Culture and IS: National cultural dimensions within IS discipline

The study of culture is rooted in sociology, social psychology, and anthropology. In particular, cultural anthropology seeks to understand the similarities and differences among groups of people in the contemporary world. Within the last 20 years, the practical relevance of researching cultural issues, and especially comparing phenomena across cultures, was questioned (Ferraro, 1990). However, the importance of cultural issues is becoming increasingly evident in many applied disciplines; these include the management of information technology (IT) (Davison and Martinsons, 2003). A normative literature review has been carried out in this paper to provide IS researchers with the milestones of studying culture in IS disciplin

Culture and IS: A criticism of predefined cultural archetypes studies

Although there are many different models of national culture, most IS research has tended to rely almost solely on Hofstede’s cultural model (Keil et al., 2000; Straub, 1994; Tan et al., 1995; Watson et al., 1994; Myers and Tan, 2002; Kirkman et al. 2006).). This is perhaps not surprising, given that Hofstede’s typology of culture has been one of the most popular in many different fields of management (Myers and Tan, 2002). Although, this paper focuses on Hofstede’s model of national culture, but many of the criticisms of Hofstede’s model apply equally well to most of the other predefined cultural models. This paper provides a criticism of predefined cultural archetypes and highlight some recommendations for researchers in the filed of culture and IS discipline

Cost Model for Global Software Development

Recent business trends have been characterized by global competition. Furthermore, the severe shortages and increasing costs of Information Technology professionals are forcing software development companies to explore global system development strategies. A conceptual framework representing factors affecting global software development decision and selection of development center locations is developed. Drawing from the literature in economics, global manufacturing and global R & D, this paper presents an economic cost model to support global software development decision and help select appropriate locations. The model considers economic, political, managerial, and technical environment in home and host country

A situated cultural approach for cross-cultural studies in IS

Cultural anthropology seeks to understand the similarities and differences among groups of people in the contemporary world. Although there are many different models of national culture, most IS research has tended to rely almost solely on Hofstede’s cultural model (Keil et al., 2000; Straub, 1994; Tan et al., 1995; Watson et al., 1994; Myers and Tan, 2002; Kirkman et al. 2006).). This paper, provides a comprehensive framework of situated culture approach to study culture within IS discipline. This is achieved via an articulation of Structuration Theory and the provision of an approach to study cross-cultural phenomena within IS discipline. The paper proposes two main components of the Structuration Theory based analysis model which is proposed as a way to study culture within IS discipline. First, the paper presents ideas behind the practice lens for studying the use of technology, as proposed by Orlikowski (2000). Secondly, the paper presents a Structurational analysis approach as detailed by Walsham (2002). The paper argues that using a practice lens contributes to identifying the mediated shared structures between actors through understanding the actions of the actors within the phenomena. Then, using a Structurational analysis approach contributes to identifying the cultural dimensions that are embedded in the identified mediated shared structures

Situated cultural approach versu predefined cultural archetypes models

Within the last 20 years, the practical relevance of researching cultural issues, and especially comparing phenomena across cultures, was questioned (Ferraro, 1990). However, the importance of cultural issues is becoming increasingly evident in many applied disciplines; these include the management of information technology (IT) (Davison and Martinsons, 2003). A normative literature review has been carried out in this paper to provide IS researchers with the milestones of studying culture in IS discipline. Although there are many different models of national culture, most IS research has tended to rely almost solely on Hofstede’s cultural model (Keil et al., 2000; Straub, 1994; Tan et al., 1995; Watson et al., 1994; Myers and Tan, 2002; Kirkman et al. 2006).). In this paper, the author provides a criticism of predefined cultural archetypes models and highlight the problems of using such approach in studying culture within IS discipline. The author demonstrates a comprehensive framework of situated culture approach to study culture within IS discipline, as alternative approach to avoid the criticism of predefined cultural archetypes models. This is achieved via an articulation of Structuration Theory. The author argues that using a practice lens for studying the use of technology by Orlikowski (2000), contributes to identifying the mediated shared structures between actors through understanding the actions of the actors within IS phenomena. Then, using a Structurational analysis approach by Walsham (2002) contributes to identifying the cultural dimensions that are embedded in the identified mediated shared structures

The impact of national culture on e-government implementation: A comparison case study

Over the past decade there has been increasing interest in the IS research literature on the impact of cultural differences on the development and use of information and communications technologies (Ives & Jarvenpaa, 1991; Shore & Venkatachalam, 1995; Tractinsky & Jarvenpaa, 1995, Myers and Tan, 2002, Ali and Brooks, 2008). In this paper the authors explore the influence of national culture on eGov implementation. The authors have conducted a comparative case study in two different countries the UK as a developed country and Sari Lanka as a developing country. The research findings highlight the potential influence of cultural differences on eGov implementation

Revealing the Voices of Resistance: A Q-Methodology Study on Platform Workers in the Gig Economy

While algorithmic management generates several benefits for platform companies, it emanates several issues for workers, which they perceive as threats triggering different forms of resistance behaviors. Although recent studies identify these issues and resistance behaviors, the perspective of the actual subject of resistance, i.e., the gig worker or group of gig workers with resistant behaviors, is yet not well understood. By adopting a Q-methodology mixed-method approach this study tries to identify resistance types of gig workers, explore their characteristics and similarities, and therefore give a voice to the subject of resistance. Based on 21 threats and 14 resistance behaviors, identified in a literature review, we develop a Q-set containing 35 statements, which will be used for data collection with the goal of revealing the richness of the resistance phenomenon in the context of work in the gig economy