IT SELF-CONCEPT CLARITY: DEFINITION AND MEASURE

Due to their constant interactions with IT, users accumulate beliefs they hold toward their selves as IT users. Given the ambivalent nature of IT, individuals tend to develop ambiguous and incoherent beliefs toward their selves as IT users. This can lead users to limit the efficacy of their interactions with IT and negatively affect their overall perception of themselves. This paper conceptualizes the IT Self-Concept Clarity (ITSCC) construct to improve the predictive power of models interested in the users\u27 daily interaction with IT. We also develop a measurement scale for ITSCC. We validate the scale by performing three studies. We perform a pre-test, a cross-sectional survey study and an experimental manipulation study. We outline the positive relationship between ITSCC and computer self-efficacy and self-esteem. We also validate the effect of the experimental manipulation on our scale, which will allow assessing the causal impact of ITSCC in future studies

For Better and Worst: IT Identity and Subjective Well-being

The constant interactions of individuals with IT lead individuals to integrate IT within their sense of self, thus developing an IT identity. Research on this topic has highlighted the positive impact of IT identity on exploratory use and performance. However, there are limited studies regarding IT identity\u27s impact on users\u27 subjective well-being. Using the self-change model, we expand the IT identity theory. We assert that generating an IT identity leads to integrating positive and negative attributes afforded by the IT within the users’ self-concept. The integration of positive attributes will have a positive effect on the users\u27 subjective well-being, while negative attributes will have a negative effect. We propose testing our model using a longitudinal study. This study will make a theoretical contribution by expanding the IT identity theory and providing insights into the ambivalence of the users\u27 change when generating an IT identity

The Role of IT Feature Recombinations in Individuals\u27 Innovative Use of IT

Innovations do not emerge in isolation but are to some extent recombinations of previously existing building blocks. In this paper, we build on the recombination processes feature set broadening and deepening to show how individuals innovate with IT. We employ a qualitative research setting using a rich case of a self-tracker, who constantly changed his use of a stress tracking device from simple meditation to, eventually, a creative use configuration allowing him to sense stress at work, address prejudicial work-related behavioral patterns, and increase his work-related performance. Our preliminary analysis show that innovating with IT operates in constant cycles of feature set broadening and deepening, with broadening preceding the deepening. By linking feature set broadening and deepening to existing tasks as well as to new deliverables, we intend to clarify the relationships and transitions between different configurations of innovative use and show which patterns of innovative use occur over time

Enhanced Use of IT: A New Perspective on Post-Adoption

A major problem confronting organizations is that they make large investments in information technologies (IT) that, in many cases, underperform following adoption because their features are underutilized. In information systems (IS) research, there is a need to develop a better understanding of the process by which individuals make new use of IT features. Using a grounded theory approach, we develop such an understanding by closely examining how individuals change their IT use following initial adoption. Based on analyzing interview data and expanding on extant literature to refine our results, we propose a construct called “enhanced use”, which refers to novel ways of employing IT features. We conceptualize enhanced use as having distinct forms (using a formerly unused set of available features, using an IT for additional tasks, and/or using extensions of IT features and attributes). Our analysis reveals that these forms may differ in terms of their attributes (locus of innovation, extent of extensive use, and adaptation). Our study uncovers patterns of use that reveal the roles played by task characteristics, knowledge, and the IT type in shaping enhanced use. Thus, this study heeds repeated calls to theorize about use by proposing a novel and rich conceptualization of post-adoption use

THE IMPACT OF EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS ON KNOWLEDGE CREATION IN ONLINE COMMUNITIES

People become involved in online communities (OCs) to obtain information, share ideas, or create knowledge. In an OC with a text-based and asynchronous communication environment, knowledge is created and embedded in the dialogues codified into text-format. While most extant studies in OCs focus on social, structural, and cognitive factors leading to knowledge creation, little effort has been made to investigate more affective factors leading to knowledge creation. In this paper, we investigate the role of Emotional Expression (EE) triggering knowledge creation processes. We hypothesize that EE in OC triggers two processes for the quality of knowledge creation: sharing experiences and sustaining dialogues. Moreover, recombining ideas moderates the relationship between “sharing experiences” and the “quality of knowledge”. The hypotheses will be tested with data from an OC on “Business Ph.D. programs”. We conclude with possible implications of this study for academy and practice

Benefiting from Tracking Yourself by Knowing Yourself

Self-tracking technologies are being increasingly integrated into everyday activities, capturing data and presenting information to users regarding their states, status and performance through feedback messages. Interaction with these features can be seen as beneficial for users, but also as tedious and oppressive. To address this issue, we bring attention to the antecedents of the individual’s net benefits from these devices’ usage. This study aims at putting forward the relationship between the clarity and coherence of an individual’s beliefs toward themselves in IT usage situations, the framing of feedback messages and net benefits. To do this, we adapt the conceptualization of self-concept clarity (SCC) from the psychology field to the context of IT, creating the ITSCC construct. We propose a positive effect of ITSCC on net benefits, moderated by feedback message framing. We then propose an experimental design and procedure to test our model

Business Competence of Information Technology Professionals: Conceptual Development and Influence on IT-Business Partnerships

This research aims at improving our understanding of the concept of the business competence of information technology professionals and at exploring the contribution of this competence to the development of partnerships between IT professionals and their business clients. Business competence focuses on the areas of knowledge that are not specifically IT-related. At a broad level, it comprises the organization-specific knowledge and the interpersonal and management knowledge possessed by IT professionals. Each of these categories is in turn inclusive of more specific areas of knowledge. Organizational overview, organizational unit, organizational responsibility, and IT-business integration form the organization-specific knowledge, while interpersonal communication, leadership, and knowledge networking form the interpersonal and management knowledge. Such competence is hypothesized to be instrumental in increasing the intentions of IT professionals to develop and strengthen the relationship with their clients. The first step in the study was to develop a scale to measure business competence of IT professionals. The scale was validated and then used to test the model that relates competence to intentions to form IT-business partnerships. The results support the suggested structure for business competence and indicate that business competence significantly influences the intentions of IT professionals to develop partnerships with their business clients

The Metaverses’ Edge for Learning: Body and Identity

Virtual worlds are currently receiving renewed attention. Notably, advances in immersive technologies, such as virtual reality headsets, allow users to experience interactions with virtual objects by using their bodies in virtual worlds referred to as metaverses. Studies on metaverses have suggested that enabling users to query their environment using their body, or embodiment features, facilitates learning. While such studies\u27 scope includes users\u27 experience in a metaverse with embodiment features, scarce attention has been brought to the role of the perception generated toward themselves through this experience. This study aims at highlighting the role of IT identity in explaining learning effectiveness in metaverses and the impact of embodiment features on this process. We propose to investigate this using an experiment. The findings will contribute to the IT identity stream and the literature on virtual worlds. It will also inform practitioners involved in the design of metaverses

Tracing the Next-Generation Platform Firm: A Typology of Digital Platforms as New Organizing Forms

Despite dramatic growth in multidisciplinary research on platforms over the past two decades, epistemological differences have hindered progress toward a coherent theory of what are digital platform organizations and how they quickly disrupt and dominate traditional organizations, threatening their cognitive legitimacy as new organizing forms. This paper examines how organizational rules, norms, routines and practices embedded in social and structural properties give different types of platforms their distinct organizational identities. We present a theory that proposes a typology of digital platforms and lays the foundation for predicting the next generation of digital platform organizations and their potential as disruptive competitive forces in the digital economy. We discuss several emerging questions to stimulate new research streams on digital platforms