Showing papers in "Management Information Systems Quarterly in 2015"
TL;DR: A broadened view of service innovation is offered--one grounded in service-dominant logic--that transcends the tangible--intangible and producer--consumer divides that have plagued extant research in this area.
Abstract: In this article, we offer a broadened view of service innovation--one grounded in service-dominant logic--that transcends the tangible--intangible and producer--consumer divides that have plagued extant research in this area. Such a broadened conceptualization of service innovation emphasizes (1) innovation as a collaborative process occurring in an actor-to-actor (A2A) network, (2) service as the application of specialized competences for the benefit of another actor or the self and as the basis of all exchange, (3) the generativity unleashed by increasing resource liquefaction and resource density, and (4) resource integration as the fundamental way to innovate. Building on these core themes, we offer a tripartite framework of service innovation: (1) service ecosystems, as emergent A2A structures actors create and recreate through their effectual actions and which offer an organizing logic for the actors to exchange service and cocreate value; (2) service platforms, which enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of service exchange by liquefying resources and increasing resource density (facilitating easy access to appropriate resource bundles) and thereby serve as the venue for innovation; and (3) value cocreation, which views value as cocreated by the service offer(er) and the service beneficiary (e.g., customer) through resource integration and indicate the need for mechanisms to support the underlying roles and processes. In discussing these components, we consider the role of information technology--both as an operand resource and as an operant resource--and then examine the implications for research and practice in digitally enabled service innovation.
1,447 citations
TL;DR: This paper introduces a vital extension of PLS: consistent PLS (PLSc), which provides a correction for estimates when PLS is applied to reflective constructs: the path coefficients, inter-construct correlations, and indicator loadings become consistent.
Abstract: This paper resumes the discussion in information systems research on the use of partial least squares (PLS) path modeling and shows that the inconsistency of PLS path coefficient estimates in the case of reflective measurement can have adverse consequences for hypothesis testing. To remedy this, the study introduces a vital extension of PLS: consistent PLS (PLSc). PLSc provides a correction for estimates when PLS is applied to reflective constructs: The path coefficients, inter-construct correlations, and indicator loadings become consistent. The outcome of a Monte Carlo simulation reveals that the bias of PLSc parameter estimates is comparable to that of covariance-based structural equation modeling. Moreover, the outcome shows that PLSc has advantages when using non-normally distributed data. We discuss the implications for IS research and provide guidelines for choosing among structural equation modeling techniques.
1,306 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors bring together some of the latest scholarship from the marketing and information systems disciplines to advance theoretical developments on service innovation in a digital age, which challenges us to question conventional approaches that construe service as a distinctive form of socioeconomic exchange and to reconsider what service means and thus how service innovation may develop.
Abstract: Over the last decade, there has been an increasing focus on service across socioeconomic sectors coupled with transformational developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs). Together these developments are engendering dramatic new opportunities for service innovation, the study of which is both timely and important. Fully understanding these opportunities challenges us to question conventional approaches that construe service as a distinctive form of socioeconomic exchange (i.e., as services) and to reconsider what service means and thus how service innovation may develop. The aim of this special issue, therefore, is to bring together some of the latest scholarship from the Marketing and Information Systems disciplines to advance theoretical developments on service innovation in a digital age.
765 citations
TL;DR: The research model draws upon the resource-based view of the firm and provides guidance on how strategic alignment can mediate the effectiveness of IT governance on organizational performance, and proposes a nomological model showing how organizational value is created through IT governance mechanisms.
Abstract: Previous research has proposed different types for and contingency factors affecting information technology governance. Yet, in spite of this valuable work, it is still unclear through what mechanisms IT governance affects organizational performance. We make a detailed argument for the mediation of strategic alignment in this process. Strategic alignment remains a top priority for business and IT executives, but theory-based empirical research on the relative importance of the factors affecting strategic alignment is still lagging. By consolidating strategic alignment and IT governance models, this research proposes a nomological model showing how organizational value is created through IT governance mechanisms. Our research model draws upon the resource-based view of the firm and provides guidance on how strategic alignment can mediate the effectiveness of IT governance on organizational performance. As such, it contributes to the knowledge bases of both alignment and IT governance literatures. Using dyadic data collected from 131 Taiwanese companies (cross-validated with archival data from 72 firms), we uncover a positive, significant, and impactful linkage between IT governance mechanisms and strategic alignment and, further, between strategic alignment and organizational performance. We also show that the effect of IT governance mechanisms on organizational performance is fully mediated by strategic alignment. Besides making contributions to construct and measure items in this domain, this research contributes to the theory base by integrating and extending the literature on IT governance and strategic alignment, both of which have long been recognized as critical for achieving organizational goals.
433 citations
TL;DR: A careful review of the foundation for PMT identified four opportunities for improving ISec PMT research, including manipulated fear appeals, and a new model was tested that demonstrated better results and stronger fit than the existing models and confirms the efficacy of the four potential improvements.
Abstract: Because violations of information security (ISec) and privacy have become ubiquitous in both personal and work environments, academic attention to ISec and privacy has taken on paramount importance. Consequently, a key focus of ISec research has been discovering ways to motivate individuals to engage in more secure behaviors. Over time, the protection motivation theory (PMT) has become a leading theoretical foundation used in ISec research to help motivate individuals to change their security-related behaviors to protect themselves and their organizations. Our careful review of the foundation for PMT identified four opportunities for improving ISec PMT research. First, extant ISec studies do not use the full nomology of PMT constructs. Second, only one study uses fear-appeal manipulations, even though these are a core element of PMT. Third, virtually no ISec study models or measures fear. Fourth, whereas these studies have made excellent progress in predicting security intentions, none of them have addressed actual security behaviors.
This article describes the theoretical foundation of these four opportunities for improvement. We tested the nomology of PMT, including manipulated fear appeals, in two different ISec contexts that model the modern theoretical treatment of PMT more closely than do extant ISec studies. The first data collection was a longitudinal study in the context of data backups. The second study was a short-term cross-sectional study in the context of anti-malware software. Our new model demonstrated better results and stronger fit than the existing models and confirms the efficacy of the four potential improvements we identified.
429 citations
TL;DR: An embedded case study of Apple's iOS service system is conducted with an in-depth analysis of 4,664 blog articles concerned with 30 boundary resources covering 6 distinct themes revealing that boundary resources of service systems enabled by digital technology are shaped and reshaped through distributed tuning.
Abstract: The digital age has seen the rise of service systems involving highly distributed, heterogeneous, and resource-integrating actors whose relationships are governed by shared institutional logics, standards, and digital technology The cocreation of service within these service systems takes place in the context of a paradoxical tension between the logic of generative and democratic innovations and the logic of infrastructural control Boundary resources play a critical role in managing the tension as a firm that owns the infrastructure can secure its control over the service system while independent firms can participate in the service system In this study, we explore the evolution of boundary resources Drawing on Pickering's (1993) and Barrett et al's (2012) conceptualizations of tuning, the paper seeks to forward our understanding of how heterogeneous actors engage in the tuning of boundary resources within Apple's iOS service system We conduct an embedded case study of Apple's iOS service system with an in-depth analysis of 4,664 blog articles concerned with 30 boundary resources covering 6 distinct themes Our analysis reveals that boundary resources of service systems enabled by digital technology are shaped and reshaped through distributed tuning, which involves cascading actions of accommodations and rejections of a network of heterogeneous actors and artifacts Our study also shows the dualistic role of power in the distributed tuning process
372 citations
TL;DR: An enhanced fear appeal rhetorical framework is proposed that leverages sanctioning rhetoric as a secondary vector of threats to the human asset, thereby adding the dimension of personal relevance, which is critically absent from previous fear appeal frameworks and PMT-grounded security studies.
Abstract: Fear appeals, which are used widely in information security campaigns, have become common tools in motivating individual compliance with information security policies and procedures. However, empirical assessments of the effectiveness of fear appeals have yielded mixed results, leading IS security scholars and practitioners to question the validity of the conventional fear appeal framework and the manner in which fear appeal behavioral modeling theories, such as protection motivation theory (PMT), have been applied to the study of information security phenomena. We contend that the conventional fear appeal rhetorical framework is inadequate when used in the context of information security threat warnings and that its primary behavioral modeling theory, PMT, has been misspecified in the extant information security research. Based on these arguments, we propose an enhanced fear appeal rhetorical framework that leverages sanctioning rhetoric as a secondary vector of threats to the human asset, thereby adding the dimension of personal relevance, which is critically absent from previous fear appeal frameworks and PMT-grounded security studies. Following a hypothetical scenario research approach involving the employees of a Finnish city government, we validate the efficacy of the enhanced fear appeal framework and determine that informal sanction rhetoric effectively enhances conventional fear appeals, thus providing a significant positive influence on compliance intentions.
321 citations
TL;DR: This paper presented a mobile application usability conceptualization and survey instrument following the 10- step procedure recommended by MacKenzie et al. (2011), and found that the constructs that represented the conceptualization were good predictors of both outcomes and compared favorably to an existing instrument based on Microsoft's usability guidelines.
Abstract: This paper presents a mobile application usability conceptualization and survey instrument following the 10- step procedure recommended by MacKenzie et al. (2011). Specifically, we adapted Apple's user experience guidelines to develop our conceptualization of mobile application usability that we then developed into 19 first-order constructs that formed 6 second-order constructs. To achieve our objective, we collected four datasets: content validity (n = 318), pretest (n = 440), validation (n = 408), and cross-validation (n = 412). The nomological validity of this instrument was established by examining its impact on two outcomes: continued intention to use and mobile application loyalty. We found that the constructs that represented our mobile application usability conceptualization were good predictors of both outcomes and compared favorably to an existing instrument based on Microsoft's usability guidelines. In addition to being an exemplar of the recent procedure of MacKenzie et al. to validate an instrument, this work provides a rich conceptualization of an instrument for mobile application usability that can serve as a springboard for future work to understand the impacts of mobile application usability and can be used as a guide to design effective mobile applications.
316 citations
TL;DR: The argument proffered in this paper is that use of enterprise social networking technologies can increase the accuracy of people's metaknowledge (knowledge of "who knows what" and " who knows whom") at work.
Abstract: The argument proffered in this paper is that use of enterprise social networking technologies can increase the accuracy of people's metaknowledge (knowledge of "who knows what" and "who knows whom") at work. The results of a quasi-natural field experiment in which only one of two matched-sample groups within a large financial services firm was given access to the enterprise social networking technology for six months revealed that by making people's communications with specific partners visible to others in the organization, the technology enabled observers to become aware of the communications occurring amongst their coworkers and to make inferences about what and whom those coworkers knew based on the contents of the messages they sent and to whom they were sent. Consequently only individuals in the group that used the social networking technology for six months improved the accuracy of their metaknowledge (a 31% improvement in knowledge of who knows what and an 88% improvement in knowledge of who knows whom). There were no improvements in the other group over the same time period. Based on these findings, how technologically enabled "ambient awareness"--awareness of ambient communications occurring amongst others in the organization--can be an important antecedent for knowledge acquisition is discussed.
261 citations
TL;DR: It is proposed that one way to overcome challenges is to critically examine and debate the negative impacts of the field's dominant epistemic scripts and relax them by permitting IS scholarship that more fluidly accommodates alternative forms of knowledge production.
Abstract: The dominant way of producing knowledge in information systems (IS) seeks to domesticate high-level reference theory in the form of mid-level abstractions involving generic and atheoretical information technology (IT) components. Enacting such epistemic scripts squeezes IS theory to the middle range, where abstract reference theory concepts are directly instantiated or slightly modified to the IS context, whereas IT remains exogenous to theory by being treated as an independent variable, mediator, or moderator. In this design, IT is often operationalized using proxies that detect the presence of IT or its variation in use or cost. Our analysis of 143 articles published in MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research over the past 15 years demonstrates that over 70 percent of published theory conforms to this mode of producing IS knowledge. This state of play has resulted in two negative consequences: the field (1) agonizes over the dearth of original and bold theorizing over IT and (2) satisfices when integrating theory with empirics by creating incommensurate mid-range models that are difficult to consolidate. We propose that one way to overcome these challenges is to critically examine and debate the negative impacts of the field's dominant epistemic scripts and relax them by permitting IS scholarship that more fluidly accommodates alternative forms of knowledge production. This will push IS inquiry to the "edges" and emphasize, on the one hand, inductive, rich inquiries using innovative and extensive data sets and, on the other hand, novel, genuine, high-level theorizing around germane conceptual relationships between IT, information and its (semiotic) representations, and social behaviors. We offer several exemplars of such inquiries and their results. To promote this push, we invite alternative institutionalized forms of publishing and reviewing. We conclude by inviting individual scholars to be more open to practices that permit richer theorizing. These recommendations will broaden the field's knowledge ecology and permit the creation of good IS knowledge over just getting "hits." We surmise that, if such changes are carried out, the field can look confidently toward its future as one of the epicenters of organizational inquiry that deal with the central forces shaping human enterprise in the 21st century.
230 citations
TL;DR: This work uses accountability theory to develop four user-interface design artifacts that raise users' accountability perceptions within systems and in turn decrease access-policy violations, and is the first to extend the scenario-based factorial survey method to test design artifacts.
Abstract: Access-policy violations are a growing problem with substantial costs for organizations. Although training programs and sanctions have been suggested as a means of reducing these violations, evidence shows the problem persists. It is thus imperative to identify additional ways to reduce access-policy violations, especially for systems providing broad access to data. We use accountability theory to develop four user-interface (UI) design artifacts that raise users' accountability perceptions within systems and in turn decrease access-policy violations. To test our model, we uniquely applied the scenario-based factorial survey method to various graphical manipulations of a records system containing sensitive information at a large organization with over 300 end users who use the system daily. We show that the UI design artifacts corresponding to four submanipulations of accountability can raise accountability and reduce access policy violation intentions. Our findings have several theoretical and practical implications for increasing accountability using UI design. Moreover, we are the first to extend the scenario-based factorial survey method to test design artifacts. This method provides the ability to use more design manipulations and to test with fewer users than is required in traditional experimentation and research on human--computer interaction. We also provide bootstrapping tests of mediation and moderation and demonstrate how to analyze fixed and random effects within the factorial survey method optimally.
TL;DR: This study is the first to provide empirical evidence of the relationship between online ratings and the underlying consumer-perceived quality, and extends prior research on online word-of-mouth to the domain of professional services.
Abstract: Consumer-generated ratings typically share an objective of illuminating the quality of a product or service for other buyers. While ratings have become ubiquitous and influential on the Internet, surprisingly little empirical research has investigated how these online assessments reflect the opinion of the population at large, especially in the domain of professional services where quality is often opaque to consumers. Building on the word-of-mouth literature, we examine the relationship between online ratings and population perceptions of physician quality. We leverage a unique dataset which includes direct measures of both the offline population's perception of physician quality and consumer-generated online reviews. As a result, we are able to examine how online ratings reflect patients' opinions about physician quality. In sharp contrast to the widely voiced concerns by medical practitioners, we find that physicians who are rated lower in quality by the patient population are less likely to be rated online. Although ratings provided online are positively correlated with patient population opinions, the online ratings tend to be exaggerated at the upper end of the quality spectrum. This study is the first to provide empirical evidence of the relationship between online ratings and the underlying consumer-perceived quality, and extends prior research on online word-of-mouth to the domain of professional services.
TL;DR: This paper draws on structural symbolic interactionist identity theories to systematically develop a conceptual definition of IT identity, the extent to which an individual views use of an IT as integral to his or her sense of self--as a new form of identity.
Abstract: As social roles and relationships become increasingly inseparable from people's interactions with information technologies (ITs), new constructs representing this intertwinement are needed to expand understandings of human behavior. As part of that endeavor, this paper draws on structural symbolic interactionist identity theories to systematically develop a conceptual definition of one such construct, IT identity--defined as the extent to which an individual views use of an IT as integral to his or her sense of self--as a new form of identity. The construct is framed within a theoretical model. Our goal is to facilitate the establishment of IT identity as an important and relevant construct that can improve our understanding of a variety of phenomena. In doing so, this paper makes three contributions to the information systems (IS) literature. First, it delineates current understanding of IT as a medium, determinant, or consequent of identity. Second, it defines the conceptual domain and theme of IT identity, which is necessary for investigating the construct's theoretical influence. Third, it demonstrates the utility of IT identity to a wide range of IS topics relating to how people express, maintain, and expand their self-concepts. In doing so, it offers potential directions and opportunities for IS researchers to incorporate this novel concept into IS research.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate how friendship relationships act as pipes, prisms, and herding signals in a large online, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending site.
Abstract: This paper investigates how friendship relationships act as pipes, prisms, and herding signals in a large online, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending site. By analyzing decisions of lenders, we find that friends of the borrower, especially close offline friends, act as financial pipes by lending money to the borrower. On the other hand, the prism effect of friends' endorsements via bidding on a loan negatively affects subsequent bids by third parties. However, when offline friends of a potential lender, especially close friends, place a bid, a relational herding effect occurs as potential lenders are likely to follow their offline friends with a bid.
TL;DR: The study posits that information and communication technologies can be leveraged to bridge the service divide to enhance the capabilities of service-disadvantaged segments of society, but such service delivery requires an innovative assembly of ICT as well as non-ICT resources.
Abstract: The digital divide is usually conceptualized through goods-dominant logic, where bridging the divide entails providing digital goods to disadvantaged segments of the population. This is expected to enhance their digital capabilities and thus to have a positive influence on the digital outcomes (or services) experienced. In contrast, this study is anchored in an alternative service-dominant logic and posits that viewing the divide from a service perspective might be better suited to the context of developing countries, where there is a huge divide across societal segments in accessing basic services such as healthcare and education. This research views the prevailing differences in the level of services consumed by different population segments (service divide) as the key issue to be addressed by innovative digital tools in developing countries. The study posits that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be leveraged to bridge the service divide to enhance the capabilities of service-disadvantaged segments of society. But such service delivery requires an innovative assembly of ICT as well as non-ICT resources. Building on concepts from service-dominant logic and service science, this paper aims to understand how such service innovation efforts can be orchestrated. Specifically, adopting a process view, two Indian enterprises that have developed sustainable telemedicine healthcare service delivery models for the rural population in India are examined. The study traces the configurations of three interactional resources--knowledge, technology, and institutions--through which value-creating user-centric objectives of increasing geographical access and reducing cost are achieved. The theoretical contributions are largely associated with unearthing and understanding how the three interactional resources were orchestrated for service-centric value creation in different combinative patterns as resource exploitation, resource combination, and value reinforcement. The analysis also reveals the three distinct stages of service innovation evolution (idea and launch, infancy and early growth, and late growth and expansion), with a distinct shift in the dominant resource for each stage. Through an inductive process, the study also identifies four key enablers for successfully implementing these ICT-enabled service innovations: obsessive customer empathy, belief in the transformational power of ICT, continuous recursive learning, and efficient network orchestration.
TL;DR: This special issue proposes some theoretical ideas relating to a sociomaterial perspective and highlights empirically how this perspective helps to analyze the specific service materializations enacted through the algorithmic configuring of crowd-sourced data, and how these make a difference in practice to the outcomes produced.
Abstract: This special issue acknowledges important innovations in the world of service and within this domain we are particularly interested in exploring the rise and influence of web-based crowd-sourcing and algorithmic rating and ranking mechanisms. We suggest that a useful way to make sense of these digital service innovations and their novel implications is to recognize that they are materialized in practice. We thus need effective conceptual and analytical tools that allow us to take materiality seriously in our studies of service innovation. To this end, we propose some theoretical ideas relating to a sociomaterial perspective, and then highlight empirically how this perspective helps us analyze the specific service materializations enacted through the algorithmic configuring of crowd-sourced data, and how these make a difference in practice to the outcomes produced.
TL;DR: Surprisingly, ambivalent emotions and vacillating strategies can lead to active and positive user engagement, exhibited in task and tool adaptation behaviors and improvisational use patterns that, despite their nonconformity to terms of use, can have positive organizational implications.
Abstract: Achieving the promised business benefits of an IT system is intimately tied to the continued incorporation of the system into the work practices it is intended to support. While much is known about different social, cognitive, and technical factors that influence initial adoption and use, less is known about the role of emotional factors in users' behaviors. Through an in-depth field study conducted in two North American universities, we examine the role of emotions in how specific IT use patterns emerge. We find that there are five different characteristics of an IT stimulus event (cues) that, when interacting in a reinforcing manner, elicit a single class of emotions (uniform affective responses) and, when interacting in an oppositional manner, elicit mixed emotions (ambivalent affective responses). While users respond to uniform emotions with clear adaptation strategies, they deal with ambivalent emotions by combining different adaptation behaviors, a vacillating strategy between emphasizing positive and negative aspects of the stimulus. Surprisingly, these ambivalent emotions and vacillating strategies can lead to active and positive user engagement, exhibited in task and tool adaptation behaviors and improvisational use patterns that, despite their nonconformity to terms of use, can have positive organizational implications.
TL;DR: It is concluded that firms should not shift customers toward self-service channels completely, especially not at the beginning of a relationship, and the notion of actively managing customers' cocreation of value is stressed.
Abstract: Advancements in information technology have changed the way customers experience a service encounter and their relationship with service providers. Especially technology-based self-service channels have found their way into the 21st century service economy. While research embraces these channels for their cost-efficiency, it has not examined whether a shift from personal to self-service affects customer--firm relationships. Drawing from the service-dominant logic and its central concept of value-in-context, we discuss customers' value creation in self-service and personal service channels and examine the long-term impact of these channels on customer retention. Using longitudinal customer data, we investigate how the ratio of self-service versus personal service use influences customer defection over time. Our findings suggest that the ratio of self-service to personal service used affects customer defection in a U-shaped manner, with intermediate levels of both self-service and personal service use being associated with the lowest likelihood of defection. We also find that this effect mitigates over time. We conclude that firms should not shift customers toward self-service channels completely, especially not at the beginning of a relationship. Our study underlines the importance of understanding when and how self-service technologies create valuable customer experiences and stresses the notion of actively managing customers' cocreation of value.
TL;DR: Overall, reviewers on Amazon behave more strategically than reviewers on BN, and this study yields important managerial implications for companies to improve the design of online review systems and enhance the understanding of reviewers' strategic behaviors.
Abstract: Top online reviewers who reliably gain consumers' attention stand to make significant financial gains and monetize the amount of attention and reputation they have earned This study explores how online reviewers strategically choose the right product to review and the right rating to post so that they can gain attention and enhance reputation Using book reviews from Amazon and Barnes & Noble (BN), we find that reviewers on Amazon, where a reviewer ranking system quantifies reviewers' online reputations, are sensitive to the competition among existing reviews and thus tend to avoid crowded review segments However, on BN, which does not include such a ranking mechanism, reviewers do not respond to the competition effect In addition, reviewers on Amazon post more differentiated ratings compared with reviewers on BN since the competition for attention on Amazon is more intense than on BN Overall, reviewers on Amazon behave more strategically than reviewers on BN This study yields important managerial implications for companies to improve their design of online review systems and enhance their understanding of reviewers' strategic behaviors
TL;DR: It is found that BVIT increases when the study does not consider IT investment, does not use profitability measure of value, and employs primary data sources, fewer IT-related antecedents, and larger sample size.
Abstract: Despite the importance of investing in information technology, research on business value of information technology (BVIT) shows contradictory results, raising questions about the reasons for divergence. Kohli and Devaraj (2003) provided valuable insights into this issue based on a meta-analysis of 66 BVIT studies. This paper extends Kohli and Devaraj by examining the influences on BVIT through a meta-analysis of 303 studies published between 1990 and 2013. We found that BVIT increases when the study does not consider IT investment, does not use profitability measure of value, and employs primary data sources, fewer IT-related antecedents, and larger sample size. Considerations of IT alignment, IT adoption and use, and interorganizational IT strengthen the relationship between IT investment on BVIT, whereas the focus on environmental theories dampens the same relationship. However, the use of productivity measures of value, the number of dependent variables, the economic region, the consideration of IT assets and IT infrastructure or capability, and the consideration of IT sophistication do not affect BVIT. Finally, BVIT increases over time with IT progress. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
TL;DR: A theoretical framework that unpacks organizational learning into mechanisms and outcomes and proposes a research model set in the franchising context indicates that IT use is an important learning mechanism for franchisees by impacting knowledge transfer effectiveness and absorptive capacity.
Abstract: This study aims to contribute to the literature through the theoretical development and empirical investigation of the role of information technology use in organizational learning We develop a theoretical framework that unpacks organizational learning into mechanisms and outcomes The outcomes of organizational learning are distinguished at two levels: first-order and second-order Based on the framework, we propose a research model set in the franchising context We conceptualize franchisee use of IT provided by the franchisor as an important learning mechanism that impacts knowledge transfer effectiveness (first-order outcome) and absorptive capacity (second-order outcome) Further, the influence of IT use on financial performance is mediated through absorptive capacity The model was tested on a sample of 783 independently owned real-estate franchisees using a comprehensive dataset comprised of primary and secondary data The results indicate that IT use is an important learning mechanism for franchisees by impacting knowledge transfer effectiveness and absorptive capacity In turn, absorptive capacity mediates the relationship between IT use and financial performance The empirical support for the research model serves to affirm the underlying learning mechanisms--outcomes framework The results are stable across the choice of statistical method and the operationalization of financial performance Theoretical contributions, implications for practice, and limitations of the study are discussed
TL;DR: This paper analyzes knowledge production in design-science research to explain how an endogenous form of pluralism characterizes such studies, making it problematic to associate any design- science study with a single view of knowledge production.
Abstract: Recognizing that design is at the core of information systems development has led to a design-science research paradigm where differing kinds of knowledge goals give form to differing kinds of knowledge processes within a single study This paper analyzes knowledge production in design-science research to explain how an endogenous form of pluralism characterizes such studies, making it problematic to associate any design-science study with a single view of knowledge production Instead, a design-science research study exhibits up to four different modes of reasoning, called genres of inquiry These genres are derived from two dualities that contrast differing knowledge goals and differing knowledge scope in the knowledge production process The first duality arises from the sometimes seemingly contradictory knowledge goals of science versus design The second duality reflects the contradiction between the scope of the knowledge produced, which may be idiographic or nomothetic The evolutionary and iterative nature of a design-science study compels different knowledge goals and scope at different moments throughout a project Because of this momentary nature, a single design-science study can be associated with multiple genres of inquiry This understanding of the variety in the genres of inquiry advances the discourse on the nature of design-science research and the justification and evaluation of its outcomes Consequently, a corresponding set of criteria for knowledge justification and evaluation is provided for each genre of inquiry
TL;DR: This paper proposes a framework that integrates behavioral and structural approaches to explore the antecedents of leadership in online communities focused on knowledge work, and proposes that sociability and knowledge contribution behaviors as well as structural social capital lead to being identified as a leader by members of the online community.
Abstract: Despite the growing importance of online communities in creating knowledge and facilitating collaboration, there has been limited research examining the role of leaders in such settings. In this paper, we propose a framework that integrates behavioral and structural approaches to explore the antecedents of leadership in online communities focused on knowledge work. Specifically, we propose that sociability and knowledge contribution behaviors as well as structural social capital lead to being identified as a leader by members of the online community. We test this framework using social network, survey, and message-level content analysis data collected from three different online communities focused on technical topics. The results from our zero inflated negative binomial models, with 6,709 messages from 976 individuals, provide strong support for the framework that is developed in this study. Our study contributes to both theory and practice by identifying the behavioral and structural antecedents of leadership in online communities.
TL;DR: It is sought to show that it is peer advice ties that best fill the complex informational needs of employees after an ES implementation by providing the right information at the right time and in the right context.
Abstract: Despite the impressive progress in understanding the benefits and challenges related to enterprise system (ES) implementations--such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems--little is known about how the support structures traditionally used by organizations to help employees cope with a new ES affect employee outcomes related to the system and their jobs. Likewise, little is known about how existing peer advice ties in the business unit influence these outcomes after an ES implementation. Understanding employee outcomes is critical because of their ramifications for long-term ES success. This paper examines the impacts of four traditional support structures (namely, training, online support, help desk support, and change management support), and peer advice ties on four key employee outcomes (namely, system satisfaction, job stress, job satisfaction, and job performance). This paper also seeks to show that it is peer advice ties that best fill the complex informational needs of employees after an ES implementation by providing the right information at the right time and in the right context. The proposed model was tested in a field study conducted in one business unit of a large telecommunications company and gathered data from 120 supplier liaisons over the course of a year. Both traditional support structures and peer advice ties were found to influence the various outcomes, even after controlling for pre-implementation levels of the dependent variables. In all cases, peer advice ties was the strongest predictor, thus underscoring the importance of this critical internal resource.
TL;DR: It is found that ERP systems in the post-implementation stage were associated with reduced firm risk, and that the risk reduction effect was stronger for ERPs with a greater scope of functional and operational modules, especially functional modules.
Abstract: Managing firm risk, or firm performance volatility, is a key task for contemporary firms. Although information technology (IT) has been generally viewed as an effective information processing tool that enables firms to better cope with uncertainty, thus holding the potential to mitigate firm performance volatility, evidence to support this view is lacking in the literature. We theorize that enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, a major type of enterprise IT applications, can help reduce firm risk and, in particular, we argue that, to uncover the risk reduction effect of ERP systems, a research focus on the post-implementation stage is needed. Based on a sample of 2,127 firm-year observations, we found that ERP systems in the post-implementation stage were associated with reduced firm risk, and that the risk reduction effect was stronger for ERP systems with a greater scope of functional and operational modules, especially functional modules. We further found that, on average, the risk reduction effect of ERP systems became greater when firms' operating environments feature higher uncertainty, while the risk reduction associated with fully deploying ERP system modules seem to level off as environmental uncertainty increases. These findings extend our understanding of the business value of ERP systems by shedding light on the risk reduction benefit of ERP systems.
TL;DR: A multilevel model that theorizes the cross-level influence of team empowerment on individual exploration of collaboration technology and identifies two cognitions that are oriented toward exploring ways to incorporate implemented technology into daily work routines over time is developed.
Abstract: Firms are increasing their investments in collaboration technologies in order to leverage the intellectual resources embedded in their employees. Research on post-adoption use of technology suggests that the true gains from such investments are realized when users explore various system features and attempt to incorporate them into their work practices. However, the literature has been silent about how to promote such behavior when individuals are embedded in team settings, where members' actions are interdependent. This research develops a multilevel model that theorizes the cross-level influence of team empowerment on individual exploration of collaboration technology. Further, it identifies two cognitions--intention to continue exploring and expectation to continue exploring--that are oriented toward exploring ways to incorporate implemented technology into daily work routines over time. A 12-month field study of 212 employees in 48 organizational work teams was conducted to test the multilevel research model. The results provide support for the hypotheses, with team empowerment having a positive cross-level influence on intention to continue exploring and expectation to continue exploring and these, in turn, mediating the cross-level influence of team empowerment on individual exploration of collaboration technology.
TL;DR: This study is among the first that uses behavioral logs to investigate victimization risk and attack proneness associated with information assets and supports the empirical application of routine activity theory in understanding insider threats.
Abstract: This study investigates the risk of insider threats associated with different applications within a financial institution. Extending routine activity theory (RAT) from criminology literature to information systems security, hypotheses regarding how application characteristics, namely value, inertia, visibility, accessibility, and guardians, cause applications to be exposed to insider threats are developed. Routine activity theory is synthesized with survival modeling, specifically a Weibull hazard model, and users' system access behavior is investigated using seven months of field data from the institution. The inter-arrival times of two successive unauthorized access attempts on an application are employed as the measurement of risk. For a robustness check, the daily number of unauthorized attempts experienced by an application as an alternative measurement of risk are introduced and a zero-inflated Poisson-Gamma model is developed. The Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is used for model estimations. The results of the study support the empirical application of routine activity theory in understanding insider threats, and provide a picture of how different applications have different levels of exposure to such threats. Theoretical and practical implications for risk management regarding insider threats are discussed. This study is among the first that uses behavioral logs to investigate victimization risk and attack proneness associated with information assets.
TL;DR: A model based on user innovation theory and construal level theory is proposed to explain the antecedents (including toolkit support) of user MDS innovation intention and finds that trend leadership and anticipated extrinsic reward influence both potential and actual user innovators' intentions to innovate.
Abstract: Firms are increasingly opening up their innovation efforts to allow users to tap into the benefits they can offer, such as mobile data service (MDS) innovation on iOS and Google Android platforms For this purpose, platforms typically provide toolkits to facilitate user participation, aiming to create an ecosystem for sustainable innovation However, with the barriers to user innovation and attrition of existing innovators, it could be challenging for firms to attract and sustain users' MDS innovation With the possible benefits from user innovation, and considering the challenges faced, firms need to understand how to influence potential user innovators to take part and to encourage extant user innovators to innovate again However, there is a lack of comprehensive research and understanding of what drives users' intentions to innovate services and the differences in the antecedents of such intention between potential and actual user innovators Further, although prior studies have suggested that toolkits can support user innovation, little research has theorized and empirically tested their influence Motivated thus, this study proposes a model based on (1) user innovation theory to explain the antecedents (including toolkit support) of user MDS innovation intention and (2) construal level theory to explain the differential effects of the antecedents for actual and potential user innovators We tested the model through survey data from potential and actual MDS user innovators on Google Android and iOS platforms We find that trend leadership and anticipated extrinsic reward influence both potential and actual user innovators' intentions to innovate However, anticipated recognition and toolkit support affect only actual user innovators, while anticipated enjoyment affects only potential user innovators Interestingly, toolkit support strengthens the influence of anticipated enjoyment for actual user innovators but weakens its influence for potential user innovators Further, potential user innovators value anticipated extrinsic rewards less than actual innovators do The implications for research and practice are discussed
TL;DR: It is found that the interrelationship between the macro sociopolitical context and the local organizational context of the ICT4D project is the key to understanding what went wrong, something which would not have been discovered if it had taken the traditional approach.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the value of critical research for information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) studies Most previous IS research on ICT4D projects is interpretive and has focused on the immediate organizational context, but there are very few critical studies that have engaged in macro sociopolitical analyses regarding institutional change Hence we extend previous IS research on ICT4D by adopting a critical research perspective on the macro sociopolitical context within which most ICT4D projects take place We illustrate this with an ethnographic study of a project that was intended to improve the education and social welfare of the aboriginal people in Taiwan On the surface the project was tremendously successful; it became a showcase on national radio and TV showing how ICT could be used to support underprivileged children However, our research uncovered a different story altogether--a story of the aboriginal people themselves feeling marginalized and without much of a voice We use concepts from postcolonial theory to make sense of these two contradictory stories We found that the interrelationship between the macro sociopolitical context and the local organizational context of the ICT4D project is the key to understanding what went wrong, something which we would not have discovered if we had taken the traditional approach The postcolonial context is powerful and pervasive, hampering any real progress
TL;DR: Findings indicate that IS professionals' perceived workload was associated with higher levels of EISCE, whereas fairness and perceived control of career (resources) were associated with lower levels ofEISCE.
Abstract: While the US economy is recovering slowly, reports tell us that the supply of information systems (IS) professionals is declining and demand is once again on the rise With organizations challenged in their efforts to hire additional staff, IS professionals are being asked to do even more, often leading to burnout, turnover, and turnaway intentions Building on Ahuja et al's (2007) work on turnover intentions and using the job demands-- resources model of burnout as an organizing framework for the antecedents to exhaustion from IS career experience (EISCE), this illustrative research note draws attention to exhaustion in IS professionals that spans an individual's professional career Findings indicate that IS professionals' perceived workload (demand) was associated with higher levels of EISCE, whereas fairness and perceived control of career (resources) were associated with lower levels of EISCE The influence of EISCE on affective commitment to the IS profession (ACISP) was found to be negative and, ultimately, ACISP fully mediated the effect of EISCE on the intention to turn away from an IS career The results suggest the importance of studying IS professionals' perceptions regarding the demands and resources associated with working in the IS field when testing exhaustion across IS career experience