Are 21st-century citizens grieving for their loss of privacy?

Although much research exists that examines cognitive events leading up to information disclosure, such as risk-benefit analysis and state-based and trait-based attributes, minimal research exists that examines user responses after a direct or indirect breach of privacy. The present study examines 1,004 consumer responses to two different high-profile privacy breaches using sentiment analysis. Our findings indicate that individuals who experience an actual or surrogate privacy breach exhibit similar emotional responses, and that the pattern of responses resembles well-known reactions to other losses. Specifically, we present evidence that users contemplating evidence of a privacy invasion experience and communicate very similar responses as individuals who have lost loved ones, gone through a divorce or who face impending death because of a terminal illness. These responses parallel behavior associated with the Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief

A Privacy Calculus Model for Personal Mobile Devices

Personal mobile devices (PMDs) initiated a multi-dimensional paradigmatic shift in personal computing and personal information collection fueled by the indispensability of the Internet and the increasing functionality of the devices. From 2005 to 2016, the perceived necessity of conducting transactions on the Internet moved from optional to indispensable. The context of these transactions changes from traditional desktop and laptop computers, to the inclusion of smartphones and tablets (PMDs). However, the traditional privacy calculus published by (Dinev and Hart 2006) was conceived before this technological and contextual change, and several core assumptions of that model must be re-examined and possibly adapted or changed to account for this shift. This paradigm shift impacts the decision process individuals use to disclose personal information using PMDs. By nature of their size, portability, and constant proximity to the user, PMDs collect, contain, and distribute unprecedented amounts of personal information. Even though the context within which people are sharing information has changed significantly, privacy calculus research applied to PMDs has not moved far from the seminal work by Dinev and Hart (2006). The traditional privacy calculus risk-benefit model is limited in the PMD context because users are unaware of how much personal information is being shared, how often it is shared, or to whom it is shared. Furthermore, the traditional model explains and predicts intent to disclose rather than actual disclosure. However, disclosure intentions are a poor predictor of actual information disclosure. Because of perceived indispensability of the information and the inability to assess potential risk, the deliberate comparison of risks to benefits prior to disclosure—a core assumption of the traditional privacy calculus—may not be the most effective basis of a model to predict and explain disclosure. The present research develops a Personal Mobile Device Privacy Calculus model designed to predict and explain disclosure behavior within the specific context of actual disclosure of personal information using PMDs

The critical incident technique reappraised: using critical incidents to illuminate organizational practices and build theory

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a reconceptualization of the critical incident technique (CIT) and affirm its utility in management and organization studies. Design/methodology/approach: Utilizing a case study from a leadership context, the paper applies the CIT to explore various leadership behaviours in the context of nonprofit boards in Canada. Semi-structured critical incident interviews were used to collect behavioural data from 53 participants – board chairs, board directors, and executive directors – from 18 diverse nonprofit organizations in Alberta, Canada. Findings: While exploiting the benefits of a typicality of events, in some instances the authors were able to validate aspects of transformational leadership theory, in other instances the authors found that theory falls short in explaining the relationships between organizational actors. The authors argue that the CIT potentially offers the kind of “thick description” that is particularly useful in theory building in the field. Research limitations/implications: Drawing on interview material, the authors suggest that incidents can be classified based on frequency of occurrence and their salience to organizational actors, and explore the utility of this distinction for broader theory building purposes. Practical implications: Principally, the paper proposes that this method of investigation is under-utilized by organization and management researchers. Given the need for thick description in the field, the authors suggest that the approach outlined generates exceptionally rich data that can illuminate multiple organizational phenomena. Social implications: The role of nonprofit boards is of major importance for those organizations and the clients that they serve. This paper shed new light on the leadership dynamics at the top of these organizations and therefore can help to guide improved practice by those in board and senior management positions. Originality/value: The CIT is a well-established technique. However, it is timely to revisit it as a core technique in qualitative research and promote its greater use by researchers. In addition, the authors offer a novel view of incidents as typical, atypical, prototypical or archetypal of organizational phenomena that extends the analytical value of the approach in new directions

IP Bouncer: An End-User Network Privacy Enhancing Tool

IP Bouncer is a novel IT artifact that exposes unexpected and unwanted network communication initiated by trusted “insider” applications. It closely follows design science guidelines illustrated in the five design principles of the artifact. One of the novel aspects of the design is the key-pair approach used for assessing appropriate or inappropriate network communications. By coupling the context-awareness of the user with online aggregators of blacklists, IP Bouncer offers greater individual and organizational security protection and earlier detection of network anomalies

Factors affecting the ability of Client Relationship Partners to influence peers when leading key client relationships in City law firms

City law firms are responding to commercial pressures by attempting to establish a competitive advantage through the effective management of their key client relationships. This places great emphasis on the leadership role performed by the Client Relationship Partners who lead these often complex, boundary spanning relationships; acting as an interface between internal and external facing activity. In this context, there is specific interest in alignment at the peer level (partner to partner influence) where conventional hierarchical relationships between leaders and followers are replaced in law firms by more ambiguous relationships among professionals. Extant literature suggests that alignment at the peer level can be problematic as partners place a high value on autonomy, eschew interference by management and often operate in a culture that appears to actively reward individualistic behaviour. How a Client Relationship Partner operates effectively in this environment to influence the activities of peers is unexplored by academe. This study aims to address this gap by identifying what factors affect the ability of a Client Relationship Partners to influence the activities of peers. The study reviews the extant literature on law firm structures, systems and culture before considering the fields of key account management, leadership and paradox theory. The characteristics of City law firms therefore provides the critical context for this research; key account management the core theory; and leadership and paradox theory the theoretical lenses. Having positioned the research in the literature, justification is given for why the study adopts a qualitative research design that inductively builds and extends theory from the data. A case is made for an interpretivist research paradigm with a phenomenological research methodology. Careful consideration is given to the specific research methods and the data analysis techniques employed to ensure methodological congruence. The study adheres to the fundamental principles of doctoral research by making a contribution both to theory and practice. Contribution to theory includes the introduction of a Client Relationship Partner centred model that, in addition to providing consilience between the literature, helps both to surface and attend to the tensions that enable or hinder Client Relationship Partners in their efforts to influence the activities of peers. Contribution to practice includes the identification of eight paradox-based principles that provide much needed guidance to Client Relationship Partners and positional leaders in City law firms that are looking to address the research aim that frames this study

Data Quality Procedures in Survey Research: An Analysis and Framework for Doctoral Program Curricula

To ensure validity in survey research, it is imperative that we properly educate doctoral students on best practices in data quality procedures. A 14-year analysis of 679 studies in the AIS “Basket of 8” journals noted undercommunication in the most pertinent procedures, consistent across journals and time. Given recent calls for improvements in data transparency, scholars must be educated on the importance and methods for ensuring data quality. Thus, to guide the education of doctoral students, we present a “5-C Framework\u27\u27 of data quality procedures derived from a wide-ranging literature review. Additionally, we describe a set of guidelines regarding enacting and communicating data quality procedures in survey research

A simple method for testing and controlling inhibition in soil and sediment samples for qPCR

The presence of polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) inhibitors in many environmental samples can make reliable and repeatable quantitative-polymerase-chain-reaction (qPCR) analysis difficult without sample dilution. To estimate an optimal sample dilution for qPCR and reduce effects of inhibition, a simple test based on multiple dilution series of samples is presented that avoids the use of internal controls and standards reducing complexity and cost

Sensemaking and Success in the Transition from Community Colleges to University IS/CS/CE Programs

Increasing the enrollment of women, minority, and other underrepresented populations in undergraduate information systems and computing programs is an important social issue. We explore ways of attracting and retaining community college transfer students—an important source of underrepresented students —by examining their sensemaking efforts as they transition to four-year universities. We conducted a qualitative study to test sensemaking theory and develop recommendations for retaining community college transfer students in undergraduate information systems, computer science, and computer engineering programs