Some Sources of the Unity in Plurality of Scandinavian Research on Information Systems Development

livari and Lyytinen propose some cultural and demographic reasons for the diverse yet unified pattern of Scandinavian research on information systems development. This short comment recounts my own experience with Scandinavia and Scandinavian researchers and proposes three factors indicative of the social and cognitive environment that might also explain the distinctive unity in plurality

Work as the Making of Time and Space

An ethnographic study of a globally distributed e-commerce software development team reveals how the doing of work necessarily involves the shaping of space and time. Software development work is composed of multiple work elements, each of which has a characteristic number of aspects or steps that must be performed, as well as a characteristic number of communicative relations which must be maintained. Individuals on the software development team have multiple work elements that they attend to concurrently, by rotating their attention among various elements, much as a juggler keeps multiple objects in the air. Our observations of this distributed team show how the work of software development proceeds by selectively opening or closing space in order to experience a different pace of time. In this way, individuals construct a space time continuum that enables them to successfully handle the number and type of work elements that they are concurrently juggling

A Design Artifact for Distributed Cognition: Natural Science Pilot Leads to an Expanded Design Science Program

As part of an on-going design science project, we are developing “Theory Garden,” a tool that enables individuals to easily generate visual causal models, thus making their perspectives explicit. Theory Garden aids in the drawing of personal theories of a situation as users indicate their assumptions with qualitative statements and simulate the resulting models. The intuitive interface is intended to minimize the barrier to use, and thus be accessible to a wide audience. The simulation engine enables users to better understand theoretical implications of their theories, and to engage in scenario-based simulation. This paper represents the first step in our effort to scientifically validate our use expectations for the software. In this step we identify a range of use patterns of untrained users. We address strategies for dealing with the unexpected variation that we found in personal modeling strategies, as well as a next step in our study

Nutritive value of forage legumes used for grazing and silage

peer-reviewedLegume forages have an important position in ruminant production in Western Europe and with further development can play an even larger role. Red clover for silage and white clover in grazed swards lead to enhanced growth rate and milk yield in comparison with pure grasses. Much of the production benefit of these legumes relates to enhanced intake since digestibilities are not markedly different to grasses. The higher intake of legume silages reflects differences in the cell structure of legume plants which combined with high fermentation rates means that they break down into small particles in the rumen, and leave the rumen more rapidly than perennial ryegrass. Ease of ingestion leads to high rates of intake, which explains higher intakes for grazed legumes. A further benefit of legumes is the reduced rate of decline in digestibility with advancing maturity. Whilst legumes have limited effects on gross milk composition or carcass characteristics, there are marked increases in levels of beneficial n−3 PUFA. Legumes have often led to a reduction in methane production from the rumen and again, this relates to both physical and chemical differences between forage species. The high rates of release of soluble protein and of breakdown to small particles from clovers and lucerne is associated with susceptibility to bloat, which is a limitation to further exploitation in grazing systems. The high concentration of rapidly degraded protein in legumes also leads to inefficient utilisation of dietary N and increased urinary N output. Research with tanniniferous forages, such as birdsfoot trefoil and sulla, demonstrates the potential for future legumes with reduced environmental and health effects, though these particular forage legumes are not well adapted to temperate regions of Western Europe that are the focus of this review

Path Creation with Digital 3D Representations: Networks of Innovation in Architectural Design and Construction

We examine the wake of innovations in architecture and construction propelled by the adoption of digital three dimensional (3D) representations of buildings and their parts. Departing from the traditional view of innovation that treats information technology adoption as an unproblematic, singular event, we examine IT induced innovations and their consequences as path creation created by the network of professional communities involved in architect Frank Gehry\u27s projects. We report the results of a retrospective case study of 3D representation enabled and triggered innovation during the design and construction of the Peter B. Lewis Building at Case Western Reserve University. Our analysis suggests that the consequences of a complex information technology innovation like the use of digital 3D representations of buildings and their part cannot be fully understood as a singular adoption event. Instead, a more holistic and integrated view of the innovation process as continuous path creation by multiple actors sharing practices and feedback across professional communities while they appropriate 3D representations is required. Information technology innovation is not a single event created by a heroic individual or champion, but it involves multiple agents\u27 mindful deviations from established paths of practices and resource use. We observe that the use of 3D representations breaks down the traditional loosely coupled system in construction that relied on 2D representations to share information between different contractors. These representations essentially black-boxed and hid most information how to build the building or how different parts of design interrelate with one another. To effectively adopt and appropriate the potential of 3D representations requires that traditionally isolated actors during design and construction need to be brought together in a tightly coupled system. This system is arranged around rich and complex boundary objects enabled by the digital 3D representations and their transformations

Limit cycles, complex Floquet multipliers, and intrinsic noise

We study the effects of intrinsic noise on chemical reaction systems, which in the deterministic limit approach a limit cycle in an oscillatory manner. Previous studies of systems with an oscillatory approach to a fixed point have shown that the noise can transform the oscillatory decay into sustained coherent oscillations with a large amplitude. We show that a similar effect occurs when the stable attractors are limit cycles. We compute the correlation functions and spectral properties of the fluctuations in suitably comoving Frenet frames for several model systems including driven and coupled Brusselators, and the Willamowski-Rössler system. Analytical results are confirmed convincingly in numerical simulations. The effect is quite general, and occurs whenever the Floquet multipliers governing the stability of the limit cycle are complex, with the amplitude of the oscillations increasing as the instability boundary is approached. © 2009 The American Physical Society

Post-scandal Organizational (Dis)order: A Grounded-Theory Approach Shifting from Murphy’s Law to Safer Regulatory Environments

The literature shows that, in the wake of negative media exposition, organizations’ self-regulation tends to be strengthened. We investigate such motivation from the perspective of the psychosocial consequences in executives’ and organizational self-confidence. A grounded-theory approach supports findings from 27 different events described by top-level executives from major publicly traded organizations. Their testimonies document that scandalous episodes, when they occur, leave a trauma footprint within the organizational and individual consciousness because of the perceived post-event humiliation, remorse, guilt, and fear. The paradigm of reliance and trust in the designed structures is severely altered. In turn, a climate of excessive self-regulation explains the recovery from the traumatic experience. New boundaries for regulatory balance, also called “the confidence zone,” exists until design changes coalesce with organizational blame to create the perception that reputational safety has been achieved. Fears of subsequent media scrutiny are mitigated by the perception of moral safety based on governance. Consequently, the over-regulatory response comprises the organizations’ healing process as they recover from the psychosocial trauma caused by media exposition

IT for Creativity in Problem Formulation

Creativity is fostered by distributed cognitive activity as individuals interact with artifacts and with each other, often with the aid of artifacts. In this design science research-in-progress, we describe a software artifact known as Theory Garden that was developed to facilitate distributed cognitive activity. We detail an experimental process through which we are assessing the potential for this artifact to facilitate creative outcomes in the context of problem formulation. The experiment involves two different phases: one that addresses managerial problem definition, and one that deals with the requirements processes of software development teams. We conclude with potential implications of this research, should we find evidence that Theory Garden software does support more creative outcomes

Open Access Publishing and the Future of Information Systems Research

The advent of the Internet and the subsequent adoption of open access schemas are changing the nature of the scholarly discourse. In response, we will stimulate a debate about the role and desired form of open access publishing in the context of the IS discipline. In particular, we explore the potential contribution of establishing an open access disciplinary repository of working papers and work in progress. Furthermore, we propose its design principle and illustrate our thesis with a working prototype of such disciplinary repository entitled Sprouts (http://sprouts.aisnet.org). Finally, we call for participation and further action in realizing a global repository of IS research in progress

ICIS 2008 Panel Report: Open Access Publishing to Nurture the Sprouts of Knowledge and the Future of Information Systems Research

The advent of the Internet and the subsequent adoption of Open Access schemata are changing the nature of the scholarly discourse. In response, we seek to stimulate a debate about the role and desired forms of Open Access publishing in the context of the Information System (IS) discipline. We explore the potential contribution of an Open Access perspective on publishing IS-related research and also discuss the roles of traditional journals and their prospects in the contexts of our observations. In particular, we focus on the new possibilities of publishing work-in-progress and its potential benefit for knowledge dissemination including the prospects of turning today\u27s limited scholarly exchange into mass collaboration. We illustrate our vision with a working prototype of an Open Access disciplinary repository entitled Sprouts (http://sprouts.aisnet.org). Our aim is to inspire new thinking about the role of Open Access publishing, the potential of its application to disciplinary repositories of emergent work, its anticipated repercussions on our work practices, and its long-term implication for the impact of IS scholarship and the well-being of our community at large. We call for participation and further action in realizing a global repository of IS research in progress. This paper builds on a panel on Open Access that was presented at the 2008 International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), held in Paris, France, in December 2008