Information Systems: A Business or Computer Science Discipline?

Throughout their history, IS programs have called many places home. In contrast to other academic disciplines, contemporary Information Systems programs may be found in a variety of place

How Relevant Is the Information Technology Gender Gap?

This paper describes research-in-progress investigating gender based wage differentials in I/T professions. The existence of these differentials is undisputed, but the significance of the “gender gap” is an area of considerable debate. The applicability of organizational and behavioral research in other areas to I/T is frequently predicated on the assumption that I/T professions are similar to other specific professions or to the economy at large. This paper describes a quantitative investigation of this assumption

Business Practices in Information Industries

Industries with products that consist solely of information are the purest case of doing business in the Information Age. Current business thinking is generally (still) rooted in the Industrial Age, which was concerned with producing physical goods. Research into the business practices of Information Businesses is scant at best. This paper outlines the motivation to define a research agenda to understand the business practices of the Information Industry

The Cost of Risk in Offshore Systems Development

Organizations frequently consider offshore systems development in the belief that projects can be completed for lower cost. While prices quoted by offshore vendors are often very appealing when compared with domestic vendors, there are additional risks that must be considered when looking to offshore systems development. These risks typically take the form of intangible and indirect project costs. This paper describes and classifies these risks, which fall into three primary categories of security risks, legal risks, and general risks. Suggestions for incorporating these intangible and indirect costs into the decision making process for offshore v. domestic vendor selection are offered

Motivation for Writing the Paper Risk Effect on Offshore Systems Development Project Cost

This paper discusses the motivation behind the original version of the paper Risk Effect on Onshore Systems Development Cost, and why the paper was revised for publication in this Special Issue. This revised paper more effectively supports our belief that considering all the risk-driven project costs in offshoring may result in total project costs exceeding domestic solutions.</p

An Integrated Approach to Defining Enterprise Computing Architectures

This paper describes research into the development of enterprise computing architectures that employ a mix of mainframe, local area network, and cooperative computing paradigms. It outlines a robust approach that permits the incorporation of several different distribution criteria, while accommodating designer preferences

Employing a Multilevel Secure Approach in CRM Systems

This research shows how Multilevel Secure (MLS) data models can be used in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) context. MLS models were originally developed as database models for the management of information in environments characterized by a strict hierarchy of security levels, such as military institutions and government security agencies. Improvements in evolving database technologies have made MLS data modeling practical as well as theoretically appealing. This paper illustrates how an MLS model can be used as a part of the technology for coordinating business-customer interactions with the objective of building long-term customer loyalty. Several examples are used to show how organizing a database management system based on MLS principles can be used to help businesses provide consistent and appropriate content to various customers and partners. Improvements in flexibility and cost of applications, as well as opportunities for new CRM strategies, are discussed as potential benefits of integrating MLS and CRM technology

Risk Effect on Offshore Systems Development Project Cost

Organizations frequently consider offshore systems development in the belief that projects can be completed for lower cost.  While prices quoted by offshore vendors are often very appealing when compared with domestic vendors, additional risks must be considered when looking into offshore systems development.  These risks typically take the form of intangible and indirect project costs which add to the total cost of the delivered system.  This paper describes and classifies these risks, which fall into three primary categories of security risks, legal risks, and general risks.  Suggestions for incorporating these intangible and indirect costs into the decision making process, and their effects on total project costs, are offered for the offshore v. domestic vendor selection process.</p

Risk Effect on Offshore Systems Development Project Cost

Organizations frequently consider offshore systems development in the belief that projects can be completed for lower cost.  While prices quoted by offshore vendors are often very appealing when compared with domestic vendors, additional risks must be considered when looking into offshore systems development.  These risks typically take the form of intangible and indirect project costs which add to the total cost of the delivered system.  This paper describes and classifies these risks, which fall into three primary categories of security risks, legal risks, and general risks.  Suggestions for incorporating these intangible and indirect costs into the decision making process, and their effects on total project costs, are offered for the offshore v. domestic vendor selection process.</p

Examining conscientiousness as a key resource in resisting email interruptions : implications for volatile resources and goal achievement

Within the context of the conservation of resources model, when a resource is deployed, it is depleted - albeit temporarily. However, when a 'key', stable resource, such as Conscientiousness, is activated (e.g., using a self-control strategy, such as resisting an email interruption), we predicted that (1) another, more volatile resource (affective well-being) would be impacted and that (2) this strategy would be deployed as a trade-off, allowing one to satisfy task goals, at the expense of well-being goals. We conducted an experience‐sampling field study with 52 email-users dealing with their normal email as it interrupted them over the course of a half‐day period. This amounted to a total of 376 email reported across the sample. Results were analysed using random coefficient hierarchical linear modelling and included cross-level interactions for Conscientiousness with strategy and well-being. Our first prediction was supported - deploying the stable, key resource of Conscientiousness depletes the volatile, fluctuating resource of affective well-being. However, our second prediction was not fully realized. Although resisting or avoiding an email interruption was perceived to hinder well-being goal achievement by Conscientious people, it had neither a positive nor negative impact on task goal achievement. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Practitioner points: It may be necessary for highly Conscientious people to turn off their email interruption alerts at work, in order to avoid the strain that results from an activation-resistance mechanism afforded by the arrival of a new email. Deploying key resources means that volatile resources may be differentially spent, depending on one's natural tendencies and how these interact with the work task and context. This suggests that the relationship between demands and resources is not always direct and predictable. Practitioners may wish to appraise the strategies they use to deal with demands such as email at work, to identify if these strategies are assisting with task or well-being goal achievement, or whether they have become defunct through automation