bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Organizational Readiness Assessment for Knowledge Management
Authors: Mohammadi Kaveh , Khanlari Amir , Sohrabi Babak
Published: October 2011

Implementing knowledge management or knowledge-sharing projects in an organization require significant organizational prerequisites. Lacking proper infrastructures and prerequisite, not only make the knowledge management process unprofitable, but might incur harmful effects as well. To decrease such risks, it is proposed to introduce the readiness assessment, in order to gauge a company’s appetite for the work involved in implementing the knowledge management. In this research, critical success factors have been extracted from literature reviews and surveyed through a questionnaire, distributed among 130 knowledge management experts. Then, to validate the measurement of the multi-item constructs, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used. Identifying effective variables and their grouping onto related factors, the second questionnaire was employed for readiness assessment of an IT firm working in Iran and its results were presented with Radar diagrams. Finally, promoting propositions were provided based on the firm’s current state.
A Framework for Managing the Life Cycle of Knowledge in Organizations
Authors: Salisbury Mark
Published: October 2011

This article describes a framework for managing the life cycle of knowledge in organizations. The framework emerges from years of work with the laboratories and facilities that are under the direction of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The article begins by describing the background of the work from which the framework emerged; this is followed by describing the problem of identifying the “right” knowledge for the “right” people at the “right” time and how the use of performance objectives addresses this problem. Next, the phases in the life cycle of knowledge in an organization, the theoretical foundation for the framework, and the other aspects of the framework (Work Processes, Learning Processes, and Methodologies) are described. Finally, a discussion section summarizes the framework and discusses future directions for enhancing and extending the framework.
Using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to Identify the Relative Importance of the Features Needed for Web-Based Systems Development
Authors: Lee Kyootai , Joshi Kailash , Bae Mueun
Published: October 2011

Most of new information systems development is now being undertaken with Web-based architectures. The objective of this study is to identify and assess the relative importance of the required features for methodologies used to develop Web-based information systems. Critical success factors (CSFs) for the development of Web-based applications were identified from the literature and organized into a hierarchy consisting of their dimensions and sub-dimensions. The relative importance of the dimensions was assessed through an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method based on data obtained in Korea from IT professionals. Information properties and risk control were found to be the two main dimensions. Within information properties dimension, integrity of information was found to be the most important sub-dimension. The relative importance of the features was also found to vary for the three industry sectors investigated.
Knowledge Sharing Tools for IT Project Management
Authors: Petter Stacie , Vaishnavi Vijay , Mathiassen Lars
Published: October 2011

Information technology (IT) project disasters make worldwide headlines, and billions of dollars have been lost due to poor project implementations. The Standish Group, a research advisory firm, reports that only one-third of the over 13,500 IT projects evaluated in 2003 were successful, and half of the reported IT projects were classified as challenged, meaning they experienced cost and budget overruns (Larkowski, 2003). While the state of IT project management is improving, organizations must explore ways to reduce unnecessary spending that occurs because of failures, cost and schedule overruns on IT projects. One possibility is to improve knowledge sharing to avoid repeating mistakes and to build on successes from the past.
A Methodology for the Auditing of Technological Knowledge Management
Authors: Arís Enrique Paniagua , Ayuso Belén López
Published: October 2011

This work presents a methodology for auditing technological knowledge management that allows the proposed solution to be aligned with the competitive strategy of organisations, as well as with their processes, key competences, and the associated knowledge resources. That enables the solution to be technologically oriented and to be applied to different types of business, from SOHO and SME to large companies. Firstly, the authors will present their view regarding knowledge management, which is a technological perspective; they will specify the context of application and their objectives. Secondly, the authors will analyse the characteristics of knowledge as the object to be managed and will identify, analyse and criticise the most relevant knowledge management approaches, models and methodologies related to their objectives, then outlining the requirements that technological knowledge management must meet. Thirdly, the authors will present the components of the model on which the methodology is based, and they will describe its stages and tasks. Then the authors will analyse the advantages of the model and methodology regarding other proposals. Finally, the conclusions and future lines of work will be presented.
Ensuring Correctness, Completeness, and Freshness for Outsourced Tree-Indexed Data
Authors: Dang Tran Khanh
Published: October 2011

In an outsourced database service model, query assurance takes an important role among well-known security issues. To the best of our knowledge, however, none of the existing research work has dealt with ensuring the query assurance for outsourced tree-indexed data. To address this issue, the system must prove authenticity and data integrity, completeness, and freshness guarantees for the result set. These objectives imply that data in the result set is originated from the actual data owner and has not been tampered with; the server did not omit any tuples matching the query conditions; and the result set was generated with respect to the most recent snapshot of the database. In this paper, we propose a vanguard solution to provide query assurance for outsourced tree-indexed data on untrusted servers with high query assurance and at reasonable costs. Experimental results with real datasets confirm the effciency of our approach and theoretical analyses.
Examining the Effects of TAM Constructs on Organizational Software Acquisition Decision
Authors: Uzoka Faith-Michael E.
Published: October 2011

The use of multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) methodology is not uncommon in organizational decisions. However, information systems (IS) researchers have focused on statistical hypothesis testing in examining organizational technology adoption decisions. In this study, an MCDA methodology is adopted in examining the effects of the technology acceptance model (TAM) constructs on organizational software acquisition decision. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) provides an evaluation model based on the experiential knowledge of domain experts. The results of the study show that software performance plays a significant role in the software acquisition decision matrix, while vendor characteristic is given the least priority. The study also points to the fact that perceived usefulness is more vital than perceived ease of use in software evaluation and acquisition.
Technologies in Support of Knowledge Management Systems
Authors: Jennex Murray E.
Published: October 2011

Knowledge management systems (KMSs) support the various knowledge management (KM) functions of knowledge capture, storage, search, retrieval, and use. To do this, KMSs utilize a variety of technologies and enterprise systems. This chapter surveys the various technologies and enterprise systems. Specific attention is placed on enterprise systems that integrate KM into organizational business processes, and technologies that enhance the effectiveness of these implementations. The chapter is based primarily on research summarized in Case Studies in Knowledge Management (Jennex, 2005a) and articles published by the Knowledge Management Track at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS).
Improving Virtual Teams through Swift Structure
Authors: Shwarts-Asher Daphna , Ahituv Niv , Etzion Dalia
Published: October 2011

There has been a transformation from individual work to team work in the last few decades (Ilgen, 1999), and many organizations use teams for many activities done by individuals in the past (Boyett & Conn, 1992; Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). The use of virtual teams has also become common particularly in international organizations and global companies. In light of this growing phenomenon, the traditional definition of “team structure” should be redefined, as part of the model that predicts the influence of the virtuallity and structural levels on processes, social, and tasks, that effect team output. A methodology will later be illustrated to examine the research model and a discussion of preliminary finding. The research contributes to better understanding of virtual teams in hope of improving the teams work in the virtual world. Virtual team design has so far been treated as an afterthought by virtual team researchers. Investigation of team structure in the virtual environment holds significant promise for research and practice (Powell, Piccoli, & Ives, 2004). Integration between virtual teams and structural characteristics raises the question: “Has the virtual era put an end to team structure?” Leavitt (1996) claims that the rapid changes impose organizations to relax structures. Hackman (2002), on the other hand, predicts that team structure will always exist and managers will continue to be bothered by team design.
Crisis Compliance
Authors: Lally Laura
Published: October 2011

This article develops the concept of crisis compliance (CC)—defined as making appropriate use of IT, and non-IT methodologies to predict, prevent, and prevail over disasters. CC emerges from Lally’s Target Shield and Weapon Model, which is grounded in the theories of crisis management, normal accident theory, and high reliability organizations. CC is then applied to a case study involving Hurricane Katrina, with examples drawn from other recent disasters. Emerging IT-based crisis management initiatives will be examined with an emphasis on how the impacts of Hurricane Katrina could have been mitigated. Recommendations for predicting, preventing, and prevailing over future disasters will emerge from the analysis.
The Impact of Leadership Style on Knowledge Sharing Intentions in China
Authors: Huang Qian , Davison Robert M. , Liu Hefu , Gu Jibao
Published: October 2011

Knowledge management (KM) is a dominant theme in the behavior of contemporary organizations. While KM has been extensively studied in developed economies, it is much less well understood in developing economies, notably those that are characterized by different social and cultural traditions to the mainstream of Western societies. This is notably the case in China. This chapter develops and tests a theoretical model that explains the impact of leadership style and interpersonal trust on the intention of information and knowledge workers in China to share their knowledge with their peers. All the hypotheses are supported, showing that both initiating structure and consideration have a significant effect on employees’ intention to share knowledge through trust building: 28.2% of the variance in employees’ intention to share knowledge is explained. The authors discuss the theoretical contributions of the chapter, identify future research opportunities, and highlight the implications for practicing managers.
Explaining Experts’ Perceptions of Knowledge Management Effectiveness
Authors: Khalifa Mohamed , Liu Vanessa , Lee Matthew K.O.
Published: October 2011

In this article, we propose and empirically test major KM effectiveness determinants from the perspective of experts’ perceptions. Specifically, we examine the complex interrelationships between infrastructural and process capabilities, uncovering their mediated and moderating effects on KM effectiveness. The results show that KM process capabilities constitute the primary direct determinant of KM effectiveness. As stipulated in the IT assimilation theory, the effect of IT is not direct, but rather fully mediated through KM process capabilities. Contrary to previous findings, culture acts as an oblique factor, moderating the effect of KM process capabilities on KM effectiveness. Using a formative model of KM process capabilities, we also identify the relative importance of KM processes, which should be of significant appeal to practitioners.
Occurrence and Effects of Leader Delegation in Virtual Software Teams
Authors: Zhang Suling , Tremaine Marilyn , Egan Rich , Milewski Allen , O'Sullivan Patrick , Fjermestad Jerry
Published: October 2011

Virtual teams are an important work structure in software development projects. However, little is known about what constitutes effective virtual software team leadership, in particular, the amount of leader delegation that is appropriate in a virtual software-development environment. This study investigates virtual software team leader delegation and explores the impact of delegation strategies on virtual team performance mediated by team motivation, team flexibility and team satisfaction with the team leader. This research is a report of a pilot study run on student teams carried out to refine and test the research constructs and research model for a larger study run in corporations. The study found that virtual team leaders delegate more to competent virtual teams and that such delegation is positively correlated with team member satisfaction with their leader and with team member motivation. Overall, the work provides important information for software-based organizations interested in developing virtual team leadership skills.
Interrelationships Between Professional Virtual Communities and Social Networks, and the Importance of Virtual Communities in Creating and Sharing Knowledge
Authors: Garrigos Fernando
Published: October 2011

This chapter presents the interrelationships between professional virtual communities and social networks, and analyzes how, and in what ways, these communities play a crucial role in the creation and sharing of knowledge. The chapter begins by outlining how virtual communities are gaining importance in the new environment. It explains what we understand as a professional virtual community and its importance and also the relevance of social networks in today’s Knowledge Management age. The study then analyses how the development of social networks is crucial to the improvement of professional virtual communities, and also how virtual organizations can promote the improvement of social networks. Finally, the study examines how virtual communities are vital as mechanisms for creating and sharing knowledge.
Managing Relationships in Virtual Team Socialization
Authors: Long Shawn D. , Picherit-Duthler Gaelle , Duthler Kirk W.
Published: October 2011

The traditional organizational workplace is dramatically changing. An increasing number of organizations are employing workers who are physically and geographically dispersed and electronically dependent on each other to accomplish work (Gibson & Cohen, 2003; Griffith, Sawyer, & Neale, 2003). Recent technological advances, combined with more flexible job design, have helped increase the number of people working in distributed environments. Hence, more employees are working individually and on teams that seldom, if ever, meet face to face. These virtual employees have the same work responsibilities as traditional employees in addition to the challenge of operating within the dynamics of these newly designed mediated workplaces. Rapid developments in communication technology and the increasing influence of globalization and efficiency on organizations have significantly accelerated the growth and importance of virtual teams in contemporary workplaces. Virtual teams are becoming more commonplace because of the possibilities of a more efficient, less expensive, and more productive workplace. Additionally, distributed teams are less difficult to organize temporal organizational members than traditional co-located teams (Larsen & McInerney, 2002; Lurey & Raisinghani, 2001; Piccoli & Ives, 2003). Although there are apparent advantages of organizing work virtually, the challenge for new member integration lies in the fact that team members must communicate primarily through communication technology such as electronic mail, telephone, and videoconferencing or computer conferencing. This increased dependence on technology as a medium of communication significantly alters the way new members are socialized to work teams. Additionally, team members’ ability to use complex communication technologies varies across individuals. This variation potentially may lead to inter- and intra-group conflict, as well as creating organizational work ambiguity, which refers to the existence of conflicting and multiple interpretations of a work issue (Miller, 2006). This article addresses the challenges of virtual team socialization with regard to newcomer assimilation and how newcomer encounter is an embedded process of virtual team assimilation.
Leadership Competency in Virtual Teams
Authors: Petska Deborah , Berge Zane
Published: October 2011

As organizations race to increase their global market share, traditional face-to-face teams are evolving into virtual teams. Aided by swift advances in communication technology, virtual teams allow organizations to pool the intellectual resources of geographically dispersed experts from multiple fields to achieve organizational goals and advance the corporate mission. Virtual teams benefit organizations by saving travel costs and time lost away from work. Although similar to traditional teams in many ways, the virtual team’s dispersed nature necessitates different leadership competencies, the use of multiple communication media, and more structure and guidelines (Stone & Thach, 1999). With a growing number of organizations now relying on virtual teams to perform work, there is also increased recognition that strong leadership is critical to the successful functioning of virtual teams. However, the additional component of technology used by virtual teams is sometimes overlooked when organizations develop their core competency models.
Enhancing e-Business Decision Making
Authors: Tastle William J. , Wierman Mark J.
Published: October 2011

Statistical analysis is the universally accepted method by which sense is created from raw data. Successful requirements determination is often dependent upon the gathering customer data over the Internet, and it may be largely limited to collecting the responses such as Yes/No and Likert scale categories. These data are then analyzed to identify customer trends or other items of interest to management. The data can be useful, but key to their usage is the application of suitable mathematical tools. Traditionally little more than standard statistics has been used in the analysis of ordinal, or category, data. This chapter introduces measures of agreement and dissent to the field of e-business analysis and shows how ordinal data can be analyzed in meaningful ways.
Can Virtual Networks Encourage Knowledge Absorptive Capacity?
Authors: Camison Cesar
Published: October 2011

Organisations are finding it more difficult to keep abreast with the pace of change. The continuous rise of business opportunities and the increase in global competition demands a capability to acquire, assimilate, transform and apply external critical knowledge to renew and reconfigure existing capabilities and knowledge, and to innovate. Developing this dynamic capability requires, in turn, new proactive Knowledge Management tools and new organisational forms. This chapter presents a framework in which virtual networks constitute more flexible new organisational structures to absorb and create knowledge. It also describes how embeddedness in such a network can affect most of the factors identified as antecedents of absorptive capacity. In addition, it evidences the important role of the firm’s relational capabilities in taking advantage of the relevant business information, knowledge, resources, technologies and capabilities circulating in the virtual networks.
Tensions in Collaborative Cyber Security and how They Affect Incident Detection and Response
Authors: Fink Glenn , McKinnon David , Clements Samuel , Frincke Deborah
Published: October 2011

Security often requires collaboration, but when multiple stakeholders are involved, it is typical for their priorities to differ or even conflict with one another. In today’s increasingly networked world, cyber security collaborations may span organizations and countries. In this chapter, the authors address collaboration tensions, their effects on incident detection and response, and how these tensions may potentially be resolved. The authors present three case studies of collaborative cyber security within the U.S. government and discuss technical, social, and regulatory challenges to collaborative cyber security. They suggest possible solutions and present lessons learned from conflicts. Finally, the authors compare collaborative solutions from other domains and apply them to cyber security collaboration. Although they concentrate their analysis on collaborations whose purpose is to achieve cyber security, the authors believe this work applies readily to security tensions found in collaborations of a general nature as well.
Knowledge Assets, E-Networks and Trust
Authors: Erickson G. Scott , Rothberg Helen N.
Published: October 2011

Development of knowledge assets and protection of knowledge assets are both complementary and competing concerns for the contemporary business. Each has specific issues related to trust that need to be understood and addressed before an individual firm launches a knowledge management initiative. Further, with important contemporary trends such as enterprise systems, external knowledge management networks, and aggressive competitive intelligence efforts, decision-makers must increasingly evaluate their circumstances and establish the appropriate levels of trust between individuals and the organization and between cooperating organizations. This chapter reviews and elaborates on such issues. It then passes to a consideration of how these concerns might vary by industry, presenting selected data on knowledge development and knowledge protection conditions in a variety of industries.
Effort-Accuracy Trade-Off in Using Knowledge Management Systems
Authors: Poston Robin S. , Speier Cheri
Published: October 2011

To solve complicated problems, people often seek input from others. Knowledge management systems (KMSs) provide help in this activity by offering a computer-mediated approach to information sharing. However, if the KMS contains content that is obsolete or incomplete, those using the system may expend greater amounts of effort to detect what content is worthwhile or they risk relying on poor inputs, which may lead to less accurate solutions to their problems. As a result, most KMSs include rating schemes as part of the user interface designed to help those using the system identify high-quality content. Rating schemes depend on current users rating the quality of the existing content, guiding subsequent users in future content searches. If specific ratings are low in validity, then they may not reflect the true content quality (unintentionally or intentionally). This chapter provides a robust summary of the KMS literature and draws on the effort-accuracy trade-off framework to offer the results of a research study. The research study examines how rating validity influences how KMS users employ their limited cognitive resources to search and evaluate KMS content, with the goal of finding and using the highest-quality content. Through an experimental design, the study described herein manipulates rating validity and content quality in a replicated KMS setting and examines how users trade off search and evaluation effort. The results of the study demonstrate that rating validity differentially influences how KMS search and evaluation effort relates to decision accuracy. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the study findings and ideas for future research.
Mix, Match, Rediscovery
Authors: Meza Justin , Zhu Qin
Published: October 2011

Knowledge is the fact or knowing something from experience or via association. Knowledge organization is the systematic management and organization of knowledge (Hodge, 2000). With the advent of Web 2.0, Mashups have become a hot new thing on the Web. A mashup is a Web site or a Web application that combines content from more than one source and delivers it in an integrated way (Fichter, 2006). In this article, we will first explore the concept of mashups and look at the components of a mashup. We will provide an overview of various mashups on the Internet. We will look at literature about knowledge and the knowledge organization. Then, we will elaborate on our experiment of a mashup in an enterprise environment. We will describe how we mixed the content from two sets of sources and created a new source: a novel way of organizing and displaying HP Labs Technical Reports. The findings from our project will be included and some best practices for creating enterprise mashups will be given. The future of enterprise mashups will be discussed as well.
Could Web 2.0 Technologies Support Knowledge Management in Organizations?
Authors: de Barros Campos Luiz Fernando
Published: October 2011

This chapter investigates whether information technology tools typical of Web 2.0 can support Knowledge Management (KM) practices in organizations. An investigation on the Web is conducted and the appropriate literature examined. The information technology tools employed in organizations nowadays are discussed with the help of three guidelines which each present two opposing ideas: knowledge creation versus knowledge sharing, tacit knowledge versus explicit knowledge and hierarchical KM versus organic KM. It is argued that these tools reveal an innate contradiction: they are based on a centralized conception and production but aim to deal with informal, fluid processes, which resist structuring. The term Enterprise 2.0 is defined and examined, since it brings out a critical view of traditional KM technology. In this context, the prevailing technologies on the Web are described as well as the associated use practices. The technologies and practices highlighted are those that enhance the collective creation of information and knowledge-intensive products and the active, rich user participation which influences the development of own technologies. Subsequently, many Web 2.0 tools and services that are, or could be, used in KM practices are described and the sites that provide them are indicated. It is noted that these new technologies are inducing cooperative and decentralized work processes that lead to emerging products of high quality and complexity. Furthermore, they are characterized by net effects, simplicity, ease of use, low cost and rastreability. Nevertheless, there are some difficulties in the application of Web 2.0 technologies, among them, the attainment of performance requisites, privacy and security, the possible emergence of counterproductive results and the need to motivate people to create content. The challenges and opportunities in the organizational use of Web 2.0 technologies are remarked. Finally, the managerial interventions appropriate to enable the success of KM projects based on Web 2.0 technologies are discussed.
Logic-Based Approaches to Intention Recognition
Authors: Sadri Fariba
Published: October 2011

In this chapter we discuss intention recognition in general, and the use of logic-based formalisms, and deduction and abduction in particular. We consider the relationship between causal theories used for planning and the knowledge representation and reasoning used for intention recognition. We look at the challenges and the issues, and we explore eight case studies.
Context-Sensitive Spatial Interaction and Ambient Control
Authors: Krieg-Brückner Bernd , Shi Hui , Gersdorf Bernd , Döhle Mathias , Röfer Thomas
Published: October 2011

In this chapter, we first briefly introduce the setting: mobility assistants (the wheelchair Rolland and iWalker) and smart environment control in the Bremen Ambient Assisted Living Lab. In several example scenarios, we then outline our contributions to the state of the art, focussing on spatial knowledge representation, reasoning and spatial interaction (multi-modal, but with special emphasis on natural language dialogue) between three partners: the user, a mobility assistant, and the smart environment.
Ambient Intelligence and Immersive Geospatial Visual Analytics
Authors: De Amicis Raffaele , Conti Giuseppe
Published: October 2011

The chapter finally concludes by highlighting a number of open challenges brought by the convergence between GVA and AmI which need to be addressed by the research community in the next future.
Managerial Issues for Telecommuting
Authors: Hendrickson Anthony R. , Strader Troy J.
Published: October 2011

In this paper the issues faced by firms in today’s telecommunications environment are compared and contrasted with an actual telecommuting case study of Trade Reporting and Data Exchange, Inc. (T.R.A.D.E.), a software engineering company located in San Mateo, CA. Initial results indicate that telecommuting was successful for T.R.A.D.E because the required technology was widely available (the candidate initiated the idea and had the necessary industry and company experience) the organization could provide the flexible work arrangement while retaining a valuable employee, the employees were able to live in a geographic area of their choice, overall costs could be shared by the company and employees, the job category was an ideal fit, and existing procedures were in place for communicating and managing the geographically detached worker. As telecommunications technology evolves this arrangement will continue to challenge the firm and their employees.
Implementing an Integrated Software Product at Northern Steel
Authors: Guenette Annie , LeBlanc Nadine , Barki Henri
Published: October 2011

This case describes the implementation of the payroll and human resources modules of an integrated software product in a large manufacturing organization. The firm is located in a large metropolitan city and system implementation took place following a major organizational restructuring (from a public to a private enterprise) and downsizing (from 10,000 to 2,000 employees) effort. The extensive maintenance required by the existing legacy systems and the high cost of modifying them to address the year 2000 problem motivated the company to acquire an integrated software product from a vendor, and adapt it to the organization. Implementing the software took longer than scheduled and was 35% over budget. Some of the problems encountered include conflicts between the accounting and human resources departments, technical difficulties in building interfaces to existing systems, inadequate staffing of the project team, the IT director who left during the project, and a poorly functioning steering committee.
Building a Paperless Service
Authors: Vitolo Theresa M. , Sparks Aaron J.
Published: October 2011

Central Ridge University1 (CRU) is a large, research-oriented university composed of 10 major colleges, connecting over 15 branch campuses, and offering various continuing, distance, outreach and executive programs. One of the major colleges of CRU is The College of Business Administration (CBA). CBA maintains an optional internship program for its undergraduate and MBA populations. CBA strongly recommends its students to experience the corporate world by doing an internship before their graduation. Also, CBA students seek the internship experience to complement their academic courses. The Internship Office of CBA is charged with the responsibility of facilitating students’ contacts with corporate clients. In order to do so, the office must gather, record, and disseminate information to students and to corporations. In addition, the information must be kept private, accurate, and comprehensive. Typical information processes existing in the Internship Office relied heavily on paper entries, paper duplication, and mailings. However, in the Internship Office, the use of technology was lagging. An end-user within the Internship Office was enlisted to develop an information technology solution to the paper-intensive tasks of the office. Issues of the case study include (1) the organizational behavior issues to overcome when implementing information technology even in an enthusiastic and sympathetic organization, (2) the difficulties in defining a system by an end-user even a sophisticated one, and (3) the obstacles of implementing a satisfactory system under tight time and security constraints even with the cooperation of a systems department.
Problems, Their Causes and Effects in the Use of Information Systems
Authors: Jalonen Katariina , Kirveennummi Mika , Torvinen Vesa
Published: October 2011

Information technology (IT) has radically improved many aspects of organisational activities. Computer-based information systems (CBIS) are constantly developed more effective and efficient. Development of a new CBIS is justified by higher quality of work, more efficient work processes, and more flexible work practices. However, introduction of the new IS can produce a variety of problems. This paper describes the problems observed in the use of a library CBIS in a Finnish scientific library. The results of the study illustrate well the environment which should be understood by the designers of computer-based information systems. One important prerequisite of good (re)design is a wide understanding of the problems that may prevent effective use of a CBIS. In this study we introduce a classification based on the problems which were found in the case. The classification describes the causes and effects of the observed problems.
Setting Up to Fail
Authors: Urbaczewski Andrew , Moore Jo Ellen
Published: October 2011

A mantra of experienced project managers is “failing to plan = planning to fail.” In the case of Midwest MBA, a user group is not satisfied with the progress made by the central computing staff on the development of a much-needed information system. In a well-intentioned effort to help the users, the IS staff of the end user area (who had been acting in a liaison role between the user area and central computing) decided to take on the completion of the system. However, the resources needed to absorb this additional project were never accurately estimated, obtained, or allocated. Moreover, tasks and target dates were never firmly established. Although the decision to take on the completion of the system was a noble one, the IS staff ended up providing a demonstration of the project manager mantra. Not only was the system not completed, but the IS staff’s regular duties suffered as well. Animosity between the IS staff and users became rampant and both parties considered the system to be a failure. Put simply, the IS staff was not dealing in reality. And, as a result, they set themselves up to fail. This case is based on actual events in a real organization. We have, however, changed the identities of the parties involved and other key information to preserve anonymity.
The Telecommuting Life
Authors: Kelly Gigi G. , Locke Karen
Published: October 2011

As the 21st century approaches, the work environment is transforming, driven in large part by technology. For example, technology is challenging ideas about where and when work needs to take place. Technology allows employees to work from home. However, this new distributed work arrangement brings with it many new challenges for both the employee and employer. In this case, we introduce one company that has decided to experiment with the telecommuting arrangement. Through the eyes of one teleworker, many of the benefits and challenges of telecommuting are explored. INTRODUC
Creating a Democratic Public Sphere through Political Discussion
Authors: Schneider Steven M.
Published: October 2011

Computer-mediated discussion is an increasingly popular method of engaging in political talk with other citizens. This article presents a case study of a Usenet newsgroup focused on abortion and discusses the creation of public sphere by the conversants. The notion of the public sphere is discussed, and measures allowing an assessment of its democratic character are proposed. A formula for estimating entropy is developed and applied to data obtained from the case study of an ongoing discussion. A high level of inequality in participation among conversants is noted, with very few of the discussants responsible for an extraordinarily high proportion of the content. This inequality, though tempered by analysis of the newsgroup on a day-to-day basis, calls into question the democratic character of the public sphere represented by this conversation.
Changing Roles in Information Dissemination and Education
Authors: Kroeker Brian
Published: October 2011

The World Wide Web (WWW) is changing the face of today’s academic libraries — the way we use them and how we give value to them. In this article I will explain what the WWW means to the academic library and why it has become worthy of consideration. I will show that the WWW will impact greatly upon the Library whether the Library wants it to or not, and this impact will be in large part be dictated to the Library by forces both technologically and socially based, and thus beyond the Library’s overall control. Some consequences that I see of attempting to ignore WWW technology or providing inadequate resources to it will be discussed as well. Finally I will present some observations that I see on how the WWW is changing the balance between the Library as provider of information and teaching faculty as providers of education.
The Paradox of Paperless Classes
Authors: Lackie Paula
Published: October 2011

In just about every field, people are working to cut back resource use while expanding services and productivity. This extends to the teaching of college courses as many schools work to economize and/or technically enhance their liberal arts education. One approach at Carleton College has been the use of the campus computer network to create paperless courses. This chapter is about the method, experience, and important pedagogical aspects of some pioneering courses in the social sciences at Carleton College.
Manufacturing Knowledge
Authors: Vallas Steven
Published: October 2011

Research on the restructuring of work has tended to neglect the autonomous effects that symbolic or cultural influences can have on the utilization of new technologies. This article draws on fieldwork conducted in three pulp and paper mills to explore the symbolic boundaries that occupational groups bring to bear on the process of workplace automation. As sophisticated technologies and management methods were introduced, process engineers engaged in subtle yet important efforts to portray manual workers’ knowledge in derisive terms. Such boundary work led managers to institute credential barriers that restricted manual workers’ opportunities, eventually enabling engineers to gain exclusive control over analytic functions as their own “natural” domain. The study suggests that symbolic representations can have powerful consequences for the restructuring of work, reproducing social inequalities even when new technologies render them unnecessary.
International Network for Integrated Social Science
Authors: Bainbridge William Sims
Published: October 2011

Computer-related developments across the social sciences are converging on an entirely new kind of infrastructure that integrates across methodologies, disciplines, and nations. This chapter examines the potential outlined by a number of conference reports, special grant competitions, and recent research awards supported by the National Science Foundation. Together, these sources describe an Internet-based network of collaboratories combining survey, experimental, and geographic methodologies to serve research and education in all of the social sciences.
Strategies for Healthcare Information Systems
Authors: Spil Ton A.M. , Stegwee Robert A.
Published: October 2011

It is widely recognized that the healthcare industry does not use information technology to its full potential. This book uncovers many of the reasons why large-scale implementation of healthcare information systems has not come to fruition yet. The authors provide a broad coverage of the field, ranging from strategic analysis to real-life project implementation. Moreover the book provides strategies to avoid pitfalls and direct your healthcare organization to strategic use of healthcare information systems. This section of the book will introduce the five main themes of the book and will show that the healthcare organizations are realistic laboratories for the information and communication technology scientists to do research. The five main themes are: Strategy, Network Healthcare Chain, Process Management, Knowledge Management, Standardization.
Standardization Strategies in Practice - Examples from Healthcare
Authors: Lundberg Nina , Hanseth Ole
Published: October 2011

This chapter explores some of the consequences of strategies used to develop electronic standards in healthcare, especially the consequences of electronic standards for communication work. The two standardization strategies explored are the prototype strategy used to develop intranet applications and the specification strategy used to develop Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) in healthcare. It was found that computer systems based on different electronic standards intervene in work in different ways, and that they do not always intervene in the ways they were initially intended. For example, the PACS based on the DICOM standard have primarily attained a local role, although its initial aim was to support universal image communication within healthcare. On the other hand the intranet application based on the Internet standards primarily not designed for this particular purpose has come to support communication of images and reports within the heterogeneous hospital network.
Information Technology for Intelligent Metabusiness
Authors: Joia Luiz A.
Published: October 2011

This chapter presents a framework to integrate effectively different information technologies in order to raise the intelligence and manage the knowledge of a metabusiness, an innovative business model. The concept of intelligence in a metabusiness is analyzed and the information technologies needed to create this new business environment are presented, as well as an integrated model based on a technology-service-process-production taxonomy. A case study addressing a major engineering company in Brazil, now playing the role of an integrator within a metabusiness, is presented in order to validate the proposed model. The main obstacles and hurdles to accomplish an intelligent metabusiness are presented as well as the solutions to overcome them. Future trends and some conclusions in this realm are presented, mainly the ones regarding how to leverage the Human and Innovation Capital in a metabusiness.
Virtual Organizing as a Strategic Approach to Stay Competitive - A Conceptual Analysis and Case Study
Authors: Keinanen Kari , Oinas-Kukkonen Harri
Published: October 2011

Organizations are faced with a great challenge when trying to compete in the complex and unstable business environment of the twenty-first century. One of the potential solutions to this challenge is the new organizational form known as a Virtual Organization (VO). The aim of this chapter is to clarify VO as a phenomenon, and to discuss different degrees of virtuality. A conceptual analysis of the phenomenon is presented, focusing on the characteristics of VO and institutional and functional views of it. This chapter shows that the institutional view fails in many ways, and that the concept of VO should be understood rather as an organizational dimension than as a specific form. This chapter emphasizes the ongoing process nature of virtual organizations, and therefore proposes to use the term ‘virtual organizing’ than ‘virtual organization.’ An empirical study seeks to find out how the key principles of Venkatraman and Henderson’s descriptive VO model have been applied in a target organization. At the same time, the model is also evaluated. The empirical study shows that the model used provides a useful vehicle for analyzing the competitive effect of the target organization.
Exploring the Vision of "Anytime, Anywhere" in the Context of Mobile Work
Authors: Wiberg Mikael , Ljungberg Fredrik
Published: October 2011

This chapter explores the vision of “anytime, anywhere” in the context of mobile work. The exploration is done empirically. Using qualitative research methods, we studied to what extent the work tasks they do are dependent on time and place. We analyzed the data using a 2x2 matrix, with the two axes “time” and “space,” which both have the categories “dependent” and “independent.” One of the four situations is “anytime, any where,” while the other three are dependent on time, place or both. We found instances of work in all four categories. Some traveling seems very difficult to escape, simply because there are places that staff need to visit physically to do their job. For example, to repair a telephone pole, you need to go there. We also found there are timeframes that staff cannot escape. For example, rebooting parts of the telephone network has to be done at night. Lastly, there are work tasks that seem pretty much independent of time and space, e.g., scheduling and rescheduling of activities. Accordingly, the vision of “anytime, anywhere” is not easy to realize in the case of the mobile workers we studied.
Trends in Information Technology in Small Businesses
Authors: Doukidis Georgios I. , Smithson Steve , Lybereas Takis
Published: October 2011

It is widely recognized that IT has made considerable inroads into large organizations, such that the majority now rely on IT for their day-to-day operations. The position regarding small businesses is less clear as they face somewhat different opportunities and constraints. In particular, the approach to the introduction of IT into small firms in less developed national IT environments has received little attention in the literature. This chapter reports on the results of a survey of the approaches adopted by small firms in Greece. The findings are analyzed in terms of previous experience with computers, factors influencing the decision to adopt IT, advice received, staff involvement in IS development, training and problems encountered and the solutions adopted. The results are compared with a study performed five years earlier in order to identify recent trends.
Utilization and User Satisfaction in End-User Computing
Authors: Kim Changki , Suh Kunsoo , Lee Jinjoo
Published: October 2011

There has been much controversy regarding the relationship between utilization and user satisfaction. Moreover, conflicting empirical results on that relationship have been reported. Based on the information processing view, a new, alternative model which can resolve this conflict is suggested. The model includes the congruence of task uncertainty and utilization and the contingent effect of task uncertainty on the relationship between utilization and user satisfaction in the context of end-user computing (EUC). This new model is moderately supported by an analysis of data obtained from 134 end-users in 16 Korean business organizations. The results imply that we should pay attention to the fit between task uncertainty and utlization to promote user satisfaction. The results also provide a framework which resolves the inconsistent relationship between utilization and user satisfaction. Implications and future research directions are drawn for further research on MIS and EUC and for the management of EUC.