A Systems Model of IS Success Using Agent-Based Simulation

Measuring the value realized from information systems (IS) and understanding the factors which influence success are critical to organizations. DeLone and McLean’s IS success model is one of the most well-known theories in IS literature; however, the model has been primarily examined from a variance perspective and this offers an opportunity to explore ways to improve its explanatory capability. This study presents an agent-based simulation model of the IS success model based on complex adaptive systems theory. Principles from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, social learning theory, and expectation disconfirmation theory are incorporated in the model to capture individual behavior and interactions, feedback loops and emergent effects. The model is under development in the context of a hospital surge management system with the goal of extending the IS success model and to improve understanding of IS success in a complex digital ecosystem. The next steps are to calibrate the model and to conduct multiple case studies

Enhancing Learning Outcomes through Experiential Learning: Using Open-Source Systems to Teach Enterprise Systems and Business Process Management

Enterprise systems and business process management are the two key information technologies to integrate the functions of a modern business into a coherent and efficient system. While the benefits of these systems are easy to describe, students, especially those without business experience, have difficulty appreciating how these systems are used to improve the efficiency of business operations. This paper reports on a project to provide experiential learning to beginning business students. We focus on open-source enterprise and process management systems to investigate whether the benefits can be provided even by small institutions and without a large investment into commercial systems. The results of experimental studies are provided and suggest that hands-on learning on open-source systems can lead to improved learning outcomes. The main contribution is the demonstration that educators need not shy away from experiential learning when faced with the obstacles that large-scale commercial enterprise systems may present, but can instead choose a “bottom-up” approach of easily integrating enterprise systems into the curriculum to benefit student learning

Antecedents and Consequences of Board IT Governance: Institutional and Strategic Choice Perspectives

In spite of the potential benefits of board IT governance and the costs of ineffective oversight, there has been little field-based research in this area and an inadequate application of theory. Drawing upon strategic choice and institutional theories, we propose a theoretical model that seeks to explain the antecedents of board IT governance and its consequences. Survey responses from 188 corporate directors across Canada indicate that both board attributes and organizational factors influence board involvement in IT governance. The results suggest that proportion of insiders, board size, IT competency, organizational age, and role of IT influence the board’s level of involvement in IT governance. The responses also indicate that board IT governance has a positive impact on the contribution of IT to organizational performance. Overall, the results support the integration of strategic choice and institutional theories to explain the antecedents to board IT governance and its consequences, as together they provide a more holistic framework with which to view board IT governance

Towards an Understanding of Board IT Governance: Antecedents and Consequences

Board involvement in Information Technology (IT) governance and the antecedents and consequences of such involvement are examined from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Practitioner and academic IT governance literature highlight the need for increased board involvement in IT governance; however, it seems that many corporate boards do not practice a formalized style of IT governance, while those that do, face significant challenges. A gap clearly is seen as in spite of the potential benefits of board IT governance and the costs of ineffective oversight, there has been little field-based research in this area, nor adequate application of theory. This research addresses this gap by developing and testing an exploratory multi-theoretic framework of board IT governance. Drawing upon strategic choice and institutional theories, and Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety, a model of the antecedents (organization factors and board attributes) of board IT governance and its consequences (financial performance and operational performance) is both developed and tested. Unlike previous studies, board IT governance is designated as a central construct in this model rather than a secondary factor. Constructs of board IT governance and IT competency are explored and multi-item measures for both constructs are developed. Board IT governance is conceptualized as the extent of offensive and defensive board oversight activities, while IT competency is conceptualized as the extent of IT expertise (IT knowledge, experience and training) and IT governance mechanisms (structures, processes and relational mechanisms). Detailed interviews with board members enabled a preliminary examination of the theoretical framework. To further test the propositions in the theoretical framework and to validate the measures for the board IT governance and IT competency constructs, an online survey was administered to corporate directors across Canada. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Ordinary Least Squares multiple regression were used to analyze responses from 188 directors. The board IT governance and IT competency constructs were well supported by the data. In addition, the results show that the organizational factors explain 28% of the variance in board IT governance, and that board attributes explain 39% more of the variance, for a total explained variance in board IT governance of approximately 68%. The results also show that board IT governance has a positive impact on operational performance, explaining 19% of the variance in operational performance. However, the proposed impact of board IT governance on financial performance, and the impacts of ‘fit’ between role of IT and board IT governance approach on financial and operational performance were not supported by the survey results. Overall, this research makes a theoretical contribution by: focusing on the board’s role in IT governance; developing a multi-theoretical model of the antecedents and consequences of board IT governance; developing measures of board IT governance and board IT competency, and; empirically assessing the antecedents and consequences of board IT governance

Understanding IS Adoption and Success: Integration of IS Success and Technology Adoption Research

Despite continued research on technology adoption and IS success; there continue to be significant organizational challenges with IT. One reason for this may be the lack of consistent understanding resulting from the fact that there are two dominant research streams in this area – technology adoption research (TAR) and IS Success research (ISSR) – which have insufficient dialogue between them. TAR and ISSR offer complementary perspectives of IS– adoption does not necessarily mean success, and measurement of system success does not necessarily explain why the system was successful. We examine the relationship between these two research streams using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) from TAR and the IS Success model from ISSR. This paper proposes an integrated model that seeks to improve understanding of IT adoption and success. Our integrated model provides the theoretical strength of the TPB as well as the actionability of IS Success

Governance of Digital Transformation: A Review of the Literature

Digital transformation (DT) has attracted increased attention across academia and practice, with recent work contributing to an improved understanding of this phenomenon. However, we lack a comprehensive view of how DT should be governed – how do organizational structures, processes, and relational mechanisms around DT decisions influence an organization’s ability to achieve its goals? With DT the focus of governance extends beyond just the decision rights and accountabilities of the information technology (IT) unit. Rather than 'just' being an organizational unit, technology is now core to the organization and its operations. This increases the scope to an organizational level of governance; therefore, traditional IT governance mechanisms may not apply as well to DT. This study provides a review of how the DT literature discusses governance, and identifies areas for future research

A Software Release Planning Methodology for Developers

The process of assigning requirements to releases is difficult and release planning methodologies are becoming increasingly complex in an attempt to take into account different stakeholder perspectives and criteria. However, there is a need to focus on understanding the criteria used in release planning in order for the methodologies to adequately support this process. This paper specifies the criteria for software developers to use when planning releases by operationalizing the risk criterion and enhancing the interdependency criterion. A controlled experiment was conducted to evaluate release plans created with this new versus an informal methodology. The results imply that the criteria specified in this new methodology are in fact used by developers in the creation of releases. After further testing, this methodology could prove beneficial in helping developers create release plans for large numbers of requirements

Towards effective collective IS use in a voluntary healthcare environment (Paper-a-thon)

Organizations continuously face challenges in achieving effective use of Information Systems (IS) under new scenarios. These challenges are amplified when collective, rather than individual use is needed, and when use is voluntary. This research explores the drivers of effective collective use in voluntary healthcare environments using the example of a surge management system in hospital emergency departments, a context in which IS often need to be used by multiple people to achieve the intended outcomes. We bring together three streams (i.e., effective use, collective use, and voluntary use) of literature. We aim to contribute to the extant literature by conceptualizing effective collective IS use and providing a greater understanding of the role of voluntariness and the drivers of such use. Our research also holds practical implications for the implementation of eHealth systems