Strategic Sensemaking and Software Asset Management: Linkages Between Interpretation and Organizational Action

Software is a critical information technology (IT) asset as it plays a key role in the creation of organizational value and it ranks as the first or second most important IT budget disbursement. Organizations are expected to govern software to ensure its efficient use while protecting the copyright of software developers. Software asset management (SAM) focuses on the good governance and effective lifecycle management of software. SAM impacts the flexibility to support business strategies with software, and protects organizations against liability and security risks associated with software use. Since the 1990s, practitioners and scholars posit that SAM is a strategic issue that should be attended by top management. However, reports indicate that widespread SAM adoption is at early stages and a review of the literature reveals limited research on SAM. Studying SAM is relevant to practice and theory because it could explain the processes behind its adoption in organizations. Two different SAM actions are identified: Proactive and Reactive SAM. This study investigates the role of top managers and important antecedents of SAM actions. This investigation draws from strategic sensemaking to explain how top management team’s (TMT) interpretation of IS strategic issues (i.e., software asset issues) as an opportunity influences proactive SAM. It also draws from institutional theory as explanation of reactive SAM actions. Survey responses from 187 chief information officers were collected. The study used a scenario to elicit a strategic issue tested in three stages. In the first stage, scholars and practitioners validated the scenario and survey items. In the second, a pilot was conducted to validate the survey instrument and research model. In the third, a full-scale data collection and test of the research model was completed. Findings from this study indicate that TMT interpretation of SAM as an IS strategic issue influences the adoption of Proactive SAM. Also, coercive force has a direct influence on reactive SAM. This study contributes to the IS literature by developing an instrument to measure reactive and proactive SAM, identifying factors that influence TMT’s interpretation, and subsequent SAM action. For practice, the study corroborates the need to involve TMT in the SAM decision making processes because TMT interpretation is positively associated with the willingness to implement Proactive SAM

Brand Communities: another way to generate conversations and Public Relations

En este trabajo se exploran las ventajas de cultivar las llamadas comunidades de marca, término que proviene de la mercadotecnia pero que está en íntima relación con la comunicación, las relaciones públicas, el diálogo, y en general, las conversaciones y los lazos generados entre las personas a través de internet. El estudio se centra en Universidades por el estrecho vínculo que se crea entre éstas y sus egresados, y analiza el caso de las asociaciones Exatec (grupos de egresados del Tecnológico de Monterrey) para revisar los beneficios que estas agrupaciones brindan a la institución, así como las estrategias que la universidad desarrolla para mantener vivo el lazo con estas comunidades. A través de una metodología cualitativa (entrevistas) se explora este exitoso caso mexicano.Instituto de Investigación en Relaciones Pública

The Use of Text Analytics to Investigate Concepts in Intra- and Inter-disciplinary Software Piracy Research Inter-disciplinary Software Piracy Research

IS research has linked collaborators from diverse domains. IS research requires selecting and addressing an appropriate intradisciplinary or interdisciplinary scope. Identifying gaps in the current literature and deciding when and how collaborations among different disciplines may be fruitful poses challenges. We propose a process to analyze a corpus of documents from any topic, to identify potential collaboration areas. A text analytics process is used to find areas of commonality and exclusivity among questions addressed in existing IS work by analyzing abstracts in papers from multiple disciplines studying \u27software piracy.\u27 We use term-term co-occurrence to find all the terms used in close proximity to the topic. We identify which terms are most prominent in each discipline, show quantitatively how these usages coincide or diverge across disciplines, measure the overlap between pairs of disciplines, and identify clusters of terms shared among disciplines. Specific findings from this case of software piracy are presented

Dust rings and filaments around the isolated young star V1331 Cygni

We characterize the small and large scale environment of the young star V1331 Cygni with high resolution HST/WFPC2 and Digitized Sky Survey images. In addition to a previously known outer dust ring (~30'' in diameter), the HST/WFPC2 scattered light image reveals an inner dust ring for the first time. This ring has a maximum radius of 6.5'' and is possibly related to a molecular envelope. Large-scale optical images show that V1331 Cyg is located at the tip of a long dust filament linking it to the dark cloud LDN 981. We discuss the origin of the observed dust morphology and analyze the object's relation to its parent dark cloud LDN 981. Finally, based on recent results from the literature, we investigate the properties of V1331 Cyg and conclude that in its current state the object does not show suffcient evidence to be characterized as an FU Ori object.Comment: 15 pages ApJ preprint style including 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ (Feb. 2007

The dusty disk around VV Ser

We have carried out observations at millimeter and centimeter wavelengths towards VV Ser using the Plateau de Bure Interferometer and the Very Large Array. This allows us to compute the SED from near infrared to centimeter wavelengths. The modeling of the full SED has provided insight into the dust properties and a more accurate value of the disk mass. The mass of dust in the disk around VV Ser is found to be about 4 10^(-5) Msun, i.e. 400 times larger than previous estimates. Moreoever, the SED can only be accounted for assuming dust stratification in the vertical direction across the disk. The existence of small grains (0.25--1 micron) in the disk surface is required to explain the emission at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. The fluxes measured at millimeter wavelengths imply that the dust grains in the midplane have grown up to very large sizes, at least to some centimeters.Comment: To appear in Ap

Do slower life history strategies reduce sociodemographic sex differences?

This study examines the relations between sociodemographic sex differences and life history strategies in the populations of Mexican States. Sex differences in anatomy and behavior was measured with traits such as educational achievement, mortality, and morbidity. The data were obtained from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI) and sampled from thirty-one Mexican states and the Federal District (N = 32). An extension analysis was performed selecting only the sex ratio variables that had a correlation with the slow Life History factor greater than or equal to an absolute value of .25. A unit-weighted sex ratio factor was created using these variables. Across 32 Mexican states, the correlation between latent slow life history and sex ratio was .57 (p .05). These results are consistent with our hypothesis that slower life histories favor reduced sexual dimorphism in physiology and behavior among human subnational populations. The results of the study further understanding of variations in population sex differences, male-biased behaviors toward sexual equality, and the differences among subnational (regional) populations within the United States of Mexico.   DOI:10.2458/azu_jmmss_v6i1_chavarria_miner

Cross-sectional Study of Factors Associated With Suicide Ideation in Ontario Adolescents

Objective: Suicide is the second leading cause of death in Canadian adolescents. The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide attempts to explain suicide etiology and proposes that feelings of perceived burdensomeness or thwarted belongingness lead to suicide ideation, but this has not been extensively studied in adolescents. This study aimed to use the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide to examine factors that may be associated with suicide ideation in adolescents. The factors of interest were school connectedness, perceived availability of support, self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness, feelings of hopelessness, bullying and cyberbullying victimization, substance use, and social media use. Methods: Data were from the 2017 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, a survey of 7th to 12th graders enrolled in a publicly funded school in Ontario. Weighted multivariate logistic regression of suicide ideation on all exposure variables was conducted. Results: 13.6% of students in the sample endorsed having suicidal ideation in the preceding 12 months. Not knowing where to turn to for support, feeling worthless, endorsing low self-esteem, being bullied, and using cannabis were each associated with greater odds of suicide ideation. Feeling hopeless, social media use, using alcohol and tobacco, and being cyberbullied were not associated with suicide ideation in the weighted multivariate logistic regression model. Conclusions: This study is consistent with the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide as low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness, two indicators of perceived burdensomeness, and not knowing where to turn to for support, an indicator of thwarted belongingness, were associated with greater odds of suicide ideation. These findings can help guide interventions aimed at reducing the burden of suicidality during adolescence and demonstrate the need to provide accessible mental health support for youth