SSM Approach to Realizing Emancipatory Idels in ERP Implementation

Organizations implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems seeking to integrate functional units, standardize business processes and enhance organizational efficiencies. Although several millions of dollars are spent in implementing ERP systems, most of these systems fail. As ERP systems are implemented in complex environments with extensive social and organizational interactions leading to dramatic changes in the organizational structures and business processes, two critical success factors in ERP implementation are user involvement and effective project communication. Although Checkland’s soft systems (SSM) methodology is a proven tool for encouraging user participation, it does not fully embrace emancipation. In this paper, we reformulate SSM to incorporate emancipatory ideals to enhance project communication during ERP implementation. The emancipatory approach developed in this paper is suitable for the requirement specification phase of ERP implementation. The approach can enhance systems implementation practice and presents an opportunity for a new research stream in method engineering for ERP systems

Impact of ERP Implementation on Business Process Outcomes: A Replication of a United States Study in a Sub-Saharan African Nation

This study is a conceptual replication of Karimi et al.’s (2007) study on the impact of ERP implementations on business process outcomes among US manufacturing firms in a Sub-Saharan African (SSA) nation. The results of the measurement model are valid and reliable, which are consistent and comparable with that of the original study, enhancing the external validity of the constructs proposed in the original model. However, only one of the four hypotheses tested in the structural model was confirmed in the current study although all four were supported in the original study. While the original model was tested on manufacturing firms in the US, the replicated study was carried out in several industries in Ghana, a SSA nation. Thus the differences in the structural model results do not invalidate the original model but suggest the need for capturing contextual or environmental variables such as culture, industry, ethical behavior, and data culture in order to enhance the external validity and theoretical contribution of the original model in the SSA context

EVResponse - Moving Beyond Traditional Emergency Response Notification

Federal, state and local governmental agencies have been investing considerably in emergency response management systems to assist crisis management officers in the assessment, mitigation and response to emergency situations. In crisis management contexts, the timeliness of a response may be determined with reference to a fixed instant in the form of an absolute action threshold. This establishes the last possible point in time where any sort of solution is available. Once an action threshold is passed, a crisis is no longer containable; whatever adverse consequences a problem portends are thereafter inescapable. In this paper, we describe a special GIS-based response management system, EVResponse that combines GIS capabilities with web based voice translation technologies such as VoiceXML to effectively coordinate the pre, current and post crisis management activities. VoiceXML provides open standards based methodology to facilitate the integration and communication of emergency response systems with existing disaster planning systems. The EVResponse application uses web services to provide real-time reporting capabilities to both decision makers and first response units

The Role of Negotiation in Privacy-Enhanced E-Commerce Transactions

Online vendors use personal information to deliver customized services efficiently to their customers. Both users and vendors value the relationship building made possible using personal data. However, the use of personally identifying data gives rise to the potential for privacy invasion. When consumers must disclose personal information, they are forced to perform a risk-benefit analysis in which the risks of disclosing one\u27s personal information are weighted against the potential benefits of the disclosure. While some researchers note that consumers maximize benefits in deciding whether to disclose personal information, others argue that consumers lack sufficient information and power to make educated, balanced decisions regarding disclosing their private information. We add to the privacy discussion by arguing that a real negotiation position for both parties can help realize the full benefits of online personalization. We propose a model for mitigating the tension between the benefits of personalization and the risks to privacy invasion. This framework informs our future work which seeks to develop rich and deep understandings of negotiated, privacy-concerned personalization

Examining Users’ Information Disclosure and Audience Support Response Dynamics in Online Health Communities: An Empirical Study

Online healthcare communities (OHCs) facilitate two-way interaction. Examining users’ information disclosure-audience support response dynamics can reveal insights for fostering a supportive environment, community engagement, bond formation, knowledge sharing, and sustained participation in OHCs. We propose a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model of user disclosure and response dynamics in OHCs. Based on the health disclosure decision-making model and daily time series data, we examine the two-way interaction of two dimensions of disclosure efficacy with audience support response acceptance. Findings of the impulse response functions reveal that user information density leads to positive support response acceptance, whereas support response acceptance reduces the information density of a user post over time. Further, higher information efficacy leads to more support response acceptance with long run improved information efficacy. Theoretically, findings extend the disclosure decision-making model in OHCs. Practically, the results provide insights for OHC management to facilitate two-way dynamic users’ interactions

How do technology use patterns influence phishing susceptibility? A two-wave study of the role of reformulated locus of control

Phishing attacks continue to be a concern for academia and practice. Practitioners ranked phishing attacks second to data breaches in a recent industry survey. For scholars, interest in understanding the factors that influence phishing susceptibility, defined as user vulnerability to phishing attacks, continues to grow. While prior research has identified either state (situational cues) or trait (technology use) factors that influence users’ response to phishing attacks, little previous research has investigated simultaneously user control of both state and trait factors on susceptibility to phishing. Additionally, the influence of users’ automatic or routine technology use, user traits, on phishing susceptibility has not been examined. We investigate the effects of users’ control of both state and trait factors on phishing susceptibility. Our results offer several interesting insights. Specifically, while routine technology use trait decreases phishing susceptibility, automatic technology use trait increases phishing susceptibility. Furthermore, while situational cues are related to phishing susceptibility, only users’ automatic technology use is related to susceptibility to phishing under message sender situational cues. Our findings provide practical insights for developing countermeasures that incorporate the level of control into training programs that target trainees with customised training aimed at preventing successful phishing attacks

A Framework for Examining the Building of ICT Capacity in Developing Nations: Role of Cultural and Institution

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been acknowledged as key to the economic and social development of developing nations. There are divergent views on the importance of ICT development for developing nations. Those who oppose ICT expansion argue that developing nations should use scarce resources in building roads, education and medical facilities rather than ICT. Thus the building of a nation’s ICT capacity would be influenced by several institutions. However, prior research has focused predominantly on how governmental institutions influence the building of ICT capacity. In this paper we propose a framework for examining the building of ICT capacity in developing nations that has four major components: institutional entities, institutional interventions, culture and environmental factors. We present some theoretical propositions that can be used to test our proposed framework. While the list of entities and propositions is not exhaustive, we believe that this work provides a useful initial roadmap to understanding the impact of the interplay between culture and institutional factors on the building of ICT capacity in developing nations

Antecedents and Outcome of Deficient Self-Regulation in Unknown Wireless Networks Use Context: An Exploratory Study

Wireless networks are becoming the norm in the society, where hotspots afford users access to the internet through mobile devices. Unknown wireless networks, open public networks with unknown identity, pose threats as hackers can gain unauthorized access to users’ private information stored in their mobile devices. Despite the imminent dangers, individuals continue to use these networks. This study explicates a self-regulation theory to investigate the antecedents of deficient self-regulation (DSR) and its effects on habitual use of technology. We posit that both habit cues and information security experiential factors influence DSR, leading to habitual use of unknown wireless networks. The results show that perceived attachment, perceptions on privacy risk, and information security self-efficacy significantly influence DSR, which subsequently influences habitual use unknown wireless networks. This study contributes to the literature on self-regulatory theory, privacy, and provides implications for managers in dealing with vulnerabilities posed by employees using private or corporate mobile devices on unknown wireless network

How Do Individuals Justify and Rationalize their Criminal Behaviors in Online Romance Fraud?

Online romance fraud (ORF) is a growing concern with such serious negative consequences as financial loss or suicide to the victim. Majority of empirical studies on online romance fraud using attachment, deception, protection motivation and relation theories focus on the victim. While neutralization offers insights into how individuals justify their deviant behaviors, the results have not been consistent in different contexts. In the ORF context, offenders may not only rely on justifying techniques but also rationalize their actions by denying risk both to the victim and the offender. Thus, drawing from the neutralization and denial of risk theories, we develop a research model to explain how online romance offenders justify and rationalize their intended criminal activities. To confirm our theoretical model, we collected 320 responses from individuals at Internet Cafés alleged to be online romance fraud hotspots. Our results highlight the boundary conditions of neutralization techniques in the context of online romance fraud. The study shows that denial of risk, a rationalization mechanism, moderates the relationship between denial of victim, a justification technique, and intention to commit romance fraud. This insight advances the frontiers of neutralization theory. We offer both theoretical and managerial implications of the findings