Tensions to Digital Transformation in Family Businesses: A Paradox Perspective

Organizations are undergoing digital transformation in an increasingly more technological world, pushing traditional businesses, more specifically family businesses, to adopt advanced technologies to remain competitive. Digital transformation is one of the key challenges faced by many family businesses today, however, there is little research around this topic. To address this gap in literature, this study asks: How do the paradoxical tensions of a family business influence its digital transformation? We report on an ongoing historical case study at one of the oldest family businesses in the building and construction industry. In our preliminary analysis, we identify three paradoxical tensions that influence the digital transformation initiatives in a family business. Our next step is to further investigate the approaches that the family businesses have taken to revolve these tensions. We contribute to research and practice by understanding the tensions to digital transformation in family businesses

Responding to Paradoxical Organisational Demands for AI-Powered Systems considering Fairness

Developing and maintaining fair AI is increasingly in demand when unintended ethical issues contaminate the benefits of AI and cause negative implications for individuals and society. Organizations are challenged by simultaneously managing the divergent needs derived from the instrumental and humanistic goals of employing AI. In responding to the challenge, this paper draws on the paradox theory from a sociotechnical lens to first explore the contradictory organizational needs salient in the lifecycle of AI-powered systems. Moreover, we intend to unfold the responding process of the company to illuminate the role of social agents and technical artefacts in the process of managing paradoxical needs. To achieve the intention of the study, we conduct an in-depth case study on an AI-powered talent recruitment system deployed in an IT company. This study will contribute to research and practice regarding how organizational use of digital technologies generates positive ethical implications for individuals and society

Digital Strategy in Information Systems : A Literature Review and an Educational Solution Based on Problem-Based Learning

In recent years, there has been a considerable amount of information systems (IS) research on digital strategy. However, it is not clear how digital strategy is taught in higher education. To investigate this issue, we conducted a literature review on digital strategy in the IS field and IS education. We then developed a digital strategy course using the problem-based learning (PBL) approach with constructivism as a theoretical lens. The research contributes to the literature by illustrating the key differences between digital strategy and IT/IS strategy while providing insight into the dimensions of digital strategy. These dimensions are digital strategy environments, digital strategy visions, digital strategy approach, digital strategy capabilities, digital strategy stakeholders, and digital strategy challenges. We then used these dimensions as inputs to design the digital strategy course. We contribute to IS education by proposing a meta-requirement for the digital strategy course based on the PBL approach and provide an example of the course syllabus.©2022 by the Information Systems & Computing Academic Professionals, Inc. (ISCAP).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Mobile Stress Management Applications: An Affordance-Theoretic Perspective on the Adoption and Use

Chronic stress is a burden on mental and physical health. Despite the development and effectiveness of mobile stress management applications, their adoption and continued use remain low. Given that research revealed systematic differences in usage behavior among user types, we aim to investigate what drives these differences. We extend the affordance perspective and argue that accounting for psychological needs, actualized affordances, and actualization costs across different user types provides a deeper understanding of the factors driving the adoption and use of mobile stress management applications. The qualitative interview study of our mixed-methods study reveals eight affordances, eight actualization costs, and initial evidence for systematic differences among the user types. The quantitative questionnaire study will uncover the psychological needs, actualized affordances, and perceived actualization costs of the six user types. This work contributes a new theoretical perspective to overcome the gap in the adoption and usage of mobile stress management applications

Mobile Stress Management Applications: An Affordance-Theoretic Perspective on the Adoption and Use

Chronic stress is a burden on mental and physical health. Despite the development and effectiveness of mobile stress management applications, their adoption and continued use remain low. Given that research revealed systematic differences in usage behavior among user types, we aim to investigate what drives these differences. We extend the affordance perspective and argue that accounting for psychological needs, actualized affordances, and actualization costs across different user types provides a deeper understanding of the factors driving the adoption and use of mobile stress management applications. The qualitative interview study of our mixed-methods study reveals eight affordances, eight actualization costs, and initial evidence for systematic differences among the user types. The quantitative questionnaire study will uncover the psychological needs, actualized affordances, and perceived actualization costs of the six user types. This work contributes a new theoretical perspective to overcome the gap in the adoption and usage of mobile stress management applications

Programmatic advertising: An exegesis of consumer concerns

Programmatic advertising is a nascent and rapidly growing information technology phenomenon that reacts to, and impacts upon, consumers and their behavior. Despite its popularity and widespread use, research in the area remains scant and our current knowledge is based upon a preponderance of practitioner-generated literature. This study contributes to our understanding of this technology by unpacking the means by which it functions and interacts with consumers. The study draws upon paradox theory to deconstruct programmatic advertising's inherent tensions as dilemmas and dialectics. Adopting organisations are faced with the dilemma of pursuing the acquisition of increasingly detailed information in order to provide more personalized offerings, yet doing so increases the likelihood of creating a sense of fear and distrust among consumers. The automation of personalized advertising appears attractive yet presents the dilemma that adverts may be inappropriately placed. Finally, the true cost/benefit of programmatic advertising is unclear, and adopters, platform providers and developers need to engage in dialectic in order to fully understand and communicate its financial implications. Through identifying these fundamental constraints, the study affords pathways for programmatic system actors to ameliorate their, and their customers' concerns

A Case Study of Enterprise-wide Digital Innovation: Involving Non-IT Employees

Today’s incumbent organisations are under pressure to proactively leverage their resources for digital innovation. Enterprise-wide initiatives hold potential in this regard by enabling employees across departments to contribute their knowledge, skills, and creativity towards digital innovation. However, IT units often struggle to transfer the ideas of non-IT employees into marketable digital solutions. Our understanding of how organisations coordinate and integrate employees’ contributions to digital innovation is limited, yet critical to their survival and growth. Taking a resource-based approach, we identify three complementary competences –orchestration, self-orchestration, and choreography– that support enterprise-wide digital innovation. Specifically, we report how these competences helped an incumbent organisation initiate digital innovation with its non-IT employees while making efficient use of its IT resources. Our study further shows that building these competences requires the strategic use of digital artefacts and their multiple roles in the innovation process

A Case Study of Enterprise-wide Digital Innovation: Involving Non-IT Employees

Today’s incumbent organisations are under pressure to proactively leverage their resources for digital innovation. Enterprise-wide initiatives hold potential in this regard by enabling employees across departments to contribute their knowledge, skills, and creativity towards digital innovation. However, IT units often struggle to transfer the ideas of non-IT employees into marketable digital solutions. Our understanding of how organisations coordinate and integrate employees’ contributions to digital innovation is limited, yet critical to their survival and growth. Taking a resource-based approach, we identify three complementary competences –orchestration, self-orchestration, and choreography– that support enterprise-wide digital innovation. Specifically, we report how these competences helped an incumbent organisation initiate digital innovation with its non-IT employees while making efficient use of its IT resources. Our study further shows that building these competences requires the strategic use of digital artefacts and their multiple roles in the innovation process

How to get into flow with it: measuring the paradoxes in digital knowledge work

Digitized knowledge workers are exposed to various technology-, individual- and work-related factors resulting in multiple paradoxes that may promote or hinder their capacity to work. This paper elaborates on how emerging paradoxes of IT usage impact the flow experience for daily planning tasks of knowledge workers. To study the impact beyond effective use of IT on flow, we conducted a survey study with 336 participants in a mixed-method approach combining PLS-SEM and fsQCA. Our results show that the digital working method could positively influence the flow experience overall. A full mediation of perceived behavioral control, representing the paradox control and chaos, and representational fidelity, representing clarity and ambiguity, on flow, was confirmed. Our fsQCA results support the conclusion that increasing IT penetration alone is insufficient to experience work flow. It depends on how knowledge workers interact with the IT in their specific task environment, balancing the dialectical tensions at work, with some differences between genders and within specific industries. We discuss the study\u27s implications for research and practice