THE CIO AS A POLITICAL PLAYER – WORK IN PROGRESS

A review of the literature on the Chief Information Officer (CIO) emphasizes the importance of the role of politics in the activities of the CIO). Building on the approach established in Political Strategies Framework (Romm and Rippa, 2010) an empirical research program is described that will validate assumptions about this political role. The research will validate specific actions or attitudes which constitute political activity and relate these activities to stages in the systems development lifecycle. How this Political Strategies Framework can be the basis for further research on the political dimensions of the CIO role is explained in the final section

Power and Information Technology: A Review Using Metatriangulation

This study uses a metatriangulation theory building process to explore the relationships between power and information technology (IT) in a sample of 43 articles from 10 leading management and MIS journals. We explore the multiple paradigms underlying this research, describe patterns emerging from the previous power and IT studies, and recommend future directions for investigation

Lessons from the Trenches of Metatriangulation Research

In this paper we describe our application of a relatively untried research approach called metatriangulation. Metatriangulation is a three-phased, qualitative meta-analysis process that may be used to explore variations in the assumptions of alternative paradigms, gain insights into these multiple paradigms, and address emerging themes and the resulting theories. In applying this method we encountered difficulties in selecting a sample, in reaching agreement among coders, and in our attempts to build theory from our results. From our experiences we developed a modified version of the metatriangulation method. We did find metatriangulation to be an excellent tool in understanding theoretical perspectives in MIS research and believe the use of our modified method will aid future researchers in this pursuit

Hyperlocal Online Deliberation and Civic Governance: A Sociotechnical Perspective

This dissertation concerns the role of online deliberation in hyperlocal governance, that is the self-governance of a small geographically bounded neighbourhood or community. The research has three closely related but distinct purposes: to assess the impact of online technology in terms of the emergent character of self-governance; to describe the social and technological relations that produced the observed impact; and to suggest explanations that link those socio-technical relations with the observed governance effects. The work draws upon concepts at the intersection of theories from human-centred computing, especially those that relate to online deliberation, and from political science, where direct deliberative democracy offers an evaluative benchmark for democratic governance. This interdisciplinary theoretical framework provides the basis for a case-based analysis of empirical observations of online interactions relating to hyperlocal governance. The study describes and analyses patterns of "governance conversation" observed in interactions on local e-mail lists, and shows how they facilitate the pluralist deliberation required to manage complex local governance problems. The analysis suggests how geographic proximity presents both distinctive opportunities and constraints for online deliberation that aspires to support direct, democratic process and practice

An autoethnography exploring the engagement of records management (RM) through a computer mediated communication co-operative inquiry (CMC)

This thesis is an autoethnography exploring the engagement of records management (RM) through the vehicle of a computer mediated communication (CMC) focused co-operative inquiry. CMC is defined as, “communication that takes place between human beings via the instrumentality of computers” (Herring, 1996, p.81). The PhD stance was that with the advent of new technologies, such as CMC, the role and place of RM has been challenged. RM practitioners needed to evaluate their principles and practice in order to discover why RM is not uniformly understood and also why it fails to engage many CMC users and information professionals. The majority of today’s information is generated as the result of unstructured communications (AIIM, 2005 and 2006) that no longer have a fixed reality but exist across fragmented globalised spaces through the Cloud, Web 2.0 and software virtualisation. Organisational boundaries are permanently perforated and the division between public and private spaces are blurred. Traditional RM has evolved in highly structured organisational information environments. Nevertheless, RM could lie at the heart of the processes required for dealing with this splintered data. RM takes a holistic approach to information management, establishing the legislative requirements, technical requirements and the training and support for individuals to communicate effectively, simultaneously transmitting and processing the communications for maximum current and ongoing organisational benefits. However RM is not uniformly understood or practiced. The focus of the thesis was to understand how RM engagement can and should be achieved. The research was conducted by establishing a co-operative inquiry consisting of 82 international co-researchers, from a range of disciplines, investigating the question, ‘How do organisations maximise the information potential of CMC for organisational benefit, taking into account the impact of the individual?” The PhD established a novel approach to co-operative inquiry by separating, managing and merging three groups of co-researchers (UK Records Managers, UK CMC users, international Records Managers and CMC users). I was embedded as a co-researcher within this wider inquiry personally exploring as an autoethnography the relevance of RM to the wider research question, the ability of RM practitioners to advocate for RM and the co-researchers’ responses to the place of RM within this context. The thesis makes several contributions to the research field. It examines how records managers and RM principles and practice engaged through the inquiry, articulating the reasons why users sometimes failed to engage with RM principles and practice, and what assists users to successfully engage with RM. It was found that national perspectives and drivers were more significant as to whether or not individuals engaged with RM concepts than age, gender or professional experience. In addition, users engaged with RM when it was naturally embedded within processes. In addition, as a result of the inquiry’s discussions and actions, the thesis suggests that RM principles and practice need to be refined, for example in regards to the characteristics that define a record. In this respect it concludes that there is rarely likely to be an original archival record surviving through time given the need for migration. The research delivered a novel approach to co-operative inquiry whereby merging groups through time produced new learning at each merger point. The thesis recommends further research to build upon its findings

An autoethnography exploring the engagement of records management through a computer mediated communication focused co-operative inquiry

This thesis is an autoethnography exploring the engagement of records management (RM) through the vehicle of a computer mediated communication (CMC) focused co-operative inquiry. CMC is defined as, “communication that takes place between human beings via the instrumentality of computers” (Herring, 1996, p.81). The PhD stance was that with the advent of new technologies, such as CMC, the role and place of RM has been challenged. RM practitioners needed to evaluate their principles and practice in order to discover why RM is not uniformly understood and also why it fails to engage many CMC users and information professionals. The majority of today’s information is generated as the result of unstructured communications (AIIM, 2005 and 2006) that no longer have a fixed reality but exist across fragmented globalised spaces through the Cloud, Web 2.0 and software virtualisation. Organisational boundaries are permanently perforated and the division between public and private spaces are blurred. Traditional RM has evolved in highly structured organisational information environments. Nevertheless, RM could lie at the heart of the processes required for dealing with this splintered data. RM takes a holistic approach to information management, establishing the legislative requirements, technical requirements and the training and support for individuals to communicate effectively, simultaneously transmitting and processing the communications for maximum current and ongoing organisational benefits. However RM is not uniformly understood or practiced. The focus of the thesis was to understand how RM engagement can and should be achieved. The research was conducted by establishing a co-operative inquiry consisting of 82 international co-researchers, from a range of disciplines, investigating the question, ‘How do organisations maximise the information potential of CMC for organisational benefit, taking into account the impact of the individual?” The PhD established a novel approach to co-operative inquiry by separating, managing and merging three groups of co-researchers (UK Records Managers, UK CMC users, international Records Managers and CMC users). I was embedded as a co-researcher within this wider inquiry personally exploring as an autoethnography the relevance of RM to the wider research question, the ability of RM practitioners to advocate for RM and the co-researchers’ responses to the place of RM within this context. The thesis makes several contributions to the research field. It examines how records managers and RM principles and practice engaged through the inquiry, articulating the reasons why users sometimes failed to engage with RM principles and practice, and what assists users to successfully engage with RM. It was found that national perspectives and drivers were more significant as to whether or not individuals engaged with RM concepts than age, gender or professional experience. In addition, users engaged with RM when it was naturally embedded within processes. In addition, as a result of the inquiry’s discussions and actions, the thesis suggests that RM principles and practice need to be refined, for example in regards to the characteristics that define a record. In this respect it concludes that there is rarely likely to be an original archival record surviving through time given the need for migration. The research delivered a novel approach to co-operative inquiry whereby merging groups through time produced new learning at each merger point. The thesis recommends further research to build upon its findings