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Journal of the Association for Information Systems
Medical Crowdsourcing: Harnessing the “Wisdom of the Crowd” to Solve Medical Mysteries
Indika Dissanayake, Sridhar P. Nerur, Rahul Singh, Yang W. Lee
Abstract
Medical crowdsourcing offers hope to patients who suffer from complex health conditions that are difficult to diagnose. Such platforms empower patients to harness the “wisdom of the crowd” by providing access to a vast pool of diverse medical knowledge. Greater participation in crowdsourcing increases the likelihood of evolving a correct solution. However, more participation also leads to increased “noise”, which makes identifying the most likely solution from a broader pool of recommendations (i.e., diagnostic suggestions) difficult. The challenge for medical crowdsourcing platforms is to increase participation of both patients and solution providers, while simultaneously increasing the efficacy and accuracy of solutions. The primary objectives of this study are to: a) investigate means to enhance the solution pool by increasing participation of solution providers referred to as “medical detectives”; and b) explore ways to select the most likely diagnosis from a set of alternative solutions. Specifically, we assessed the impact of objective factors (e.g., rewards and duration of undetected chronic illness) and inferred factors (e.g., emotional tones and perceived quality of the case) on the number of detectives who participated in the case. We then used multiple evaluation methods (e.g., text clustering and prediction market) and pooled knowledge related to detectives’ diagnoses to determine the most likely solution. Our results suggest that using multiple methods for evaluation of recommendations leads to better predictions. Furthermore, cases with higher perceived quality and more negative emotional tones (e.g., sadness, fear, and anger) attract more detectives. Our findings have strong implications for research and practice.
Beautiful is Good and Good is Reputable: Multi-Attribute Charity Website Evaluation and Reputation Formation Under the Halo Effect
Dong-Heon Kwak, K. Ramamurthy, Derek Nazareth
Abstract
The halo effect has been extensively used to understand how people make judgments about quality of an object. Also, the halo effect has been known to occur when people evaluate multi-attribute objects. Although websites consist of multiple dimensions and multiple attributes, prior research in information systems has not paid much attention on how people evaluate multi-attribute websites and the types of salient halos that exist in their evaluation. Furthermore, there is little research that has investigated the formation of initial reputation toward an unknown object under the halo effect. Based on these two research gaps, the purposes of this study are to identify if there is evidence of salient halos in evaluating multi-attributes websites and to theorize initial reputation formation. To accomplish these research objectives, we introduce a framework for classifying halos based on attributes and dimensions. Also, this study employs charity websites as a multi-attribute donation channel consisting of three attributes of information content quality (mission information, financial information, and donation assistance information) and four attributes of system quality (navigability, download speed, visual aesthetics, and security). Based on the proposed framework, this study proposes four types of halos that are relevant to charity website evaluation —collective halo (attribute-to-attribute), aesthetics halo (attribute-to-dimension), reciprocal quality halo (dimension-to-dimension), and quality halo (dimension-to-dimension). The results of structural equation modeling and other analyses show evidence of the various proposed halos.
How Paternalistic Leadership Influences IT Security Policy Compliance: The Mediating Role of Social Bond
Gengzhong Feng, Jiawen Zhu, Nengmin Wang, Huigang Liang
Abstract
Leadership plays an important role in changing employees’ behavior in general. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between Paternalistic Leadership and employees’ Information Security Policy (ISP) Compliance. Social Bond Theory is adopted as the theoretical lens to explain how Paternalistic Leadership influences ISP Compliance via the formation of Social Bond. We developed a research model and tested it by 314 pair-wise data from employees and their supervisors in organizations. The results show that all three dimensions of Paternalistic Leadership – Benevolence, Morality and Authoritarianism – positively influence employees’ ISP compliance. Social Bond partially mediates the effects of Benevolence and Morality on Compliance Intention. Overall, this paper reveals the positive effect of Paternalistic Leadership in improving ISP Compliance and the mediating role of Social Bond in explaining the impact of Paternalistic Leadership on ISP Compliance. In addition, the mediation effect of Social Bond suggests that the non-IT related routine behavior of leaders can also affect employees’ ISP compliance by forming social bond with employees.
Measuring Risk From IT Initiatives Using Implied Volatility
Dawes Zhang and Barrie Nault
Abstract
We propose an under-recognized measure to capture changes in firm risk from information technology (IT) announcements: implied volatility (IV) from a firm’s exchange-traded options. An IV is obtained from a priced stock option and represents the option market’s expectation of the firm’s average stock return volatility over the remaining duration of the option. Using the change in IV around IT announcements, we can directly assess changes in IT-induced firm risk. IVs are straightforward to obtain, and are forward-looking based on option market investors’ estimates of future stock return volatility. They do not rely on historical volatility that is confounded with other events. In addition, options have different expiration dates–each with an IV–allowing us to distinguish between short- and long-term risk. We show how a change in IV can be employed to assess changes in short- and long-term firm risk from IT announcements, and demonstrate this methodological innovation empirically using a set of IT announcements that have been utilized in previous studies.
Mobile Health (mHealth) Channel Preference: An Integrated Perspective of Approach-Avoidance Beliefs and Regulatory Focus
Liwei Chen, Aaron Baird, Arun Rai
Abstract
The mobile health (mHealth) channel has been suggested to be effective in assisting with chronic disease management. However, little is known about the mHealth channel preferences of consumers who may be vulnerable to chronic disease. Integrating the lens of approach-avoidance beliefs with regulatory focus theory, we: 1) focus on mHealth channel preference (CHANNEL) as our dependent variable, 2) identify perceived mHealth usefulness (PU) as an approach belief and perceived mHealth risk (RISK) as an avoidance belief, and 3) develop hypotheses pertaining to the how the regulatory focus of the individual (operationalized as perceived vulnerability to chronic disease, VULN) moderates the impacts of PU and RISK on CHANNEL. Based on analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) of survey data collected from 954 individuals in the U.S., we find that, compared to a promotion regulatory focus (low VULN), a prevention regulatory focus (high VULN) amplifies the effect of RISK on CHANNEL and suppresses the effect of PU on CHANNEL. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory, practice, and future research related to mHealth channel preferences.
Integrating Cognition with an Affective Lens to Better Understand Information Security Policy Compliance
Dustin Ormond, Merrill Warkentin, Robert E. Crossler
Abstract
Information systems security behavioral research has primarily focused on individual cognitive processes and their impact on information security policy noncompliance. However, affective processes (operationalized by affective absorption and affective flow) may also significantly contribute to misuse or information security policy noncompliance. Our research study evaluated the impact of affective absorption (i.e. the trait or disposition to have one’s emotions drive decision making) and affective flow (i.e. a state of immersion with one’s emotions) on cognitive processes in the context of attitude toward and compliance with information security policies. Our conceptual model was evaluated using a laboratory research design. We found that individuals who were frustrated by work-related tasks experienced negative affective flow and violated information security policies. Furthermore, perceptions of organizational injustice increased negative affective flow. Our findings underscore the need for understanding affective processes as well as cognitive processes which may lead to a more holistic understanding regarding information security policy compliance.
Design Science Research in Doctoral Projects: an Analysis of Australian Theses
Aileen Cater-Steel, Mark Toleman, Mohammad Mehdi Rajaeian
Abstract
Design Science Research (DSR) has gained popularity with doctoral students. In the Information Systems (IS) discipline, DSR is distinctive in creating knowledge through the design of novel or innovative artifacts, and analyzing the artifacts’ use or performance. We present an analysis of 40 DSR doctoral theses completed in Australia for the period 2006-2017. Our purpose is to understand how DSR is applied by the IS community and one critical source of information is the work of doctoral candidates. How candidates are guided by the literature, the artifacts produced and their evaluation provide a window into this understanding. We selected the theses from the Australian national repository and analyzed their content. The findings suggest: 1) DSR is evolving and maturing in this cohort but most candidates fail to enunciate and understand the underlying philosophy of their research approach, 2) the use of relevant guidance is still developing, and 3) the capacity of candidates to theorize about their work remains a challenge, possibly due to problems of scoping DSR projects and the ensuing time constraints. In spite of their recognition/appreciation of the need for evaluation of the artifacts, the candidates’ comprehension that the designs also require evaluation is questionable. As in many other areas of IS research, nomenclature in DSR remains a problem and the whole IS community has a role to strive for consistency. This paper contributes towards our understanding of the challenges and advantages of DSR as a research approach for postgraduate studies and offers recommendations to the DSR community.
Generally Speaking, Context Matters: Making the Case for a Change from Universal to Particular ISP Compliance Research
Salvatore Aurigenma, Thomas Mattson
Abstract
The objective of our paper is to challenge conceptually and empirically the idea of general information security policy (ISP) compliance. Conceptually, we argue that general ISP compliance is an ill-defined concept that has minimal theoretical usefulness because ISP directed security actions vary considerably from threat-to-threat in terms of time, difficulty, diligence, knowledge, and effort. Yet, our senior IS scholar’s basket of journals has a strong preference to publish models where the authors speculate that their findings are generalizable across all (or many) threats and controls contained in an organization’s ISP. We present that compliance with mandatory threat specific security actions may require different (as opposed to similar) behavioral explanations, which makes constructing a universal model of ISP compliance problematic. Therefore, we argue that future ISP compliance literature will be more valuable if it focuses on the mechanisms, treatments, and behavioral antecedents associated with the required actions around specific threats instead of attempting to build a model that purportedly covers all (or many) threat specific security actions. To support this claim empirically, we conducted two studies comparing general and threat specific compliance intentions. Our data show that compliance intentions vary significantly across general compliance measures and multiple threat specific security measures or scenarios. These results indicate that it is problematic to generalize about behavioral antecedents from general compliance intentions to threat specific security compliance intentions, from one threat specific security action to other threat specific security actions, and from one threat specific security action to general compliance intentions.
The Role of Evaluability Bias and the Fairness Effect in Escalation of Commitment to a Troubled Software Product Development Project
Jong Seok Lee, Mark Keil, Sangcheol Park
Abstract
New software product development entails considerable risks. One significant risk is that decision makers can become overly committed to a troubled software product development project (i.e., escalation of commitment). While prior research has identified factors that promote escalation in information technology projects, there has been little attempt to leverage the context of software product development which can include evaluating attributes of a software product under development and weighing a personal financial reward tied to a successful product launch. In this study, we conducted two experiments to investigate how evaluability bias concerning software attributes, and the fairness effect that arises from the relative amount of a personal financial reward, influence escalation of commitment to a troubled software product development project. Our findings suggest that escalation of commitment to a troubled software product development project is influenced by both evaluability bias, which affects the perceived attractiveness of a software product under development, and the fairness effect, which influences the perceived attractiveness of a personal financial reward tied to a successful product launch. This study contributes to both the information systems (IS) literature and the escalation literature by providing novel theoretical explanations as to why escalation occurs in the context of new software product development.
A Field Based View on Gender in the Information Systems Discipline: Preliminary Evidence and an Agenda for Change
Eleanor Loiacono, Babita Gupta, Iaroslava (Gloria) Dutchak, Jason B. Thatcher
Abstract
Gender disparities are an often-cited concern about the information technology (IT) workforce in general, and technology focused professions, such as Information Systems, in particular. These worries have been underscored by evidence from practice, with low rates of participation by women in the IT workforce, and exacerbated by more recent events in Silicon Valley, with many male leaders and professionals suggesting women lack an aptitude for technical work. Motivated by events in practice, and recent events in our own discipline, this editorial considers how gender shapes the careers of women and men in Information Systems academe, in relation to their employing institutions and to the Association for Information Systems (AIS). Based on a survey of 279 AIS members, we draw insights into whether women and men feel equitably treated in terms of support, job satisfaction, opportunities for career advancement, quality of mentoring, and sexual harassment within their interactions in the AIS and at their employing university. We found that women and men report different experiences in the workplace, in the professional association, and in their opportunities for advancement in their careers. Given evidence of gender differences and sexual harassment, we offer an agenda for change within the AIS and call to action to aim for gender equity within the Information Systems community.
A Framework for Validating Information Systems Research Based on a Pluralist Account of Truth and Correctness
John Mingers, Craig Standing
Abstract
Research in information systems includes a range of approaches which make varied contributions in terms of knowledge, understanding, or practical developments. In these days of “fake news” and spurious internet content, scholarly research needs to be able to demonstrate its validity – are its finding true, or its recommendations correct? We argue that there are fundamental validation criteria that can be applied to all research approaches despite their apparent diversity and conflict. These stem from current views of the nature of truth, and the related but wider concept correctness, within philosophy. There has been much debate about the nature of truth – is it correspondence, coherence, consensual or pragmatic? Current debates revolve around the idea of a pluralist view of truth – that there are different forms of truth depending on the context or domain. Related to truth is the wider concept of correctness – propositions may be true but correctness can also be applied to actions, performances or behavior for which truth is not appropriate. We develop a framework for research validity and apply it to a range of research forms including positivist, interpretive, design science, critical and action-oriented. The benefits are: i) a greater and more explicit focus on validity criteria will produce better research; ii) having a single framework can provide some commonality between what at times seem conflicting approaches to research; iii) having criteria made explicit should encourage debate and further development. The framework is applied to a variety of empirical papers employing varied research approaches.
Can secure behaviors be contagious? A two-stage investigation of the influence of herd behavior on security decisions
Ali Vedadi, Merrill Warkentin
Abstract
IT users often make information security-related decisions in complex and multidimensional environments, which could lead to phenomena like behavioral anomalies. For instance, under uncertain circumstances, users may discount their own limited information about a security technology and make their adoption decisions based on what the majority of users’ decisions are in this regard. In this context, imitation can become a legitimate and rational strategy for making security-related decisions. Current behavioral security theories generally assume that users possess sufficient information about security technologies before making security-related decisions. This theory assumption limits our understanding of how security decisions are made in various real-world circumstances. Our research is focused on security behaviors under uncertain circumstances. We investigate how providing popularity information can trigger herd behavior and can subsequently influence security behaviors. We also provide insights into security-related decisions that are influenced by herd mentality and whether they persist over time. Additionally, we conceptualize and operationalize two constructs that can be used in future research to better examine post-adoption security behaviors. The findings of this multi-stage experiment show that in uncertain circumstances, when users are aware of the widespread use of a certain security technology, they develop a significantly higher intention to engage in protection-motivated behaviors. Furthermore, the results show that at the post-adoption stage, users rely more heavily on their own information about their continuous use of security technologies and put less emphasis the herd-related factors.
The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment in Information Security Compliance Intention
Gurpreet Dhillon, Yurita Yakimin Abdul Talib, Winnie Picoto
Abstract
The issue of employee noncompliance with information security policies is universal. Non-compliance increases the possibility of invasive information security threats, which result in compromising organizational assets. Although research has empirically revealed a relationship between structural empowerment and employee intention to comply with the information security policy, the mediating role of psychological empowerment in the relationship has received limited attention. This study conceptualizes the role of psychological empowerment as a mediator between structural empowerment and intention to comply with information security policy. It suggests that empowerment work structures, which include information security education, training, and awareness (SETA), access to information security strategic goals, and participation in information security decision making all increase employee feeling of being psychologically empowered, which consequently leads to positive intention to comply with information security policy.
The Role of Basic Human Values in Knowledge Sharing: How Values Shape the Post-Adoptive Use of Electronic Knowledge Repositories
Stefan Tams, Alina Maria Dulipovici, Jason B. Thatcher, Kevin Craig, Mark Srite
Abstract
A growing body of literature examines how to elicit knowledge contributions to electronic knowledge repositories (EKRs) with the goal of helping organizations increase implementation benefits. While this literature has explained in detail the initial EKR adoption by knowledge contributors, it has not yet examined the drivers of post-adoptive EKR usage for contributing knowledge. It is post-adoptive EKR usage, such as innovative feature use, that holds the potential to result in richer contributions to EKRs. To aid understanding of how to unlock the benefits of EKRs for organizations, this study examines the impact of basic human values on one type of post-adoptive behavior that goes well beyond basic usage: trying to innovate with EKR features. We develop a research model that integrates human values and trying to innovate with an EKR, suggesting that such human values as an emphasis of independent thought and action can lead to trying to innovate by increasing the frequency of EKR usage. Data collected from 233 knowledge workers supported the model. Our findings shed light on how to encourage innovative EKR usage, and they underscore the importance of human values for the success of knowledge management initiatives.
Why we cannot resist our smartphones: Investigating compulsive use of mobile SNS from a stimulus-response-reinforcement perspective
Chuang Wang, Matthew K.O. Lee
Abstract
Compulsive smartphone use has drawn extensive social attention due to serious and even fatal outcomes. However, there has been little theory-driven research systematically investigating the mechanism of compulsive behavior in the use of smartphones. Although a significant line of literature exists in the area of personal-computer based technology addiction, the mechanism underpinning compulsive smartphone use differs significantly because the specific and unique characteristics of smartphones (e.g., high mobility, instant connection, and ubiquitous access) have given rise to a fundamentally different usage context with new usage behavioral patterns. Motivated to comprehensively theorize this issue, we first define compulsive behavior in the use of smartphone, mobile SNS in particular, and then extend stimulus-response-reinforcement framework to investigate the theoretical network of compulsive use of mobile SNS. An online survey data from 368 active mobile SNS users in China are used to empirically test and validate the proposed model and hypotheses. The results indicate that both positive (e.g., gratification and positive affect) and negative reinforcements (e.g., withdrawal and negative affect), as well as compensatory component (e.g., emotional relief), evoke the feeling of urge that further leads to compulsive use of mobile SNS. The positive effects of interactivity as an incentive stimulus on those reinforcements and compulsive mobile SNS use are also found to be significant.
Through Whose Eyes? The Critical Concept of Researcher Perspective
Roger Clarke, Robert Davison
Abstract
In this article, we explore the notion of ‘researcher perspective’, by which we mean the viewpoint from which the researcher observes phenomena in any specific research context. Inevitably, the adoption of a particular viewpoint means that the researcher privileges the interests of one or more stakeholders, while downplaying the interests of other stakeholders. Preliminary empirical analysis of a corpus of 659 articles published in three separate years in AIS Basket of 8 journals, undertaken in preparation for the present paper, revealed that around 90% of articles a) adopted a single-perspective approach, b) were committed solely to the interests of the entity central to the research design, and c) considered only economic aspects of the phenomena investigated in the research. Taken together, these three characteristics are unhealthy for the discipline and likely to lead to the neglect of important research opportunities. We suggest that the principle of triangulation be applied not only to data sources and research methods, but also to researcher perspectives, and that a consequent broadening of the IS discipline's scope is essential. We conclude the article with prescriptive recommendations for the practice of research that is relevant to multiple stakeholders.
Synthesizing and Integrating Research on IT-Based Value Co-Creation: A Meta-Analysis
Markus Mandrella, Simon Trang, Lutz M. Kolbe
Abstract
IT value research has witnessed growing interest in the use of joint IT resources and capabilities following recent shifts in market competition from the firm to the network level. Despite research efforts in this domain, there remain substantial inconsistencies in the IT value co-creation literature regarding the effect of inter-organizational IT on business value and the role of methodological and contextual factors. Drawing on the resource-based view and the relational view of the firm, we conducted a meta-analysis to synthesize and integrate the body of knowledge on IT-based value co-creation. Our analysis of 80 studies – encompassing 21,843 observations – highlights the value-generating effect of four inter-organizational IT capabilities: IT-based relation-specific assets, IT-based knowledge sharing, IT-based complementary capabilities, and IT-based governance. Insights from our preliminary meta-analysis reveal that contradictory findings are driven by the conceptualization of IT variables as inter-organizational IT resources. A further moderator meta-analysis explains divergent empirical findings in the literature. We find that the use of relational-level value and perceptual measures, use of single respondents, and the context of developing countries and supply chain and networked interdependencies result in larger estimates of business value. In contrast, the use of network-level, firm-level, and objective measures; use of matched-pair approaches; and the context of developed countries and pooled interdependencies result in smaller estimates. Overall, this paper provides clarity and structure to the current understanding of the research field by providing explanations for inconsistent findings as well as a foundation for future research and theory development.
Predicting Intention to Participate in Socially Responsible Collective Action in a Social Networking Website Group
Victor Jengchung Chen, Timothy McBush Hiele, Adam Kryszak, William H. Ross
Abstract
The present study used the belief-desire-intention (BDI) model to predict group members’ intention (“we-intention”) to participate in using a social networking site (SNS) for collective action. Participants reported their beliefs about social influence processes, including a subjective norm, a group norm, and social identity; they also reported their beliefs about using an SNS for a charitable collective action, which was socially responsible - perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR). The study applied this integrated research framework in the context of a Facebook group called KolorujeMY with an interest in social causes (e.g., repairing orphanages in Poland). Moreover, the structural equation modeling results indicated that social identity had a positive and direct effect on we-intention to use an SNS for collective action. Perceived CSR also had a positive and significant impact on this we-intention. Similarly, desire had a positive, significant, and large effect on we-intention to use SNS for collective action. The results also indicated that desire partially mediated the relationship between the social influence beliefs and we-intention. Overall, this study provides insights in the understanding of the impact of social influence processes, the role of desire, and perceived CSR beliefs toward predicting we-intentions in a social networking environment.
Evolutional and Transformational Configuration Strategies: A Rasch Analysis of IT Providers’ Service Management Capability
Jochen Wulf and Till Winkler
Abstract
While providers of information technology (IT) services widely rely on reference models for IT service management (ITSM) practices, little is known about the actual configurations of these practices, referring to the patterns in which service providers adopt these practices at different maturity stages. We analyze how practice configurations reflect a provider’s ITSM capability and how this capability contributes to provider performance. This study addresses two gaps in the ITSM literature. First, empirical approaches to measuring a capability that manifests in configurations of ITSM practices and potentially different nonlinear configuration strategies are missing. Second, no theory explaining the resulting performance differences of alternative configuration strategies exists. We analyzed data from 315 IT service providers on the configuration of practices described in the widely regarded ITIL (formerly IT Infrastructure Library) reference model for ITSM. With this data, we conducted a Rasch calibration—a psychometric method for modeling latent traits based on non-interval scaled data—to measure practice maturity thresholds and providers’ ITSM capability on the same scale. Further, we regressed this measure of ITSM capability on service provider performance. Our findings contribute to the ITSM literature by uncovering two strategies for configuring ITSM practices with distinct capability scales. Drawing on prior theory, we characterize these as evolutionary and transformational configuration strategies. Service providers in the transformational class obtain higher performance gains from building ITSM capability than those in the evolutionary class. This supports our key argument that underlying practice complementarities are a key source of performance gains.
Value Co-creation for Service Innovation: Examining the Relationships between Service Innovativeness, Customer Participation, and Mobile App Performance
Hua (Jonathan) Ye and Atreyi Kankanhalli
Abstract
Service innovation is critical to firms' competitive advantage and thus, firms desire to make their services more and more innovative. However, the relationship between a new service’s innovativeness and its performance is unclear. Conflicting findings and related literature suggest that service innovativeness is multi-dimensional and its impact on performance could be non-linear. Yet, there has been limited research on these aspects, both theoretically and empirically. Further, customers play an important role in service innovation, but prior research has mainly considered them as inputs to value creation, which may not capture their precise role. Motivated thus, and drawing on the service-dominant (S-D) logic, we propose two dimensions of service innovativeness, novelty and intensity, which influence new service performance differentially, and posit that customers are a part of the value co-creation process affecting new service performance. Consequently, we develop a model linking service innovativeness dimensions and customer participation to new service performance. The model was tested using a panel dataset of 234 mobile apps over 14 months. The results indicate important asymmetries in the impacts of novelty and intensity on mobile app performance. As proposed, novelty shows a curvilinear (negative quadratic) relationship, whereas intensity shows a positive linear relationship with mobile app performance. Furthermore, customer participation has a positive impact on mobile app performance, as well as positively moderating both the effects of intensity and novelty on mobile app performance. The implications for research and practice are discussed.
Reinforcing Effect of Formal Control Enactment in Complex IT Projects
Gloria Liu and Cecil Chua
Abstract
Complex IT projects pose particular challenges for the application of control, because of the dynamism and uncertainty involved. Prior studies suggest self-control can complement formal control within complex projects. However, how managers can enact controlee self-control remains an unsolved question. This paper proposes and investigates how enacted formal control unfolds during the course of an IT project and, in particular, how formal control enactment can promote or hinder controlee self-control. We demonstrate through case studies of a control in two wireless communication product development projects that an enabling control style can induce controlees to act to the benefit of both the controller and the controlee, while an authoritative control style encourages controlees’ self-interested behavior. We also show how controlees influence the enactment of control within complex projects, and the reinforcing effects of the controller’s enactment and controlee response on project outcomes. For practice, this research identifies preconditions necessary for inducing controlee self-control.
Incumbent System Context and Job Outcomes of Effective Enterprise System Use
Rob Hornyak, Arun Rai, and John Qi Dong
Abstract
Enterprise system (ES) implementations frequently fail to deliver job benefits for employees, with many being dissatisfied with these systems that were implemented to support them in their jobs. The literature is clear that the realization of job benefits depends on how these systems are used, motivating us to focus on the determinants and outcomes of effective ES use. Focusing on employees’ use of systems to support the work process, we examine how employees’ pre-implementation context — specifically, the incumbent system context stemming from using an incumbent system and the associated work process — affects their performance expectancy of a new ES and consequently their effective ES use and resulting job outcomes. Our results suggest that 1) employees’ perceptions of two facets of information transparency due to incumbent system use — information visibility and information credibility — have different impacts on their performance expectancy of a new ES depending on pre-implementation perceptions of work process standardization and that 2) effective ES use mediates the impact of pre-implementation performance expectancy on post-implementation user satisfaction and consequently job effectiveness. Our findings provide insights into the mechanisms linking the context of using an incumbent system to post-implementation effective ES use and job outcomes, thereby integrating our understanding of technology acceptance and use, IS success, and work design.
Accumulation and Evolution of Design Knowledge in Design Science Research — A Journey Through Time and Space
Jan vom Brock, Robert Winter, Alan Hevner, an Alexander Maedche
Abstract
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Monitoring the Complexity of IT Architectures: Design Principles and an IT Artifact
Thomas Widjaja and Robert Wayne Gregory
Abstract
Monitoring the complexity of a firm’s IT architecture is imperative to ensure a stable and flexible platform foundation for competing in the era of digital business strategy. However, IT architects lack IT support for dealing with this important problem. We engaged with five companies in a significant Design Science Research (DSR) program and drew on the heuristic theorizing framework both to solve this problem through evolving IT artifacts and to accumulate nascent design knowledge. We base the design knowledge development on a conceptual framework involving three essential concepts for understanding and solving this problem: structural complexity, dynamic complexity, and problem-solving complexity. Drawing on this foundation, we address the research question: How can IT support be provided for reducing the problem-solving complexity of monitoring the structural and dynamic complexity of IT architectures in the context of a digital business strategy? To answer this question, we present a set of design principles that we derived from our iterative process of IT artifact construction and evaluation activities with five companies. Our nascent design knowledge contributes to the research on IT architecture management in the context of digital business strategy. In addition, we also contribute to the understanding of how, through the use and illustration of the heuristic theorizing framework, design knowledge can be accumulated systematically on the basis of generalization from IT artifact construction and evaluation outcomes generated across multiple contexts and companies.
A Design Theory for Visual Inquiry Tools
Hazbi Avdiji, Dina Elikan, Stéphanie Missonier, and Yves Pigneur
Abstract
The Business Model Canvas opened the way for the development of a new tool type which we call visual inquiry tools. Such tools build on design thinking techniques to allow management practitioners to jointly inquire into specific strategic management problems. As the interest in and the emergence of visual inquiry tools gains momentum, it is important to formalize the design knowledge that future designers can build on for developing such tools. Thus, we propose a design theory for visual inquiry tools based on the design knowledge accumulated within and across three projects: the Business Model Canvas, the Value Proposition Canvas, and the Team Alignment Map. We outline the design principles (among others) that should be followed for developing visual inquiry tools for other strategic management problems. We evaluate the design theory with an experiment in which groups of students were asked to develop visual inquiry tools. The results show that, when provided with the design theory, students designed higher-quality visual inquiry tools. Our study addresses the lack of guidance in the development of visual inquiry tools and the lack of methodological guidance in design science research (DSR) on how to theorize and formalize knowledge across multiple projects. We provide a methodological process for analyzing multiple-project data by bridging methodological insights from DSR and qualitative methods from the social sciences.
Accumulating Design Knowledge: A Mechanisms-based Approach
Hannes Rothe, Lauri Wessel, and Ana Paula Bezerra Barquet
Abstract
We develop an empirically-grounded understanding of how design knowledge accumulates over time. Drawing from theory on knowledge creation, we conceptualize accumulation along the goals and scope of knowledge in DSR as a distinct knowledge creation problem. Through two empirical studies, we theorize knowledge accumulation in DSR by unpacking (a) three knowledge creation mechanisms and (b) explaining how their interplay forms different patterns of knowledge creation over time. We contribute a theoretical framework conducive to integrating knowledge produced through different methods by introducing knowledge creation processes as distinct unit of analysis in DSR and by pointing out that extant procedural models may need revision to account for the continuous knowledge creation occurring in potentially multi-year DSR projects.
Tapestries of Innovation: Structures of Contemporary Open Source Project Engagements
Matt Germonprez, Matt Levy, Julie Kendall, and Kenneth Kendall
Abstract
Since the origins of the free-software movement, open source projects have fostered an environment for innovative ideas that transformed much of how we understand technology in our everyday lives. In our quest to learn more about the structures of large-scale contemporary open source engagements, we examine three open source networks as part of an ongoing field study (Van Maanen, 2011). We explore the innovation networks described by Lyytinen et al. (2016) and resolve whether any of the open source innovative networks we have been studying can be classified as a Project, Clan, Federated, or Anarchic networks. We examine two collaborative projects under the auspices of the Linux Foundation, and determine that they correspond to the Federated and Project Innovation Networks, but came to realize that the Linux Foundation did not fit any of the four types of networks. We therefore propose and authenticate a fifth type of network that we characterize as a Tapestry Innovation Network, which can illuminate the Linux Foundation’s complexity of horizontal “weft threads” of participating organizations with the vertical, less visible “warp threads” of responsibilities and endeavors. Our study reveals important implications for research and practice by challenging the received view of open source projects, which still largely regards engagement around loosely structured groups of volunteers working on publicly available software. It also reveals that foundations are playing increasingly strategic roles in creating and stabilizing open source projects.
How Much Method-In-Use Matters? A Case Study of Agile and Waterfall Software Projects and Their Design Routine Variation
B Veeresh Thummadi and Kalle Lyytinen
Abstract
Development methods are rarely followed to the letter, and consequently many times their effects are in doubt. At the same time, information system (IS) scholars know little to what extent a given method truly influences software design and its outcomes. In this paper, we approach this gap by adopting a routine lens and using a novel methodological approach. Theoretically, we treat methods as (organizational) ostensive routine specifications and deploy routine construct as a feasible unit of analysis to analyze the effects of a method on actual, “performed” design routines. We formulate a research framework, which identifies method, situation fitness, agency, and random noise as main sources of software design routine variation. Empirically, we next apply the framework to examine to what extent waterfall and agile methods induce variation in software design routines. We trace enacted design activities in a large IT organization’s three software projects that followed an object-oriented waterfall method and three software projects that followed an agile method. These traces are analyzed using a mixed methods approach that uses gene sequencing methods, Markov models, and qualitative content analysis. Our analysis shows that method-induced variation within agile and waterfall is in both cases about ~40% of all activities while the remaining 60% is accounted for by a designer’s personal habits, the project’s fitness conditions, and environmental noise. Generally, the effect of method on software design activities is smaller than assumed and the impact of the designer’s and project conditions on software processes and outcomes should not be understated.
New Guidelines for Null Hypothesis Significance Testing in Hypothetico-Deductive IS Research
Willem Mertens and Jan Recker
Abstract
The objective of this Research Perspectives article is to promote policy change amongst journals, scholars and students with a vested interest in hypothetico-deductive information systems (IS) research. We are concerned about the design, analysis, reporting and reviewing of quantitative IS studies that draw on null hypothesis significance testing (NHST). We observe that debates about misinterpretations, abuse, and issues with NHST, while having persisted for about half a century, remain largely absent in IS. We find this an untenable position for a discipline with a proud quantitative tradition. We discuss traditional and emergent threats associated with the application of NHST and examine how they manifest in recent IS scholarship. To encourage the development of new standards for NHST in hypothetico-deductive IS research, we develop a balanced account of possible actions that are implementable short-term or long-term and that incentivize or penalize specific practices. To promote an immediate push for change, we also develop two sets of guidelines that IS scholars can adopt right away.
Performance Outcomes of Test Driven Development - An Experimental Investigation
Vikram Bhadauria, Radha Mahapatra, and Sridhar P. Nerur
Abstract
Despite the growing popularity of Test Driven Development (TDD), there is no empirical affirmation of the benefits that this agile practice confers on its users. Findings of prior research on its efficacy have largely been inconclusive. A laboratory experiment was conducted to assess the impact of TDD on software quality and task satisfaction through rigorous empirical means. Additionally, we investigated the productivity aspect of TDD as compared to the traditional method of software development. Results show that software quality and task satisfaction are significantly improved when TDD is used. In spite of additional requirements of testing, TDD is not more resource intensive than the traditional method. Post hoc, we also examined TDD’s impact on learning. Implications of our findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Leveraging the Wisdom of Crowd to Address Societal Challenges: A Revisit to the Knowledge Reuse Process for Innovation Through Analytics
Yue Han, Pinar Ozturk and Jeffrey V. Nickerson
Abstract
Societal challenges can be addressed not only by experts, but also by crowds. Crowdsourcing provides a way to engage the general crowd to contribute to the solutions of the biggest challenges of our times: how to cut our carbon footprint, how to address worldwide epidemic of chronic disease, and how to achieve sustainable development. Isolated crowd-based solutions in online communities are not always creative and innovative. Hence, remixing has been developed as a way to enable idea evolution and integration, and to create reusable innovative solutions. Understanding the generativity of remixing is essential to leveraging the wisdom of the crowd to solve societal challenges. At its best, remixing can promote online community engagement, as well as support comprehensive and innovative solution generation. Organizers can maintain an active online community, community members can collectively innovate and learn, and as a result society may find new ways to solve important problems. What affects the generativity of a remix? This question is addressed by using the knowledge reuse process for innovation (KRI) model. Several analytical methods are used to study factors that may contribute to the generativity of a remix. The analysis focuses on the reuse of proposals in an online innovation community which aims to address global climate change issues, Climate CoLab. Remixes that include prevalent topics and integration metaknowledge are more generative. The findings suggest strategies and tools that can help online communities to better harness collective intelligence for addressing societal challenges.
The Rise of Human Machines: How Cognitive Computing Systems Challenge Assumptions of User-System Interaction
Sebastian Schuetz and Viswanath Venkatesh
Abstract
Cognitive computing systems (CCS) are a new class of computing systems that implement more human-like cognitive abilities. CCS are not a typical technological advancement but an unprecedented advance toward human-like systems fueled by artificial intelligence. Such systems can adapt to situations, perceive their environments, and interact with humans and other technologies. Due to these properties, CCS are already disrupting established industries, such as retail, insurance and healthcare. As we make the case in this paper, the increasingly human-like capabilities of CCS challenge five fundamental assumptions that we—as IS researchers—have held about how users interact with IT artifacts. These assumptions pertain to the (i) direction of the user-artifact relationship, (ii) artifact’s awareness of its environment, (iii) functional transparency, (iv) reliability, and (v) user’s awareness of artifact use. We argue that the disruption of these five assumptions limit the applicability of our extant body of knowledge to CCS. Consequently, CCS present a unique opportunity for novel theory development and associated contributions. We argue that IS is well positioned to take this opportunity and present research questions that, if answered, will lead to interesting, influential and original theories.