, Technical, Cultural, Financial, Professional ability and Payment-fringe benefit factors. Review of current status shows that all said factors exist as barriers from among which human factor is known as the most important and payment and fringe benefit known as the least important barriers to application of IT in physical education course in Iran- Zarand. Prioritizing these factors may help the officials in physical education selection of Education and Training Organization in their planning issues to pay considerable attention to the application of IT.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the conditions for the assimilation of information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) in organizations and the influence of various actors in the organization and eBusiness context. To do so it draws on the literature on assimilation gap, sociomateriality and infrastructure together with a study of implementation and use of information and communication technology in and among organizations in a Swedish region. There were substantial investments in web infrastructure made on a regional level and the focus of this study is how the investments were transformed and assimilated in practices, relations and communication. Based on the empirical data from the case study, the paper extends the assimilation process into interplay among actors in organizations contexts. It describes organizations' strategies for coping with their needs for information and the actors in these processes. Two categories of actors are identified, sensemaking and sensegiving actors, as most important in assimilation of IS/IT in organizations. A sociomaterial perspective gives guidance and a better understanding of the assimilation process in terms of knowledge and interpretative frames, and how assimilation involves identity construction and negotiations among sensemaking and sensegiving actors. The contribution of this paper is a better understanding of the context of assimilation and adaptation of IT in organizations' business processes, and steps to be taken to improve readiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 20 years, universities in the United Kingdom have been undergoing a dramatic period of transformation and change which can be attributed to the expansion of the higher education sector, the growth in student numbers and the development of an ideological approach to public service management referred to as ‘new managerialism’. The growth in student numbers has provided a challenge for universities, and many have adopted enterprise-wide information systems such as Strategic Information Technology Services (SITS) to support the management of student data in all areas of the university. This article explores through a three-year case study in a UK university how the introduction of SITS, an enterprise-wide student administration system, intended to deliver better quality student information, has had some unintended consequences for organisational culture, which include the expansion of new managerialism and the further weakening of academic status within the university. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Large, multi-unit organizations are continually challenged to balance demands for centralization of information technology that lead to cost and service efficiencies through standardization while providing flexibility at the local unit level in order to meet unique business, customer, and service needs. This has led many organizations to adopt hybrid federated information technology governance (ITG) structures to find this balance. This approach to ITG establishes demand for various means to coordinate effectively across the organization to achieve the desired benefits. Past research has focused on the efficacy of various coordination mechanisms (e.g., steering committees, task forces) to coordinate activities related to information technology. However, we lack insights as to how and why these various coordination approaches help organizations achieve desired coordinated outcomes. This research specifically identifies coordinating as a process. Adopting the philosophy of critical realism, we conducted a longitudinal, comparative case study of two coordinating efforts in a federated ITG structure. Through a multifaceted approach to scientific logic employing deductive, inductive, and retroductive elements, we explicate two causal mechanisms, consensus making and unit aligning, which help to explain the coordinating process and the coordination outcomes observed in these efforts. We additionally elaborate the operation of the mechanisms through the typology of macro-micro-macro influences. Further, we demonstrate the value of the causal mechanisms to understanding the coordinating process by highlighting the complementarity in insights relative to the theories of power and politics and of rational choice. The study contributes to our understanding of coordinating as a process and of governance in federated IT organizations. Importantly, our study illustrates the value of applying critical realism to develop causal explanations and generate insights about a phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convincing arguments for using critical realism as an underpinning for theories of IT-associated organizational change have appeared in the Information Systems literature. A central task in developing such theories is to uncover the generative mechanisms by which IT is implicated in organizational change processes, but to do so, we must explain how critical realism's concept of generative mechanisms applies in an IS context. Similarly, convincing arguments have been made for using Gibson's (1986) affordance theory from ecological psychology for developing theories of IT-associated organizational change, but this effort has been hampered due to insufficient attention to the ontological status of affordances. In this paper, we argue that affordances are the generative mechanisms we need to specify and explain how affordances are a specific type of generative mechanism. We use the core principles of critical realism to argue how affordances arise in the real domain from the relation between the complex assemblages of organizations and of IT artifacts, how affordances are actualized over time by organizational actors, and how these actualizations lead to the various effects we observe in the empirical domain. After presenting these arguments, we reanalyze two published cases in the literature, those of ACRO and Autoworks, to illustrate how affordance-based theories informed by critical realism enhance our ability to explain IT-associated organizational change. These examples show how researchers using this approach should proceed, and how managers can use these ideas to diagnose and address IT implementation problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current literature on digital infrastructure offers powerful lenses for conceptualizing the increasingly interconnected information system collectives found in contemporary organizations. However, little attention has been paid to the generative mechanisms of digital infrastructure, that is, the causal powers that explain how and why such infrastructure evolves over time. This is unfortunate, since more knowledge about what drives digital infrastructures would be highly valuable for managers and IT professionals confronted by the complexity of managing them. To this end, this paper adopts a critical realist view for developing a configurational perspective of infrastructure evolution. Our theorizing draws on a multimethod research design comprising an in-depth case study and a case survey. The in-depth case study, conducted at a Scandinavian airline, distinguishes three key mechanisms of digital infrastructure evolution: adoption, innovation, and scaling. The case survey research of 41 cases of digital infrastructure then identifies and analyzes causal paths through which configurations of these mechanisms lead to successful evolution outcomes. The study reported in this paper contributes to the infrastructure literature in two ways. First, we identify three generative mechanisms of digital infrastructure and how they contingently lead to evolution outcomes. Second, we use these mechanisms as a basis for developing a configurational perspective that advances current knowledge about why some digital infrastructures evolve successfully while others do not. In addition, the paper demonstrates and discusses the efficacy of critical realism as a philosophical tradition for developing substantive contributions in the field of information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information technology has brought significant contributions to enterprises in order to develop a new competitive and productive dynamics that allow accompanying changes in information society. The present research had the main purpose to check what were the key organizational factors that represented obstacles to the use of information technology for knowledge management in small and medium sized service enterprises (SMEs) at Região Metropolitana do Recife. To achieve that purpose a multiple case study was chosen and also a qualitative research method, in which data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed in an interpretative way using content analysis. The results showed three key organizational factors that represented obstacles to the effective use of IT in knowledge management at SMEs: strategies, processes and people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does the introduction of information technology (IT) influence production systems? This paper reveals two important changes by introducing information technology (IT) into a production system in the case of the Japanese anime industry. In particular, it focuses on the production system and the relationship between outsourcing and in-house production. Given this objective, this research explores each process and technology of the production system. The processes that are focused in this research are the art production process, painting process and the process that follows. In addition, it examines three-dimensional computer graphics and digital sakuga (drawing) in the technology. The results of the paper elucidate the following. First, companies in Japan cannot attain successful introduction of IT until IT achieve low cost or/and high quality. Second, the process of choosing in-house production or outsourcing depends upon the following factors. Realizing the integration of multiple processes or enhancing the flexibility of the production process leads to the transition from outsourcing to in-house production. On the other hand, realizing lower cost by the delivery of digitalized data through storage media or the Internet results in the transition from in-house production to outsourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to discuss the considerable theoretical and practical issues in employee selection and recruitment processes of leading Indian Information Technology (IT) companies like TCS and HCL. Further, the author aims to have a profound understanding as to how these selection strategies in the recruitment and selection processes based upon multiple criteria enable to be simulated. An effort is made through this paper to evolve an optimal and accurate judgement according to the human thinking model and also to mitigate the commonly occurred biases in human recruitment and selection procedures. The main purposes of the work are to discuss the appointment of best possible candidate through fuzzy logic based upon few major criteriaNs, to construct a model for evaluation of best talent, and accordingly to develop a Decision support system (DSS) in human resource selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that audit team members, especially staff, may lack the necessary training to be able to identify fraud risks and to develop appropriate responses to identified fraud risks (e.g., Pearson and Singleton 2008; Knapp and Knapp 2001; Braun 2000; Zimbelman 1997). This lack of training may be particularly acute with respect to the perpetration of fraud in automated environments (Filipek 2007). The case studies are designed to improve undergraduate auditing, accounting information systems, and forensic accounting students' abilities to recognize and respond to indicators of fraud and general information technology (IT) control weaknesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of Germany for studying civil society activism on information communication technology (ICT) policy on the national level. The ICT policy activism became evident to the public through the protest against the blocking of websites and data retention. To know values and goals of ICT policy, 20 ICT policy activists were interviewed with the governance approach and resource mobilization theory.

This real-life case study, which was undertaken by a leading financial services group in the Asia-Pacific region, is used to demonstrate the innovative use of BPM (Business Process Management) technology in a competitive business area. It describes how a BPM project, within the Application Verification and Capture (A VC), was conceived, designed and implemented in order to deliver strategic value to the organization. Hereafter, the financial services group will be referred to as "the bank". The A VC project was targeted at one of the bank's processes called the Application Verification and Capture (AVC) process for unit trust products. This process involved extensive paperwork and numerous manual tasks that resulted in slow processing, manual errors, rework and customer dissatisfaction. By combining process redesign and automation using information technology, the process was improved significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores key factors affecting the usage of information technology (IT) tools in support of knowledge sharing in service organizations in Hong Kong. In a case study of five firms, the usage of IT tools is influenced by an array of factors acting as enablers, barriers, and motivators. The findings support extant theories on knowledge management (KM), This research discovers relationships between multiple factors and the usage of IT tools for knowledge sharing at various hierarchical levels. Operational factors like perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, staff capability, and nature of work induce higher usage of IT for knowledge sharing. These findings and related analyses have managerial implications for firms engaging in service business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand how individuals, groups, and organizations can use information systems more effectively, a research approach closer to the level of social interchange is required. A multiple-level, sustainable, information-technology (IT) learning framework, rooted in patterns of practice and constructed by participatory action research, offers an alternative methodology for investigating sustainable strategies of IT learning. The framework evolved from concrete instances of IT learning across organizational case studies. A patterns-based analysis of the ethnographic data enabled the examination of informal IT learning in community contexts and the identification of IT interventions more likely to produce successful learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on implementing efficient IT strategies in regard to organizations' goals and resources and presents the case study of Babes-Bolyai University in this respect. We describe the dedicated information systems that have been developed and the integrated architecture framework that is designed to incorporate the dedicated information systems for educational, administrative, research management software systems and an e-learning platform. The interdisciplinary perspective specific to European studies sustains a proficient organizational solution, which combines efficient IT strategies with organizational management perspectives. The case study of Babes-Bolyai University reveals the strong points of strategy that has been implemented in regard to pace development, system integration facilities, organization culture and characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the potential of value co-creation in creation of a smart city. Topics discussed include co-creation as a management process centered on value creation by interaction, where the creation approach is different compared to the demand-versus-supply model, the case study demonstrated applications of information technology for a city like analysis of gathered data and maintenance decisions for storm drains, and results showing various meanings of a smart city.

The article presents a case study which involves the Galeria Kaufhof GmbH trial which attempts to determine the business value of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in a retail environment. It mentions that the project caters on RFID applications and its implications on store logistics and customer services. It also notes that the innovative large scale trials elucidate the impact of information technology (IT) and standardisation efforts on the perception of RFID business value.

The article presents a case study on the ability of information system (IS) to alter student admission from environmental conditions and values to higher education in Kenya. It notes that the Joint Admission Board's (JAB) values has shifted from the filling up of university places to the ability which allows an individual student to select university and degree program. It reveals that IS offers formal documented information, which is significant to a consensus-driven decision-making process.

This article discusses the concept of Cyberinfrastracture, based on the work of the Campus CyberInfrastructure (CCI) Working Group. To compose a five-minute conversation on campus cyberinfrastructure, knowledge on conducting research, obtaining a competitive edge, participating in national and global projects and addressing important trends is important. Also included are ideas on implementation, funding and marketing of cyberinfrastructure.

IT security professionals' effectiveness in an organization is influenced not only by how usable their security management tools are but also by how well the organization's security management model (SMM) fits. Finding the right SMM is critical but can be challenging — trade-offs are inherent to each approach, but their implications aren't always clear. The authors present a case study of one academic institution that created a centralized security team but disbanded it in favor of a more distributed approach three years later. They contrast these experiences with expectations from industry standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the low adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) by small physician practices. The factors which contribute to low adoption of electronic medical records are the investment cost, productivity lost and lack of financial incentives. Physician practices which are growing, using computerized practice management (PMS) systems and using a variety of non-clinical information technology in their offices can readily overcome learning barriers related to assimilation of EMRs. The use of EMR among small physician practices is an important factor to the development of electronic health records.

Objectives: To explore the local service delivery level when information technology (IT) was introduced into a non-profit residential aged care facility. Methods: Theoretical sampling provided participants from occupational groups staffing day-to-day work activities. Twenty-two participants were interviewed about the compulsory use of computers in daily routines, and the role of IT in service delivery. Findings: Analysis of interview data identified five themes. Three related to local service delivery issues that stemmed from the restructuring of daily work practices. Two themes, which enforced the change at local level, related to the idea of sustainability. Conclusion: IT was regarded as part of the new focus in aged care towards outcome-related goals such as efficiency, fiscal sustainability and quality. Nonetheless, these outcomes were perceived by the staff to be separate from the care given to the residents, indicating that staff could not yet reconcile the new procedural requirements with their caregiving practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information technology (IT) development methodologies may be described as another bastion of rationalist, positivist, functionalist hegemony. The paper historically reviews IT development methodologies of the past 30 years. The major methodologies of the Classical Systems Life Cycle, Structures Systems Development, Data Modeling and Object Oriented Analysis are briefly reviewed in terms of their ubiquitously quoted evolution and maturation and the benefits they purport to offer IT specialists and managers, general management and user groups. This paper argues that, while it has traditionally been the case that such methodologies be compared on a case-by-case basis, it is time to step back from the traditionally reductionist, positivist approaches of IT. IT methodological development is considered here from a critical, anti-positivist perspective. It is suggested that qualitiative research methodologies be employed to assist in creating a new IT development epistemology to spare us from further IT implementation disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information technology (IT) projects can fail for any number of reasons and in some cases can result in considerable financial losses for the organizations that undertake them. One pattern of failure that has been observed but seldom studied is the IT project that seems to take on a life of its own, continuing to absorb valuable resources without reaching its objective. A significant number of these projects will ultimately fail, potentially weakening a firm's competitive position while siphoning off resources that could be spent developing and implementing successful systems. The escalation literature provides a promising theoretical base for explaining this type of IT failure. Using a model of escalation based on the literature, a case study of IT project escalation is discussed and analyzed. The results suggest that escalation is promoted by a combination of project, psychological, social, and organizational factors. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed along with prescriptions for how to avoid the problem of escalation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines some of the issues for strategic management of alliances based on the impacts of information technology and telecommunications. Case studies which include the effects of technology and telecommunications in the tourist industry in Australia; List of the technologies that have been introduced to the world; Factors that warrant strategic alliances; Factors that thwart strategic alliances; Critical aspects of strategic alliance management.