Showing papers in "Journal of the Association for Information Systems in 2003"

Force of Habit and Information Systems Usage: Theory and Initial Validation

Abstract: Over the last two decades, information systems (IS) research has primarily focused on people’s conscious (intentional) behavior when trying to explain and predict IS usage. Consequently, almost no research has investigated the potential importance of subconscious (automatic) behaviors, also known as habits. This study represents a first step toward validating the idea that one can add explanatory power to a behavioral model such as Ajzen’s [1985] theory of planned behavior (TPB) by including the habit construct. We conducted a two-stage questionnaire-based survey involving two different groups of students who had access to a sophisticated internet-based communication tool (IBCT). These data were used to test a behavioral model integrating theoretical constructs of TPB and a relevant subset of Triandis’ [1980] behavioral framework. Our findings highlight the importance of considering both conscious (intentions) and subconscious (habits) factors in explaining usage behavior. Furthermore, we share our observations about antecedents of IBCT usage in the educational context. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Crisis in the IS field? A critical reflection on the state of the discipline

Abstract: This paper explores the issue of whether the field of IS is in crisis. To do so, the paper first starts by looking back on where the field has come from. Next, it assesses the status of the IS field by exploring where the field is now. That our current status remains a ‘fragmented adhocracy’ suggests the field may indeed be in crisis or headed for a crisis. This is compounded by the fact that there are two different views on the state of the IS field, each posing its own set of threats. One is the external view of the community (the view of IS from outside the academic field); the other is the internal view (the view from inside the IS community). By analyzing these two views, a better understanding of the problems the field faces emerges. In the next part of the paper, some thoughts are presented on where might the field go from here for overcoming its internal communication deficit. The paper proposes four different types of knowledge for structuring an IS Body of Knowledge (BoK) and following on from that, the value of creating a common BoK for the field. Lastly, the implications arising from the paper’s analysis are explored. More specifically, the paper considers various options that are available for overcoming the internal communications deficit the IS field faces. These include changing the way the field thinks about generalizations, changing the institutional publication practices, focusing more on understanding the field’s organizational stakeholders, and developing new knowledge creation and transformation networks. If IS as a field can overcome its internal communications deficits, it might ultimately contribute to the societal challenge of developing a deliberative cyber democracy and thereby help to address the social communication deficit which is a feature of modern mass societies.

Understanding Virtual Team Development: An Interpretive Study

Abstract: In this paper, we develop an understanding of how virtual teams develop over time by inductively studying communication transactions of 12 United States-Canadian student virtual teams involved in ISD. Our analysis is based upon two influential streams of social science research: (1) interaction analysis, which aided in the examination of the micro-processes of communication among members of a virtual team, and (2) structuration theory, which provided a meta-framework to help link the microlevel communication patterns with the more macro-structures representing the environmental context as well as the characteristics of teams over time. Based on our interpretation of the communication patterns in the virtual teams, we propose a theoretical model to describe how virtual teams develop over the life of a project, and also attempt to clarify how the concepts of communication, virtual team development, and collaboration are related.

An Exploratory Investigation of System Success Factors in Data Warehousing

Abstract: Despite the increasing role of the data warehouse as a strategic information source for decision makers, academic research has been lacking, especially from an organizational perspective. An exploratory study was conducted to improve general understanding of data warehousing issues from the perspective of IS success. For this, the effect of variables pertaining to system quality, information quality, and service quality on user satisfaction for the data warehouse was studied. Additional characterization was made on data warehouse users, their organizational tasks, and data warehouse usage. Empirical data were gathered at a large enterprise from three different information sources: a survey, unstructured group interviews with end-users, and informal interviews with an IT manager who was in charge of the data warehouse. Data analysis showed that user satisfaction with the data warehouse was significantly affected by such system quality factors as data quality, data locatability, and system throughput. Interviews also supported the existence of system design and management issues that have to be addressed to optimize the utility of the data warehouse as an effective decision support environment. In the meantime, data analysis indicated that first-line (or lower) and middle managers were the main users of the system. Managers and knowledge workers were taking advantage of the system to perform complex tasks, to support decision making, and to seek information critical for enhanced productivity. The group interviews revealed additional benefits of the data warehouse and major roadblocks in its successful usage.

Determinants of Satisfaction at Different Adoption Stages of Internet-Based Services

Abstract: Early IS research on satisfaction investigated system characteristics affecting end-user satisfaction, relying mostly on the IS success model. More recent research, on the other hand, studied satisfaction formation in the context of web-based products and services, using the disconfirmation theory. The IS context, however, is different from the marketing context where the theory was originally developed. One important difference is the novelty effect associated with the constant and rapid advancement of information technology. Previous satisfaction studies did not account for the dynamic nature of satisfaction and the changeability of its determinants. Such variability may be more salient in the IS context due to the novelty effect. In this paper, we develop, operationalize and empirically test a model for explaining/predicting satisfaction with Internet-based services at adoption and post-adoption stages. We argue and empirically demonstrate the need to consider the evolutionary nature of satisfaction and the variability of its determinants. Our results show that desires and expectations are both important factors that need to be considered simultaneously in explaining satisfaction at adoption. The role of desires, however, diminishes significantly in the post-adoption stage. The results also show no significant relationship between post-adoption satisfaction and satisfaction at adoption. The augmented disconfirmation model resulting from this study constitutes an important step towards the development of an IS satisfaction theory that accounts for the evolution of satisfaction over adoption stages.

Change as Crisis or Growth? Toward a Trans-disciplinary View of Information Systems as a Field of Study: A Response to Benbasat and Zmud's Call for Returning to the IT Artifact

Abstract: Benbasat and Zmud (2003) express concern that the research community in Information Systems is responsible for the ambiguity of the discipline’s central identity by “underinvestigating phenomena intimately associated with IT-based systems and overestimating phenomena distantly associated with IT-based systems” (p. 183). Their related argument is that IS needs to focus on the core of the discipline to survive. I seriously contend this point of view. Questioning that we are at a crossroads in the Information Systems (IS) field, I argue that the field should become less disciplinary, and more trans-disciplinary in nature. I build my case by focusing on –and then questioning – underpinnings in their argument. These include: (1) their definitions of IS as a field; (2) the locus of our field in organizations; (3) the assumption that IS is a discipline; and (4) the lack of consideration given to the interand trans-national nature of IS as a field of study. Thus, the paper attempts to reposition Information Systems (IS) as quintessentially trans-disciplinary in nature. This case develops by considering how fields of study evolve over time. This evolution can be seen as either natural or as producing crisis. Next, I offer an alternative “core” to Benbasat’s and Zmud’s “IT artifact.” Following this, I present an appropriate locus of study for IS, one that offers a less constricting boundary than that of the organization, including societal and cross-cultural considerations. Finally, I question the very notion of “discipline” as applied to IS, and identify implications

The Social Life of Information Systems Research: A Response to Benbasat and Zmud's Call for Returning to the IT Artifact

Abstract: Benbasat and Zmud (2003) argue that there is an identity crisis within the Information Systems discipline and, as a solution to the crisis, propose a focus on “the IT artifact and its immediate nomological net” (p. 186). Using Aldrich’s (1999) articulation of organizational evolution, they note the need for greater cognitive legitimacy as a driving force for sustainability of the discipline. They recommend that researchers and journal editors set the boundaries of the field more firmly so that greater attention is given to the IT artifact rather than to structure, context, or other phenomena that lie distant from the

The Circuits-of-Power Framework for Studying Power in Institutionalization of Information Systems ∗

Abstract: This paper introduces an adaptation of the Circuits of Power, a framework for studying institutionalization as an outcome of power. In this paper, we have interpreted each of the framework’s concepts and linked them to relevant research questions about power in the institutionalization of information systems. The institutionalization of an information system entails stabilizing its processes to such a degree that its associated practices become routine. We argue that an institutionalized system is both the result and a source of power. The original Circuits framework (Clegg 1989) is grounded in organizational theory and social sciences and integrates different perspectives on power. Each perspective unravels a different dimension of power that complements and enriches the others – hence it is a profound tool for analyzing a complex phenomenon such as power. In a longitudinal in-depth case study, we use the adapted framework as an interpretive research instrument to make sense of power and its relation to the institutionalization of an information system. The paper concludes by discussing the possibilities the framework offers to practitioners and its implications for researchers.

Experimental Investigation of the Subjective Value of Information in Trading

Abstract: Subjective judgments regarding information are important for the design of information systems. This study examines the endowment effect in the context of evaluating information. Theoretically, value judgments that affect the demand for information are influenced by ownership rights, a phenomenon known as the endowment effect in trading situations. In a simple computer simulated business game, 31 participants conducted a management task in which they were provided opportunities to buy or sell information. The bidding mechanism was incentive compatible. Results show that, in agreement with endowment effect theory, people value information they own much more than information they do not own. This portends undertrading in information. Therefore, the subjective value of information should be considered in the design of systems. Our findings indicate a place for the subjective value of information on the WTA/WTP ratio continuum that emerges from pertinent literature. The ratio for information is similar to that of market goods. Participants had a strong inclination to purchase but not to sell information even though the profit data suggests that the use of information had no objective benefit. This preference is attributed to risk aversion rather than to loss aversion, which is the most widely accepted explanation of the endowment effect. The subjective value of information can, therefore, be affected by system design.

The Impact of Organizational Coordination and Climate on Marketing Executives' Satisfaction with Information Systems Services

Abstract: Information system (IS) managers rely on a number of devices to improve performance and the perception of performance on the part of the user. These techniques can be a variety of tools and organizational structures put in place by various levels of management. Horizontal coordination activities are such a device, one that is intended to improve the communication between users and IS developers. Past research has found an impact of coordination on IS success. However, the climate, general attitudes about the IS function in an organization in which the developers and users operate, can serve as an important moderator. Analysis of a sample of marketing executives indicates that the climate is an important moderator and may impact the ability of structural features to improve perceived performance. Managers must consider the climate as an important feature.

Willingness to Continue with Software Projects: Effects of Feedback Direction and Optimism under High and Low Accountability Conditions

Abstract: The willingness of managers to continue with software projects can be both beneficial and troubling. Management optimism can help bring promising projects to fruition, but can also cause valuable resources to be expended on faltering projects. This study examines three factors that can affect the willingness of managers to continue with software projects: feedback direction, feedback optimism, and accountability. Feedback direction is the objective information reflecting project prospects. Feedback optimism is the subjective mode with which the objective information has been framed. Accountability is the extent to which the manager feels responsible for project outcomes. Results of a study that manipulated these three factors showed that the effects of feedback direction and feedback optimism on willingness to continue with software projects were additive (either factor alone affected willingness to continue with software projects) when accountability was high but were interactive (both factors jointly affected willingness to continue with software projects) when accountability was low. These findings have useful implications for practice and further research.

Information Systems Research and the Quest for Certainty

Abstract: This paper is written for information systems (IS) scholars who may be researching design problems of considerable complexity and who seek approaches and ideas that can increase their confidence in understanding and tackling these problems. The subject of the paper is the notion of ‘certainty:’ the certainty of a researcher’s performance and that of his or her research targets. How can researchers be sure that they are studying the right things in the right way in novel situations? How can they predict the certainty of success in situations where information technology (IT) innovation involves novelty and affects multiple stakeholders like users, developers, and managers? In order to answer these questions, researchers may need to critically evaluate and assess the ways they handle uncertainty in IS research.

IS Research Perspectives: A Mandate for Scholarly Debate

Abstract: “IS Research Perspectives” is a new, special section of the Journal of the Association of Information Systems (JAIS) whose overall goal is to publish debate and discussion on critical issues in IS research. Critical issues are not only issues of the day, but also perennial issues that have been with us since our founding as a field of inquiry and teaching. Refereed in accordance with the standards of the highest quality scholarly journals, these articles will be crisp forays into issues that IS professionals in the academy value and talk about in the hallways of their institutions. While most published articles will deal directly with research in the broadest sense, other activities in a professor’s life that have a pronounced bearing on research can also find a home in the section. The simple criterion is that the article must deal with critical issues that shape the research traditions, carry an underlying message for its research mission, and do this in an exciting and thought-provoking way.