Extant explanations of why users behave in particular ways toward information technologies have tended to focus predominantly on instrumental beliefs as drivers of individual usage intentions. Prior work in individual psychology, however, suggests that holistic experiences with technology as captured in constructs such as enjoyment and flow are potentially important explanatory variables in technology acceptance theories. In this paper, we describe a multi-dimensional construct labeled cognitive absorption and defined as a state of deep involvement with software. Cognitive absorption, theorized as being exhibited through the five dimensions of

temporal dissociation, focused immersion, heightened enjoyment, control, and curiosity, is posited to be a proximal antecedent of two important beliefs about technology use: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. In addition, we propose that the individual traits of playfulness and personal innovativeness are important determinants of cognitive absorption. Based on the conceptual definition of this construct, operational measures for each dimension are developed. Using the World Wide Web as the target technology, scale validation indicates that the operational measures have acceptable psychometric properties and confirmatory factor analysis supports the proposed multi-dimensional structure. Structural equation analysis provides evidence for the theorized nomological net of cognitive absorption. Theoretical and practical implications are offered

Time flies when you're having fun: cognitive absorption and beliefs about information technology usage 1

https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1099&context=mgmt_papers

The Business Model: Recent Developments and Future Research

This paper aims to clarify the concept of business models, its usages, and its roles in the Information Systems domain. A review of the literature shows a broad diversity of understandings, usages, and places in the firm. The paper identifies the terminology or ontology used to describe a business model, and compares this terminology with previous work. Then the general usages, roles and potential of the concept are outlined. Finally, the connection between the business model concept and Information Systems is described in the form of eight propositions to be analyzed in future work.

/pdf/clarifying-business-models-origins-present-and-future-of-the-375li6grbd.pdf

Clarifying Business Models: Origins, Present, and Future of the Concept

Agility is vital to the innovation and competitive performance of firms in contemporary business environments. Firms are increasingly relying on information technologies, including process, knowledge, and communication technologies, to enhance their agility. The purpose of this paper is to broaden understanding about the strategic role of IT by examining the nomological network of influences through which IT impacts firm performance. By drawing upon recent thinking in the strategy, entrepreneurship, and IT management literatures, this paper uses a multitheoretic lens to argue that information technology investments and capabilities influence firm performance through three significant organizational capabilities (agility, digital options, and entrepreneurial alertness) and strategic processes (capability-building, entrepreneurial action, and coevolutionary adaptation). We also propose that these dynamic capabilities and strategic processes impact the ability of firms to launch many and varied competitive actions and that, in turn, these competitive actions are a significant antecedent of firm performance. Through our theorizing, we draw attention to a significant and reframed role of IT as a digital options generator in contemporary firms.

/pdf/shaping-agility-through-digital-options-reconceptualizing-ls4ufpmoi1.pdf

Shaping agility through digital options: reconceptualizing the role of information technology in contemporary firms

The idea that a new generation of students is entering the education system has excited recent attention among educators and education commentators. Termed ‘digital natives’ or the ‘Net generation’, these young people are said to have been immersed in technology all their lives, imbuing them with sophisticated technical skills and learning preferences for which traditional education is unprepared. Grand claims are being made about the nature of this generational change and about the urgent necessity for educational reform in response. A sense of impending crisis pervades this debate. However, the actual situation is far from clear. In this paper, the authors draw on the fields of education and sociology to analyse the digital natives debate. The paper presents and questions the main claims made about digital natives and analyses the nature of the debate itself. We argue that rather than being empirically and theoretically informed, the debate can be likened to an academic form of a ‘moral panic’. We propose that a more measured and disinterested approach is now required to investigate ‘digital natives’ and their implications for education.

/pdf/the-digital-natives-debate-a-critical-review-of-the-evidence-1fsfykqt2p.pdf

The 'digital natives' debate: a critical review of the evidence

The knowledge, resources, and computing power of billions of people are self-organizing into a massive new collective force. Interconnected and orchestrated through blogs, wikis, chat rooms, peer-to-peer networks, and personal broadcasting, the Web is being reinvented to provide the first global platform for collaboration in history. "Wikinomics" is the definitive investigation into how small businesses can achieve success by using a dynamic ecosystem of partners to co-create and peer-produce value in this newly-emerging, networked economy. Encouraging consumers, employees, suppliers, partners and competitors alike to share information and ideas, mass collaboration marks a profound change in the way business is conducted and radically alters the future of corporate architecture, strategy and management.

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything

From the Publisher:
The bestselling book announcing the arrival of the Net Generationthose kids who are growing up digitalnow in paperback. Heraled by Library Journal as one of the Best Business Books of 1997,Growing Up Digital tells how the N-Generation is learning to communicate,work,shop and play in profoundly new waysand what implications this has for the world and business. 
Growing Up Digital offers an overview of the N-Generation,the generation of children who in the year 2000 will be between the ages of two and twenty-two. This group is a "tsunami" that will force changes in communications,retailing,branding,advertising,education,etc. Tapscott commends that the N-Generation are becoming so technologically proficient that they will "lap" their parents and leave them behind. 
The book also demonstrates the common characteristics of the N-Generation: acceptance of diversity,because the Net doesn't distinguish between racial or gender identities,curiosity about exploring and discovering new worlds over the Internet and assertiveness and self-reliance,which result when these kids realize they know more about technology than the adults around them. 
This eye-opening,fact-filled book profiles the rise of the Net Generation,which is using digital technology to change the way individuals and society interact. Essential reading for parents,teachers,policy makers,marketers,business leaders,social activists,and others,Growing Up Digital makes a compelling distinction between the passive medium of television and the explosion of interactive digital media,sparked by the computer and the Internet. 
Tapscott shows how children,empowered by new technology,are takingthe reins from their boomer parents and making inroads into all areas of society,including our education system,the government,and economy. The result is a timely,revealing look at our digital future that kids and adults will find both fascinating and instructive.

Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation

SELECTED AS A 2008 BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST. . The Net Generation Has Arrived. . Are you ready for it?. . Chances are you know a person between the ages of 11 and 30. You've seen them doing five things at once: texting friends, downloading music, uploading videos, watching a movie on a two-inch screen, and doing who-knows-what on Facebook or MySpace. They're the first generation to have literally grown up digital--and they're part of a global cultural phenomenon that's here to stay.. . The bottom line is this: If you understand the Net Generation, you will understand the future. . . If you're a Baby Boomer or Gen-Xer: This is your field guide.. . A fascinating inside look at the Net Generation, Grown Up Digital is inspired by a $4 million private research study. New York Times bestselling author Don Tapscott has surveyed more than 11,000 young people. Instead of a bunch of spoiled screenagers with short attention spans and zero social skills, he discovered a remarkably bright community which has developed revolutionary new ways of thinking, interacting, working, and socializing.. . Grown Up Digital reveals:. . How the brain of the Net Generation processes information . Seven ways to attract and engage young talent in the workforce. Seven guidelines for educators to tap the Net Gen potential. Parenting 2.0: There's no place like the new home . Citizen Net: How young people and the Internet are transforming democracy. . Today's young people are using technology in ways you could never imagine. Instead of passively watching television, the Net Geners are actively participating in the distribution of entertainment and information. For the first time in history, youth are the authorities on something really important. And they're changing every aspect of our society-from the workplace to the marketplace, from the classroom to the living room, from the voting booth to the Oval Office.. . The Digital Age is here. The Net Generation has arrived. Meet the future..

/pdf/grown-up-digital-how-the-net-generation-is-changing-your-4vllz9xhef.pdf

Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World HC

In this eagerly awaited follow-up to his best-selling Paradigm Shift, global IT expert Don Tapscott answers the one question that burns on the mind of every forward-looking executive and manager: What does the new technology mean to me and my business? In clear, jargon-free English, using actual examples of leading-edge organizations who are successfully riding the new IT wave, Don Tapscott reveals how the new technology and business strategies are transforming not only business processes but also the way products and services are created and marketed, the structure and goals of the enterprise, the dynamics of competition, and all the rules for business success. But the remarkable journey doesn't end there. The Digital Economy also takes you to the epicenter of a new convergence of computing, telecommunications, and entertainment. From Wal-Mart's electronically linked purchasing systems to Sun Microsystem's desktop university to Chase Manhattan Bank's consumer video kiosks, and beyond, it discloses how results-hungry organizations are moving past simple reengineering to the complete IT-enabled transformation of the corporation. The Digital Economy also tackles the dark side of the information highway - the first frank, balanced, and comprehensive look at the perils of the revolution underway for every business, society, and individual. With this book Tapscott opens an international debate on the role of business in the transition to the new economy and a new society based on fairness, justice, and democracy.

The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence

From the Publisher:
When Transmeta unveiled its remarkable new microprocessors earlier this year, the company's founder, David Ditzel, told the media: "The Internet changes everything. In the future you will no more want to leave your home without your Internet connection than you do without your cell phone today."

The Transmeta chips are designed from scratch to facilitate wireless Internet access from Web appliances and ultra-light laptops. Scores of other corporations are scrambling to come up with similar devices.

In Japan, the revolutionary "i-mode" mobile phone is soaring in popularity. These svelte phones are constantly connected to the Internet. You don't have to 'logon' to the Web as you do in North America. The display screen is the size of a business card. More than 350 companies have built a vast array of Web sites for the gadget. Users can receive email, chat, buy and sell securities, download video and music, swap photos, read train schedules, look up their horoscopes, check movie listings, and on and on. The Japanese are hooked. 

This constant connectivity to the Net will profoundly effect how we go about our lives. At the early stages we will download straightforward content like music, newspaper clipping and ebooks.

Soon wireless devices that pinpoint your location will be able to answer any questions on services and amenities in the neighbourhood. As you drive through a neighbourhood that you would like to move to, you will be alerted to any houses for sale with the right number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Naturally the device will tell you how to get to each house.

These gadgets will be our constant companions and co-pilots as we go about our work and play. Their ability to extract useful information from the blizzard of digital data will be key. We will insist these devices intimately understand our needs and wants.

As we explore in Digital Capital: Harnessing the Power of Business Webs, corporations are reinventing their business models around the ubiquitous, deep, rich and increasingly functional Internet. Large and diverse sets of people scattered around the world can now, easily and cheaply, gain near real-time access to the information they need to make safe decisions and coordinate complex activities.

Different companies can add knowledge value to a product or service - through innovation, enhancement, cost reduction, or customization - at each step in its lifecycle. Often, specialists do a better value-adding job than vertically integrated firms. In the digital economy, the notion of a separate, electronically negotiated deal at each step of the value cycle becomes a reasonable, often compelling, proposition.

Successful corporations are now distinguished by their ability to identify and accumulate digital capital. They use the Net to blend their intellectual acumen with other companies and leverage the combined insight. They use the Web to develop much deeper relationships with their customers. And they jettison the business models of the industrial age to reinvent their corporations for success in the digital economy. 

To repeat: The Internet changes everything. Digital Capital shows how.

Don Tapscott

Papers

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything

Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation

Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World HC

The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence

Digital Capital: Harnessing the Power of Business Webs