Bayesian Structural Equation Models for Cumulative Theory Building in Information Systems―A Brief Tutorial Using BUGS and R

Structural equation models (SEM) are frequently used in information systems (IS) to analyze and test theoretical propositions. As IS researchers frequently reuse measurement instruments and adapt or extend theories, they frequently re-estimate regression relationships in their SEM that have been examined in previous studies. We advocate the use of Bayesian estimation of structural equation models as an aid to cumulative theory building; Bayesian statistics offer a statistically sound way to incorporate prior knowledge into SEM estimation, allowing researchers to keep a “running tally” of the best estimates of model parameters. This tutorial on the application of Bayesian principles to SEM estimation discusses when and why the use of Bayesian estimation should be considered by IS researchers, presents an illustrative example using best practices, and makes recommendations to guide IS researchers in the application of Bayesian SEM

Introduction to the Special Issue: The Literature Review in Information Systems

There has been a flowering of scholarly interest in the literature review as a research method in the information systems discipline. We feel privileged to contribute to this conversation and introduce the work of the authors represented in this special issue. Some of the highlights include three new methods for conducting literature analysis and guidelines, tutorials, and approaches for coping with some of the challenges involved in carrying out a literature review. Of the three “new method” papers, one (ontological meta-analysis and synthesis) is entirely new, and two (stylized facts and critical discourse analysis) are novel in the information systems context. The other four paper address more general issues: the challenges of effective search strategies when confronted with the burgeoning volume of research available, a detailed tool-supported approach for conducting a rigorous review, a detailed tutorial for conducting a qualitative literature review, and a discussion of quality issues. Collectively, the papers place emphasis beyond the traditional “narrative synthesis” on the importance of selecting the appropriate approach for the research context and the importance of attention to quality and transparency at all stages of the process, regardless of which approach is adopted

Blind to Time? Temporal Trends in Effect Sizes in IS Research

This research-in-progress paper describes cumulative meta-analysis, or meta-trend analysis, a form of meta-analysis that considers temporal trends in effect sizes. While this method is common in medical sciences, it is just starting to gain traction in behavioral research, and temporal trends have typically not been addressed in IS research. A review of 64 meta-analysis papers from 15 IS journals confirms that IS research is generally blind to time. No IS paper has employed meta-trend analysis to test for temporal trends, and less than a quarter of the papers reviewed have any treatment or mention of the possible impact of time. Support from ecological systems theory, in particular the idea of proximal processes, is used to explain why IS researchers may expect temporal trends in effect sizes. To illustrate this, meta-trend analysis is conducted on several frequently examined relationships between IS constructs. Preliminary evidence of temporal trends is observed

Tourism sector, Travel agencies, and Transport Suppliers: Comparison of Different Estimators in the Structural Equation Modeling

"jats:p" The paper addresses the effect of external integration (EI) with transport suppliers on the efficiency of travel agencies in the tourism sector supply chains. The main aim is the comparison of different estimation methods used in the structural equation modeling (SEM), applied to discover possible relationships between EIs and efficiencies. The latter are calculated by the means of data envelopment analysis (DEA). While designing the structural equation model, the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses are also used as preliminary statistical procedures. For the estimation of parameters of SEM model, three different methods are explained, analyzed and compared: maximum likelihood (ML) method, Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (BMCMC) method, and unweighted least squares (ULS) method. The study reveals that all estimation methods calculate comparable estimated parameters. The results also give an evidence of good model fit performance. Besides, the research confirms that the amplified external integration with transport providers leads to increased efficiency of travel agencies, which might be a very interesting finding for the operational management. Document type: Articl

Digital service problems: Prevention and user persistence in solving them

The service sector is an important and consistently growing sector of the world economy. It is estimated that the sector will make up two thirds of the total world Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Information Technology (IT) has been an important contributor to the fast and high grow of the sector by increasingly digitising the production, delivery and use of services. IT has enabled multiple parties, including user support service staff, employees (internal IT users) and customers (external IT users) of an organisation, to engage in the production, delivery and use of digital services. Consequently, both users and user support service staff of the organisations have an increased responsibility to both prevent IT problems from occurring, and solve them when they do occur. Problems with ITs can occur at different stages of a digital service value chain (i.e. sequential steps/stages required to produce and deliver a digital service), and may lead to a service failure in the user’s mind. Examples include problems with a self-check-out machine at a library, problems with an online registration system that occurs for university students, or a website that does not include an online payment functionality a user expects. Numerous studies in both Information Systems (IS) and service literature have focused on the role of the service staff in both preventing and solving digital service failures, but few have considered the user’s role in these. This thesis includes four original articles. The first article emphasises that prevention from digital service failures must be considered before establishing effective approaches to solving the problems. The article presents a typology of technologies and technological approaches that customers and businesses can use to support prevention from these failures. The rest of the articles consider situations where an IT-related service problem has occurred, and address the user’s behaviour of persistence in solving their own IT problem. From the user’s perspective, their persistence in solving the problem contributes to achieving a satisfactory outcome, and from the organisational perspective, such an outcome is important for maintaining their user satisfaction. User persistence is important both when trying to solve an IT problem alone, and when using support services. Studying user persistence can help organisations to design their user support services in a way that encourages user persistence, resolves the problems more efficiently and cheaply; and maintains their user satisfaction. The study of user persistence included the use of focus groups for data collection purposes. Surprisingly, qualitative methodology literature has little to say on analytical approaches to focus group data – particularly interactive participant data. Therefore, a focus group analysis framework was designed (presented in the second article) and was used in the analysis phase of the user persistence study. The third article uses the framework in its analysis phase, and (a) presents a conceptual clarification of user persistence in IT problem solving, (b) identifies the factors that contribute to user persistence, (c) develops a theory to explain that why a user decides to persist with a method of solving IT problems, and (d) develops a theory to explain that why the user decides to persist with the overall process (collective methods) of solving the problem. The fourth article presents the results of evaluating the robustness of the two theories and shows that the two theories are confirmed. The thesis concludes with the ‘contributions and conclusion’ chapter where it presents a summary of the contributions of the four articles to IS theory, methodology and practice

Relational norms, dependence and the elements of relationship quality between participants in marketing channels in the Republic of Serbia

Uspešno upravljanje odnosima u kanalima marketinga, odnosno ostvarivanje neophodnog nivoa koordinacije i saradnje, prepoznato je kao ključni faktor kreiranja vrednosti i ostvarivanja konkurentske prednosti, posebno imajući u vidu trendove razvijanja dugoročnih i sloţenih aranţmana izmedju učesnika. Perspektive analize transakcionih troškova i teorije relacionih ugovora sugerišu veliki značaj implementacije odgovarajuće organizacione strukture i mehanizama upravljanja procesima razmena. Upravljački mehanizmi moraju obezbediti neophodan nivo efikasnosti i prilagodljivosti sistema, odnosno zaštitu idiosinkratičkih investicija, posebno u uslovima neizvesnosti. Relacioni pristup, koji je konceptualno uobličio Ian Roderick Macneil, predvidja da su ponašanja i percepcije aktera odredjeni normama koje se vremenom razvijaju u odnosima razmene. U tom kontekstu se relacione norme posmatraju kao oblik implicitnog upravljačkog mehanizma, a koji je posebno relevantan u uslovima inherentne nekompletnosti formalnih ugovora u dugoročnim odnosima. U ovom radu se analizira uticaj odnosa zavisnosti na razvoj relacionizma u kanalima marketinga. Takodje, u fokusu su upravljački kapaciteti relacionih normi u ostvarivanju neophodnog nivoa kvaliteta odnosa, oličenog u konstruktima poverenja, oportunizma i konflikata izmedju učesnika u razmenama. Relacionizam je, u ovom istraţivanju, odredjen nivoom relacionih normi solidarnosti, reciprociteta, fleksibilnosti, integriteta uloga i uzdrţavanja od upotrebe moći. Kako pokazuju relevantna prethodna istraţivanja, odnosi izmedju učesnika u kanalima marketinga i veze izmedju ključnih konstrukata su uslovljeni, izmedju ostalog, i kulturnim i institucionalnim faktorima, kao i kontekstom organizacije konkretnog kanala. Na osnovu toga se ukazuje potreba za istraţivanjem u specifičnim uslovima privrede Republike Srbije, kao i kanalu marketinga koji je bliţi tradicionalnoj organizaciji aktivnosti.Successful management of marketing channel relationships, i.e. attaining the necessary level of coordination and cooperation, has been recognized as the key factor of value creation and achieving competitive advantage, especially having in mind trends of the development of long-term and complex arrangements among participants. As suggested by both the perspectives of Transaction Cost Analysis and Relational Contract Theory, the implementation of a suitable organizational structure and mechanisms for governing exchanges is of great importance. The purpose of these governance mechanisms is to ensure the necessary level of a system efficiency and adaptability, as well as the protection of idiosyncratic investments, particularly in conditions of uncertainty. Relational approach, conceptualized by Ian Roderick Macneil, envisages that participants’ behaviours and perceptions are determined by norms which in time develop in exchange relations. In that context, relational norms are seen as a form of implicit governance mechanism, particularly relevant considering an inherent incompleteness of formal contracts in long-term relations. The impact of dependence relations on development of relationalism in marketing channels is being analyzed in this paper. Moreover, the focus is on the governing capacity of relational norms in the achievement of the necessary level of relationship quality, represented by the constructs of trust, opportunism, and conflicts among participants in exchanges. In this research, relationalism is determined by the level of relational norms of solidarity, reciprocity, flexibility, role integrity and restraint in the use of power. As indicated by relevant previous researches, relations between marketing channels participants, as well as between key constructs, are determined among other, by cultural and institutional factors, also by the context of the organization of a particular channel. Having that in mind, there is a need to conduct a research in the specific conditions of the economy of the Republic of Serbia, as well as in the marketing channel which is vii closer to traditional organization of exchange activities