A C ross-Cultural Comparison of U.S. and Chinese Website Customers

Website quality has been given much attention as of late. In particular the factors that impact a consumer\u27s perception of website quality is of great interest. This paper takes a currently validated measure of business-to-consumer website quality (WebQual™) and applies it to Chinese Web users in order to study the cross-cultural differences and similarities of U.S. and Chinese customers. Several cultural differences between U.S. and Chinese customers are revealed

Affect and HCI: Past, Present, and Future

A person’s affective state is a critical component of his/her experience and must be considered in HCI research. In fact, one’s feelings are a necessary component of his/her rational thoughts and actions. Because, IS behavioral models assume rational actors, including affect in such models result in a more complete understanding of user behavior. Since so much HCI research is focused on user behavior, it is important that affect be considered. This paper identifies the extent to which affect has been included in prior HCI research and to encourage its continued use given its significant impact on behavior. It begins by defining the general meaning of affect. It then presents recent advances in the affect literature and reviews affect work within HCI to date. Besides revealing that affect is a variable of great interest in HCI, the paper provides a theoretical and practical justification for including affect in HCI future research

Online Mood Induction

The purpose of this study is to examine whether affect-laden online materials, such as news stories and ads, can induce mood. In particular, this study examines whether viewing a positive online ad or reading a positive online story can induce a positive affect similar to other established mood inductions such as receipt of a surprise gift. Based on the results of previous “offline” studies we expect to see that both online news stories and ads affect mood

A Field-Based View on Gender in the Information Systems Discipline: Preliminary Evidence and an Agenda for Change

Gender disparities are an often-cited concern of the information technology (IT) workforce in general, and technology-focused fields, such as information systems, in particular. These worries have been underscored by evidence from practice, which indicates low rates of participation by women in the IT workforce, and have been exacerbated by suggestions that women lack an aptitude for technical work. Motivated by events in practice, and recent events in our own discipline, this editorial considers how gender shapes the careers of women and men in the information systems academe in relation to their employing institutions and to the Association for Information Systems (AIS). Based on a survey of 279 AIS members, we offer insights into whether women and men feel equitably treated in terms of support, job satisfaction, opportunities for career advancement, quality of mentoring, and sexual harassment in their AIS interactions and at their employing universities. We find that women and men report different experiences in the workplace, in relation to the professional association, and in regard to their opportunities for career advancement. Given these differences, we offer an agenda for change within the AIS and a call to action aiming for gender equity within the information systems community

Social Inclusion in a Hyperconnected World

Early ‘digital divide’ research focused on inequalities between those who had access to information technologies (IT) and those who did not. This research reflected the view that IT was creating a parallel reality, which people needed to connect to, or risk being left behind. Fast forward to 2013 and a ‘hyperconnected’ world has emerged, characterized by immediate access to information, institutions, and people. The central place of IT in this open, digital world creates a need to investigate the part IT plays in determining the extent to which people can participate in a hyperconnected society. To that end, this panel considers how information systems (IS) research can help reframe digital divide research to address broader issues related to social inclusion. The panel includes reflection on whether investigating the implications of hyperconnectivity for social inclusion requires IS researchers to expand their conceptualizations of ‘legitimate’ IS research questions, theories, and methods

Thirty Years and Counting: Do We Still Need the ICIS Women’s Breakfast?

This article discusses an important panel held at ICIS 2011 in Shanghai to mark over thirty years of an ICIS institution, the ICIS Women’s Breakfast. The panel addressed the controversial question—is there still a need for the ICIS Women’s Breakfast? Panelists were asked if the ICIS Women’s Breakfast could be seen as divisive, and if, women’s issues are different from issues of diversity such as race or sexual  orientation. They were also asked why they thought women were still  underrepresented in our academic community, and if the lack of women at senior levels was a concern for the community. Finally, the panelists were asked what practices the community would need to adopt to combat what could be seen as structural discrimination in our community, which we believe reflects the wider world we live in. We frame the debate and the ensuing discussion in the literature about women in academia, and conclude with some practical and constructive  recommendations for the community as a whole

Building a Neurodiverse High-tech Workforce

Worldwide, a growing proportion of the population has some sort of neurodiverse condition, such as autism and ADHD. However, such people have skills and perspectives that can be valuable for high-tech companies whose success depends on “out– of–the–box” thinking. We describe the experiences of two major high-tech firms (one U.S.-based and the other European) in building a neurodiverse workforce

1 WebQual™: A Measure of Web Site Quality

holds a doctorate from the University of Georgia and a Masters of Busines