bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Application of Social Cognitive Theory to Training for Computer Skills
Authors: Compeau Deborah R. , Higgins Christopher A.
Published: October 2008

While computer training is widely recognized as an essential contributor to the productive use of computers in organizations, very little research has focused on identifying the processes through which training operates, and the relative effectiveness of different methods for such training. This research examined the training process, and compared a behavior modeling training program, based on Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura [Bandura, A. 1977. Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psych. Rev. 84(2) 191–215; Bandura, A. 1978. Reflections on self-efficacy. Adv. Behavioral Res. Therapy 1 237–269; Bandura, A. 1982. Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. Amer. Psychologist 372 122–147; Bandura, A. 1986. Social Foundations of Thought and Action. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.]), to a more traditional, lecture-based program. According to Social Cognitive Theory, watching others performing a behavior, in this case interacting with a computer system, influences the observers' perceptions of their own ability to perform the behavior, or self-efficacy, and the expected outcomes that they perceive, as well as providing strategies for effective performance. The findings provide only partial support for the research model. Self-efficacy exerted a strong influence on performance in both models. In addition, behavior modeling was found to be more effective than the traditional method for training in Lotus 1-2-3, resulting in higher self-efficacy and higher performance. For WordPerfect, however, modeling did not significantly influence performance. This finding was unexpected, and several possible explanations are explored in the discussion. Of particular surprise were the negative relationships found between outcome expectations and performance. Outcome expectations were expected to positively influence performance, but the results indicated a strong negative effect. Measurement limitations are presented as the most plausible explanation for this result, but further research is necessary to provide conclusive explanations.
The Effect of Coordination and Uncertainty on Software Project Performance: Residual Performance Risk as an Intervening Variable
Authors: Nidumolu Sarma
Published: October 2008

In this research, a study of the effects of coordination mechanisms and risk drivers such as project uncertainty on the performance of software development projects was conducted. Two types of coordination mechanisms were considered: vertical and horizontal. The former refers to the extent to which coordination between users and IS staff is undertaken by authorized entities such as project managers or steering committees. The latter refers to the extent to which coordination is undertaken through mutual adjustments and communications between users and IS staff. A new research model was developed by synthesizing research using the structural contingency perspective from Organization Theory and the risk-based perspective in Software Engineering. The model suggests that residual performance risk, i.e., the difficulty in estimating performance-related outcomes during the later stages of the project, can clarify the relationship between project uncertainty, coordination mechanisms and performance. Eight hypotheses were derived from the model for empirical testing. Data were collected from 64 software development projects in the banking and other industries. The results provide considerable support for a revised research model. As expected, project uncertainty increases residual performance risk. Both in turn have a direct negative effect on performance. Vertical coordination significantly reduces both project uncertainty and residual performance risk. However, horizontal coordination does not have any significant effect on residual performance risk. Instead, it has a direct positive effect on project performance. Moreover, higher levels of both vertical and horizontal coordination lead to higher levels of overall performance. Their differential impacts on residual performance risk are interesting areas of future research.
Modeling Coordination in Software Construction: An Analytical Approach
Authors: Koushik Murlidhar V. , Mookerjee Vijay S.
Published: October 2008

Software development projects are typically team efforts, wherein groups of specialists work toward the common goal of building a software system. The individual efforts of team members need to be coordinated to ensure product quality and effectiveness of the team. In this paper we model the process of coordination in the construction phase of incrementally developed, modular software systems. The analytical model proposed here supports macro-level decisions regarding the development team size and the coordination policy, based upon micro-level interactions between the modules in a system. The objective in this model is to minimize the effort spent on coordination activities subject to the requirement that the system must be completed within a specified period.

Results from the model are used to examine coordination related trade-offs. We show that: (1) more complex systems need a higher level of coordination than simpler ones, (2) if the time available for construction reduces, it is optimal to reduce the level of coordination, and (3) marginal productive output is a diminishing function of team size. The sensitivity of the analytical model with respect to its assumptions is studied by constructing a set of simulation experiments where these assumptions are relaxed. The results of these experiments provide support in establishing the robustness of the analytical model.
Research Report—The Relevance of Application Domain Knowledge: The Case of Computer Program Comprehension
Authors: Shaft Teresa M. , Vessey Iris
Published: October 2008

The field of software, has, to date, focused almost exclusively on application-independent approaches. In this research, we demonstrate the role of application domain knowledge in the processes used to comprehend computer programs. Our research sought to reconcile two apparently conflicting theories of computer program comprehension by proposing a key role for knowledge of the application domain under examination. We argue that programmers use more top-down comprehension processes when they are familiar with the application domain. When the application domain is unfamiliar, programmers use processes that are more bottom-up in nature. We conducted a protocol analysis study of 24 professional programmers comprehending programs in familiar and unfamiliar application domains. Our findings confirm our thesis.
Reconciling Variance and Process Strategies for Studying Information System Development
Authors: Sabherwal Rajiv , Robey Daniel
Published: October 2008

Information systems researchers commonly describe variance and process strategies for studying information system development (ISD) as alternatives that may be difficult to reconcile. In this paper, we argue that it is possible to reconcile these two strategies, despite the clear differences that exist between them. Some possible methods of combining variance and process strategies are examined, the most powerful of which jointly applies these strategies while maintaining their distinct forms. This method is used in this paper, with variance strategy being implemented using levels of participation of key actors and process strategy being implemented using sequences of actions. Based on empirical analysis of 50 ISD projects, five clusters of ISD processes are examined. Results show that projects that are similar based on levels of participation are also similar based on event sequences, thus indicating that variance and process strategies can be reconciled. The insights that variance strategy, process strategy, and joint application provide into each cluster are examined.
Improving the Performance Stability of Inductive Expert Systems Under Input Noise
Authors: Mookerjee Vijay S. , Mannino Michael V. , Gilson Robert
Published: October 2008

Inductive expert systems typically operate with imperfect or noisy input attributes. We study design differences in inductive expert systems arising from implicit versus explicit handling of input noise. Most previous approaches use an implicit approach wherein inductive expert systems are constructed using input data of quality comparable to problems the system will be called upon to solve. We develop an explicit algorithm (ID3ecp) that uses a clean (without input errors) training set and an explicit measure of the input noise level and compare it to a traditional implicit algorithm, ID3p (the ID3 algorithm with the pessimistic pruning procedure). The novel feature of the explicit algorithm is that it injects noise in a controlled rather than random manner in order to reduce the performance variance due to noise. We show analytically that the implicit algorithm has the same expected partitioning behavior as the explicit algorithm. In contrast, however, the partitioning behavior of the explicit algorithm is shown to be more stable (i.e., lower variance) than the implicit algorithm. To extend the analysis to the predictive performance of the algorithms, a set of simulation experiments is described in which the average performance and coefficient of variation of performance of both algorithms are studied on real and artificial data sets. The experimental results confirm the analytical results and demonstrate substantial differences in stability of performance between the algorithms especially as the noise level increases.
The Emergence of Interpretivism in IS Research
Authors: Walsham Geoff
Published: October 2008

This paper investigates aspects of the history and current state of interpretivism in IS research. The emergence of interpretivism is explored through the identification of a network of IS researchers working in the interpretive tradition, through an examination of the role of mainstream and alternative IS journals, and through an analysis of the rhetoric used to support interpretive claims. The paper contributes to analysis of the development of the IS field as a whole, and provides some conceptual ideas and a reference point for further work in this relatively neglected area of research.
Steps Toward an Ecology of Infrastructure: Design and Access for Large Information Spaces
Authors: Star Susan Leigh , Ruhleder Karen
Published: October 2008

We analyze a large-scale custom software effort, the Worm Community System (WCS), a collaborative system designed for a geographically dispersed community of geneticists. There were complex challenges in creating this infrastructural tool, ranging from simple lack of resources to complex organizational and intellectual communication failures and tradeoffs. Despite high user satisfaction with the system and interface, and extensive user needs assessment, feedback, and analysis, many users experienced difficulties in signing on and use. The study was conducted during a time of unprecedented growth in the Internet and its utilities (1991–1994), and many respondents turned to the World Wide Web for their information exchange. Using Bateson's model of levels of learning, we analyze the levels of infrastructural complexity involved in system access and designer-user communication. We analyze the connection between systems development aimed at supporting specific forms of collaborative knowledge work, local organizational transformation, and large-scale infrastructural change.
Texas Politics and the Fax Revolution
Authors: Coopersmith Jonathan
Published: October 2008

This article analyzes the adoption and use of the fax machine to illustrate how information technology has altered the organizing process and conduct of electoral and legislative politics in Texas. The major groups studied are election campaigns, political parties, the legislature, and lobbyists. Faxing allows campaigns to do more, stay more informed, and disseminate information far more quickly and accurately than before. Consequently, the political process has accelerated significantly compared with five or ten years ago. Most obviously, the cycle for political news has shrunk from days to hours or minutes, forcing campaigns to be more organized and responsive. Faxing also enables organizations to generate a unified political theme statewide easily and quickly, creating the semblance, if not the reality, of a grassroots movement. Faxing gives centralized organizations the ability to appear decentralized and decentralized organizations the ability to act in a coordinated manner. Furthermore, faxing has increased the “technology gap” in politics. Republicans and conservative groups have proven more adept than Democrats at integrating fax machines into their operations, displaying greater strategic and tactical imagination. This divide extends into other information technologies and reflects larger cultural and historical differences between the parties.
Improvising Organizational Transformation Over Time: A Situated Change Perspective
Authors: Orlikowski Wanda J.
Published: October 2008

In this paper, I outline a perspective on organizational transformation which proposes change as endemic to the practice of organizing and hence as enacted through the situated practices of organizational actors as they improvise, innovate, and adjust their work routines over time. I ground this perspective in an empirical study which examined the use of a new information technology within one organization over a two-year period. In this organization, a series of subtle but nonetheless significant changes were enacted over time as organizational actors appropriated the new technology into their work practices, and then experimented with local innovations, responded to unanticipated breakdowns and contingencies, initiated opportunistic shifts in structure and coordination mechanisms, and improvised various procedural, cognitive, and normative variations to accommodate their evolving use of the technology. These findings provide the empirical basis for a practice-based perspective on organizational transformation. Because it is grounded in the micro-level changes that actors enact over time as they make sense of and act in the world, a practice lens can avoid the strong assumptions of rationality, determinism, or discontinuity characterizing existing change perspectives. A situated change perspective may offer a particularly useful strategy for analyzing change in organizations turning increasingly away from patterns of stability, bureaucracy, and control to those of flexibility, self-organizing, and learning.
Alternative Securities Trading Systems: Tests and Regulatory Implications of the Adoption of Technology
Authors: Clemons Eric K. , Weber Bruce W.
Published: October 2008

Reasons for the mixed reactions to today's electronic off-exchange trading systems are examined, and regulatory implications are explored. Information technology (IT) could provide more automated markets, which have lower costs. Yet for an electronic trading system to form a liquid and widely used market, a sufficient number of traders would need to make a transition away from established trading venues and to this alternative way of trading. This transition may not actually occur for a variety of reasons. Two tests are performed of the feasibility and the desirability of transitions to new markets. In the first test, traders in a series of economic experiments demonstrate an ability to make a transition and develop a critical mass of trading activity in a newly opened market. In the second test, simulation is used to compare the floor-based specialist auction in place in most U.S. stock exchanges today to a disintermediated alternative employing screen-based order matching. The results indicate that reducing the role of dealer-intermediaries can actually diminish important measures of market quality. Our findings suggest that the low trading volumes on many off-exchange systems do not result from traders' inability to break away from established trading floors. Rather, today's off-exchange trading systems are not uniformly superior to the trading mechanisms of traditional exchanges. Thus, regulatory actions favoring off-exchange trading systems are not warranted; but, improved designs for IT-based trading mechanisms are needed, and when these are available, they are likely to win significant trading volume from established exchanges.
Process Structuring in Electronic Brainstorming
Authors: Dennis Alan R. , Valacich Joseph S. , Connolly Terry , Wynne Bayard E.
Published: October 2008

One aspect of brainstorming that has received little research attention is how the brainstorming problem should be presented to the group, whether as one all-encompassing question or as a series of separate questions each focusing on one aspect of the problem. This paper reports the results of two experiments in which subjects (MBAs in the first, senior executives in the second) electronically brainstormed on intact problems (where all parts of the problem were presented simultaneously) or on decomposed problems (where three subcategories of the problem were sequentially posed to the groups). In both experiments, groups using the decomposed process generated 60% more ideas. We attribute these differences to the ability of time constraints to increase the rate of idea generation, and the ability of problem decomposition to refocus members' attention more evenly across the entire problem.
Research Commentary: Rethinking “Diversity” in Information Systems Research
Authors: Benbasat Izak , Weber Ron
Published: October 2008

Three types of diversity have been prominent in the Information Systems discipline for over a decade: (a) diversity in the problems addressed; (b) diversity in the theoretical foundations and reference disciplines used to account for IS phenomena; and (c) diversity in the methods used to collect, analyze, and interpret data. History has played a major part in encouraging IS researchers to use diversity as a means of countering criticisms of their discipline and increasing their research rigor and productivity. In particular, frequent recourse to reference disciplines has underpinned much of the research that has been undertaken since the early 1980s. There are now signs, however, that the level of diversity that currently exists in IS research may be problematic. In this paper, we consider some of the benefits and costs of allowing diversity to reign in the IS discipline. We also propose a structure that we hope will facilitate discourse on the benefits and costs of diversity and on the role that diversity should now play in the IS discipline.
The Calculus of Reengineering
Authors: Barua Anitesh , Sophie Lee C. H. , Whinston Andrew B.
Published: October 2008

Advances in new Information Technologies (IT) and changes in the business environment such as globalization and competitive pressure have prompted organizations to embark on reengineering projects involving significant investments in IT and business process redesign. However, the evidence of payoff from such investments can be classified as mixed as best, a problem we partly attribute to the absence of a strong theoretical foundation to assess and analyze reengineering projects. We seek to apply complementarity theory and a business value modeling approach to address some questions involving what, when, and how much to reengineer. Complementarity theory is based on the notion that the value of having more of one factor increases by having more of another complementary factor. Further, related developments in the optimization of “supermodular” functions provide a useful way to maximize net benefits by exploiting complementary relationships between variables of interest. Combining this theory with a multi-level business value model showing relationships between key performance measures and their drivers, we argue that organizational payoff is maximized when several factors relating to IT, decision authority, business processes and incentives are changed in a coordinated manner in the right directions by the right magnitude to move toward an ideal design configuration. Our analysis further shows that when a complementary reengineering variable is left unchanged either due to myopic vision or self-interest, the organization will not be able to obtain the full benefits of reengineering due to smaller optimal changes in the other variables. We also show that by increasing the cost of changing the levels of design variables, unfavorable pre-existing conditions (e.g., too much heterogeneity in the computing environment) can lead to reengineering changes of smaller magnitude than in a setting with favorable conditions.
Effects of Communication Mode and Prediscussion Information Distribution Characteristics on Information Exchange in Groups
Authors: Hightower Ross , Sayeed Lutfus
Published: October 2008

One advantage of groups is that they have access to a larger pool of expertise and knowledge than individual group members. However, groups are sometimes ineffective at exchanging information. This tendency has been called biased discussion. The present study examines the effects of communication mode (face-to-face vs. computer mediated), and Prediscussion information distribution characteristics on biased discussion. Biased discussion was found to occur to a greater degree when communication mode was computer-mediated, and the group members were not in conflict prior to the discussion.
Redesigning Case Retrieval to Reduce Information Acquisition Costs
Authors: Mookerjee Vijay S. , Mannino Michael V.
Published: October 2008

Retrieval of a set of cases similar to a new case is a problem common to a number of machine learning approaches such as nearest neighbor algorithms, conceptual clustering, and case based reasoning. A limitation of most case retrieval algorithms is their lack of attention to information acquisition costs. When information acquisition costs are considered, cost reduction is hampered by the practice of separating concept formation and retrieval strategy formation.

To demonstrate the above claim, we examine two approaches. The first approach separates concept formation and retrieval strategy formation. To form a retrieval strategy in this approach, we develop the CRlc (case retrieval loss criterion) algorithm that selects attributes in ascending order of expected loss. The second approach jointly optimizes concept formation and retrieval strategy formation using a cost based variant of the ID3 algorithm (ID3c). ID3c builds a decision tree wherein attributes are selected using entropy reduction per unit information acquisition cost.

Experiments with four data sets are described in which algorithm, attribute cost coefficient of variation, and matching threshold are factors. The experimental results demonstrate that (i) jointly optimizing concept formation and retrieval strategy formation has substantial benefits, and (ii) using cost considerations can significantly reduce information acquisition costs, even if concept formation and retrieval strategy formation are separated.
Measuring Software Engineering Evolution: A Rasch Calibration
Authors: Dekleva Sasa , Drehmer David
Published: October 2008

This investigation provides an empirical scaling of software engineering practices derived from the software process maturity model developed by the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University (Humphrey et al. [Humphrey, W. S., D. H. Kitson, T. C. Kasse. 1989. The state of software engineering practice: A preliminary report. Technical Report CMU/SEI-89-TR-1 ESD-TR-89-01, Carnegie-Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA.]). An analysis of data collected in an extended software maintenance study has shown that the responses to Humphrey's key software practice items fit the Rasch psychometric model providing an alternative framework in which to understand the software development practices. The Rasch model analysis describes the likelihood of a practice deployment for any level of evolution and provides precise and meaningful measures.
Executive Decisions About Adoption of Information Technology in Small Business: Theory and Empirical Tests
Authors: Harrison David A. , Mykytyn Peter P. , Riemenschneider Cynthia K.
Published: October 2008

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used to explain and predict small business executives’ decisions to adopt information technology (IT). These theories were tested in a multiphase field study involving 162 small businesses (25 ≤ n ≤ 200 employees) from a broad set of industries considering a variety of ITs. Results indicate strong support for a decision process based on attitude (perceived positive and negative consequences for the firm), subjective norm (social expectations), and perceived control (resources to overcome obstacles) regarding IT adoption. Additional variables such as firm and individual executive characteristics had no unique effect on adoption decisions. However, as business size increased, so did the importance of expectations from the (social) environment, while the importance of intra-firm consequences and control over potential adoption barriers declined.
Research Report: Information Technology and Investment Incentives in Distributed Operations
Authors: Nault Barrie R.
Published: October 2008

In distributed operations with positive externalities between branches, local underinvestment occurs because one branch does not account for the impact of its actions on other branches. Previous work found that an IT-enabled incentive mechanism called “ownership of customers” (OoC) reduced the problem of local underinvestment by accounting for inter-branch transactions. This report examines the impact of including investment by a central office on the set of previously developed results for local investment by branches. It shows that ownership of customers can reduce the problem of both central and local underinvestment. It also demonstrates how central investment can yield second-best levels of profitability—optimal profits given contracting problems in local investment with branches. It highlights how charging branches a unit fee to fund the needed level of central investment is consistent with that second-best solution.
Research Report: The Effectiveness of Multiple Dialogues in Electronic Brainstorming
Authors: Dennis Alan R. , Valacich Joseph S. , Carte Traci A. , Garfield Monica J. , Haley Barbara J. , Aronson Jay E.
Published: October 2008

Members of brainstorming groups often pursue the same set of ideas rather than considering a wide and diverse range of ideas, which may reduce the number of ideas they produce. One way to reduce this cognitive inertia may be to encourage groups to engage in several simultaneous discussions or dialogues. This experiment, which studied groups brainstorming electronically, found that groups generated more ideas, more high-quality ideas, and more novel ideas when using multiple dialogues than when using single dialogues.
A Respecification and Extension of the DeLone and McLean Model of IS Success
Authors: Seddon Peter B.
Published: October 2008

DeLone and McLean's (DeLone, W. H., E. R. McLean. 1992. Information systems success: The quest for the dependent variable. Inform. Systems Res. 3(1) 60–95.) comprehensive review of different information system success measures concludes with a model of “temporal and causal” interdependencies between their six categories of IS Success. After working with this model for some years, it has become apparent that the inclusion of both variance and process interpretations in their model leads to so many potentially confusing meanings that the value of the model is diminished. Because of the confusion that this overloading of meanings can cause, this paper presents and justifies a respecified and slightly extended version of DeLone and McLean's model.
Empirical Evidence on Swanson's Tri-Core Model of Information Systems Innovation
Authors: Grover Varun , Fiedler Kirk , Teng James
Published: October 2008

Research in IS innovation has been isolated and fragmented. These studies typically examine single innovations and do not effectively integrate notions of IS innovation with organizational innovation. Swanson (Swanson, E. B. 1994. Information systems innovation among organizations. Management Sci. 40(9) 1069–1088.) extends the prior dual-core model of innovation into a tri-core model specifically for the unique nature of IS innovation. This model provides a useful typology of IS innovation that can form the foundation for innovation theory in this important area. In this paper we present Swanson's tri-core model of IS innovation along with preliminary data to test aspects of the model proposed by Swanson. Adoption of ten IS innovations is studied using two analyses, one based only on adopter sub-samples and the other using a more rigorous treatment of nonadopters based on survival analysis. The objective of this study is simple—to test theory and encourage continued focused inquiry in IS innovation. The results of this study provide partial support for the proposed hypotheses, leading us to conclude on an optimistic note regarding the viability of this model as an integrating frame-work for IS innovation.
Research Report: Diffusion of Information Systems Outsourcing: A Reevaluation of Influence Sources
Authors: Hu Qing , Saunders Carol , Gebelt Mary
Published: October 2008

Information systems outsourcing is an increasingly popular IS management practice in companies of all sizes. Examining the adoption of IS outsourcing from the well-developed theoretical foundation of innovation diffusion may shed some light on significant factors that affect the adoption decision, and clarify some misperceptions. This study explores the sources of influence in the adoption of IS outsourcing. Using a sample of 175 firms that outsourced their IS functions during the period from January 1985 to January 1995, we tested three hypotheses of sources of influences using four diffusion models: internal influence, external influence, and two mixed influence models. Our findings suggest that the mixed influence is the dominant influence factor in the diffusion of IS outsourcing, and that there is no evidence of the “Kodak effect” in the IS diffusion process. This directly contradicts the conclusions of the Loh and Venkatraman (1992) study. Further discussions are provided about the potential problems in studies of influence sources of IT innovation diffusion.
When Processes Learn: Steps Toward Crafting an Intelligent Organization
Authors: Zhu Dan , Prietula Michael J. , Hsu Wen Ling
Published: October 2008

Two trends in information systems research provide an opportunity to add an additional link between information technology and organizational learning. First, there is an increasing penetration of information technology into the firm's processes and structures. Second, research in artificial intelligence has given rise to the first generation of fully computational architectures of general intelligence. In this research note we explore a melding of these two trends. In particular, we present the crafting of an organizational process which can learn, and develop and apply a new set of organizational learning metrics to that process. The process is a simplification of a complex, parallel-machine production scheduling task performed in a local manufacturing firm. The system, Dispatcher-Soar, generally supports a symbolic, constraint propagation approach based, in part, on the reasoning methods of the human scheduler at the firm. The implementation of this process is based on a dispatching rule used by the expert. The behavior of Dispatcher-Soar centered around a small case study examining the effects of scheduling volume and learning on performance. Results indicated that the knowledge gained can reduce within-trial scheduling effort. An analysis of the generated knowledge structures (chunks) provided insight into how that learning was accomplished and contributed to process improvements. As the knowledge generated was in a form standardized to a common architecture, metics were used to evaluate the production efficiency (ηprod), utility (ηutil) and effectiveness (ηeff) of the accumulated organizational knowledge across trials.
Reengineering the Dutch Flower Auctions: A Framework for Analyzing Exchange Organizations
Authors: Kambil Ajit , van Heck Eric
Published: October 2008

This paper specifies a generalizable model of exchange processes and develops a process-stakeholder analysis framework to evaluate alternative market designs. This framework is applied to analyze a number of information technology initiatives in the Dutch flower markets. The Dutch flower auctions are the world's leading centers for trading cut flowers and potted plants. We undertake a cross-case analysis and apply our framework to analyse successes and failures in the introduction of new IT-based trading mechanisms in these markets. Based on our study, we develop a number of testable propositions on: the separation of physical and informational processes in trading, the responses of stakeholders to changes in available information due to IT initiatives, and economic and incentive conditions required for adoption of new trading processes. Finally, our detailed cases illustrate the institutional and incentive constraints, and complexities encountered in the introduction of new electronic markets.
Integrated Modeling Environments in Organizations: An Empirical Study
Authors: Wright Gordon P. , Chaturvedi Alok R. , Mookerjee Radha V. , Garrod Susan
Published: October 2008

Considerable attention in the information systems and management science literature has focused on computer-based modeling environments, sometimes called integrated modeling environments or model management systems. This research has been primarily concerned with suggesting features/components of modeling environments such as improved executable modeling languages for model creation, integration, and data representation; specialized database systems for managing model data; and customized model-solver software. However, there has been little (if any) empirical guidance offered in the literature about the specific needs of business and industry for computer-based integrated modeling environments. Using a data set compiled from a national survey of modelers (analysts) and model users (decision makers), we empirically investigate the validity of several of the key assumptions of modeling environment research reported in the literature, and examine the relationships between the modeling factors: data complexity, model complexity, modeling intensity, modeler/user requirements, and need for computer-based integrated modeling environments in organizations.

Our empirical analysis of the data set shows that practitioners rank automated access to model data and automated error checking (e.g., model syntax and semantics checking) high as desirable components in modeling environments. We find that users prefer to have modeling environments linked to their current modeling and modeling-support software systems. Our findings further suggest that a high percentage of modelers and users are dissatisfied with the software systems they are currently using to support their modeling activities. Finally, a covariance structure analysis of the modeling environment factors clearly shows that: (a) model complexity has a direct positive effect on modeling intensity; (b) data complexity has an insignificant direct effect on modeling intensity, but has a negative effect on modeler/user requirements; and (c) modeler/user requirements have a direct positive effect on need for computer-based integrated modeling environments in organizations.
Enabling Software Development Team Performance During Requirements Definition: A Behavioral Versus Technical Approach
Authors: Guinan Patricia J. , Cooprider Jay G. , Faraj Samer
Published: October 2008

As software development projects continue to be over budget and behind schedule, researchers continue to look for ways to improve the likelihood of project success. In this research we juxtapose two different views of what influences software development team performance during the requirements development phase. In an examination of 66 teams from 15 companies we found that team skill, managerial involvement, and little variance in team experience enable more effective team processes than do software development tools and methods. Further, we found that development teams exhibit both positive and negative boundary-spanning behaviors. Team members promote and champion their projects to the outside environment, which is considered valuable by project stakeholders. They also, however, guard themselves from their environments; keeping important information a secret from stakeholders negatively predicts performance.
The Multilevel and Multifaceted Character of Computer Self-Efficacy: Toward Clarification of the Construct and an Integrative Framework for Research
Authors: Marakas George M. , Yi Mun Y. , Johnson Richard D.
Published: October 2008

Despite the recent empirical interest and advances in research with regard to the construct of computer self-efficacy (CSE), the results obtained to date have, in some cases, been either equivocal or contradictory. We suggest that such results may be attributable to a general lack of attention to the dynamic, multileveled, and multifaceted nature of the computer self-efficacy construct. We offer examples from the extant CSE literature suggesting weaknesses in existing measures of the construct as well as issues associated with manipulations and the need for control of antecedent and consequent factors directly associated with CSE. The objectives of this paper are: (1) to provide a thorough review of the extant literature related to CSE; (2) to present an integrated model of empirical findings, constructed from a wide variety of disciplines, that comprehensively defines the multifaceted nature of task-specific CSE in terms of its antecedent, consequent, and moderating factors; (3) to present a conceptual model of CSE at the general versus task-specific level; and (4) to use the two models of CSE to proffer guidelines for both measurement and manipulation of the construct. Through our review of the CSE literature, we offer several thoughts regarding the nature of the empirical results obtained to date. The combined objectives serve as a basis for establishing a foundation upon which future research investigating the CSE construct can be based.
A Paradigmatic Analysis Contrasting Information Systems Development Approaches and Methodologies
Authors: Iivari Juhani , Hirschheim Rudy , Klein Heinz K.
Published: October 2008

This paper analyses the fundamental philosophical assumptions of five “contrasting” information systems development (ISD) approaches: the interactionist approach, the speech act-based approach, the soft systems methodology approach, the trade unionist approach, and the professional work practice approach. These five approaches are selected for analysis because they illustrate alternative philosophical assumptions from the dominant “orthodoxy” identified in the research literature. The paper also proposes a distinction between “approach” and “methodology.” The analysis of the five approaches is organized around four basic questions: What is the assumed nature of an information system (ontology)? What is human knowledge and how can it be obtained (epistemology)? What are the preferred research methods for continuing the improvement of each approach (research methodology)? and what are the implied values of information system research (ethics)? Each of these questions is explored from the internal perspective of the particular ISD approach. The paper addresses these questions through a conceptual structure which is based on a paradigmatic framework for analyzing ISD approaches.
A Conceptual and Operational Definition of Personal Innovativeness in the Domain of Information Technology
Authors: Agarwal Ritu , Prasad Jayesh
Published: October 2008

The acceptance of new information technologies by their intended users persists as an important issue for researchers and practitioners of information systems. Several models have been developed in the literature to facilitate understanding of the process by which new information technologies are adopted. This paper proposes a new construct that further illuminates the relationships explicit in the technology acceptance models and describes an operational measure for this construct that possesses desirable psychometric properties. The construct, personal innovativeness in the domain of information technology, is hypothesized to exhibit moderating effects on the antecedents as well as the consequences of individual perceptions about a new information technology. The construct was developed and validated in the context of the innovation represented by the World-Wide Web. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Attention Shaping and Software Risk—A Categorical Analysis of Four Classical Risk Management Approaches
Authors: Lyytinen Kalle , Mathiassen Lars , Ropponen Janne
Published: October 2008

This paper examines software risk management in a novel way, emphasizing the ways in which managers address software risks through sequential attention shaping and intervention. Software risks are interpreted as incongruent states within a socio-technical model of organizational change that includes task, structure, technology, and actors. Such incongruence can lead to failures in developing or implementing the system and thus to major losses. Based on this model we synthesize a set of software risk factors and risk resolution techniques, which cover the socio-technical components and their interactions. We use the model to analyze how four classical risk management approaches—McFarlan's portfolio approach, Davis' contingency approach, Boehm's software risk approach, and Alter's and Ginzberg's implementation approach—shape managerial attention. This analysis shows that the four approaches differ significantly in their view of the manager's role and possible actions. We advise managers to be aware of the limitations of each approach and to combine them to orchestrate comprehensive risk management practices in a context. Overall, the paper provides a new interpretation of software risk management which goes beyond a narrow system rationalism by suggesting a contingent, contextual, and multivariate view of software development.
Testing Media Richness Theory in the New Media: The Effects of Cues, Feedback, and Task Equivocality
Authors: Dennis Alan R. , Kinney Susan T.
Published: October 2008

Media richness theory argues that performance improves when team members use “richer” media for equivocal tasks. This experiment studied the effects of media richness on decision making in two-person teams using “new media” (i.e., computer-mediated and video communication). Media richness was varied based on multiplicity of cues and immediacy of feedback. Subjects perceived differences in richness due to both cues and feedback, but matching richness to task equivocality did not improve decision quality, decision time, consensus change, or communication satisfaction. Use of media providing fewer cues (i.e., computer mediated communication) led to slower decisions and more so for the less equivocal task. In short, the results found no support for the central proposition of media richness theory; matching media richness to task equivocality did not improve performance.
Understanding Post-Adoption Behavior in the Context of Online Services
Authors: Parthasarathy Madhavan , Bhattacherjee Anol
Published: October 2008

This paper examines post-adoption behavior (continued adoption versus discontinuance) within the context of online service use. Innovation diffusion theory is used as a theoretical framework to extend information technology adoption research to the case of post-adoption behavior. This theory is used to formulate 11 research hypotheses distinguishing discontinuers from continuing adopters and exploring reasons behind their discontinuance (replacement versus disenchantment). These hypotheses were then empirically tested using data collected from a field survey of online service users. Our results indicate that potential discontinuers can be discriminated from continued adopters based on their sources of influence (external and interpersonal), perceived service attributes (usefulness and compatibility), service utilization, and network externality (complementary product usage), during their time of initial adoption. We also found that later adopters are more likely to discontinue due to disenchantment than replacement, and are more influenced by interpersonal sources and utilize the service less during their adoption period than replacement discontinuers. Implications for research and practice are drawn.
A Descriptive Model of Consumer Information Search Behavior
Authors: Meyer Robert J.
Published: October 2008

An algebraic model of the consumer information search process is described. The model is one which seeks to describe the nature of decision making during search, including how consumers form expectations with respect to sets of potential choice alternatives, decide which alternatives to “focus in on” during the search, and update expectations in light of gathered information. A series of experiments are then reported in which several aspects of the model are tested empirically. Results uniformly support the predictions of the model. A discussion of the implications of the research for work in information search behavior is provided.
Modelling Retail Customer Behavior at Merrill Lynch
Authors: Morrison Donald G. , Chen Richard D. H. , Karpis Sandra L. , Britney Kathryn E. A.
Published: October 2008

A two state Markov chain model is used to describe and forecast the over time behavior of the best retail customers at Merrill Lynch. This model has 4 behaviorally meaningful parameters which capture the effect of recently being a prime customer, the differing average commissions generated across customers and the exiting of some of these customers from the Merrill Lynch system. This model helps management to understand the dynamics of the prime customers' behavior. In particular, the forecasts generated by the model allow for better analyses of possible strategies for providing special services for these very good customers. The model which was developed with 1976–1979 data is validated against the actual 1980 behavior of Merrill Lynch customers.
Technical Note—Simplified Estimation Procedures for MCI Models
Authors: Nakanishi Masao , Cooper Lee G.
Published: October 2008

Structural transformations of the MCI model are presented which make the model easily estimated using dummy variables with widely available regression packages. The MCI model is empirically shown to provide better predictive power than several other models of similar form, but ones which do not produce logically consistent market share estimates.
Three-Way Multivariate Conjoint Analysis
Authors: DeSarbo Wayne S. , Carroll J. Douglas , Lehmann Donald R. , O'Shaughnessy John
Published: October 2008

Three-Way Multivariate Conjoint Analysis is developed as an extension of traditional metric conjoint analysis allowing one to examine several dependent variables simultaneously, as well as individual differences in response. Four nested models are developed to examine the effects of the experimental design, the dependent variables, and individual differences. An illustration concerning the relationship of product characteristics to the importance of various decision-making criteria for industrial purchasing is provided. Finally, extensions of the model(s) to other marketing applications and nonmetric analyses are discussed.