Analyzing Trust Perceptions In System Implementations

Implementations of large scale information systems are complex and problematic with a reputation for being delayed and going over budget. A critical factor in the success of these implementations is trust in the system, in the project and between the various stakeholders. As problems and delays mount, trust relations become strained, leading to a circle of suspicion and disbelief which is both destructive and hard to break out of. This case study analyses trust relations during a problematic period of time in the implementation of the Faroese integrated healthcare information system, using a framework based on Giddens´ theory of modernity. The framework theorizes dynamic elements of the evolution of trust, not previously investigated in this context. The data collection involves 4 actors interviewed twice in 2006 and 2007; and the data analysis strategy is content analysis using Nvivo software. A major contribution is that if an implementation project interacts with many or complex abstract systems, the managers must focus on continuous embedding and re-embedding by interacting directly with representatives of the abstract systems in question to maintain trust. Also we observe that actors’ perceptions of trust relations influence future actions, and in this way have both negative and positive consequences. We also conclude that Giddens’ theories of trust provide a promising insight into the dynamic aspects of trust relations in implementation projects, which go further than trust theories currently used in the IS field

The influence of organizational culture on the outcome of an IS implementation

A number of information system (IS) studies have adopted organizational culture (OC) theory to investigate IS implementations. The studies highlight that members will reach consensus or agreement in the use of an IS but also experience inevitable tensions and ambiguities in the use of the IS. However, literature related to IS implementation/OC has rarely examined the influence that the saliency of specific cultural practices may have on the success or failure of IS implementations. Using a case study approach, we adopted the “soft positivism” research philosophy to collect data, underpinned by Martin’s (1992) integration and differentiation perspectives of OC to study organizational implementation of an IS. These perspectives served as interpretive lenses through which to explain how members’ salient behaviors towards an IS evolved during the implementation process. Our study augments the IS implementation/OC literature by demonstrating how salient cultural practices influence the outcome of IS implementatio

Aiming for service excellence: Implementing a plan for customer service quality at a blended service desk

This article discusses a public service review and redesign that resulted in a blended service desk combining reference and circulation functions, staffed by nonlibrarians. The redesign implements a number of organizational structures that encourage service excellence, as found in the business literature and in examples of nonlibrary organizations that excel in customer service. The article identifies key organizational structures that have been shown to support or hinder good service and discusses the process of implementing these structures in practice and the results of an assessment process designed around determining success

The role of trust in e-government adoption: A systematic literature review

Electronic government (e-government) is a concept that has been adopted in most countries for the purposes of providing government services digitally, improving transparency between government and citizens and enabling additional communication channels with the government. Although e-government readiness in most countries is at a high level, adoption of e-government services is still considered tentative. A critical review of the literature suggests that this may be linked to citizens’ trust in government and e-government. As such, there is a need to investigate the role of trust in e-government adoption. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted in order to observe research design, methodologies and approaches adopted in these studies as well as limitations identified and recommendation for future studies. The findings highlight that quantitative techniques and survey research methods appear to have been much preferred over other available alternatives such as qualitative techniques and interview methods or mixed methods in studies relating to trust in e-government adoption

Anonymity as an instructional scaffold in peer assessment : its effects on peer feedback quality and evolution in students’ perceptions about peer assessment skills

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in European Journal of Psychology of Education 33.1 (2018): 75-99. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10212-017-0339-8Although previous research has indicated that providing anonymity is an effective way to create a safe peer assessment setting, continuously ensuring anonymity prevents students from experiencing genuine two-way interactive feedback dialogues. The present study investigated how installing a transitional approach from an anonymous to a non-anonymous peer assessment setting can overcome this problem. A total of 46 bachelor’s degree students in Educational Studies participated in multiple peer assessment cycles in which groups of students assessed each other’s work. Both students’ evolution in peer feedback quality as well as their perceptions were measured. The content analysis of the peer feedback messages revealed that the quality of peer feedback increased in the anonymous phase, and that over time, the feedback in the consecutive non-anonymous sessions was of similar quality. The results also indicate that the transitional approach does not hinder the perceived growth in peer feedback skills, nor does it have a negative impact on their general conceptions towards peer assessment. Furthermore, students clearly differentiated between their attributed importance of anonymity and their view on the usefulness of a transitional approach. The findings suggest that anonymity can be a valuable scaffold to ease students’ importance level towards anonymity and their associated need for practiceThe first author’s research was funded by Ghent University BOF fund number BOF13/24J/115. The second author’s research was funded by the Spanish Ramón y Cajal program number RYC-2013-1346

Privacy Issues of the W3C Geolocation API

The W3C's Geolocation API may rapidly standardize the transmission of location information on the Web, but, in dealing with such sensitive information, it also raises serious privacy concerns. We analyze the manner and extent to which the current W3C Geolocation API provides mechanisms to support privacy. We propose a privacy framework for the consideration of location information and use it to evaluate the W3C Geolocation API, both the specification and its use in the wild, and recommend some modifications to the API as a result of our analysis

Examining the impact of long-term consultant-client relationship in ERP projects

Many organizations took Enterprise resource planning system in use decade or even two decades ago. In many cases there is an external ERP supplier or consulting company helping in the implementation project. Since the initial implementation the client and consultant company might have been collaborating and conducting new projects together. Therefore, there exist many long-term ERP consultant-client relationships nowadays. This long history and past collaboration is likely to have an impact on the new projects that companies conduct together. However, in the past research this aspect has been mostly neglected and there is no previous research concerning how the long-term consultant-client relationship impacts on new ERP projects. The goal of this study will be examining this question and also to find out how consulting companies actually use this client specific history. The research was conducted by first developing a deep understanding on the ERP field through broad literature review and identifying the central areas in the ERP projects. After this a multiple-case study design was selected for a research strategy. Professionals in the field of ERP consulting with experience from long-term collaboration with a client were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. In order to capture their perceptions a qualitative approach was chosen. Finally the results of the interviews were combined and analysis and conclusions made. The results reveal that long-term relationship between the consultant company and client has a notable impact on the new projects. The impacts were analyzed through the areas defined by ERP project related critical success factors and the history seemed to have some kind on impact to all of these factors. The factors that were most impacted by the long history were project planning and goals setting, project management, communication and collaboration with the client and project team composition. In general, past knowledge and experience of the client was seen to facilitate new projects a lot. The identified reasons for this were improved communication, better understanding of client's business processes and people, and increased trust between the parties. Also some challenges were identified such as collaboration and communication between the parties becoming too informal, people getting too used to certain habits, inability to renew and come up with new ideas, excessive personification of personnel level relationships and keeping the profit margins high and consultants' knowledge level up to date. In addition, the results showed that the client specific history is used at some level but there would be still be more possibilities to exploit this information which in most cases tends to be in a tacit form

Chilean EFL teachers`perceptions of their working condition in the private, semi -private and public school systems

Tesis (Profesor de Inglés para la Enseñanza Básica y Media y al grado académico de Licenciado en Educación)This study followed a quantitative survey research design. The main purpose of the research was to explore Chilean English teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions, and compare the perceptions of teachers from the public, semi-private and private school systems. The data was collected by applying a questionnaire, a technique used in quantitative research. Sixty three teachers from forty six schools of the three educational sectors polled, answered the questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale in order to express their perceptions regarding their working conditions. In the analysis process, the information collected was presented descriptively. In general, the participants showed positive perceptions concerning school environment and school support from their school authorities, but negative perceptions regarding salary, workload, time for non-instructional activities and society perceptions toward their profession.El presente estudio utilizó el diseño de encuesta cuantitativa. El propósito principal de nuestra investigación fue explorar las percepciones de los profesores de inglés chilenos acerca de sus condiciones laborales, y comparar estas percepciones de los profesores del sistema público, subvencionado y privado de la educación. La información fue recopilada a través de la aplicación de un cuestionario; técnica usada en el método cuantitativo de investigación. Sesenta y tres profesores de cuarenta y seis colegios de los tres sectores educacionales: público, subvencionado y privado, contestaron la encuesta usando la escala Likert del 1 al 5, de manera de obtener sus percepciones acerca de sus condiciones laborales. En el proceso de análisis, la información recolectada fue presentada descriptivamente. De manera general, los participantes demostraron percepciones positivas de acuerdo al clima laboral y el apoyo de las autoridades de los colegios; sin embargo, las percepciones fueron negativas acerca de su salario, carga laboral, tiempo para actividades extra curriculares y las percepciones de la sociedad acerca de la profesión docente

Implementing leadership decisions

In this chapter it is demonstrated that the way in which leaders implement a decision largely depends on the nature of it, that is, whether it is strategic or not. Leaders must be as open as possible and not withhold information from the persons involved in the process. Therefore, they should distribute as much relevant information as possible to meeting participants before a meeting. At the same time, they must be able to steer the process. It is not unusual for there to be a separation between the formulation and implementation of a strategic decision. Often, it is the top leadership that formulates the decision problem and the middle managers that implement its solution. For this reason, it is relatively common that the top leadership signals that the implementation has been successful as soon as the middle managers begin to report positive results. This can sometimes happen even though most of the implementation is incomplete. However, there are also cases where the top leaders rule out certain implementation processes as failures when in fact they prove later on to be successful. A common problem in organizations is that leaders often inherit the task of implementing decisions that past leaders have made. In order to succeed with an implementation, leaders must understand the importance of the process. They must communicate their vision clearly, evaluate and monitor continuously, and allow interested parties to participate actively in the process. They should also understand that what at first may look like a failure, at a later stage may prove to be a succes