THE TYPE OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD AFFECTS ELECTRONIC KNOWLEDGE REPOSITORY CONTINUANCE

In the present competitive organizational environment more organizations are implementing knowledge management initiatives to gain strategic advantage. One such initiative is that of implementing electronic knowledge repositories (EKR) which often leads to a rapid increase in the quantity of information employees must process daily, raising concerns of employees being overloaded. This is especially true for current EKRs using distributive technology, enabling customizable individual workspaces which can result in loose knowledge structures. This paper identifies a new type of information overload (IO), extending the concept as occurring in both knowledge seekers and contributors and uses cognitive dissonance theory to provide evidence that IO can change employees\u27 perception of EKR usage. This research paper provides the first empirical evidence that overload has no sufficient affect on EKR continuance intention directly, but has a significant negative affect on the two main success measures: Perceived usefulness and satisfaction of the system

Leveraging Customer Knowledge in Electronic Knowledge Repositories for Service Expertise

This study examines how three dimensions of electronic knowledge repositories (EKRs), namely customer knowledge level, customer knowledge integration and accessibility of customer knowledge, contribute to increasing customer service representatives (CSRs)’ service expertise and their customer knowledge utilization and acquisition. Furthermore, the study empirically tests the proposition that service quality is influenced by CSRs’ service expertise and their customer knowledge utilization and acquisition. To test the proposed model and hypotheses, data were collected on CSRs working for call centers using EKRs such as knowledge management systems. All the hypothesized relationships were found to be significant except that between customer knowledge acquisition and service quality. Service expertise was strongly affected by customer knowledge level. While customer knowledge utilization was strongly increased by the accessibility of customer knowledge, customer knowledge acquisition was strongly increased by customer knowledge integration. This study offers an insight into how EKRs, which will have been accumulated by firms over time, ultimately influence the performance of CSRs

Knowledge Reuse Through Electronic Knowledge Repositories: An Empirical Study And Ontological Improvement Effort For The Manufacturing Industry

Knowledge management adoption is growing, and will continue to grow in no small part because of its recent inclusion into the ISO 9001 quality standard. As organizations look towards ways in which to manage their knowledge, the codification of explicit knowledge through Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) and Electronic Knowledge Repositories (EKRs) will undoubtedly gain more interest. An EKR is a form of KMS that emphasizes the codification and storage of organizational expertise for the purposes of Knowledge Reuse (KRU). Unfortunately, the factors surrounding KRU are not well understood. While previous studies have viewed EKR usage from a narrow perspective, a broader and interconnected view of KRU via EKRs has yet to emerge. Additionally, while there have been numerous benefits linked to EKRs, there are still issues that limit their utility, particularly in the manufacturing arena where information complexity and geography have made it increasingly difficult to share knowledge. Hence, this research employed a two pronged approach. First, using a multi-theoretical perspective to model KRU via EKRs, a quantitative study was conducted and identified several socio-technical factors that predicted greater KRU. These factors had not been previously modeled within the context of KRU via EKRs, and hence add to both the theoretical and practical implications of the domain. Additionally, the KRU construct was also tied to a back end resulting outcome view that was informed by the Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM). Through this view, the research quantitatively validated that KRU not only predicted greater performance, but also impacted greater knowledge sharing and continuance of use. This ancillary benefit helps to reinforce the importance of EKRs in that additional gains are manifested along with the core component of KRU. Second, the research extended the capability of manufacturing EKRs by developing a holistic design and process based ontology that connects key concepts within these domains to provide an overall interconnected view. Additionally, to ensure the relevance of the ontology, a mature and globally recognized industry standard was used as the basis to develop it. The ontology was then formalized and tested via Semantic Web tools: Protege, RDF, and SPARQL. The results demonstrate an improved approach to knowledge recall by providing rich and accurate query returns. The ability to use standalone and federated queries to effectively cull the complexity of this interconnected domain is an enhancement to keyword based and traditional relational database approaches. Additionally, to assist with greater industry adoption a systematic and constructive approach for developing and operationalizing the ontology is provided. Finally, in the spirit of the program in which this dissertation is presented, rounding out the research effort are broader organizational management recommendations for overall knowledge management. Referencing industry targeted literature and syncing them with findings from these two research efforts, several pragmatic and sequentially logical approaches to knowledge management are offered

Increasing Self Care Compliance with Follow-up Appointments

The congestive heart failure patient faces many challenges after discharge from the hospital. Learning how to manage diet, medications, and other lifestyle changes needed for symptom management can lead to multiple readmissions and rapid progression of condition. Many patients feel overwhelmed at time of discharge from the hospital, and many miss key components in discharge instructions and education. The main objective of the organizations Heart Failure program is to educate patients who have been admitted into the hospital with systolic or diastolic heart failure. Within our team we set out to educate our patients and their families on reducing incidents of fluid overload with lifestyle changes such as, following a low sodium diet, watching for early signs and symptoms of fluid overload, taking medications regularly and getting daily activity. The Congestive Heart Failure team wants to ensure that handoff and transition from inpatient to outpatient is a smooth encounter for our patients. Ensuring patients have follow-up appointments will assist them in receiving information and education on how to meet their self-management goals. As the CNL my goal is to ensure that the project improves safety, is effective, efficient and is patient centered

UNDERSTANDING COLLABORATIVE STICKINESS INTENTION IN SOCIAL NETWORK SITES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING

This study aims to investigate users’ knowledge sharing intention and collaborative stickiness intention towards social network sites (SNS). SNS offer an opportunity for users to interact and form relationships, while knowledge is accrued by integrating user’s information, experience, and practice. However, there have been few systematic studies that ask why people use SNS to share knowledge. We adopt social capital theory, social identity theory, as well as use and gratification theory to explore the determinants of members’ knowledge sharing intention in SNS. The survey was conducted on two education VCs of facebook, while most members were teachers and educators. Data analysis was carried out to validate our research model, and SmartPLS were used to analyze users’ collaborative stickiness intention. The result shows that social capital and social identity have impact on teacher’s knowledge sharing intention, in turn, influence on collaborative stickiness intention toward on SNS. Our findings not only help researchers interpret why members sharing their knowledge in VC, but also assist practitioners in developing better SNS strategy

Usability of disaster apps : understanding the perspectives of the public as end-users : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Emergency Management at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Listed in 2020 Dean's List of Exceptional ThesesMultiple smartphone applications (apps) exist that can enhance the public’s resilience to disasters. Despite the capabilities of these apps, they can only be effective if users find them usable. Availability does not automatically translate to usability nor does it guarantee continued usage by the target users. A disaster app will be of little or no value if a user abandons it after the initial download. It is, therefore, essential to understand the users’ perspectives on the usability of disaster apps. In the context of disaster apps, usability entails providing the elements that effectively facilitate users in retrieving critical information, and thus enabling them to make decisions during crises. Establishing good usability for effective systems relies upon focussing on the user whereby technological solutions match the user’s needs and expectations. However, most studies on the usability of disaster context technologies have been conducted with emergency responders, and only a few have investigated the publics’ perspectives as end-users. This doctoral project, written within a ‘PhD-thesis-with-publication’ format, addresses this gap by investigating the usability of disaster apps through the perspectives of the public end-users. The investigation takes an explicitly perceived usability standpoint where the experiences of the end-users are prioritised. Data analysis involved user-centric information to understand the public’s context and the mechanisms of disaster app usability. A mixed methods approach incorporates the qualitative analysis of app store data of 1,405 user reviews from 58 existing disaster apps, the quantitative analysis of 271 survey responses from actual disaster app users, and the qualitative analysis of usability inquiries with 18 members of the public. Insights gathered from this doctoral project highlight that end-users do not anticipate using disaster apps frequently, which poses particular challenges. Furthermore, despite the anticipated low frequency of use, because of the life-safety association of disasters apps, end-users have an expectation that the apps can operate with adequate usability when needed. This doctoral project provides focussed outcomes that consider such user perspectives. First, an app store analysis investigating user reviews identified new usability concerns particular to disaster apps. It highlighted users’ opinion on phone resource usage and relevance of content, among others. More importantly, it defined a new usability factor, app dependability, relating to the life-safety context of disaster apps. App dependability is the degree to which users’ perceive that an app can operate dependably during critical scenarios. Second, the quantitative results from this research have contributed towards producing a usability-continuance model, highlighting the usability factors that affect end-users’ intention to keep or uninstall a disaster app. The key influences for users’ intention to keep disaster apps are: (1) users’ perceptions as to whether the app delivers its function (app utility), (2) whether it does so dependably (app dependability), and (3) whether it presents information that can be easily understood (user-interface output). Subsequently, too much focus on (4) user-interface graphics and (5) user-interface input can encourage users to uninstall apps. Third, the results from the qualitative analysis of the inquiry data provide a basis for developing guidelines for disaster app usability. In the expectation of low level of engagement with disaster app users, the guidelines list recommendations addressing information salience, cognitive load, and trust. This doctoral project provides several contributions to the body of knowledge for usability and disaster apps. It reiterates the importance of investigating the usability of technological products for disasters and showcases the value of user-centric data in understanding usability. It has investigated usability with particular attention to the end-users’ perspectives on the context of disaster apps and, thus, produces a theoretical usability-continuance model to advance disaster app usability research and usability guidelines to encourage responsible design in practice

An integrated model for information adoption & trust in mobile social commerce

Despite the growing importance of mobile social commerce (ms-commerce), little research has been conducted on the effects of informational and social factors on users’ post-adoption behavior. We, therefore, build on the understanding of mobile social commerce in the UK market and how it affects users’ post-adoption behaviors. Our theoretical model leverages the information adoption model, social support theory, and social influence theory. Data was gathered from 377 ms-commerce users from the UK and analyzed via Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM). The research findings show that both informational and social factors have a positive impact on information adoption in ms-commerce apps. Furthermore, information adoption has a positive impact on trust, which leads to ms-commerce purchase intention, ms-commerce continuance intention, and willingness to share an ms-commerce experience

Studying social network sites with the combination of traditional social science and computational approaches

Social Network Sites (SNSs) are fundamentally changing the way humans connect, communicate and relate to one another and have attracted a considerable amount of research attention. In general, two distinct research approaches have been followed in the pursuit of results in this research area. First, established traditional social science methods, such as surveys and interviews, have been extensively used for inquiry-based research on SNSs. More recently, however, the advent of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) has enabled data-centric approaches that have culminated in theory-free “big data” studies. Both of these approaches have advantages, disadvantages and limitations that need to be considered in SNS studies. The objective of this dissertation is to demonstrate how a suitable combination of these two approaches can lead to a better understanding of user behavior on SNSs and can enhance the design of such systems. To this end, I present two two-part studies that act as four pieces of evidence in support of this objective. In particular, these studies investigate whether a combination of survey and API-collected data can provide additional value and insights when a) predicting Facebook motivations, b) understanding social media selection, c) understanding patterns of communication on Facebook, and d) predicting and modeling tie strength, compared to what can be gained by following a traditional social science or a computational approach in isolation. I then discuss how the findings from these studies contribute to our understanding of online behavior both at the individual user level, e.g. how people navigate the SNS ecosystem, and at the level of dyadic relationships, e.g. how tie strength and interpersonal trust affect patterns of dyadic communication. Furthermore, I describe specific implications for SNS designers and researchers that arise from this work. For example, the work presented has theoretical implications for the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) framework and for the application of Rational Choice Theory (RCT) in the context of SNS interactions, and design implications such as enhancing SNS users’ privacy and convenience by supporting reciprocity of interactions. I also explain how the results of the conducted studies demonstrate the added value of combining traditional social science and computational methods for the study of SNSs, and, finally, I provide reflections on the strengths and limitations of the overall research approach that can be of use to similar research efforts.As Redes Sociais (SNSs - Social Network Sites) estão a mudar de form fundamental a maneira como os seres humanos estabelecem ligações entre si, como comunicam e como relacionam-se uns com os outros, tendo atraído uma considerável quantidade de atenção investigativa. Em geral, duas abordagens de investigação distintas foram seguidas na procura de resultados nesta área de investigação. Em primeiro lugar, os já estabelecidos métodos tradicionais das ciências sociais, tais como inquéritos e entrevistas foram amplamente utilizados na investigação baseada em SNSs. Contudo, o surgimento mais recente das Interfaces de Programação de Aplicações (APIs - Application Programming Interfaces) tem permitido abordagens centradas em dados que têm culminado em estudos de "dados extensos", livres de teoria. Ambas estas abordagens têm vantagens, desvantagens e limitações que precisam de ser consideradas nos estudos de SNS. O objectivo desta dissertação é demonstrar como uma combinação adequada destas duas abordagens pode levar a uma melhor compreensão do comportamento do utilizador em SNSs e pode melhorar a concepção de tais sistemas. Para esse efeito, apresento dois estudos, em duas partes, que funcionam como quatro peças de prova em apoio a este objectivo. Estes estudos investigam, em particular, se uma combinação de dados recolhidos através de inquéritos e API pode fornecer valor adicional e conhecimentos ao a) prever as motivações do Facebook, b) compreender a selecção dos meios de comunicação social, c) compreender os padrões de comunicação no Facebook, e d) prever e modelar a força dos laços, em comparação com o que pode ser ganho seguindo uma ciência social tradicional ou uma abordagem computacional isolada. Abordo em seguida como os resultados destes estudos contribuem para uma compreensão do comportamento online tanto a nível do utilizador individual, por exemplo, como as pessoas percorrem o ecossistema SNS, e ao nível das relações diádicas, por exemplo, como a força dos laços e a confiança interpessoal afectam os padrões de comunicação diádica. Além disso, descrevo as implicações específicas para os designers e investigadores do SNS que decorrem deste trabalho. Por exemplo, o trabalho apresentado tem implicações teóricas para o quadro de Usos e Gratificações (U&G - Uses and Gratifications framework) e para a aplicação da Teoria da Escolha Racional (RCT - Rational Choice Theory) no contexto das interacções SNS, e implicações de design, como o reforço da privacidade e conveniência dos utilizadores de SNS, com o apoio à reciprocidade das interacções. Explico também como os resultados dos estudos realizados demonstram o valor acrescentado de combinar as ciências sociais tradicionais e os métodos computacionais para o estudo de SNS, e, por fim, apresento reflexões sobre os pontos fortes e limitações da abordagem global de investigação que podem ser úteis a esforços de investigação semelhantes

Exploring Consumers’ Discontinuance Intention of Remote Mobile Payments during Post-Adoption Usage: An Empirical Study

Despite being critical to continuous technology usage, research on remote mobile payments (m-payments) post-adoption usage has received much less attention. Furthermore, information systems usage research has traditionally been positively oriented, generally assuming that the inhibiting and enabling factors influencing technology usage as being the opposite sides of one dimension, which may result in overlooking antecedents to technology continuance. Therefore, this study aims to explore the inhibiting factors that may directly influence customers’ intention to discontinue m-payments during post-adoption usage. Drawing on behavioral theories, information systems and marketing research this study explores the inhibiting factors directly influencing consumers’ intentions to discontinue using m-payments. Survey data was collected from 254 current users in the UK and PLS-SEM technique is employed to test hypotheses. The results show that poor quality of system, information, and service, as usage inhibitors, directly influence consumers’ discontinuance intentions. Importantly, usage frequency is found to have no moderating effect on the inhibitors of continuance intention, supporting the notion about different and asymmetric effects that negative factors can have on technology usage compared to positive ones. This interesting finding suggests that negative user experience will have different and asymmetric effects on intentions to use m-payments than positive user experience