The Identification of Decision Constructs used in Online Transactional Processes

From prior research, the authors found that certain design features amongst some online retailers were atypical of ‘good’ design elsewhere. It was apparent the transactional process was being used to present consumers with optional extras (and other decisions) that not only slowed the process down, but also stressed and agitated users. The research identified some new and unusual decision constructs such as the \u27must-opt\u27. This paper seeks to produce a taxonomy of the type and nature of decision constructs encountered throughout on-line Business-to-Consumer (B2C) transactional processes. The findings presented herein make an incremental contribution in theorizing, identifying and analyzing new decision constructs alongside established ones

Business process and practice alignment meta-model

Business Process Modelling (BPM) is one of the most important phases of information system design. Business Process meta-models allow capturing informational and behavioural aspects of business processes. Unfortunately, standard business process meta-modelling approaches, such as the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) Meta-model, Quality-Oriented Business Process Meta-Model (QOBPM) and Transactional Meta-Model for Business Process (TMBP) focus just on process description, providing different business process models. According to these meta-modelling approaches, it is not possible to compare and identify related daily practices in order to improve business process models. This lack of information recognizes that further research in Business Process (BP) meta-model is needed to reflect the evolution/change on software processes. Considering this limitation in BP meta-modelling, this paper presents a comparative study of the most recognized business process meta-models approaches and introduces a new BP meta-model designed by Business Process and Practice Alignment Meta-model (BPPAMeta-model). Our intention is to present observed problems in existing approaches and propose a business process meta-model that addresses features related to the alignment between daily work practices and business process descriptions. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Towards a co-creation framework in the retail banking services industry: a cross-cultural analysis

An underlying theme in modern marketing is the notion that value is not solely created within the boundaries of the firm, it is created co-jointly with outside parties. This paper aims to study the outcomes of co-creation from a customer perspective. Specifically, it examines the effects of co-creation on customer satisfaction, loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM) within the banking services industry. Furthermore, we consider potential differences between consumers from Spain and the UK, thus incorporating cross-cultural aspects in our research. The research demonstrates that firms should not only respond to the differences that exist within different cultural contexts and incorporate these in co-creation initiatives; more importantly, firms should undertake co-creation activities themselves as these can result in customers who are more satisfied, loyal to the company and more likely to carry out positive WOM, which can ultimately lead to new customers

A framework and a tool to generate e-business options

In early stages, many organizations started to use the internet in more or less ad hoc and experimental ways. After this first stage of learning and experimentation there often arises a need for more systematic approaches to identify, order, and assess e-business options. This paper addresses this need and presents a framework as well as a tool supporting this framework, helping management to generate and order e-business options for their organization. The framework consists of two parts. The first part covers the identification of the dimensions of e-business options. Six dimensions are identified: external stakeholders groups, stakeholder statuses, channel strategies, communication modes, products/service groups, and product/service statuses. Users of this framework can apply these dimensions given the specific characteristics of the organization at hand. Subsequently, these dimensions are combined, generating, in many cases, a multitude of potential e-business options. The second part of the framework supports the process of ordering this large set of generated potential e-business options given certain criteria. This can be accomplished by ordering the dimensions as well as the elements along each distinguished dimension. Some of these elements are company-independent, while others are company-dependent. The framework is illustrated by a case study as a running example. We also offer a design of a tool supporting our framework. The framework focuses on e-business options between an organization and its current or new external stakeholders: possible internal e-business applications are excluded in this paper. The framework can be used as a tool for practitioners, such as consultants or managers, to generate e-business options for a company. They can use it -for example- in workshops to support idea-generation with respect to e-business planning in a creative and structured way. The framework also contributes to theory by providing a method that systematically offers new possibilities for using the internet. After the identification and the ordering of e-business options, the generated and ordered options have to be assessed and selected; this paper however, only focuses on the generating and ordering process.

Portfolios of Exchange Relationships: An Empirical Investigation of an Online Marketplace for IT Services

Small firms face distinct problems and opportunities when procuring IT resources. Whereas previous work focused at the level of firm or buyer-supplier dyad, we address portfolios of buyer-supplier relationships at an online marketplace for IT services. Using the portfolio approach, we develop a buyers taxonomy and analyze properties of resulting clusters.Our investigation reveals four clusters of buyers with distinct mixes of long-term and short-term supplier relationships. Although reverse auctions are found to be associated with short-term relationships and negotiations support long-term relationships, buyers in different clusters use the two mechanisms in combination to a different extent.Performance;Buyer-supplier relationships;IT services;Online markets;Outsourcing;Reverse auctions

TAXONOMY DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS: DEVELOPING A TAXONOMY OF MOBILE APPLICATIONS

The complexity of the information systems field often lends itself to classification schemes, or taxonomies, which provide ways to understand the similarities and differences among objects under study. Developing a taxonomy, however, is a complex process that is often done in an ad hoc way. This research-in-progress paper uses the design science paradigm to develop a systematic method for taxonomy development in information systems. The method we propose uses an indicator or operational level model that combines both empirical to deductive and deductive to empirical approaches. We evaluate this method by using it to develop a taxonomy of mobile applications, which we have chosen because of their ever-increasing number and variety. The resulting taxonomy contains seven dimensions with fifteen characteristics. We demonstrate the usefulness of this taxonomy by analyzing a range of current and proposed mobile applications. From the results of this analysis we identify combinations of characteristics where applications are missing and thus are candidates for new and potentially useful applications.taxonomy, design science, mobile application

Organizational downsizing and the instrumental worker: Is there a connection?

A national population sample of 424 employees was used to explore the proposition that the widespread use of organizational downsizing by management has led employees to adopt a more instrumental orientation to the employment relationship. Contrary to predictions, employees who had never worked in a downsized firm (Controls), or who had been made redundant as a result of downsizing (Victims), reported stronger instrumentalist beliefs than those who had experienced at least one downsizing but had never been made redundant (Survivors). Employees who had experienced more downsizings were also more likely to report lower instrumentalism, by disagreeing with statements suggesting that work is a necessary evil, just something that has to be done in order to earn a living, and that money is the most important reason for having a job. The findings are discussed in the context of reactance theory and instrumentalism as a malleable socialized work attitude

Targeted Employee Retention: Performance-Based and Job-Related Differences in Reported Reasons for Staying

A content model of 12 retention factors is developed in the context of previous theory and research. Coding of open-ended responses from 24,829 employees in the leisure and hospitality industry lends support to the identified framework and reveals that job satisfaction, extrinsic rewards, constituent attachments, organizational commitment, and organizational prestige were the most frequently mentioned reasons for staying. Advancement opportunities and organizational prestige were more common reasons for staying among high performers and non-hourly workers, and extrinsic rewards was more common among low performers and hourly employees, providing support for ease/desirability of movement and psychological contract rationales. The findings highlight the importance of differentiating human resource management practices when the goal is to retain those employees valued most by the organization

Framing or Gaming? Constructing a Study to Explore the Impact of Option Presentation on Consumers

The manner in which choice is framed influences individuals’ decision-making. This research examines the impact of different decision constructs on decision-making by focusing on the more problematic decision constructs: the un-selected and pre-selected optout. The study employs eye-tracking with cued retrospective think-aloud (RTA) to combine quantitative and qualitative data. Eye-tracking will determine how long a user focuses on a decision construct before taking action. Cued RTA where the user will be shown a playback of their interaction will be used to explore their attitudes towards a decision construct and identify problematic designs. This pilot begins the second of a three phase study, which ultimately aims to develop a research model containing the theoretical constructs along with hypothesized causal associations between the constructs to reveal the impact of measures such as decision construct type, default value type and question framing have on the perceived value of the website and loyalty intentions

Which Processes Do Users Not Want Online? - Extending Process Virtualization Theory

Following the advent of the Internet more and more processes are provided virtually, i.e., without physical interactions between involved people and objects. For instance, E-Commerce has virtualized shopping processes since products are bought without physical inspection and interaction with sales staff. This study is founded on the key idea of process virtualization theory (PVT) that from the users’ perspective not all processes are equally amenable for virtualization. We investigate characteristics of processes, which are causing users’ resistance toward the virtualized process. Surveying 501 individuals regarding 10 processes, this study constitutes the first quantitative test evaluating the prediction capabilities of PVT by analysis of varying processes. Moreover, it introduces and successfully tests the extended PVT (EPVT), which integrates PVT with multiple, related constructs from extant literature in a unified model with multi-order causal relations. Thereby, it clearly enhances our understanding of human behavior with regard to the frequent phenomenon process virtualization