Adoption of collaboration information technologies in Australian and US organizations: a comparative study

Collaboration to accomplish tasks has taken on a new meaning over the past few years. The majority of organizations are viewing information technology (IT) as a key enabler to transcend time and distance barriers to collaborate efficiently and effectively. Despite this, we know very little about the macro level adoption of IT to support collaboration. This paper assesses the pattern of adoption of seven IT clusters to support task-oriented collaboration in US and Australian organizations. Data collected from one hundred and forty Australian organizations and one hundred and nineteen US organizations is analyzed to compare adoption patterns. Our results suggest that stand-alone e-mail systems, audio teleconferencing systems, and videoconferencing are the most widely adopted technologies to support collaboration in both countries while web-based tools and electronic meeting systems are the least commonly adopted. A further analysis of data suggests that promotion of collaboration, mode of collaboration, and the adoption of some IT clusters are affected by region. Implications of these findings are discussed along with some directions for practice and research

A Survey of IS/IT Investment Evaluation Practices in Australia: Some Preliminary Results

In modern organizations a large portion of senior management's time is now being spent on finding ways to measure the contribution of their organizations IS/IT investments to business performance. It has been shown that IS/IT investments in many organizations are huge and increasing rapidly every year and yet there is still a lack of understanding of the impact of the proper IS/IT investment evaluation processes and practices in these organizations. At the same time, the issue of expected and actual benefits realized from IS/IT investments has also generated a significant amount of debate in the IS/IT literature amongst researchers and practitioners, though most of the published research comes from the USA and UK. This study has addressed that issue through a survey of the CIOs of Australia's largest 500 organisations. The results indicate that a variety of formal IS/IT investment evaluation processes and techniques are used, costs and budgets are of great concern, there is a strong emphasis on cost reduction and other benefits, and a reasonable level of confidence in the delivery of these benefits. Most organizations used a formal methodology or process for IS/IT investment evaluation, and financially based evaluation techniques such as NPV and ROI which, though not perfect, often do try to incorporate intangible benefits into the process. These and other results are presented in the paper, and suggestions for further work included

CEO\u27s Role in IT-Driven Organizational Change

This study is on the role of chief executive officers (CEOs) of large nondotcom companies undergoing major information technology (IT) induced organizational changes. Interviews were conducted with Australian CEOs to determine their perception of their role in IT induced organizational change. Two questions that this study answers are: How did CEOs provide leadership when dealing with issues beyond their area of technical expertise? How did CEOs perceive they influenced the effective use of IT? It was found that while the CEOs acknowledged their relatively low level of IT expertise, they felt they achieved technological leadership in the organization by providing the context for IT development. The activities they engaged in to provide such contexts were analyzed in terms of Mintzberg’s managerial roles. The roles of the CEO were found to correspond with the managerial roles of Disseminator, Disturbance Handler and Resource Allocator. This has implications for the way IT managers in organizations interact with their CEOs, and for the role of CEOs in IT related issues

Assessing the Impacts of IS Strategy through the Development of Dynamic Capabilities

Of central importance to the functioning of the IT department is its information systems strategy. While research attention has been copiously given to other areas relating to the strategic value of IS, fewer studies have assessed the impact of the IS strategy itself, which can be an important avenue through which firm performance may be realized. As such, drawing upon the dynamic capabilities perspective, we propose a model of IS strategy and its impacts. Responses from 271 CIOs were collected via an online-based survey to test the proposed model. Results suggest that while innovative strategies reinforce dynamic capabilities development, undefined strategies tend to prove detrimental to development, and conservative strategies tend to neither help nor hurt. The impact of strategy on performance is mediated through dynamic capabilities, with the IS Innovator leading in performance, followed by the IS Conservative, and lastly the IS Undefined, whose lack of strategy proves harmful

IT Management in Local Government:Engaged Problem Formulation

The use of information technology (IT) is increasingly important for local governments (municipalities) in adhering to their responsibilities for providing services to citizens and this requires effective IT management. We present an engaged scholarship approach to formulating the IT management problems with local government – not for local government. We define such engaged problem formulation as joint learning and definition of a contemporary and complex problem by researchers and those who experience and know the problem. This engaged problem formulation process was carried out as an initiation of action research and design science research activities at multiple levels in Danish municipalities. In this paper we present the IT management problems identified in our study and discuss the engaged problem formulation process in relation to engaged scholarship and implications for action research and design science research activities

Temporality in Information Systems Development (ISD) Research: A Systematic Literature Review

While time is central to the way we work and live our lives, it is often viewed overly simply or overlooked completely. Time is highly complex, polymorphous, socially constructed and context dependent. Time is also experienced differently across cultures, sub-cultures, organisations, teams and individuals. Many researchers have attempted to classify the complexities of time. However, there is no overarching framework which is commonly agreed upon. We reviewed the temporality literature and particularly the existing frameworks which attempt to classify time. This research-in-progress paper uses the well regarded Ancona et al., (2001) framework to classify time into three categories: conceptions of time, mapping activities to time and actors relating to time. Guided by this framework, the extant literature on information systems development (ISD) research was reviewed. Preliminary findings were found, conclusions, limitations and future research is also considered

Mechanisms for the Development of Shared Mental Models between the CIO and the Top Management Team

Extant research has documented that the relationship between the chief information officer and the management team (TMT) has been troubled. An often cited contributing factor to this has been the gap in understanding between the CIO and the TMT. The objective of this study is to examine the development of shared mental models (SMMs) between the CIO and TMT about the role of information systems in the organization. A SMM is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct spanning the dimensions of shared language and shared understanding. The study posits that knowledge exchange mechanisms and relational similarity between the CIO and TMT are key antecedents to the development of SMMs. SMMs between the CIO and TMT are expected to guide the strategic orientation of the organization and may influence strategic alignment and organizational outcomes. The model was tested via a field survey of 382 CIOs using structural equation modeling. Results show that relational similarity and formal mechanisms of knowledge exchange (e.g., formal CIO membership in the TMT, CIO hierarchical level, and formal educational mechanisms by the CIO) are important to the development of SMMs. Contrary to expectations, social informal mechanisms of knowledge exchange and physical proximity were not significantly related to SMMs. Given the undeniable importance of developing a shared view of the role of IS in the organization by senior executives, such research has important theoretical and practical implications

IS/IT Benefits Realisation and Management in Large Australian Organisations

Information systems and technology investments in organisations are substantial and growing. While formal methodologies and techniques for evaluating these investments are used to some extent, relatively less formality is applied to managing and realising their benefits. Part of an ongoing research programme, this study examines a number of aspects of IS/IT benefits realisation in large Australian organisations and reveals issues of identifying and structuring benefits, planning benefits realisation, delivering, evaluating and reviewing these benefits, with some success and some failure. The results show some use of formal methodologies, benefits measurement, formal reviews, and allocation of specific responsibilities, but a lack of uniformity in the formality of the activities. These results, however, are generally consistent with findings in related studies outside Australia

Investigating the business value of information management

Research on the effect of information management on organizational performance is an important issue. The primary problem of the business value of information is embedded in the following reasoning: information management creates business value indirectly but creates business costs directly, making the evaluation and measurement of information management and the benefits thereof difficult for organizations. In this study an empirical survey was conducted in ten large South African organizations to establish practices and norms in managing the business value of information management, information management investment and benefits evaluation. The most common criteria considered to be important were the ability to adapt and support business changes and the stability and quality of information management services to the user community