Why people reject or use virtual processes: Understanding the variance of users’ resistance

The globalization and the continuing growth of internet-based processes and services makes it necessary to examine the emerging user resistance phenomenon from a new theoretical perspective. In order to verify the user resistance’s core claims, we designed a research model and subsequently developed measurement instruments to empirically analyze and test why people reject or use a process in a virtual environment. Therefore we investigated the “airport check-in” process as our process of interest and conducted a questionnaire-based survey with 183 participants in total. The survey was carried out at Frankfurt Airport as well as at Leipzig Airport in Germany. The results indicate that perceived process characteristics, service quality and net benefit play an important role in user resistance towards conducting a process virtually. We provide empirical evidence for the validity of user resistance, and demonstrate that our model is statistically significant and well constructed

Exploring the roles of people, governance and technology in organizational readiness for emerging technologies

The rapid development and release of emerging technologies have made their adoption challenging. Most often there are failing issues in organizational adoption of emerging technologies. It is yet unclear which component(s) of organization play the prominent role(s) in organizational readiness to adopt emerging technologies. Using a mixed method, this study conducted an online survey of 83 South African organizations for server virtualization adoption. Server virtualization is an emerging technology being widely adopted in most organizations in developed countries. IT executives rated server virtualization as the second-most important technology to help achieve cost reductions and optimize productivity in recent surveys. Very little is known about server virtualization adoption in organizations in developing countries. It was found that people and technology play prominent roles in South African organizational readiness to adopt server virtualization. Server virtualization has certain inhibitors such as lack of IT skill, and software and license costs that the IT industry and adopting organizations should consider

Development and assessment of an organisational readiness framework for emerging technologies : an investigation of antecedents for South African organisations' readiness for server virtualisation

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-125).To determine, holistically, factors that contribute to organisational readiness for these emerging technologies on one part, and the factors that influence organisational preparedness on its own on the other part, raises another concern. This study developed a new conceptual readiness framework NOIIE (an acronym for National e-readiness, Organisational preparedness, Industrial relationships, Internal resistance and External influence), for assessing organisations’ readiness for emerging technologies and applications

Internet Predictions

More than a dozen leading experts give their opinions on where the Internet is headed and where it will be in the next decade in terms of technology, policy, and applications. They cover topics ranging from the Internet of Things to climate change to the digital storage of the future. A summary of the articles is available in the Web extras section

Exploring Strategies that IT Leaders Use to Adopt Cloud Computing

Information Technology (IT) leaders must leverage cloud computing to maintain competitive advantage. Evidence suggests that IT leaders who have leveraged cloud computing in small and medium sized organizations have saved an average of $1 million in IT services for their organizations. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies that IT leaders use to adopt cloud computing for their organizations. The target population consisted of 15 IT leaders who had experience with designing and deploying cloud computing solutions at their organization in Long Island, New York within the past 2 years. The conceptual framework of this research project was the disruptive innovation theory. Semistructured interviews were conducted and company documents were gathered. Data were inductively analyzed for emergent themes, then subjected to member checking to ensure the trustworthiness of findings. Four main themes emerged from the data: the essential elements for strategies to adopt cloud computing; most effective strategies; leadership essentials; and barriers, critical factors, and ineffective strategies affecting adoption of cloud computing. These findings may contribute to social change by providing insights to IT leaders in small and medium sized organizations to save money while gaining competitive advantage and ensure sustainable business growth that could enhance community standards of living

Practicing what we preach? Reflections on more sustainable and responsible IS research and teaching practices

Research on IS solutions for environmental sustainability have evolved to a modest, but firm body of knowledge. Despite this progressive understanding about the potential of IS in enabling environmental sustainability, our academic practices seem widely unaffected by these insights. The way we do research or conduct teaching is rarely influenced by sustainability considerations. For example, before the pandemic many of us belonged to a hypermobile group that travelled 5-6 times more than the average employee. Our research is also often not aligned with environmental goals. We research digital technologies without sufficiently acknowledging the significant amounts of resources they consume. Similarly, our teaching often focuses on the effective development and use of information systems; however, rebound, second order, or spillover effects are barely covered. Based on these observations we raise the question: Are we practicing enough of what we preach? While recognizing several efforts of IS researchers, we can no longer ignore the ‘environmental elephant in the room’. In our panel report, we discuss the status-quo and ideas to improve the environmental and societal impact of our academic practices and present three ideas to move forward: Leverage virtualization and limit air travel, overhaul teaching curricula, and recalibrate incentives and evaluation regimes

Practicing What We Preach? Reflections on More Sustainable and Responsible IS Research and Teaching Practices

Research on IS solutions for environmental sustainability have evolved to a modest, but firm body of knowledge. Despite this progressive understanding about the potential of IS in enabling environmental sustainability, our academic practices seem widely unaffected by these insights. The way we do research or conduct teaching is rarely influenced by sustainability considerations. For example, before the pandemic many of us belonged to a hypermobile group that travelled 5-6 times more than the average employee. Our research is also often not aligned with environmental goals. We research digital technologies without sufficiently acknowledging the significant amounts of resources they consume. Similarly, our teaching often focuses on the effective development and use of information systems; however, rebound, second order, or spillover effects are barely covered. Based on these observations we raise the question: Are we practicing enough of what we preach? While recognizing several efforts of IS researchers, we can no longer ignore the ‘environmental elephant in the room’. In our panel report, we discuss the status-quo and ideas to improve the environmental and societal impact of our academic practices and present three ideas to move forward: Leverage virtualization and limit air travel, overhaul teaching curricula, and recalibrate incentives and evaluation regimes

Opportunities of industry 4.0 for SMEs in the area of rebar steel distribution within the construction industry –a PPC potential analysis

Industry 4.0coins a global trend towards applying digital technologies to manufacturing. However, the openness towards related innovations varies among different industries. Whilst for instance many manufacturers within automotive or logistics industries have optimized their factories already, the German construction sector falls back regarding adaptation. Reinforcement steel distributors reflect a fundamental part of this sector and are broadly hesitant to initiate their factory transformation. This research provides an overview of the opportunities of Industry 4.0 in the area of reinforcement steel trade and processing. It analyzes how to derive an innovative factory design leveraging on state-of-the-art production planning methods, by aggregating market information and technology