TAXONOMY RESEARCH IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS: A SYSTEMATIC ASSESSMENT

Today’s world is changing at unprecedent speed and scale becoming more complex to understand. Taxonomies represent an important tool for understanding and analyzing complex domains based on the classification of objects. In the Information Systems (IS) domain, Nickerson et al. (2013) were the first to propose a taxonomy development method, addressing the observation that many taxonomies have been developed in an ‘ad-hoc’ approach. More than five years after Nickerson et al.’s (2013) publication, we examined to what extent recently published taxonomy articles account for existing methodological guidance. Therefore, we identified and reviewed 33 taxonomy articles published between 2013 and 2018 in leading Information Systems journals. Our results were sobering: We found few taxonomy articles that followed any specific development method. Although most articles correctly understood taxonomies as conceptually or empirically derived groupings of dimensions and characteristics, our study revealed that the development process often remained opaque and that taxonomies were hardly evaluated. We discuss these findings and potential root causes related to method design, method adoption, and the general positioning of taxonomy research in the IS domain. Our study proposes stimulating questions for future research and contributes to the IS community’s progress towards methodologically well-founded taxonomies

A REVIEW OF SD-LOGIC RESOURCES IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The evolution from a Goods-dominant logic (GD-logic) into a Service-dominant logic (SD-logic) is marked by fundamental changes in how we leverage resources for innovation. The current paper offers a review of service-dominant logic (SD-logic) resources within the field of Information Systems (IS). It uses a scoping review method of papers from the senior scholars’ basket of journals and the two flagship IS conferences: ECIS and ICIS. The review is focused on examining the theoretical and empirical applications of SD-logic in order to develop a basic conceptual classification of resources within IS that contributes into understanding service innovation in market and society. Four main conceptualizations of resources were identified in the reviewed papers of which only two embrace resources as conceptualized in SD-logic. Also, the review suggests that the field of IS does not seem to have yet maturely embraced SD-logic and has not sufficiently made its way into dominant journals and conferences with the field

The Role of Management Innovation in Service Sector Performance: A Study Applied to Knowledge Intensive Business Services

Management innovation is important in firms because it contributes to technological innovation and is directly or indirectly associated with their performance in a positive way. However, its outcome on performance depends on its diffusion by the firm as a social system, encompassing a variety of processes and methods. As management innovation is people-oriented, it is an interesting field for investigating its role in the innovation and performance of service firms. In particular, the conceptualisation of different causal relationships between management and technological innovation, as well as the complementarities between these types of innovation influence the performance of firms. However, there are gaps regarding studies on the effects of the relationships between management and technological innovation. Furthermore, the literature has shown that management innovation is relevant in the industrial sector, lacking its study in the services sector. Additionally, in the peripheral regions of Europe, innovating requires more effort due to lower organisational and institutional density. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether new management activities create value in innovation and performance of firms located there. Thus, this thesis pursues the generic objective of assessing how the introduction of management innovation determines business innovation and performance in the services sector. It encompasses the role of management innovation in the performance of service firms, covering its combinative, antecedent and mediating effects. These influences and effects were consolidated into three models and empirically tested using the structural equation modelling technique, based on a sample of knowledge-intensive business services firms located in Portugal and using primary data collected through a questionnaire survey. The results provide empirical evidence that confirms the existence of direct and indirect positive and significant effects between management innovation, technology, service innovation and the performance of service firms. It is concluded that in knowledge-intensive business service firms, management innovation operates through a reciprocal and complementary relationship with technology and service innovation. The finding of its direct and indirect effects on performance expands this line of research.A inovação de gestão é importante nas empresas porque contribui para a inovação tecnológica e está direta ou indiretamente associada ao seu desempenho de forma positiva. No entanto, a sua influência no desempenho depende da sua difusão pela empresa como sistema social, abrangendo uma variedade de processos e métodos. Como a inovação de gestão é orientada para as pessoas, é um campo interessante para investigar o seu papel na inovação e no desempenho das empresas de serviços. Em particular, a conceptualização de diferentes relações causais entre a inovação de gestão e a tecnológica, bem como as complementaridades entre estes tipos de inovação influenciam o desempenho das empresas. No entanto, verificam-se lacunas relativamente a estudos sobre os efeitos das relações entre a inovação de gestão e a tecnológica. Além disso, a literatura tem demonstrado que inovação de gestão é relevante no setor industrial, carecendo o seu estudo no setor dos serviços. Acresce-se que nas regiões periféricas da Europa, inovar requer mais esforço devido à menor densidade organizacional e institucional. Portanto, é importante investigar se a novas atividades de gestão criam valor na inovação e no desempenho das empresas aí localizadas. Assim, a presente tese prossegue o objetivo genérico de avaliar como a introdução da inovação de gestão determina a inovação e o desempenho empresariais no setor dos serviços. Esta tese engloba o papel da inovação de gestão no desempenho das empresas de serviços, considerando os seus efeitos combinado, antecedente e mediador. As influências e os efeitos referidos foram consolidados em três modelos e testados empiricamente através da técnica de modelação com equações estruturais, tendo como base uma amostra com dados primários, recolhidos através de inquérito por questionário, em empresas de serviços empresariais de conhecimento intensivo localizadas em Portugal. Os resultados fornecem evidências empíricas que confirmam a existência de efeitos diretos e indiretos positivos e significativos entre a inovação de gestão, a tecnologia, a inovação de serviço e o desempenho das empresas de serviços. Conclui-se que nas empresas de serviços empresariais de conhecimento intensivo a inovação de gestão funciona através de uma relação de reciprocidade e complementaridade com a tecnologia e a inovação de serviço. A constatação do seu efeito direto e indireto no desempenho expande esta linha de investigação

Domestication of open educational resources by academics in an open distance e-learning institution of South Africa

The emergence of open educational resources has gained popularity and acceptance in higher education institutions and beyond the basic education sector. This brought a persisting shift in depending on information communication technologies for tuition and research provision. Information technology artifact was not treated in isolation to user perspective. The study established how academics accept, feel, perceive, and what skills, opportunities, challenges exist to hinder the domestication. The study context had no uniform guidelines or tools and policy in place for the domestication of open educational resources. The study adopted the exploratory approach guided by the interpretivism paradigm. The study employed Domestication theory. This study conducted in an heterogenous single case study, which is the open distance e-learning (University of South Africa). That was done for an in-depth investigation by relying on multi-methods for data triangulation such as semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, document analysis, and actual artifact analysis. The total of participants were 52. The study found that most academics played a role in the domestication of open educational resources besides the minority who were unable. The experience and prior knowledge were found to be a factor hindering the domestication process. Open distance e-learning found to relevant space for open educational resources. Such institutions play a role in the adoption and development of open educational resources and mostly rely in information technology for tuition and research. Information technology infrastructure found to be an enabler and disabler in the domestication process. This study contribution to the world of knowledge is based on the theory and practice. Eight theoretical propositions were suggested. The study further contributed by extension of domestication theory as recommended two additional phases which are non-appropriation and dis-appropriation. The current proposed Domestication theory has five phases. Lastly, the study recommended the actual guidelines for adoption and development of open educational resources. This guideline can be adopted by higher education institutions by infusing them in policy development or for general guidance in actual adoption and developments