Technology and the People of Fondwa: An Incremental Absorption

The author worked with the residents of a small rural village in Haiti. In addition to the environmental stress of the region, there was an absence of basic infrastructure to support the basic necessities of life. This article reports on the introduction of a solar cooker to the community in a culturally sensitive manner. The community absorbed that change and went further, into computer networking. The literature particularly in the area of technology transfer was used to guide the researcher during interaction with the local people

The Challenge of Supportable Open Source Software: Is it Really Open?

Information sharing has become an important phenomenon in Information Systems, as “Open Source” software continues to spread. College campuses in the United States and Developing Countries find this particularly attractive, since the cost of technology projects effectively has reduced. However, this implies a willingness to share one’s talents openly. Many software engineers are eager to do so, however, they thus lose their competitive edge. This paper examines the forces leading up to the Open Source era, and what one might expect in the future

Introduction to Case Study

This paper is the first of a series of three articles relating to a case study conducted at Fairfield University to assess aspects of the rapid introduction of Information Technology at the institution. This article deals with the nature of the problem faced by Fairfield University, the characteristics of the case methodology, and lays the foundation for the selection of this research technique for the current study. The paper begins with an Introduction section to familiarize the reader with the case organization. The following section on Case Methodology explores the history, and some of the applications of the technique. The section ends with specific research protocols for researchers

Results of a Case Study on Information Technology at a University

In the first article in this series (Tellis, 1997a) the author presented the background on the history and importance of the use of the case method of research. The second article (Tellis, 1997b) presented a proposed methodology based on the literature and an application of the methodology in an information technology case. The current article will present a suggested format for reporting case research results. The article will review the goals and objectives of the research project and present various tables containing the results of the data analysis conducted for the project. The article will finally present conclusions drawn from the results, and what future researchers might wish to pursue

Application of a Case Study Methodology

In the preceding article (Tellis, 1997), the goals and objectives were presented and explained in detail. In this article, the methodology to accomplish those goals and objectives will be examined. The reader will become familiar with the specific techniques that are used in the current study, and supported by the literature that was reviewed in the previous article. That methodology will follow the recommendation of Yin (1994) and has four stages: Design the case study, Conduct the case study, Analyze the case study evidence, and Develop the conclusions, recommendations and implications. The article begins with an introduction, that includes some of the background information that is intended to inform the reader. Following that section, each step of the methodology will be explored in detail. Finally a summary will connect all the information in a concise manner

Using Media and Information Systems to Explain the Effects of Globalization and Migration

In this paper, the authors present the plight of a significant segment of immigrants – unaccompanied minors – who are not just alone in frightening circumstances, but often need services. The authors explore the role of Information Technology (IT), Particularly the Internet in providing information to organizations who serve this population

An Online Business in Nicaragua: The Challenges That Threaten the Opportunity

E-Commerce has steadily increased in volume in the U.S. Despite the collapse of many “dotcoms” regular businesses realized the potential for cost reduction and invested in online transaction capability. This paper addresses the strengths and weaknesses of some E-commerce models especially as they apply to Nicaragua. The authors suggest that most developing countries would present significant impediments to a successful E-commerce operation. Some solutions are examined critically

Microfinance in Action: A Business Process Analysis of an Operation in Nicaragua

This paper is a business process analysis of an existing and successful microfinance institution in Nicaragua. The authors visited the main office and branch offices to determine the data flow and process relationships between the main office and the branches. For U.S. based organizations, the cultural differences and resource constraints could be informative. As globalization expands, the need to prepare students for assignments in developing countries is one of the goals of this project