Firm Boundary and Performance in the Airline Ticket Distribution Industry: Effects of the Evolution of Electronic Markets

More than two decades after the introduction of the electronic market hypothesis (EMH), electronic markets have evolved from opaque to transparent, from biased to unbiased, and finally to personalized; yet, airline ticket distribution keeps searching for the right balance between markets and hierarchies. With advances in IT (Information Technology), it is not clear whether market-based or hierarchical forms of ticket distribution can achieve the optimal distribution efficiency. 17 years of operational data was analyzed by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Tobit regression to explore the relationship between firm performance and forces causing the transformation of electronic markets in the airline ticket distribution industry. The end results reveal that, despite the apparent inverse relationship between IT-driven distribution and production within hierarchies, airline business decisions, such as disintermediation to exclude downstream players or vertical integration to compete with rivals, created negative impacts on their performance and did not improve operational efficiency

A Review On Evaluation And Benefits Of Decision Support Systems

This review paper identifies benefits from various Decision Support Systems (DSSs) and introduces a range of examples from the literature. Those examples are organized according to the driving technological architecture of the DSS. Benefits may impact a decision or the decision-making process. Some techniques for assessing the benefits of a particular DSS were also surveyed

Creative Thinking and Modelling for the Decision Support in Water Management

This paper reviews the state of art in knowledge and preferences elicitation techniques. The purpose of the study was to evaluate various cognitive mapping techniques in order to conclude with the identification of the optimal technique for the NetSyMod methodology. Network Analysis – Creative System Modelling (NetSyMod) methodology has been designed for the improvement of decision support systems (DSS) with respect to the environmental problems. In the paper the difference is made between experts and stakeholders knowledge and preference elicitation methods. The suggested technique is very similar to the Nominal Group Techniques (NGT) with the external representation of the analysed problem by means of the Hodgson Hexagons. The evolving methodology is undergoing tests within several EU-funded projects such as: ITAES, IISIM, NostrumDSS.Creative modelling, Cognitive mapping, Preference elicitation techniques, Decision support

A Historical Observation of the Intellectual and Institutional Structures of the Field

In this paper, we examine the evolution of the institutional and intellectual structures of the IS field. We argue that, though the field’s institutional structures—academic programs, journals, conferences, and professional associations—have developed admirably, the state of the field’s intellectual structure is less clear. We employ a co-citation lens to analyze the development and evolution of subfields across three periods. We rely on Culnan’s (1987) second co-citation study as a point of departure for our analysis. We then extend her work through two additional studies that individually assess the state of subfield development at distinct periods during the field’s history. Over the three periods, we note that the field has experienced change in subfield diversity and cohesion. Culnan’s study exhibits low levels of cohesion and diversity among topics. Our first study shows continued isolation but growth in subfield diversity. This period is indicative of a fragmented adhocracy. Our second study suggests increasing levels of integration despite only a slight reduction in subfield diversity. While we largely only describe the field’s evolution, any assessment of whether this evolution represents a positive or negative trajectory for the field will be subject to interpretation and debate

Information Technology Project Prioritization

This thesis provides a contemporary review of several topics related to information technology project prioritization, which will help managers create their own custom methodology. Traditional prioritization tools such as weighted average scoring models are used for simultaneous comparison of a number of proposed projects on multiple dimensions, to facilitate alignment with organization goals. These methods are used for the analysis of information related to the weight preferences over criteria used. If used correctly with this procedure, it is possible to bring forward an authentic figure of merit, which is used as the projects strategic potential. This allows the projects to be ranked and the highest-ranking projects to be considered for selection. Visual tools can then be used for selection of optimum project portfolio. The literature dedicates less time on tools beyond the selection of projects. This study aims to bridge this gap by proposing a final phase of project prioritization as Project Portfolio Management

Cognition Matters: Enduring Questions in Cognitive IS Research

We explore the history of cognitive research in information systems (IS) across three major research streams in which cognitive processes are of paramount importance: developing software, decision support, and human-computer interaction. Through our historical analysis, we identify “enduring questions” in each area. The enduring questions motivated long-standing areas of inquiry within a particular research stream. These questions, while perhaps unapparent to the authors cited, become evident when one adopts an historical perspective. While research in all three areas was influenced by changes in technologies, research techniques, and the contexts of use, these enduring questions remain fundamental to our understanding of how to develop, reason with, and interact with IS. In synthesizing common themes across the three streams, we draw out four cognitive qualities of information technology: interactivity, fit, cooperativity, and affordances. Together these cognitive qualities reflect IT’s ability to influence cognitive processes and ultimately task performance. Extrapolating from our historical analysis and looking at the operation of these cognitive qualities in concert, we envisage a bright future for cognitive research in IS: a future in which the study of cognition in IS extends beyond the individual to consider cognition distributed across teams, communities and systems, and a future involving the study of rich and dynamic social and organizational contexts in which the interplay between cognition, emotion, and attitudes provides a deeper explanation of behavior with IS

Vendor Selection: An Enhanced Hybrid Fuzzy MCDM Model

The objective of this article is to develop an empirically based framework for formulating and selecting a vendor in supply chain. This study applies the fuzzy set theory to evaluate the vendor selection decision. Applying Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in obtaining criteria weights and applied Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Idea Solution (TOPSIS) for obtaining final ranking of vendors. The usefulness of this model is explained through an empirical study for vendor selection

Assessing Leading Institutions, Faculty, and Articles in Premier Information Systems Research Journals

This study provides a current assessment of the impact of various Information Systems (IS) articles, and the productivity of IS researchers and institutions. Using a data set of Information Systems articles that spans 15 years, we conducted a scientometric study of the field. The articles are drawn from three premier IS journals. We use citation analysis to demonstrate the impact of articles on institutions and individuals in the IS field. In addition, we identify IS topics with the highest impact. The results indicate that leading productive institutions have changed over time, and problematically, institutions outside of North America are poorly represented. We compare our results with earlier productivity findings created using alternative metrics