Electronic Reverse Auctions: Spawning Procurement Innovation in the Context of Arab Culture

Government e-procurement initiatives have the potential to transform local institutions, but few studies have been published of strategies for implementing specific e-procurement tools, particularly involving procurement by a foreign government adapting to local culture in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA). This case describes procurement at a forward operating base (FOB) in Kuwait in support of operations in Iraq. The government procurers had to deal with a phenomenon unique to the MENA region: wasta. Wasta is a form of social capital that bestows power, influence, and connection to those who possess it, similar to guanxi in China. This study explores the value proposition and limitations of electronic reverse auctions (eRA) with the purpose of sharing best practices and lessons learned for government procurement in a MENA country. The public value framework provides valuable theoretical insights for the implementation of a new government e-procurement tool in a foreign country. In a culture dominated by wasta, the suppliers enjoyed the transparency and merit-based virtues of eRA’s that transferred successfully into the new cultural milieu: potential to increase transparency, competition, efficiency, and taxpayer savings. The practices provided herein are designed specifically to help buyers overcome structural barriers including training, organizational inertia, and a lack of eRA policy and guidance while implementing a new e-procurement tool in a foreign country

Buyers’ Perceptions of the Risks of Internet Enabled Reverse Auctions

In addition to reducing the purchasing cost, Internet Enabled Reverse Auctions (RAs) are now being used by buyer firms toexplore new suppliers. The decision to use RAs is increasingly being recognized for its strategic importance to buyer firms.However, such decisions of strategic importance are presumably accompanied by equally serious risks. The first step tomanaging such risks is identifying what they are. Unfortunately, there is no validated check list of buyer risks that can assistfirms when using RAs. We have taken the first step towards addressing this issue by developing an authoritative list of theimportant risks associated with the use of RAs as a sourcing strategy. By employing a rigorous ranking type Delphi surveymethodology, we developed a comprehensive list of the key risks ranked by their relative importance. Implications of ourfindings for both researchers and sourcing professionals are discussed

Job Seekers\u27 Acceptance of Job Recommender Systems: Results of an Empirical Study

Based on UTAUT2 and the importance of trust to explain user behavior in relation to recommender systems, we focus on job recommender systems by developing and validating a job recommender system acceptance model. The results of our empirical, survey-based study with 440 job seekers indicate that beside performance expectancy and habit, trust is among the three most important determinants and it is especially relevant for women, passive job seekers and those without experience in using job recommender systems. The paper extends general trust and recommender system research by revealing three moderators for the trust and intention relationship. It contextualizes the UTAUT2 by incorporating trust as an antecedent of a consumer’s intention to use and by revealing three moderating effects for this relationship. Hence, it is the basis for further studies investigating the acceptance of job recommender system, which has rather been neglected by prior research

Software Characteristics of B2B Electronic Intermediaries: A Novel Design Science Approach

Long being seen as commercially unsuccessful after the dot-com era, web-based B2B electronic intermediaries are currentlyundergoing a renaissance driven by globalization and an ever increasing cost-pressure on procurement departments ofenterprises. These systems are getting more sophisticated almost by the day, which is also reflected by numerous relatedscientific articles. This development raises the question of the latest characteristics of such systems scientifically described.In order to answer this question, the work at hand depicts the results of a novel design science approach based on a structuredliterature review. The outcomes of this research are i) a state-of-the-art overview of scientifically described softwarecharacteristics of B2B electronic intermediaries, and ii) a taxonomy for structuring software characteristics of this type ofsystems. The results may help practitioners to further develop B2B electronic intermediaries and e-procurement systems, andwill serve as a basis for future research endeavors in the field

Toward JUSTIS―A Research Program Aimed at Fostering Business Ethics by Empowering Stakeholders Through Information Systems

As incidents involving corporate social responsibility—or rather the lack thereof—hit headlines at regular intervals, stakeholders are becoming increasingly concerned about ethical issues, thus encouraging researchers to identify problematic business processes and pressing practitioners to start rectifying their questionable courses of action. In the meantime, information systems (IS) are becoming ever more pervasive and ubiquitous and are shaping and altering many of our everyday activities and behavior. We argue that when it comes to promoting ethical behaviors, IS can be used as powerful tools to empower stakeholders, and, thus, it is crucial to consider the role that IS can play in either advancing or deterring ethical—or conversely, unethical—behaviors. In this article, we present a research agenda for a new research program specifically concerned with the task of analyzing the social impact of existing IS and devising new ones that can be used to encourage ethical behavior. JustIS is the name of this program

Research Mode and Contribution in Interorganizational Information Systems Research

We develop a model to analyze the body of knowledge of the information systems (IS) field where research accumulates through the interplay of different modes: discovery, prescriptive, and evaluation. The paper proposes five signature contributions: 1) descriptions of discovery and exploration, 2) elaborations of IS-based means and means-ends propositions, 3) discussions of IS-based designs, 4) explanations of the impacts and impact mechanisms of IS, and 5) discussions of organizational theories of IS-phenomena. We argue that each of these contributions plays an important role in the accumulation of the body of knowledge. In particular, we call for a balance in approaches producing these different contributions. Results from analyzing two samples of published interorganizational information systems (IOS) research in high-tier information systems journal outlets from 1982-2010 supports the applicability of the framework as a useful way to categorize the research stream. In line with prior suggestions, we also found an increased tendency towards explanatory organizational theories in that less work has focused on discovering new practices, developing means, and evaluating their uses. Recent interest in academically rigorous design science research offers a welcome addition to the body of IS research that could broaden its base and enrich its content and contributions

The paradoxical effects of legal intervention over unethical information technology use: A rational choice theory perspective

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. While the IS literature offers rich insights into the kinds, causes and consequences of unethical information technology use (UITU), we know little about the degree to which legal intervention may mitigate UITU. Our research aims at understanding how legal intervention could mitigate UITU by influencing the cost-benefit analysis in determining the decision to commit such unethical use of IT. Our contributions are twofold. First, we provide testable propositions on the role of legal intervention. Second, we offer an innovative take on intervention – conceived as a multi-mechanism process that adapts to UITU as well as to the way IT users negotiate the IT artifact

A Classification and Investigation of Trustees in B-to-C e-Commerce: General vs. Specific Trust

Existing literature lacks a common taxonomy and systematic integration necessary for building cumulative knowledge on the nature of trust in an information systems context. Hence, this article explores online trust’s multidimensional nature within the context of online stores. This article develops a framework for classifying trust dimensions and to investigate their influences on behaviors in new and familiar business-to-consumer (B-to-C) e-commerce environments. Specifically, we classify trust dimensions into two levels: general trust (beliefs toward the general e-commerce environment and infrastructure) and specific trust (beliefs regarding a specific e-commerce shopping experience). Specific trust is further delineated into trust in the merchant and trust in the technology artifact, i.e., the website. The integrative framework was tested in two separate empirical studies using e-commerce stores that were either new or familiar to the subjects. The results show that general trust mechanisms are important to consumers in a new e-commerce environment. In contrast, when shopping in a familiar e-commerce store, consumers pay more attention to the current Web experience, diminishing the salience of general trust. This article contributes to the literature by developing an integrative framework of trust and by providing insights into the influences of trust dimensions on purchase decisions in new and familiar e-commerce environments

Analyse des interprétations d’un SIIO en post-adoption et effets sur l’usage: jeux de discours et stratégies de contournement.

La phase de post-adoption est critique pour comprendre la réalisation des objectifs escomptés de l’adoption et l’usage des systèmes d’information. Toutefois, la majorité des recherches qui analysent la phase de post-adoption des systèmes d’information se sont concentrées sur les technologies intra-organisationnelles. Cet article se propose de comprendre l’évolution des interprétations d’un Système d’Information Inter-Organisationnel (SIIO) en phase de post-adoption ainsi que leurs effets sur l’usage du système et la négociation du pouvoir entre les différents acteurs impliqués. Pour ce faire, nous avons adopté une approche qualitative basée sur une étude de cas contrastant les représentations de trois groupes de parties prenantes (initiateurs de la technologie, acheteurs et fournisseurs) constituant la communauté inter-organisationnelle dans le cadre des Enchères Electroniques Inversées (EEI). L’analyse de nos résultats met en évidence le rôle des jeux de pouvoir et de contournement (opportunisme boomerang, boycott et lobbying) liés aux enjeux économiques des acteurs. Les stratégies de contournement collectives ont permis de remettre en cause l’usage du SIIO et sont à l’origine d’un changement des rapports de force. La mise en évidence de l’efficacité de ces stratégies montre comment des acteurs en situation de faiblesse peuvent construire des stratégies collectives de résistance. Nous montrons également les limites de l’intervention en post-adoption et l’influence de la rumeur et de la presse qui ont permis de légitimer la contestation des fournisseurs.stratégies de contournement; rumeur; interventions; pouvoir; Post-adoption;