Affect Infusion and Detection through Faces in Computer-mediated Knowledge-sharing Decisions

Faces are important in both human communication and computer-mediated communication. In this study, I analyze the influence of emotional expressions in faces on knowledge-sharing decisions in a computer-mediated environment. I suggest that faces can be used for affect infusion and affect detection, which increases the effectiveness of knowledge-management systems. Using the affect infusion model, I discuss why emotions can be expected to influence knowledge-sharing decisions. Using the two-step primitive emotional contagion framework, I found that emotional facial expression attached to a knowledge-sharing request influenced knowledge-sharing decisions. This influence was mediated by the decision maker’s emotional valence in the facial expression tracked by Face Reader technology and held for females but not males. I discuss implications for designers of emotionally intelligent information systems and research

CONTRACT FRAME AND PARTICIPATION: MITIGATING DISADVANTAGES OF PENALTY CONTRACTS

Contracting is an important aspect of IT governance and control. This aspect involves the manner in which goals are set, their achievements rewarded and penalized. In the context of service level agreements it has been shown that contracts that involve penalties have positive effects on individuals’ effort and negative effects on individuals’ attitude such as fairness perception. The negative effects of penalty clauses are a likely reason why they are rarely found in contracting with individuals. Our study was motivated by the question whether negative effects of penalty contracts can be mitigated. In an experiment we found that controllee participation can mitigate such negative effects. This implies that controllee participation is even more important in the face of penalty contracts in order to maintain high fairness perception levels

Contextual Factors Influencing Perceived Importance and Trade-offs of Information Quality

With the ever-increasing importance of information quality (IQ), research focuses mainly on two approaches, criteria and assessment. Researchers developed a number of frameworks, criteria lists, and approaches for assessing and measuring IQ. Several studies confirm that IQ is a multi-criteria concept, and its evaluation should consider different aspects. However, research and discussions with practitioners indicate that assessing and managing IQ in organizations remains challenging. Despite the subjective character of quality, foremost frameworks and assessment methodologies do not often consider the context in which the assessment is performed. Trade-offs between criteria are often not considered in most frameworks despite strong evidence in the literature that suggests trade-off relations exist. Underlying a user-centric view, this study analyses the importance of selected contextual factors and their impact on IQ criteria. Empirical data are gathered using a questionnaire approach. Results suggest significant context impacts and show that the perceived importance of information quality criteria changed over the last decade. Information and communication technology, available resources, the user role, the department, and the type of information systems influence respondents’ perception of IQ. These factors are incorporated in a context-oriented IQ research framework

EFFECTS OF IRRELEVANT ALTERNATIVES IN RELATIVE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

In this study we examine the effect of the presence of irrelevant performance information on the rank order decisions made by supervisors in relative performance evaluation (RPE). Specifically, we investigate the effect of two types of irrelevant performance information patterns in what has been termed an asymmetric dominated decoy and a viable decoy. We also examine whether relative performance information (RPI) size (evaluating 3 versus 9 subordinates at a time) can moderate the adverse influence of irrelevant information. The empirical results from our experiment support that the asymmetrically dominated decoy information pattern (where an additional subordinate is included in the RPE whose performance is similar to and is dominated by one of the original subordinates – referred to as the target subordinate) can increase the rank ordering of the target subordinate. Contrary to our expectation, we do not find that the viable decoy information pattern (where an additional subordinate is included in the RPE whose performance is partially dominating the target subordinate) has a significant influence on the rank ordering decisions of subordinates. Our results also provide support for an interaction between the decoy information and RPI size for the asymmetric dominated decoy such that the rank order effect is only present when the RPI size is small (evaluating 3 subordinates in our case). Our study informs designers of accounting information systems in several ways

Causal Inference in Strategic Performance Measurement Systems and Its Effect on Performance Evaluations: A Laboratory Experiment

This study aims to test the effect of explicit representation of causal relationships in strategy map component of balanced scorecards BSC on performance evaluations outcomes. To address this aim, a 2 × 2 factorial design laboratory experiment was conducted, where the inclusion of graphical information supporting causal relationships between objectives in strategy maps, and performance outcome patterns (positive vs. negative) across performance measurement perspectives of BCSs were manipulated. The findings show that the observed performance evaluation scores are driven more significantly by the performance outcomes in the outer perspectives of BSCs (financial and learning & growth) than by inner perspectives (internal business processes and customer). It was also confirmed that the difference in performance evaluation scores between two identically structured BSCs with positive versus negative performance outcomes in the outer perspectives is relatively larger in the presence of the strategy map versus when the ordered strategic objective list is presented

THE DUAL ROLE OF PENALTY: SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT DESIGN AND ITS EFFECTS ON INTRA-FIRM KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND COMMITMENT OF SERVICE PROVIDERS

Outsourcing projects are reported to frequently fail. Part of the reasons for such failures is an insufficient understanding of service level agreements (SLAs). This analysis adds to the collective knowledge on SLA contract design via examining effects of contract framing on two important factors of outsourcing success: commitment and knowledge. Via a scenario-based experiment with novices and professionals, the results show that penalty framing (as opposed to bonus framing) decreases knowledge sharing willingness and attitude-related forms of commitment while increasing client-oriented forms of commitment. No differences in internally-motivated forms of commitment and in behaviour between novices and professionals are found. The study adds to the collective knowledge on SLA design, commitment and knowledge sharing

On the Role of Information Overload in Information Systems (IS) Success: Empirical Evidence from Decision Support Systems

It has been suggested that information overload decreases decision-making performance. This study empirically examines the mediating role of information (over-)load on the relationships between two system features (deep structure usage and system quality) and managerial performance using a mixed-method-approach (survey and interviews). It analyzes the relationships with respect to a state-of-the-art decision support system (DSS). Our results indicate that information overload adversely affects managerial performance and mediates the influence of system quality and deep structure usage on managerial performance. We find that system quality is positively related to information overload. Drawing on cognitive load theory, we hypothesize and confirm that deep structure usage reduces perceived information overload. Additional evidence from interviews further illustrate these results and show that information overload can be influenced in counter-intuitive ways by system aspects. Our results have important implications for the design of modern information system (IS) landscapes to support managerial performance. They draw attention to the importance of information overload as a mediating factor in the interrelationship among deep structure usage, system quality and managerial performance

A Quasi-Experimental Analysis on the Influence of Satisfaction and Complexity on Information Quality Outcomes

It has been reported that more than two thirds of users are satisfied with the quality of the data they process at work. However, literature suggests that IQ (information quality) problems are becoming progressively prevailing. We perform a quasi-experimental analysis and investigate both, main effects of satisfaction and complexity as well as interaction effects of them. For information quality outcome we use users’ perception of the importance of IQ dimensions. We find evidence for main effects of both factors as well as an interaction effect on various dimensions of IQ. Satisfaction levels influence the perceived importance of conciseness and security; Complexity levels influence the perception of conciseness; and accuracy and timeliness are found to be influenced by interactional effects. We discuss potential implications of the findings and suggest more experimental research in this domain