Contextual Factors Influencing Perceived Importance and Trade-offs of Information Quality

With the ever-increasing importance of information quality (IQ), research focuses mainly on two approaches, criteria and assessment. Researchers developed a number of frameworks, criteria lists, and approaches for assessing and measuring IQ. Several studies confirm that IQ is a multi-criteria concept, and its evaluation should consider different aspects. However, research and discussions with practitioners indicate that assessing and managing IQ in organizations remains challenging. Despite the subjective character of quality, foremost frameworks and assessment methodologies do not often consider the context in which the assessment is performed. Trade-offs between criteria are often not considered in most frameworks despite strong evidence in the literature that suggests trade-off relations exist. Underlying a user-centric view, this study analyses the importance of selected contextual factors and their impact on IQ criteria. Empirical data are gathered using a questionnaire approach. Results suggest significant context impacts and show that the perceived importance of information quality criteria changed over the last decade. Information and communication technology, available resources, the user role, the department, and the type of information systems influence respondents’ perception of IQ. These factors are incorporated in a context-oriented IQ research framework

Opening the Blackbox of ‘Fitness for Use’: The Role of IT Implementation in Perceiving Information Quality

This article explains the role of adoption and adaptation of information technology in shaping and constructing the perception of information quality by information consumers. A qualitative and interpretive study has been conducted among Iranian organizations that faced problems in implementing Western developed software applications in Iran’s institutional context. We have been exploring how the lack of institutional linkage between the technology developers and technology users which already made implementation process a challenging one for the users may affect their perception of information quality. Drawing on Social Studies of Technology and the theory of social learning, we have provided more insight into the mentioned dynamics. We conceptualize the impact of implementation of information technology on the dynamics of shaping perception of information quality by suggesting the following mechanisms: adapting and domesticating a generic type of information technology from other institutional contexts, experiencing context-specific information quality issues by using the appropriated information technology, and affecting the perception of information and its fitness to the context of use

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Customer information plays a key role in managing successful relationships with valuable customers. Big data analytics use (BD use), i.e., the extent to which customer information derived from big data analytics guides marketing decisions, helps firms better meet customer needs for competitive advantage. This study aims to (1) determine whether organizational BD use improves customer-centric and financial outcomes, and (2) identify the factors influencing BD use. Drawing primarily from market information use theory, we advance a model to explain how information quality (IQ), customer orientation and big data analytics culture predict BD use, which in turn influences customer relationship and financial performance.Empirical findings from a survey of 301 senior marketing executives, representing large US-based firms in B2C industries, support our conceptualization of the performance outcomes and antecedents of BD use. All seven hypotheses received empirical support.The results highlight that the characteristics of the customer information (IQ) and the characteristics of the user organization (customer orientation and big data analytics culture) strongly predict BD use. The findings also reveal the relative importance of different customer information characteristics to marketing decision-makers.Practitioners may significantly improve firm performance with BD use, but only if certain antecedent factors facilitate BD use in the organization. We offer managers advice how to overcome challenges specific to BD use by managing the quality aspects of customer information, and by fostering shared customer-oriented and analytics-oriented cultures.</p

Factors affecting decision making effectiveness in Palestinian Banks

This study investigated the influence of information quality on decision-making effectiveness among Palestinian bank managers. Previous studies revealed the importance of information quality on decision-making effectiveness in different fields of management. Organisational structure was found to moderate information quality and decision-making effectiveness in different fields of management. However, the moderating effect of organisational structure on the relationship between information quality on decision-making effectiveness had not been addressed in the banking sector in Palestine. This cross-sectional quantitative study examined the relationship between information quality and decision-making effectiveness as being moderated by organisational structure. A total of 146 managers were surveyed in which they were required to respond to 55 items that elicited the three variables. Information quality was represented by six dimensions, organisational structure three dimensions, and decision-making effectiveness three dimensions. The data were analysed by SPSS and PLS-SEM software. The findings indicated the relevance and importance of information quality dimensions to decision-making effectiveness in the banking sector of Palestine. The result revealed four dimensions of information quality, namely, accuracy, completeness, relevancy and interpretability had a significant relationship with decision-making effectiveness. Two dimensions of organisational structure, namely, formality and centralisation, significantly moderated the relationship between information quality and decision-making effectiveness while complexity did not show a moderating effect. Overall, this study extends the understanding of the decision- making effectiveness. It contributes to building the model of the relationship between information quality and decision-making effectiveness in the banking industry. These findings will benefit bank managers in Palestine to understand the role of information quality better and utilise it towards developing sustainable banking services in Palestine

Conceptualizing Emerging Technology in Local Contexts: An Ethnographic Study of RFID in an Emirate’s Farming Industry

Situated in an emirate’s farming industry, this ethnographic study develops a framework to help bridge the existing knowledge gap about what and how local contexts interact with emerging technology, RFID in particular. Findings suggest that numerous local factors pertaining to the researched emirate’s unique environmental, project, cultural, and societal/political contexts shape and/or are reshaped by RFID implementation. For example, geographic landscape demands systems modification and device adaptation; religious custom increases project difficulty, and the systems, in turn, requires changes in certain religious practice; the notion of social sustainability establishes objectives for RFID project, while the latter helps reshape social welfare systems. As these local factors have rarely been empirically examined, my framework can help contribute to future RFID implementation in different local contexts. More specifically, insights gained urge stakeholders involved to carefully manage unique factors of the emirate or similar contexts for intended RFID projects. The findings also suggest that stakeholders should be aware of RFID’s reshaping effects on the local context particularly because those effects might be unexpected

Design and evaluation of business process oriented assessment techniques to determine the quality of information exchanges -demonstrated in public organizations-

This thesis investigates information quality (IQ) of information exchange in public organizations. A clear relation between the quality of information and success of organizations has been acknowledged, but approaches for analyzing information quality on the basis of higher abstraction level have been lacking. When examining organizations, limited understanding of information processes relating to information exchanges are often observed. As the example of emergency medical service demonstrates, this is particularly true within public service organizations. In this thesis, a set of techniques for IQ analysis are developed and evaluated, namely quality assessment for information exchange (QA.IE) techniques. This extends previously developed methods and provides a novel way to assess IQ, complementing data oriented approaches that have been often proposed in research in the last years. Design of the QA.IE techniques is undertaken in the public service within the emergency medical service, where information exchange utilize various forms of media and are known to be of critical importance. The research follows a design science (DS) approach. The analysis is based on data from interviews, in depth field investigations, and surveys. Evaluation of the QA.IE techniques are carried out in the operating room within a large hospital in Ireland and Counter of Lost Wallet (BPC) for e-Citizen service in Portugal. Within the work, an evaluation framework was developed which formed the basis for evaluating the techniques and is comprised of demonstration, design principles, interviews, and Moody and Shanks factors. The resulting QA.IE techniques provide models to evaluate the state of IQ in information exchange with consideration of enterprise contexts. The results can be utilized as guidelines when planning and assessing information and information exchange related matters, and facilitate digitalization for improvement. Suggestions concerning further development for future use of the techniques are formulated, and consolidated into principle for IQ assessment. This thesis thus contributes theoretically to the development of a new approach for analyzing IQ of information exchange