LET\u27S COLLABORATE, BUT I WILL BE THE FIRST AUTHOR! EXPLORING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FIRST AUTHORSHIP FOR IS RESEARCHERS

Collaboration among researchers is typically seen as the quintessence of academic excellence, leading to improvements in the research quality, capitalization on the diversity of perspectives and gains in productivity. Despite these benefits, many research teams find themselves torn by competition, antagonism and resentment. Desire to be the first author and resultant underperformance of non-first co-authors is often at the root of these conflicts. At the same time little is known about what motivates researchers in general and IS researchers in particular to engage as first authors. To fill this gap, this study uses survey methodology to explore the attitudes of IS researchers and their resulting behavior when it comes to authors order. Qualitative and quantitative evidence collected from 398 IS researchers is used to support our analysis. We find that researchers\u27 desire to be the first authors is mainly driven by such determinants as career aspirations, visibility, leadership and sense of ownership, and less so by the desire to satisfy their self-esteem and self-actualization needs. In addition, the value placed on being the first author appears to be the function of researchers? career level, with Ph.D. students attaching significantly higher value to it than senior scholars

Digitalisierung und Hybridisierung von Raum und Infrastruktur: Mobiles Ticketing im öffentlichen Verkehr

Die Infrastrukturen digitaler Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien durchdringen in Form kabelloser Netzwerke den Raum. Mobile Medien wie Laptop und Handy erlauben orts- und zeitunabhängigen Zugriff auf virtuell verfügbare Informationen und Dienste. Am Beispiel des Mobilen Ticketing-Angebotes Ring&Ride wird gezeigt, wie Innovation durch die neuartige Verknüpfung bestehender Technologien, Infrastrukturen und Nutzungspraktiken zu Stande kommt. Anhand infrastruktur- und medientheoretischer Ansätze werden die Eigenheiten und Implikationen verknüpfter, um digitale mobile Medien erweiterter Netzwerke analysiert. Digitalisierung und Mobilisierung zeigen vielfache Hybridisierungseffekte. Aus Sicht der Mobilitätsforschung sind insbesondere die Veränderungen im Zugang von Infrastrukturen und des Raumbezuges von Interesse. Die Digitalisierung führt zu einer ubiquitären Verfügbarkeit von Infra- und Angebotsstrukturen, die zusammen mit der verbreiteten Nutzung mobiler Endgeräte neue Möglichkeiten individueller Aneignung und flexiblere Nutzungsweisen öffentlich-kollektiver Mobilitätsformen erlaubt. Die Verknüpfung öffentlicher und privater, stationärer und mobiler Infrastrukturelemente geht mit einer neuen Reichweite und Verschränkung von Verantwortungs- und Kontrollbereichen einher. Die Formen aktuellen Raumerlebens und -bezuges sowie der Begriff von Mobilität verändern sich. Eine Herausforderung der soziawissenschaftlichen Mobilitätsforschung liegt in der weiteren Analyse der Zusammenhänge sozialer Praktiken von Mobilität und Mobilkommunikation. -- In today's world, digital information and communication technologies permeate space in the form of wireless networks. Independent of time and place, mobile media such as laptops and cell phones enable us to access virtually available information. In this article, the mobile ticketing service 'Ring&Ride' is used to illustrate how innovation as an assemblage, in the sense of Latour, can be implemented through new ways of linking existing technologies, infrastructures and their usage. The implications and characteristics of digital mobile media networks are analyzed on the basis of infrastructure and mediatheory approaches. Digitisation and mobilisation present multiple hybridization effects. In mobility research, the changes in the accessibility of infrastructures are of special interest. Digitalization leads to an increasingly ubiquitous availability of infra- and supply structures. Together with the widespread use of mobile devices, this provides new possibilities for individual acquisition and flexibility in the use of public transport. Public and private, stationary and mobile infrastructure elements are simultaneously linked with a new range and combination of areas of control and responsibility. The use of mobile media interconnects virtual and physical space and changes the way space is constructed, perceived and appropriated. A broader theoretical concept of mobility reflecting the way in which digital media have infiltrated everyday life is required. Future challenges for mobility research in the social sciences lie in a deeper analysis of the relationship between social practices of mobility and mobile communication.

Advising Customers on Products in Navigating Online Shops – An Empirical Analysis

Most online shops do not provide advisory services that take advantage of expert product knowledge. Therefore, consumersmay spend a higher search effort than necessary to find products that serve their needs. This study investigates to what extentan ontology-based, “advisory” navigation menu can decrease a consumers’ search effort. For this purpose, we conducted alaboratory experiment with 159 participants to assess the impact of an ontology-based navigation menu on participants’information behavior in an online shop. Our log file-based comparison with a conventional navigation menu showed asignificant decrease of search effort for the advisory navigation menu. Comparison criteria include the number of productresult pages viewed, the number of detail pages viewed, and the amount of filters used in a session. Implications of thisresearch concern the development of online shop interfaces that use ontology-based product catalogues and therefore supportconsumers in their information search

Measuring Web Site Information and Service Quality - An Extended Multi-Attribute Attitude Model

Information and service quality (ISQ) is a critical factor in the success of commercial web sites and is a well-researched areain Information Systems (IS) and Marketing. Our study develops an instrument that measures web site success by evaluatingISQ performance. We deploy a multi-dimensional conception of ISQ from IS literature that we use for measuring dimensionrelevance and performance perception according to Marketing research. Both are components of a linear compensatoryrelevance-weighting model. We extend this model by integrating a maximal performance norm and a normalizationprocedure for calculating an overall ISQ performance score, establishing a maximal perceived-performance gap. In addition,different web site usage contexts are linked to performance perceptions. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated inan empirical study examining the ISQ performance of a commercial web site (n = 226). Our instrument adds exploratorypower to existing measurement approaches and supports customer-centric web site design

Shopping Online – Determining Consumer Acceptance of Online Shops

After more than ten years of widespread use of e-commerce, there are still only a few models to specify the connectionbetween consumer acceptance and the characteristics of an online shop. In particular, the available literature does not provideany constructs to evaluate the most basic functionality of an online shop: its search features. In this paper we describe ashopping experiment to validate a model that includes consumer characteristics as well as consumers\u27 evaluations of a shop’ssearch features. Results demonstrate that (i) contrary to consumer research findings, only consumer involvement influencesthe consumers’ evaluation of the online shop, not the prior product knowledge; (ii) the relevance of search results and theevaluation of filtering mechanisms have a major impact on the perceived usefulness of the shop; and (iii) the ease of use ofthe shop does not affect perceived usefulness, as this relationship is fully mediated by the perceived costs of the informationsearch process

Digitalisierung und Hybridisierung von Raum und Infrastruktur: mobiles Ticketing im öffentlichen Verkehr

"Die Infrastrukturen digitaler Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien durchdringen in Form kabelloser Netzwerke den Raum. Mobile Medien wie Laptop und Handy erlauben orts- und zeitunabhängigen Zugriff auf virtuell verfügbare Informationen und Dienste. Am Beispiel des Mobilen Ticketing-Angebotes Ring&Ride wird gezeigt, wie Innovation durch die neuartige Verknüpfung bestehender Technologien, Infrastrukturen und Nutzungspraktiken zu Stande kommt. Anhand infrastruktur- und medientheoretischer Ansätze werden die Eigenheiten und Implikationen verknüpfter, um digitale mobile Medien erweiterter Netzwerke analysiert. Digitalisierung und Mobilisierung zeigen vielfache Hybridisierungseffekte. Aus Sicht der Mobilitätsforschung sind insbesondere die Veränderungen im Zugang von Infrastrukturen und des Raumbezuges von Interesse. Die Digitalisierung führt zu einer ubiquitären Verfügbarkeit von Infra- und Angebotsstrukturen, die zusammen mit der verbreiteten Nutzung mobiler Endgeräte neue Möglichkeiten individueller Aneignung und flexiblere Nutzungsweisen öffentlich-kollektiver Mobilitätsformen erlaubt. Die Verknüpfung öffentlicher und privater, stationärer und mobiler Infrastrukturelemente geht mit einer neuen Reichweite und Verschränkung von Verantwortungs- und Kontrollbereichen einher. Die Formen aktuellen Raumerlebens und -bezuges sowie der Begriff von Mobilität verändern sich. Eine Herausforderung der soziawissenschaftlichen Mobilitätsforschung liegt in der weiteren Analyse der Zusammenhänge sozialer Praktiken von Mobilität und Mobilkommunikation." (Autorenreferat)"In today's world, digital information and communication technologies permeate space in the form of wireless networks. Independent of time and place, mobile media such as laptops and cell phones enable us to access virtually available information. In this article, the mobile ticketing service 'Ring&Ride' is used to illustrate how innovation as an assemblage, in the sense of Latour, can be implemented through new ways of linking existing technologies, infrastructures and their usage. The implications and characteristics of digital mobile media networks are analyzed on the basis of infrastructure and mediatheory approaches. Digitisation and mobilisation present multiple hybridization effects. In mobility research, the changes in the accessibility of infrastructures are of special interest. Digitalization leads to an increasingly ubiquitous availability of infra- and supply structures. Together with the widespread use of mobile devices, this provides new possibilities for individual acquisition and flexibility in the use of public transport. Public and private, stationary and mobile infrastructure elements are simultaneously linked with a new range and combination of areas of control and responsibility. The use of mobile media interconnects virtual and physical space and changes the way space is constructed, perceived and appropriated. A broader theoretical concept of mobility reflecting the way in which digital media have infiltrated everyday life is required. Future challenges for mobility research in the social sciences lie in a deeper analysis of the relationship between social practices of mobility and mobile communication." (author's abstract

PUBLICATION STRATEGY FOR JUNIOR RESEARCHERS: QUANTITY VS. QUALITY, THE FIRST AUTHORSHIP AND THE OPTIMAL NUMBER OF AUTHORS

A good publication record is one of the most important prerequisites of a successful academic career in IS. Despite the weight hiring and promotion committees place on it, the definition of a \u27good publication record\u27 especially for junior researchers remains unclear. Indeed, is it better to have one A-publication or three B-publications? Does being the third author on an A-publication have a bigger weight than being the first author on a B-publication? Should one strive to publish with as few co-authors as possible to demonstrate that one is capable of independent work\u27 Facing these ambiguities, young researchers are increasingly asking themselves about the choices they make with regard to their publication strategy. Equally, academic mentors have a strong interest in correctly setting incentives of their young protégés. If unaddressed, uncertainty regarding these issues is bound to interfere with the quality of the IS research and scholars\u27 job and life satisfaction. This panel proposal aims to offer a forum for discussion and clarification on these problematic issues. Specifically, the following topics will be raised: quantity vs. quality, value of the first authorship and optimal number of authors

Activation of Rac-1 and RhoA contributes to podocyte injury in chronic kidney disease

Rho-family GTPases like RhoA and Rac-1 are potent regulators of cellular signaling that control gene expression, migration and inflammation. Activation of Rho-GTPases has been linked to podocyte dysfunction, a feature of chronic kidney diseases (CKD). We investigated the effect of Rac-1 and Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibition on progressive renal failure in mice and studied the underlying mechanisms in podocytes. SV129 mice were subjected to 5/6-nephrectomy which resulted in arterial hypertension and albuminuria. Subgroups of animals were treated with the Rac-1 inhibitor EHT1846, the ROCK inhibitor SAR407899 and the ACE inhibitor Ramipril. Only Ramipril reduced hypertension. In contrast, all inhibitors markedly attenuated albumin excretion as well as glomerular and tubulo-interstitial damage. The combination of SAR407899 and Ramipril was more effective in preventing albuminuria than Ramipril alone. To study the involved mechanisms, podocytes were cultured from SV129 mice and exposed to static stretch in the Flexcell device. This activated RhoA and Rac-1 and led via TGFβ to apoptosis and a switch of the cells into a more mesenchymal phenotype, as evident from loss of WT-1 and nephrin and induction of α-SMA and fibronectin expression. Rac-1 and ROCK inhibition as well as blockade of TGFβ dramatically attenuated all these responses. This suggests that Rac-1 and RhoA are mediators of podocyte dysfunction in CKD. Inhibition of Rho-GTPases may be a novel approach for the treatment of CKD

Publication Trade-Offs for Junior Scholars in IS: Conjoint Analysis of Preferences for Quality, First Authorship, Collaboration, and Time

A publication record provides evidence of research productivity and is critical for junior scholars starting their careers in academia. Publication attributes, such as level of the publication outlet, order and number of authors, are typically used to evaluate its quality. However, time spent on a publication is a limited commodity, and researchers face significant trade-offs when deciding which publications they should concentrate on. To better understand the choices made, conjoint analysis with 241 junior IS scholars was conducted. We find that when “quality vs. number of authors” and “quality vs. time” trade-offs are considered, quality is prioritized. However, the emphasis on quality is less pronounced when “rank as an author” is at stake. Especially Ph.D. students tend to choose first authorship when dealing with “quality vs. rank as an author” trade-off. Our findings provide intriguing insights into how publication attributes weigh against each other when research collaboration decisions are made