The IS Core IX: The 3 Faces of IS Identity: Connection, Immersion, and Fusion

From the time of the first ICIS conference in 1980, the debate over the identity of IS research continues to flare. Accompanying this debate is an endless quest for the core of the IS field and its boundaries, as well as the identification and articulation of its reference disciplines and research methods. This debate most recently crystallized in the dialectic between the Benbasat-Zmud-Weber position around narrowing the field to center around the core of the IS artifact --- and the Alter position around broadening the field to be a work-centered systemic interconnected view. This paper argues that there is nothing inherently wrong with either of these two perspectives, but that they are just alternative models of reality which bring particular central features of phenomena to the foreground and hide other features. The paper further argues that there is at least a third critical perspective that can be equally argued for. It characterizes these three perspectives of IS identity as connection, immersion, and fusion, and articulates their commonalities and distinctions. Like the Three Faces of Eve in the classic 1957 Hitchcock movie thriller, each of these faces of IS identity reveals particular aspects of the IS persona. This paper contends that it may be time for a natural shift of emphasis from the Connection view to the Immersion View to the Fusion view as IT continues to morph and augment its capabilities. The paper explains the differences and similarities among the three views, and articulates each of them. The Fusion view is one that is not yet apparent in the IS field. This paper alerts the IS scholarly community to pay attention to it, and suggests ways of doing that

Personal Information Systems for Strategic Scanning in Turbulent Environments: Can The CEO Go On-Line?

Empirical evidence suggests that scanning for information becomes an increasingly salient activity for top executives as enviromental turbulence increases. A critical part of scanning for top executives in such environments is scanning to identify strategic threats and opportunities. This is the focus of this papen We seek to understand the strategic scanning behaviors of top executives in order to provide some guidelines for designing computerbased systems to support and enhance strategic scanning processes. The paper first tries to understand the characteristics of the strategic scanning process through an empirical study of 37 chief executive officers (CEOs) of small to medium-sized high technology companies in northern California\u27s Silicon Valleg Thmugh a semi-structured interview with the flavorof an eventprotocol the CEOs were asked about various aspects of their strategic attention behavior in relation to three strategic threats and opportunities which they were experiencing. Several general questions pertaining to their use of information sources for strategic information were also asked. Informationsources were classifiedbased onthe locationof the information source (external or internal to the organization), and based on the directional specificity of information transmission (personal or impersonal). The results showed that the CEOs relied to a greater extent on external sources for the strategic information, than they did on internal sources. The results indicate thatthey did not frequently delegate scanning for strategic information totheirsubordinatesorassistants,norweretheywillingtodoso. Theresultsalsoshowedthat the CEOs used more personal than impersonal information sources for strategic information, and that the number of sources was limited. These results in combination suggest that the CEO\u27s personal scanning filter (rather than the organizational filter) is of prime importance in identifying strategic issue& \u27Ito types of strategic scanning information were identified by the CEO\u27s. The first type was general surveillance information which was not necessarily coupled with any specific threat or opportunity, but which changed the frame of reference through which they interpreted furtherinformation,implyingthatsecond-orderlearningisa featureofthe strategicscanning process. The second type was information coupled to identifying specific threats or opportunities Four modes of strategic scanning were identified: routine monitoring, problemistic search, unsolicited reception, and coincidental surveillance. The results showed that the strategic information scanning method was more often proactive than reactive, and that CEO\u27s most frequently used the routine monitoring mode for strategic scanning, indicating that they are very systematic scanners, andthatthere are certain habitual sources thatthe CEO monitors and consults The paper then draws some conclusions and implications for the design of computer based information systems for supporting strategic scanning. The empirical results suggest that in terms of strategic attention, the CEO\u27s information system is very personal and somewhat decoupled from the organizationalinformation system. Thus a computer-based information system to support and enhance the CEO\u27s strategic scanning would probably have to be a customized personal system, with inputs being made by the CEO himself. This points in the directionof some kindof tickler file system whichhas some verysimple inputmethods, but sophisticated classification and manipulation capabilities with qualitative verbal data- The emergence of idea outlining software is a step in that direction. A further step would be to incorporate some learning features into the software to adapt to changing frames of reference. Given the absence of the tight coupling requirement between a strategic scanning system and the organizational system, and given the small database, portable lap computers are identified as an appropriate medium for such an application

A Strategic Vision for Information Technology: What, Why, Who, Where, When and How?

Advances in infonnation technology to date have changed the way in which organizations can manage their in€ormation resources. Managers of business subunits are inaking IT decisions every day on their own without supervision from the IS subunit. They may be operating in a vacuum and their decisions will, therefore, likely reflect a lack of continuity and organizational purpose. The purpose of developing and communicating a sirategic vision for IT is to inculcate that vision throughout the organization so that all organization membe;s have access to this critical view of the tole of IT in the organization a i d can make their decisions based on this understanding. Suategic vision for IT is, fherefore, critical to an information-intensive organization

Phygitar - Envisioning the Rhythmic Phygital Ecosystem in 2050

This paper takes us to a possible future world called Phygitar - a rhythmic phygital ecosystem in 2050 where the co-existence of people, technology, and nature flow in rhythmic synthesis, and where digital and physical are seamlessly fused. Using the approaches of futures-studies, this envisioning is done to better understand concepts from 2050 and see how we can engage with and use those effectively in 2023 for IS theory development and management practice. We use the 2009 movie “Avatar” by James Cameron as the playground of our imagination. We apply illustrative elements to depict some key characteristics and concepts from of this rhythmic phygital ecosystem and show some ways of navigating through it. We hope this will trigger the imagination of scholars of what might be out there in the next generation of post-digital IS theories rather than being rooted in the mindset of what is or what has been

The Rolodex model: understanding relationship complexity as a precursor to the design of organizational forms for chaotic environments

The emerging business environment is increasingly complex, characterized by hypercompetition, compound interdependence, and electronic webs This heightened complexity is triggering a slew of new organizational forms and shifts in the underlying logics of organizational forms These new organizational forms are not only more complex, but they have new kinds of complexity - increasingly hybrid and heterarchical, more flexible, and dynamically reconfigurable. The report argues that in such new conditions we need to rethink how we conceive the structural dimensions of organizational form and base them on a process model of inter-organizational relationships. This report examines relationship complexity as a structural topology that underlies organizational form It identifies three structural dimensions of relationship complexity reach, range, and reciprocity and combines them in a model that allows dynamic reconfigurability. The model is based on the primacy of perspective of practicing managers and we have termed it the Rolodex Model as it has overtones of an organizational version of a manager's card file of contacts. Using the concepts of energy and phase space from physics to enrich the Rolodex Model, the report shows how it can be used to explain existing archetypes of organizational forms, to identity new organizational forms, and to provide insights for organizational design The report then argues that further elaboration of energy concepts and relationship complexity may be necessary before we can fully respond to, and anticipate, the complex, dynamic, hypercompetitive organizational environment of today , much less that likely to exist tomorrow.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The octopus effect: when and who platform companies acquire

After their launch, Amazon, Apple, Airbnb, and Google, giant platforms of the digital economy, all followed a similar pattern. They quickly bought competing platform companies in their same market niche before growing tentacles through acquisitions in other sectors. Margherita Pagani, Milan Miric, and Omar El Sawy call this phenomenon “octopus effect” and wonder what the next evolutionary stage of platforms will be

The Four Tigers of Global E-Business Infrastructure: Strategies and Implications for Emerging Economies

Statistics show that the United States is the leader on all fronts of e-business readiness. However, in different geographic regions several other countries are emerging as leaders in e-business infrastructure development. These Tigers of global e-business infrastructure include Singapore, India, Ireland, and Finland. This paper describes the specific e-business infrastructure models that are taking shape in these emerging leaders. The models are differentiated in terms of their underlying IT infrastructures, human capital requirements, alliance aspects, cultural aspects, and institutional environments. The paper analyzes each model as a configuration of activities for creating competitive advantage in e-business infrastructure. Recommendations are drawn for emerging countries striving to increase their participation in global e-business

Business Process Reengineering -Do Software Tools Matter?

As the number of business process reengineering (BPR) projects increase in industry, there seems to be a large potential to reduce cost and increase quality through the use of software tools. Currently, more than 50 BPR tools are available, but there has been little research to determine which features of BPR tools are important for BPR success and how important BPR tools are in BPR projects. Research in the related area of tools for computer-aided software engineering (CASE) shows that software tools are not always likely to improve productivity.To answer the questions raised above, we developed a model and tested it with a survey. As a first step, literature dealing with BPR procedures and BPR features was reviewed to elicit important features of BPR tools. Simultaneously literature regarding CASE tools failure was investigated to identify potential causes of failure of BPR tools. As a result, a framework of BPR tool features that can guide selection of BPR tools was developed. We also developed a BPR success model and a questionnaire to test the model. The questionnaire was distributed to BPR practitioners through electronic media.The analysis of data shows that process visualization and process analysis features are key features for the success of BPR tools which is termed as BPR tools competence in this research. Organizational factors such as user support and change of work are also important for a successful use of BPR tools. One interesting result is that change of work caused by BPR tools has a positive effect on BPR tools competence which is opposite to CASE tools. A significant relationship between BPR tools competence and effectiveness of BPR projects was observed, while no significant relationship was observed between BPR tools competence and efficiency of the projects. The result implies that BPR tools are different from CASE tools in many aspects, and what managers should expect from BPR tools is improved quality of project rather than productivity

The Role of Business Intelligence and Communication Technologies in Organizational Agility: A Configurational Approach

This study examines the role that business intelligence (BI) and communication technologies play in how firms may achieve organizational sensing agility, decision making agility, and acting agility in different organizational and environmental contexts. Based on the information-processing view of organizations and dynamic capability theory, we suggest a configurational analytic framework that departs from the standard linear paradigm to examine how IT’s effect on agility is embedded in a configuration of organizational and environmental elements. In line with this approach, we use fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze field survey data from diverse industries. Our findings suggest equifinal pathways to organizational agility and the specific boundary conditions of our middle-range theory that determine what role BI and communication technologies play in organizations’ achieving organizational agility. We discuss implications for theory and practice and discuss future research avenues

Leveraging Presence in the Design of Mobile Services: Challenges, Opportunities, and Value Creation

Recent industry white papers explore presence as one of the hottest, most valuable design trends for mobile services that has only recently been leveraged in designing mobile services. Building on this viewpoint and drawing on prior communication research, we show that presence is a much richer construct than these white papers suggest, and we more fully explore the application of three types of presence - physical presence, social presence, and self-presence - to mobile services design and to the corresponding opportunities for value creation. We present a series of design challenges to incorporating presence and develop the opportunities for overcoming these challenges. The implications of designing with presence are 1) a greater awareness of and response to the users’ needs and behaviors; 2) strategies for top-down design that leverages this awareness; and 3) methods for integrating unique features of mobile devices based on user and environment-driven factors rather than technology-driven factors. Numerous real-world examples illustrate both the complete nature of presence and its application to mobile services