bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Organisational Challenges of Implementing E-Business in the Public Services
Authors: Andreescu Francesca
Published: February 2011

Underpinning £136 billion of economic activity in the United Kingdom, Britain’s National Mapping Agency is a commercialising public sector organisation having trading fund status and existing in the intersection of two different spheres—the public and the private. Recognised as a leading participant in the geographic information industry, within which it is forging partnerships with key private sector companies, the organisation has enthusiastically grasped e-business as an all-embracing phenomenon and implemented a new strategy that transformed the way it did business. Drawing on longitudinal data gathered over a period of four years, this article explores the processes of strategic and organisational transformation engendered by e-business implementation in this organisation and discusses the successful elements, as well as some of the challenges to its change efforts.
Investigating the Impact of Customer Relationship Management Practices of E-Commerce on Online Customer's Web Site Satisfaction
Authors: Lee Su-Fang , Jih Wen-Jang ("Kenny") , Fang Shyh-Rong
Published: February 2011

This study addresses the effect of customer relationship management (CRM) practices on online customers’ satisfaction with their experience in interacting with the company Web sites. Recognizing the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship with customers, companies are actively seeking ways to enhance the customer value of their offerings through relationship marketing. Since effective managing of customer relationships essentially involves managing customer information flow, Internet technologies have become an important element of a firm’s CRM program. The company Web site is functioning as the focal point of contact for interacting with existing and prospective customers. An important concern is how the company Web site affects customers’ overall perception of the Web site. Using the concepts of Internet-mediated market orientation in marketing and user satisfaction in information systems, this study formulated and validated a theoretical model to analyze causal relationships between CRM practices, customers’ perception of a Web site’s online customer orientation and online customer Web site satisfaction. Based on the structural equation modeling analysis of the primary data collected in Taiwan, the study found that CRM practices positively impact online customers’ Web site satisfaction through their perception of the Web site’s customer orientation.
The Impact of E-CRM on Organisational and Individual Behavior
Authors: Letaifa Soumaya Ben , Perrien Jean
Published: February 2011

This article examines how electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM) has affected both organizational and individual behavior in a leading Canadian bank. The innovative and customer-driven culture of this bank pushed it toward early adoption of e-CRM technology. The findings emphasize the role played by many strategic and organizational dimensions in the success of e-CRM implementation. In fact, to make e-CRM efforts pay off, new business pro-cesses are required to achieve more effective and closer interactions with customers. The shift toward customer orientation needs to be supported by a shift in organizational objectives and processes. The results indicate that employees’ individual behavior successfully changed from a transactional to a relational perspective and that training and coaching ensured a successful integration of e-CRM technology. Nevertheless, the employee reward and evaluation system, which should have been changed to leverage CRM impact, has surprisingly been forgotten. This deficiency is addressed by proposing a new framework for enhancing e-CRM effectiveness.
E-CRM and Managerial Discretion
Authors: Coltman Tim , Dolnicar Sara
Published: February 2011

Most sectors of industry, commerce, and government have reported variation in the performance payoff from electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM). In this paper we build on surprisingly sparse literature regarding the importance of managerial discretion to show that the heterogeneity of beliefs held by managers about e-CRM execution matter when explaining e-CRM success. Drawing on a data sample comprising 50 interviews and 293 survey responses we utilise segmentation techniques to identify significant differences in managerial beliefs and then associate these belief segments with e-CRM performance. Results indicate that (1) three distinct types of managers can be identified based on the heterogeneity of their e-CRM beliefs: mindfully optimistic, mindfully realistic, and mindfully pessimistic; (2) that there is far less homogeneity at the individual firm level than is normally assumed in the literature; (3) that het-erogeneity in managerial beliefs is systematically associated with organisational performance; and (4) these results serve to remind practitioners that e-CRM performance is dependent upon the right balance between managerial optimism and realism.
Developing a Global CRM Strategy
Authors: Shumanov Michael , Ewing Michael
Published: February 2011

While the managerial rationale for adopting customer relationship management (CRM) has been fairly well articulated in the literature, research on strategy development is scant. Moreover, reports of “CRM failures” in the popular business press have done little to inspire confidence. To date, what little research has been conducted in the area of CRM strategy development has been confined to a single country (often the U.S.). Global CRM strategy development issues have yet to be specifically addressed, particularly which elements of CRM strategy should be centralised/decentralised. The present study examines the complexities of global CRM strategy using the case of a leading financial services company. Interviews are conducted in 20 countries. Global Head Office and external IT consultant perspectives are also considered. Our findings confirm that a hybrid approach has wide practical appeal and that subsidiary orientation towards centralisation/decentralisation is moderated by firm/market size and sophistication.
From Operational Dashboards to E-business
Authors: Gasmelseid Tagelsir Mohamed
Published: February 2011

The unprecedented advancements witnessed in the field of information and communication technology over the last couple of years are significantly affecting the nature and magnitude of B2B interactions as well as their operational effectiveness and efficiency. However, interaction and contracting among global enterprises continued to be challenged by the difference of laws, authentication requirements, and endorsement constrains. With the rapidly increasing proliferation of mobile devices, wireless communication systems, and advanced computer networking protocols, the deployment of electronic contracting platforms and applications has provided many opportunities to enterprises, dictated new axioms for doing business, and gave rise to new paradigms. Together with the increasing institutional transformations, technological advancements motivated businesses to engage in an interactive process of contract formulation and negotiation.
Effects of Consumer-Perceived Convenience on Shopping Intention in Mobile Commerce
Authors: Jih Wen-Jang ("Kenny")
Published: February 2011

Wireless communication and Internet services are converging to provide an unprecedented level of convenience for online shopping. Although the concept of consumer-perceived convenience has been extensively discussed in marketing and consumer behavior literature, there still is a lack of empirical validation in the context of mobile commerce. This study was conducted to examine the effect of convenience on customers’ intention of shopping via their mobile communication devices. The primary data collected from college students in Taiwan were analyzed to examine the relationship between perceived convenience and shopping intention. The result shows a significant relationship between the two variables, and a positive effect of convenience perception on shopping intention. The findings have practical implications for mobile commerce strategists by providing more understanding of the mobile commerce success factors from a consumer behavior point of view.
How Consumer Perceptions of Network Size and Social Interactions Influence the Intention to adopt Peer-to-Peer Technologies
Authors: Song Jaeki , Walden Eric
Published: February 2011

People join peer-to-peer networks for economic and social reasons. From an economic perspective, people join peer-to-peer (P2P) networks based on the size of the networks. However, from a sociological perspective, when people adopt technologies, they create an alternative social network motivated by extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. In this study, we develop a conceptual framework for measuring the impact of economic and social factors drawn from theories of network externalities and social exchange. The preliminary data analyses show that perceived size of network influences perceived network externalities, and in turn, network externalities have an impact on intention to adopt P2P technologies. In addition, we found that social benefit is also an important antecedent of adopting P2P technologies. Our preliminary results provide insights on how people reconcile economic and social considerations when choosing to adopt a P2P technology.
Evolving E-Health System Symbiosis
Authors: Caro Denis H.J.
Published: February 2011

The 21st century continues to witness the transformation of organizational systems globally through the deployment of information and communication technologies (ICT). The emerging future is witnessing the convergence of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nomadic information systems, and nano-technology. This promises to further compel inter-organizational and inter-sectorial interactive transformations. The health care sector is no exception to the inter-organizational dynamic imperatives driven with ICT innovative advances. This article proposes a conceptual model of symbiotic e-health networks in a meta-cultural domain that goes beyond the realm of extant literature on dyadic relationships. The model dimensions are posited on a key informant approach and content analysis of the strategic perceptions of international ICT and health care executives interacting through dyadic partnerships. The findings and implications of the study for the model and further information management research are underscored. The underlying meta-cultural frame is characterized by public governance values and the article explores its perceived role in sustaining symbiotic e-health networks in Canada and Sweden.
The Role of Information Technology Knowledge in B2B Development
Authors: Ortega Blanca Hernandez , Martinez Julio Jimenez , De Hoyos Ma Jose Martin
Published: February 2011

The objective of this work is to analyse the importance of firms’ previous experience with different information technologies (Internet, electronic data interchange (EDI)) in their implementation of e-Customer Relationship Management (e-CRM) and B2B. Moreover, we also study the role of e-CRM in B2B development. The results show that experience with systems such as EDI or Internet has a direct influence on the use of e-CRM. There is also a direct and positive transmission of knowledge from e-CRM to B2B, though the former has not been adopted intensively by firms yet. Companies should be aware of the interrelations that exist between the different information technologies. The knowledge accumulated from using a technological innovation can be considered an important aspect of organisational knowledge, which allows firms to obtain a number of benefits as a result of applying systems that are complementary.
Nibbling, Sniping, and the Role of Uncertainty in Second-Price, Hard-Close Internet Auctions
Authors: Friesner Daniel , Bozman Carl S. , McPherson Matthew Q.
Published: February 2011

Internet auctions have gained widespread appeal as an efficient and effective means of buying and selling goods and services. This study examines buyer behavior on eBay, one of the most well-known Internet auction Web sites. eBay’s auction format is similar to that of a second-price, hard-close auction, which gives a rational participant an incentive to submit a bid that is equal to his or her maximum willingness to pay. But while traditional second-price, hard-close auctions assume that participants have reliable information about their own and other bidders’ reservation prices, eBay participants usually do not. This raises the possibility that eBay participants may adapt their bidding strategies and not actually bid their reservation prices because of increased uncertainty. In this article, we empirically examine the bidding patterns of online auction participants and compare our findings to the behavior of bidders in more conventional auction settings.
Measuring e-Commerce Technology Enabled Business Value
Authors: Mahmood M. Adam , Gemoets Leopoldo , Hall Laura L. , López Francisco J. , Mariadas Ritesh
Published: February 2011

While a plethora of anecdotal evidence exists, there is little empirical evidence on the value-creating potential of e-commerce technologies. The present research investigates whether firms using e-commerce technologies are successful in generating business value and, if so, what e-commerce drivers determine success and how to best use these drivers. This work shows how diffusion theory can be used to analyze the wide-spread utilization of e-commerce technologies and how they create business value. It presents an exploratory model of e-commerce business value grounded in information technology (IT) business value and productivity literature. We use a sample from more than 550 company executives, identified as innovative and successful users of IT.
E-Consumer Behaviour
Authors: Bourlakis M. , Papagiannidis S. , Fox Helen
Published: February 2011

Shopping online has emerged as one of the most popular Internet applications, providing a plethora of purchasing opportunities for consumers and sales challenges for retailers. The aim of this paper is to shed further light on the past and present status of the e-consumer phenomenon, by looking into online shopping behaviour and by examining the major reasons for being motivated or being de-motivated from buying online, focusing on the trust element. Building on that analysis, the possible future status of e-consumer behaviour is presented via an examination of ubiquitous retailing, which denotes the next stage of that retail revolution.
The Driving Forces of Customer Loyalty
Authors: Cheng T.C.E. , Lai L.C.F. , Yeung A.C.L.
Published: February 2011

In this study we examine the driving forces of customer loyalty in the broadband market in Hong Kong. We developed and empirically tested a model to examine the antecedents of customer loyalty towards Internet service providers (ISPs) in Hong Kong. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to evaluate the proposed model. A total of 737 valid returns were obtained through a questionnaire survey. The results show that customer satisfaction, switching cost, and price perception are antecedents that lead directly to customer loyalty, with customer satisfaction exerting the greatest influence. Although we found that service quality significantly influences customer satisfaction, which in turn leads to customer loyalty, we did not find a direct relationship between service quality and customer loyalty. Our results also reveal that corporate image is not related to customer loyalty. Our empirical investigation suggests that investing huge resources in building corporate image can indeed be a risky strategy for ISPs.
The Internet as a Complementary Resource for SMEs
Authors: Schlemmer Frank , Webb Brian
Published: February 2011

It has been suggested that the Internet can be used to leverage a firm’s strategic assets. However, empirical research on complementarity is still rare and frequently inconclusive, especially in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises. We propose a theoretical framework with the independent variables business resources, dynamic capabilities and IT assets. Survey data of 146 small firms suggest that the Internet is complementary with business resources and dynamic capabilities but not with IT assets. Therefore, the framework may enable small firm managers to create competitive advantage by identifying strategic assets that are complementary with the Internet. Furthermore, our research our research highlights the threat of an over-investment in IT assets.
Information Technology Interventions for Growth and Competitiveness in Micro-Enterprises
Authors: Qureshil Sajda , Kamal Mehruz , Wolcott Peter
Published: February 2011

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) have the potential to enable these businesses to grow through access to new markets and administrative efficiencies. However, the growth of the smallest of these SMEs which are micro-enterprises is hindered by their inability to adopt ICTs. This paper investigates how micro-enterprises can adopt ICTs to grow and achieve competitiveness. It investigates a set of seven micro-enterprises through an interpretive field study in which action research was used to diagnose and treat the micro-enterprises. This was done using interventions through a process called “Information Technology (IT) Therapy”. This process involved providing individualized IT solutions to pressing problems and opportunities. The increase in competitiveness of these micro-enterprises was assessed using the Focus Dominance Model and their growth through a modified model of micro-enterprise growth. This research contributes to assisting micro-enterprises achieve sustained growth and competitive advantage.
Consumer Responses to the Introduction of Privacy Protection Measures
Authors: Xu Heng
Published: February 2011

Information privacy is at the center of discussion and controversy among multiple stakeholders including business leaders, privacy activists, and government regulators. However, conceptualizations of information privacy have been somewhat patchy in current privacy literature. In this article, we review the conceptualizations of information privacy through three different lenses (information exchange, social contract and information control), and then try to build upon previous literature from multiple theoretical lenses to create a common understanding of the organization-consumer information interaction in the context of Business-to-Consumer electronic commerce (B2C e-commence). We argue that consumers’ privacy beliefs are influenced by the situational and environmental cues that signal the level of privacy protections in a particular environment. The framework developed in this research should be of interest to academic researchers, e-commerce vendors, legislators, industry self-regulators, and designers of privacy enhancing technologies.
A Model-Based Privacy Compliance Checker
Authors: Pearson Siani , Allison Damien
Published: February 2011

Increasingly, e-business organisations are coming under pressure to be compliant to a range of privacy legislation, policies and best practice. There is a clear need for high-level management and administrators to be able to assess in a dynamic, customisable way the degree to which their enterprise complies with these. We outline a solution to this problem in the form of a model-driven automated privacy process analysis and configuration checking system. This system models privacy compliance constraints, automates the assessment of the extent to which a particular computing environment is compliant and generates dashboard-style reports that highlight policy failures. We have developed a prototype that provides this functionality in the context of governance audit; this includes the development of software agents to gather information on-the-fly regarding selected privacy enhancing technologies and other aspects of enterprise system configuration. This approach may also be tailored to enhance the assurance provided by existing governance tools.
An Executable Language/Enactment Engine Approach for Designing and Architecting Process-Aware Web Applications
Authors: Rossi Davide , Turrini Elisa
Published: February 2011

Driven by an emerging class of applications, the Web is evolving into a Business System. Web-based business applications allow the participation of several actors to complex enterprise-wide (or even multi-enterprise) business processes and pose new challenges to the software designers and software architects. The design models have to address both navigational and process-based interactions; the software architecture has to provide the components to enact the process and has to define how these components interoperate with the other components of the Web applications. In this article we show how, promoting an effective separation of concerns, a process modeling language and its enactment engine can be used in the modeling and implementation of process-aware Web applications.
AGATHE
Authors: Espinasse Bernard , Fournier Sébastien , Freitas Fred
Published: February 2011

Due to Web size and diversity of information, relevant information gathering on the Web turns out to be a highly complex task. The main problem with most information retrieval approaches is neglecting pages’ context, given their inner deficiency: search engines are based on keyword indexing which cannot capture context. Considering restricted domains, taking into account contexts may lead to more relevant and accurate information gathering. In the last years, we have conducted research with this hypothesis, and proposed an agent- and ontology-based restricted-domain cooperative information gathering approach accordingly, that permit the development of specific information gathering systems. In this article, we present this novel approach based on these guiding ideas, and a generic software architecture, named AGATHE, which is a full-fledged scalable multi-agent system.
From Virtual Organization to E-Business
Authors: Lee James J. , Jayatilaka Bandula , Kim Ben B. , Lee Ted E. , Katerattanakul Pairin , Hong Soongoo
Published: February 2011

This article shows how the technical hype of 1990s has been transformed into the e-business organizations at the beginning of the 21st century. The authors took an interpretive stance in this study, grounded theory, and investigated the ontology of virtual organization by the metaphorical analysis. The metaphorical analysis adopted in this study provides the analytical power to conceptualize the social structure of virtual organization in the context of structuration theory with the process of grounded theory. As the e-business structuration indicates in this study, virtualization, the metaphor of virtual organization is interpreted as flexible domination, where the rational relationships in power distribution with other e-business characterized temporal (virtual) bond with low switching costs.
Attribute Perceptions as Factors Explaining Mobile Internet Acceptance of Cellular Customers in Germany
Authors: Gerpott Torsten J.
Published: February 2011

To date, the majority of mobile network operator (MNO) customers have not used mobile Internet (MI) offerings. Therefore, it is important to gain a better understanding of (1) how MNO customers perceive MI attributes, (2) how these perceptions are related to MI acceptance, and (3) the extent to which these judgments differ as a function of an individual’s adoption status (actual compared to potential MI user) and the appliance category employed to access MI (handset compared to laptop). This study uses MI attributes deduced from diffusion of innovation (DOI) and information economic (IE) literature and data collected from a survey of 525 effective and 540 potential MI users in Germany. Results show that the perceived relative functional advantage and communicability of MI offers were positively correlated and their trialability was negatively correlated with MI acceptance. Perceived DOI-based attributes explained MI acceptance better for actual users. Appliance category for MI access had strong influence on DOI-based MI attribute assessments. MNO customers who use a laptop to obtain MI access perceived MI features more favorable than persons who use a handset. These findings provide insights for MNO and appliance vendors on measures that effectively promote the acceptance of MI.
Value-Based Analysis of Mobile Tagging
Authors: Aygoren Oguzhan , Varnali Kaan
Published: February 2011

Innovative use of the mobile medium in delivering customer value presents unprecedented opportunities for marketers. Various types of mobile applications have evolved to provide ubiquitous and instant customer service to capitalize on this opportunity. One application is mobile tagging, a mobile-based innovative tool for convergence marketing. The accumulated academic knowledge on mobile marketing lacks consumer-centric information about this phenomenon. This paper addresses this issue and contributes to the understanding of theoretical and practical issues related to the use of mobile tagging in consumer markets.
Technology-Shaping Effects of E-Collaboration Technologies
Authors: Markus M. Lynne
Published: February 2011

Recently, Orlikowski and Iacono (2001) called for increased theorizing of the information technology (IT) artifact. Both authors have made important contributions to what they refer to as the “ensemble” view of technology. By contrast, the “tool” view has remained noticeably underdeveloped. The goal of this essay is to begin articulating such a tool view for research on e-collaboration technologies. Referred to here as “the technology-shaping perspective,” this view eschews technological determinism but nevertheless looks for broad patterns of probabilistic effects that can be attributed to technology’s material features. In brief, the technology-shaping perspective holds that technologies pose problems for users who want to use them to accomplish particular goals; the solutions users create for those problems during recurrent use may exhibit certain regularities across different contexts. Consequently, small differences in the features of apparently similar tools could be associated with big differences in usage patterns and social outcomes. The claim is that conducting future research on a technology-shaping agenda could yield cumulative results that are less “disappointing” than many scholars find group decision support systems (GSS) research, the largest single body of work on e-collaboration technologies.
Integration of E-Collaboration Technologies
Authors: Munkvold Bjørn Erik , Zigurs Ilze
Published: February 2011

Integrated technology support for collaborative work is a topic of great interest to academics and practitioners alike. E-collaboration has become a vibrant and fruitful area of research and application from many perspectives. Integration remains a major challenge, however, and a significant opportunity exists to advance the state of practice as well as research. We provide an overview of different forms of integrated e-collaboration technologies, along with examples of key application areas. Based on these examples, we analyze the research opportunities and challenges, and provide a set of recommendations for advancing our understanding of integrated e-collaboration technologies. The focus throughout is on behavioral and organizational issues related to these technologies, and on underlying theoretical perspectives. The overarching goal of the article is to identify important needs for research, based on a clear understanding of the key concepts, issues, and existing knowledge.
Incorporating Self-Serve Technology into Co-Production Designs
Authors: Schultze Ulrike , Bhappu Anita D.
Published: February 2011

Co-production, which is the direct involvement of customers in the design, delivery, and marketing of goods and services that they themselves consume, implies customer-firm collaboration. The nature of this collaboration, however, is highly dependent on the organization’s service design, which increasingly includes Internet-based, self-serve technology (SST). While there is considerable research on service design, most of this research fails to consider the role and implications of information technology in co-production. In order to remedy this shortcoming, we build on prior research to develop a contingency theory of co-production design. Using cases of Internet-based SST (e.g., online airline reservations and recommendation-based sales systems), we highlight the unintended consequences of implementing SST in the different co-production designs. In this way, our research contributes to our understanding of information technology’s implications for co-production.
Patterns in Electronic Brainstorming
Authors: Dennis Alan R. , Pinsonneault Alain , McNamara Hilmer Kelly , Barki Henri , Galupe Brent , Huber Mark , Bellavance François
Published: February 2011

Research has shown that some groups using electronic brainstorming generate more unique ideas than groups using nominal group brainstorming, while others do not. This study examined two factors through which group size may affect brainstorming performance: synergy and social loafing. Groups brainstormed using three techniques to manipulate synergy and two group sizes to manipulate social loafing. We found no social loafing effects. We found a time effect: nominal brainstorming groups that received no synergy from the ideas of others produced more ideas than electronic groups in the first time period and fewer ideas in the last time period. We conclude that synergy from the ideas of others is only important when groups brainstorm for longer time period. We also conclude that electronic brainstorming groups should be given at least 30 minutes to work on tasks, or else they will be unlikely to develop synergy.
Leadership Style, Anonymity, and the Discussion of an Ethical Issue in an Electronic Context
Authors: Kahai Surinder S. , Avolio Bruce J.
Published: February 2011

A laboratory experiment was conducted with 42 student groups to evaluate the effects of transactional vs. transformational leadership styles and anonymity when groups supported by an Electronic Meeting System (EMS) discussed the ethical issue of copying copyrighted software. A confederate leader displayed either transformational or transactional behaviors. Transformational leaders motivate effort by raising the awareness of followers to make them aspire to higher-order needs and values and by developing them to fulfill their aspirations. Transactional leaders motivate effort by highlighting the contractual exchange involved in a relationship. Participants working with a transformational confederate were more likely to make arguments that challenged the copying of copyrighted software than those working with one who was more transactional. These arguments, in turn, caused groups exposed to such arguments to have greater deviation among its members in intentions to copy the software. Participants working with a transactional confederate were more likely to make arguments in favor of copying copyrighted software. These arguments, in turn, caused groups exposed to such arguments to have a greater mean of intentions to copy the software. Implications for practice and future research on ethics and leadership in the electronic context are discussed.
Antecedents and Consequences of User Satisfaction with E-Mail Systems
Authors: Dow Kevin , Serenko Alexander. , Turel Ofir , Wong Jeffrey
Published: February 2011

E-mail is an important component of the e-collaborative environment. This study contributes to the literature by using the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) framework to model the antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction with e-mail systems. We employ a survey to gather empirical evidence to test the modified ACSI model for e-mail systems. Additionally, we test whether spam has an influence on a user’s satisfaction with his or her e-mail system. Our results generally support the notion that the ACSI framework can be used to model e-mail user satisfaction, but we do not find statistically significant evidence that spam affects overall user satisfaction with their e-mail system.
A Paradox of Virtual Teams and Change
Authors: McAvoy John , Butler Tom
Published: February 2011

During a longitudinal participant observation study of a virtual software development team, a strange paradox was noted. A new software development methodology was introduced to the project and the developers were initially committed to its use. Over time, the commitment gradually decreased to the stage where aspects of the new methodology were practically ignored. As the team was a virtual team, with group members rarely congregating as a whole for any length of time, it was hard to explain why this diminishing of commitment occurred. The remoteness and part-time participation of group members meant that the team deciding themselves to ignore aspects of the methodology was not a likely possibility. A review of existing research suggested that the concepts behind the diffusion of innovations (specifically software process innovations) may have a bearing. Although pertinent to the area of introducing new software development methodologies, diffusion theories did not provide a complete explanation for the decrease in commitment that was observed. The theory of competing commitments was applied, and it was discovered that one cause of the decreased commitment among team members was groupthink. Groupthink should not be a problem with virtual teams as there should be less cohesion—the lack of contact between members dictating the low level of cohesion. Further analysis showed that traditional peer groupthink was not the issue, but hierarchical groupthink influenced by the project manager had a large influence. These findings are in contrast to most expectations regarding virtual teams, including the project management of virtual teams.
Adaptations that Virtual Teams Make so that Complex Tasks Can Be Performed Using Simple E-Collaboration Technologies
Authors: DeLuca Dorrie , Gasson Susan , Kock Ned
Published: February 2011

Using the theoretical lens of compensatory adaptation theory, this study examines how organizational problem-solving teams adapt to lean media and effectively communicate. We examined several successful virtual teams using a bulletin board as their primary communication medium to perform complex process improvement tasks in their natural business environment. Although some established theories predict failure using lean media, savings from use of simple e-collaboration technologies provide motivation for conduct of virtual teams. Compensatory adaptation theory argues that e-collaboration technologies often pose obstacles to communication, and yet also lead to better team outcomes than the face-to-face medium. This study provides support for that theory. Members of the virtual teams reported adapting their communication to be more focused, clear, precise, neutral, concrete, concise, persuasive, considerate, and complete in order to overcome the obstacles posed by media of low richness. As a result of those adaptations, the teams perceived better quality and achieved success of the team outcome.
Risk Management in Distributed IT Projects
Authors: Prikladnicki Rafael , Evaristo Roberto , Audy Jorge Luis Nicolas , Yamaguti Marcelo Hideki
Published: February 2011

Distributed IT projects exhibit certain features that make them fundamentally different from traditional co-located projects, not only involving additional steps and decisions, but also impacting the risk management process. The goal of this paper is to discuss these impacts and to suggest the development of an integrated risk management process taking into account site dispersion, time zone difference, and cultural boundaries not only at the operational, but also at the tactical and strategic level. We also report results of an exploratory case study conducted in a software development center (a Brazilian subsidiary of a U.S. corporation) in support of such a model, and conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications of our work.
Networked Knowledge Management Dimensions in Distributed Projects
Authors: Vaidyanathan Ganesh
Published: February 2011

Can knowledge capture and dissemination be managed efficiently? Is there a framework that addresses distributed knowledge management from creation to facilitation? The generation and dissipation of knowledge needs to be embedded in corporate processes. These processes need to have an underlying principle that eliminates the obstacles of collecting multiple knowledge perspectives within complex organizations. Furthermore, extrinsic motivators, social-psychological forces and organizational climate factors are believed to influence knowledge sharing. This paper discusses a framework that provides a synergized view to collect, share, and manage the distributed corporate knowledge using organizational knowledge models and technology knowledge models. Structural, cognitive, relational, and technological factors are derived from a synthesized literature review to formulate this framework. The role of peer-to-peer networks and grid computing on distributed knowledge management is also examined.
Project Management Issues in IT Offshore Outsourcing
Authors: Schwaig Kathy Stewart , Gillam Stephen H. , Leeds Elke
Published: February 2011

Global partnerships are forming to take advantage of the cost savings associated with offshoring as well as other strategic benefits. Not all information technology offshoring projects, however, are successful. Cost overruns, increased complexity and defective code cause organizations to rethink their offshoring strategy and their methods for managing these projects. In this paper, project management issues associated with offshore information technology outsourcing projects are identified and specific recommendations for addressing these issues are presented.
Collaborative Project Management
Authors: Fjermestad Jerry , Romano Jr. Nicholas C.
Published: February 2011

The Collaborative Project Management concept has been evolving over the past few decades as researchers and practitioners alike strive to reap the benefits from opportunities and overcome the challenges. In this short paper we highlight some of the forces that are leading, confronting and challenging distributed project management and outsourcing. Next we present a review of distributed project management and outsourcing challenges and opportunities that have been identified by researchers. Finally we present a brief introduction to the three papers in this special issue.
Coordination, Learning, and Innovation
Authors: Fink Lior
Published: February 2011

This article develops an organizational view of the roles and impacts of e-collaboration. Drawing upon the dynamic capabilities perspective, e-collaboration is conceptualized as a change-oriented capability that enables a firm to identify, integrate, and apply its knowledge assets to meet competitive demands. Therefore, e-collaboration potentially has three organizational roles—coordination, learning, and innovation—that are associated with either efficiency impacts or competitive impacts. The main argument of this article is that firms in less dynamic business environments need e-collaboration for operational purposes, emphasizing the coordination role, whereas firms in high-velocity business environments need e-collaboration for strategic purposes, emphasizing the learning and innovation roles. An analysis of the way in which business environment characteristics interact with media characteristics serves to demonstrate the importance of strategic characteristics—in addition to media and task characteristics—in determining the success of e-collaboration.
Vision, Trends, Gaps, and a Broad Road Map for Future Engineering
Authors: Goossenaerts Jan , Possel-Dolken Frank , Popplewell Keith
Published: February 2011

New challenges result from the virtualization and distribution of product development activities. This article analyzes problems of cooperative engineering as well as methods and tools for the virtual engineering of extended products. Based on these analyses, a broad road map is proposed that articulates public- and civil-sector roles in coping with future engineering challenges. With a strategic horizon, the public-sector role targets the creation of a knowledge-intensive global business ecosystem conducive to balanced civil-sector innovation and sustainable growth. The civil-sector roles evolve tactics that implement proven cooperative and virtual engineering practices with a focus on value creation.
An Ontology Approach to Collaborative Engineering For Producibility
Authors: Elgh Fredrik , Sunnersjo Staffan
Published: February 2011

With today’s high product variety and shorter life cycles in automobile manufacturing, every new car design must be adapted to existing production facilities so that these facilities can be used for the manufacturing of several car models. In order to ensure this, collaboration between engineering design and production engineering has to be supported. Sharing information is at the core of collaborative engineering. By implementing an ontology approach, work within domains requirement management, engineering design, and production engineering can be integrated. An ontology approach, based on an information model implemented in a computer tool, supports work in the different domains and their collaboration. The main objectives of the proposed approach are supporting the formation of requirement specifications for products and processes, improved and simplified information retrieval for designers and process planners, forward traceability from changes in product systems to manufacturing systems, backward traceability from changes in manufacturing systems to product systems, and the elimination of redundant or multiple versions of requirement specifications by simplifying the updating and maintenance of the information.
Functional Product Development Challenges Collaborative Working Environment Practices
Authors: Lofstrand Magnus
Published: February 2011

In this article, an activity-based modeling and simulation approach to functional product development (FPD) is suggested as part of a simulation-driven CWE approach to meet the new demands that are placed on tools and methods used in industrial product development due to companies’ transformation from hardware providers to function providers. The rationale for a simulation approach is discussed as well as the usefulness when applied on a process of work. An iterative data gathering and analysis process based on interviews and field notes is presented challenges for distributed working environment practices posed by the introduction of functional product development have been identified. They include four different and interrelated issues pertaining to approach, methods and tools, tolerances for errors and the ability to distribute new tools with extensive demands on usability and interoperability.
Interpretation Issues in Monitoring and Analyzing Group Interactions in Asynchronous Discussions
Authors: Bratitsis Tharrenos , Dimitracopoulou Angelique
Published: February 2011

DIAS is an asynchronous discussion forum software, mainly developed in order to offer extended monitoring and interaction analysis support, by providing a wide range of indicators jointly used in various situations, to all discussion forae users (individual students, groups, moderators/teachers or even researchers/observers), appropriate for their various roles in different activities. In this paper we focus on the explanatory and interpretation issues that arise when the integrated interaction analysis (IA) features are used by a teacher – moderator. Core objective of this paper is to outline the importance of appropriate interpretation of the IA indicators. The notion of interpretative schemas is deployed and their potential exploitation is thoroughly explored, using examples from real teaching settings. In fact, the significance of interpreting visualization data in a combined way and from different perspectives is designated, leading to the conclusion that this issue needs to be further researched.
E-Collaboration and E-Commerce In Virtual Worlds
Authors: Kock Ned
Published: February 2011

Virtual worlds can be defined as technology-created virtual environments that incorporate representations of real world elements such as human beings, landscapes and other objects. Recent years have seen the growing use of virtual worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft for entertainment and business purposes, and a rising interest from researchers in the impact that virtual worlds can have on patterns of e-collaboration behavior and collaborative task outcomes. This article looks into whether actual work can be accomplished in virtual worlds, whether virtual worlds can provide the basis for trade (B2C and C2C e-commerce), and whether they can serve as a platform for credible studies of e-collaboration behavior and related outcomes. The conclusion reached is that virtual worlds hold great potential in each of these three areas, even though there are certainly pitfalls ahead.
Information Technology Adoption by Groups Across Time
Authors: Sauter Vicki L.
Published: February 2011

Today’s technologies can support joint, but physically disparate work efforts. Some groups of professionals that could benefit from using these technologies do not adopt them, while others use the technologies frequently. This study provides an in-depth examination of how and when one organization accepted technology in their decision-making efforts. The research examines actual usage of the technology rather than the less strong, but more common measure, intention to use technology. As a result, the paper has helped bridge the gap between what people intend to do and what they actually do, thereby providing both a stronger theoretical basis for the TAM model and some insights into the evolution of the TAM model. It examines an emerging extension to the TAM and provides evidence of the behavior of users when they must act as a group.
Satisfaction as a Function of Perceived Change in Likelihood of Goal Attainment
Authors: Reinig Bruce A. , Briggs Robert O. , De Vreede Gert-Jan
Published: February 2011

E-collaboration users tend to abandon their technology when they feel dissatisfied by their experience, even if they have been productive. It is therefore important to understand the causes of satisfaction so we can design and deploy e-collaboration in ways that make users both productive and satisfied. We advance a theory proposing satisfaction as a function of a perceived change in the likelihood of goal attainment (LGA). We test the theory in two countries (United States and The Netherlands) that differ along Hofstede’s (1991) masculinity-femininity cultural dimension. Empirical findings support the theory in both countries among 367 knowledge workers using e-collaboration to address real organizational problems and issues. We discuss the implications for research and practice.
Reference Architecture for Cross-Company Electronic Collaboration
Authors: Schroth Christoph , Schmid Beat
Published: February 2011

Cross-organizational electronic collaboration is about to gain significant momentum and facilitates the emergence of a globally networked information service economy. However, existing solutions for the realization of such business relationships still exhibit weaknesses with respect to both managerial and technological aspects. In this work, we propose a service-oriented reference architecture for electronic business media that overcomes the drawbacks of today’s business-to-business (B2B) software products and services. Based on the St. Gallen media reference model, this reference architecture incorporates the design principle of modularity that proved critical for the success of numerous artifacts in other more mature industries. In particular, we investigate and revisit the principle of modularity with respect to its role in the computer industry and transfer it to the context of organizing and implementing electronic cross-company collaboration. On the basis of a case study in the field of public administration in Switzerland, we show its real-world applicability and its improvement potential.