The emergence of information systems: a communication-based theory

An information system is more than just the information technology; it is the system that emerges from the complex interactions and relationships between the information technology and the organization. However, what impact information technology has on an organization and how organizational structures and organizational change influence information technology remains an open question. We propose a theory to explain how communication structures emerge and adapt to environmental changes. We operationalize the interplay of information technology and organization as language communities whose members use and develop domain-specific languages for communication. Our theory is anchored in the philosophy of language. In developing it as an emergent perspective, we argue that information systems are self-organizing and that control of this ability is disseminated throughout the system itself, to the members of the language community. Information technology influences the dynamics of this adaptation process as a fundamental constraint leading to perturbations for the information system. We demonstrate how this view is separated from the entanglement in practice perspective and show that this understanding has far-reaching consequences for developing, managing, and examining information systems

SHIFTING BOUNDARIES: HOW SHOULD IS RESEARCHERS STUDY NON-ORGANIZATIONAL USES OF ICT?

The IS field was born as a new discipline of artificial science out of an intellectual chaos at the time when information and communication technologies were beginning to transform modern organizations. Our discipline is now at another pivotal moment as the scope of digital technology grows beyond the organizational realm. The expansion of the influence of digital technology in everyday life provides a critical opportunity—and challenge—to expand the intellectual boundaries of the IS research community beyond the traditional focus of organizational computing. This panel will explore the challenges and potential faced by the IS community as IS researchers seek to explore these emerging uses of information and communications technologies

CEO Compensation and Information Technology

CEO compensation has increased dramatically in the last few decades, drawing increasing scrutiny from policy-makers, researchers, and the broader public. We find that IT (information technology) intensity strongly predicts compensation of CEO and other top executives. Our examination of panel data from 2507 publicly traded firms over 15 years controls for other types of capital, number of employees, market capitalization, median worker wages, industry turbulence, firm or industry fixed effects, and other factors. Our interpretation of this finding builds on earlier work which found a correlation between CEO pay and firm size. We hypothesize that IT increases the information available to the top executives for decision-making, magnifies their ability to propagate instructions throughout the firm, and improves the monitoring and enforcement of those instructions. When a CEO’s instructions are implemented with higher fidelity, the fortunes of the firm will more closely mirror her performance. From the perspective of the CEO, this increases “effective size” of the firm that she controls. In turn, in an efficient market, this will increase overall CEO compensation

A Glorious and Not-So-Short History of the Information Systems Field

In this paper, the more than 40-year history of the information systems discipline is discussed by dividing history into four somewhat overlapping eras. For each era, important events that occurred are highlighted. The events are categorized as “management/governance of the IS function”, “technology”, “research themes”, “research methodology”, “education”, and “infrastructure” (organizations, conferences, journals, etc.). The paper then speculates on what the value would be if the IS community were to adopt a shared history. The paper contends that such a shared history would be effective in helping to bridge the communication gaps that exist between the different sub-communities that make up the discipline

Fear and Desire in Database Creation

Organizations need quality information for control and coordination of their operations. Yet, despite the resources expended on data production, data often proves to be unreliable or inadequate when used in practice. To understand this puzzle, I conducted an ethnographic study of the production of a database system within one organization. Database systems provide the scaffolding to hold the data that are to be produced and consumed on a regular basis. I find that the creation of a database is a laborious exercise fraught with tensions and entailing both fears and desires. I examine these fears and desires from three separate lenses reflecting the various purposes that people imagine for the database – efficiency (rational lens), accountability (control lens), and comparability (standardization lens). As these purposes interact in the activities of database production, the fears and desires heighten to eventually produce an oversized database system with standardized, simplified, and abstracted data that undermines its stated purpose and generates significant difficulties for its users

Organizational Learning and Absorptive Capacity in Managing ERP Implementation Projects

In this paper we focus on large-scale IS implementation using the lens of absorptive capacity. Our case study concentrates on the double loop learning process that occurs over the implementation phase of ERP which we depict as a series of learning cycles. From this perspective, ERP implementation is best viewed not as a one-time process but rather as a series of implementation and practical use cycles. Our results highlight that the learning process requires the accumulation of knowledge, a long-term perspective, and phases of explorative and exploitative learning that overlap. This learning process requires a) the development of specific organizational capabilities which allow organizational actors to “accept” and assimilate external knowledge, b) the understanding that such capabilities should be developed over time, and c) the capacity to explore and exploit knowledge simultaneously. Suggestions are provided for future field research on absorptive capacity in the realm of the qualitative research

Antecedents of IT-Business Alignment Factors in Influencing Sustainable Competitive Advantage

More extensive studies on the causal chain between Information Technology (IT) investments and firm performance have been encouraged by scholars. However, the results of empirical studies have been inconclusive. This is partly due to the exclusion of IT - business strategic alignment (known as strategic alignment). In particular, scholars have continuously called for research to address the antecedent factors that lead to the alignment. As a result, this study has successfully developed a causal model illustrating the relationships between strategic alignment antecedents, strategic alignment and sustainable competitive advantage. Specifically, this study has looked into the impact of IT-business strategic alignment antecedents in terms of leadership between business and IT managers, structures and processes between IT plans and business plans and examined IT managerial resources between business and IT managers, service qualities, values and beliefs, and IT implementation success on IT business strategic alignment in terms of alignment gaps. Finally, the impact of IT-business strategic alignment is also tested for its impact on sustainable competitive advantage. In order to explore the above research relationships, this study has utilized the positivism paradigm. Under this method, quantitative data was collected. More specifically, this study has tested the research model by conducting 172 survey questionnaires with public shareholding firms in Jordan. The results obtained from the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique and interviews have offered very valuable insights into the research questions. The results of the main survey questionnaire show strong evidence for the impact of the following variables: leadership, service quality, value and belief, IT managerial resources and IT implementation success, on IT – business strategic alignment. Conversely, SEM has failed to support the link between structure and process on IT business alignment. In addition, the results show strong evidence for the impact of the following: leadership, IT managerial resource and IT implementation success on sustainable competitive advantage. However, SEM failed to support the link between service quality, value and belief, and structure and process on sustainable competitive advantage. Furthermore, the results from the main survey questionnaire show strong evidence for the impact of IT – business strategic alignment on sustainable competitive advantage. Moreover, the results of the main survey questionnaire through the SEM show strong evidence for the mediating effect of strategic alignment on the relationships between value and belief, service quality and sustainable competitive advantage. This study has provided a detailed roadmap that researchers and practitioners can use in order to understand the resources required, and to realize the potential values of their IT investments. Future research is clearly needed to reveal better insights into the nature of these relationships

Understanding Cross National Difference in Knowledge Seeking Behavioral Model: A Survival Perspective

Electronic Knowledge Repository (EKR) is one of the most commonly deployed knowledge management technologies, yet its success is hindered by employees’ underutilization and further complicated when implemented in the multinational context. To address these challenges, we propose a research model by conceptualizing employees’ knowledge seeking via EKR as a survival-centric behavior, identifying the technology acceptance model as the individual-level explanation for EKR use, and drawing on the thermal demands-resources theory for explaining cross national behavioral differences. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we tested the model with data from 1352 randomly sampled knowledge workers across 30 nations. The results reveal interesting cross national behavioral patterns. Specifically, thermal climates and national wealth at the macro-level interactively moderate individual-level relationships between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness and between perceived usefulness and behavioral intention

Security Engineering of Patient-Centered Health Care Information Systems in Peer-to-Peer Environments: Systematic Review

Background: Patient-centered health care information systems (PHSs) enable patients to take control and become knowledgeable about their own health, preferably in a secure environment. Current and emerging PHSs use either a centralized database, peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, or distributed ledger technology for PHS deployment. The evolving COVID-19 decentralized Bluetooth-based tracing systems are examples of disease-centric P2P PHSs. Although using P2P technology for the provision of PHSs can be flexible, scalable, resilient to a single point of failure, and inexpensive for patients, the use of health information on P2P networks poses major security issues as users must manage information security largely by themselves. Objective: This study aims to identify the inherent security issues for PHS deployment in P2P networks and how they can be overcome. In addition, this study reviews different P2P architectures and proposes a suitable architecture for P2P PHS deployment. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) reporting guidelines. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. We searched the following databases: IEEE Digital Library, PubMed, Science Direct, ACM Digital Library, Scopus, and Semantic Scholar. The search was conducted on articles published between 2008 and 2020. The Common Vulnerability Scoring System was used as a guide for rating security issues. Results: Our findings are consolidated into 8 key security issues associated with PHS implementation and deployment on P2P networks and 7 factors promoting them. Moreover, we propose a suitable architecture for P2P PHSs and guidelines for the provision of PHSs while maintaining information security. Conclusions: Despite the clear advantages of P2P PHSs, the absence of centralized controls and inconsistent views of the network on some P2P systems have profound adverse impacts in terms of security. The security issues identified in this study need to be addressed to increase patients\u27 intention to use PHSs on P2P networks by making them safe to use

Understanding Cross National Difference in Knowledge Seeking Behavior Model: A Survival Perspective

Electronic Knowledge Repository (EKR) is one of the most commonly deployed knowledge management technologies, yet its success is hindered by employees’ underutilization and further complicated when implemented in the multinational context. To address these challenges, we propose a research model by conceptualizing employees’ knowledge seeking via EKR as a survival-centric behavior, identifying the technology acceptance model as the individual-level explanation for EKR use, and drawing on the thermal demands-resources theory for explaining cross national behavioral differences. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we tested the model with data from 1352 randomly sampled knowledge workers across 30 nations. The results reveal interesting cross national behavioral patterns. Specifically, thermal climates and national wealth at the macro-level interactively moderate individual-level relationships between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness and between perceived usefulness and behavioral intention