A pragmatic multi-method investigation of discrepant technological events: Coping, attributions, and ‘accidental’ learning

This is the auhtor accepted manuscriptDiscrepant technological events or situations that entail a problem, a misunderstanding or a difficulty with the Information Technology (IT) being employed, are common in the workplace, and can lead to frustration and avoidance behaviors. Little is known, however, about how individuals cope with these events. This paper examines these events by using a multi-method pragmatic approach informed by coping theory. The results of two studies – a critical incident study and an experiment – serve to build and test, respectively, a theoretical model that posits that individuals use a variety of strategies when dealing with these events: they experience negative emotions, make external attributions, and adopt engagement coping strategies directed at solving the event, eventually switching to a disengagement coping strategy when they feel they have no control over the situation. Furthermore, users’ efforts may result in ‘accidental’ learning as they try to overcome the discrepant IT events through engagement coping. The paper ends with a discussion of the results in light of existing literature, future opportunities for research, and implications for practice.Fonds Québécois pour la Recherche sur la Société et la Cultur

Employees\u27 cognitive load and performance during multitasking use of Information Technology

Multitasking-based use of Information Technology, a term that we label MUIT, to accomplish work-related tasks has become a common behavior for employees in organizations. Despite this reality, most research to date has focused on studying either the use of one IT at a time or multi-tasking behaviors in experimental laboratory settings. As a result, this study aims to fill these gaps. Building upon cognitive load theory and multiple resource theory, this paper theorizes that MUIT positively influences cognitive load, which in turn, has a curvilinear (concave, in-verted U) relation with performance. In order to test our hypotheses, we employed the Experi-ence Sampling Method (ESM), a special form of diary study, to gather data on employees at multiple occasions for two weeks. The collected data are hierarchical (multiple observations within individuals), and thus, we employed multi-level regression to test the hypotheses. Results show, as hypothesized, a positive relation between MUIT and cognitive load, and an inverted U relation between cognitive load and performance. Therefore, this study demonstrates that in work settings although MUIT increases cognitive load, cognitive load is not always detrimental: some cognitive load has positive effects on performance until it reaches a tipping point where performance starts to suffer

Cabacas Liceranzu sendia eta semearen ustekabeko heriotza. Amaitu gabeko oroimen historia bat.

Iñigo Cabacas Lizeranzu gaztearen ustekabeko heriotz traumatikoa aintzat harturik, haren sendiaren oroimenaren historia bat idatzi dut. Hartara, lanaren lehen atala memoria eta historia (norbera zein den, ze ezaugarri eta xede dituen,...) arteko hartu-emanari eskaini ostean, aipatu kasu azterketari heldu diot. Bigarren zatian, beraz, gurasoen oroimenaren historia osatzen ahalegindu naiz, beti ere Euskal Erkidegoko administrazioaren jokabidearekin uztartuta. Gurasoen oroitzapenaren bilakaera dugu aztergai, beraz, lanaren atal honetan. Hau da, denbora- une ezberdinei so egin diegu, eta ondoren, memoriaren historia osatzen joan eta oroimenaren ezaugarriak (iraganeko gertaera epaitzen ote duen, aldatzen ote den...) betetzen ote diren aztert

Improving SMEs' Service Innovation Performance in the Face of Uncertainty Through IT Ambidexterity: A Configurational Approach

Taking a configurational approach, this paper investigates the causal configurations of IT ambidexterity, dynamic capabilities, and environmental uncertainty that are associated to service innovation performance in SMEs. Results from a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of 63 industrial service SMEs show that these firms attain service innovation performance when they dispose of an IT capability for exploration, accompanied by an IT capability for exploitation in one configuration, whereas the IT capability for exploitation is absent in other configurations. These results also support the implications of the configurational approach: different configurations of the three elements equally lead to service innovation performance, the same element can both enable or inhibit service innovation performance, configurations leading to the outcome are different than those leading to its absence, and configurations might show different permutations of peripheral conditions. Such results are discussed in light of the current literature and implications for research and practice are explained

A Complex Adaptive Systems View of Digital Ecodynamics for Business Performance among Manufacturing SMEs

Taking a complex adaptive systems approach, this paper investigates the different configurations of digital ecodynamics – IT capabilities, dynamic capabilities, and environmental conditions – associated to high levels of business performance in manufacturing SMEs. Results from a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of 126 manufacturing SMEs show that, as expected from our theoretical development, these firms attain high business performance when they dispose of at least one IT capability and one dynamic capability. More specifically, IT capabilities for innovation and flexibility along with dynamic capabilities for coordination and integration are necessary for high business performance since they appear in all high-performing configurations. Our study contributes to information systems research by taking a holistic approach to the IT capability-performance link in the specific context of SMEs

IT Ambidexterity Configurations for Competitive Performance: An Exploratory Study of the Digital Ecodynamics of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

This paper examines the digital ecodynamics of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a configurational approach to explain the competitive performance –innovation and internationalization performance – of these firms. Digital ecodynamics refer to the interplay between the triad of infor-mation technology (IT) ambidexterity, dynamic capabilities, and environmental uncertainty. A config-urational approach involves a systems perspective of IT ‘fit’ in which variables are viewed in combi-nation, forming configurations that generate the outcome of interest. The idea is to capture configura-tions of digital ecodynamics that account for the nonlinear complex interplay of its three constitutive elements as they jointly affect competitive performance. In doing so, we further distinguish between IT capabilities for exploitation that are oriented on the firm’s productivity, and IT capabilities for explo-ration that are oriented on innovation. This paper theoretically combines configurational theory with the resource-based view, fit, and ambidexterity. A survey of 140 SMEs serves to test the proposed hy-potheses. Three configurations characterize SMEs’ digital ecodynamics and have consequences for performance. Configurations I and III positively influence innovation performance whereas Configu-ration I positively influences internationalization performance, demonstrating the equifinal properties of configurational theory. Furthermore, configurations that give priority to exploration goals through their IT capabilities show better competitive performance

TANGIBLE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS AND ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY: AN INVESTIGATION OF MANUFACTURING SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

This paper investigates the role of tangible IT infrastructure assets –the portfolio of specific applications to which a firm endows itself – in enabling organizational agility and business performance in the context of SMEs. Building upon past literature, we regroup tangible IT infrastructure assets into three categories: IT for flexibility, IT for innovation, and IT for integration. Each category includes a series of specific technologies (i.e., CNC, CAD and ERP). We theorize that tangible IT infrastructure assets positively influence organizational agility and business performance. We employ a survey methodology to test the proposed hypotheses. One hundred and twenty-six manufacturing SMEs completed the survey. The results support the hypothesized relations. This research complements previous research that has studied intangible abstract constructs as antecedents of organizational agility, it confirms the results of past research examining the agility-business performance link, and it addresses the scarcity of strategic IS research in SMEs

Improving SMEs\u27 Service Innovation Performance in the Face of Uncertainty Through IT Ambidexterity: A Configurational Approach

Taking a configurational approach, this paper investigates the causal configurations of IT ambidexterity, dynamic capabilities, and environmental uncertainty that are associated to service innovation performance in SMEs. Results from a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of 63 industrial service SMEs show that these firms attain service innovation performance when they dispose of an IT capability for exploration, accompanied by an IT capability for exploitation in one configuration, whereas the IT capability for exploitation is absent in other configurations. These results also support the implications of the configurational approach: different configurations of the three elements equally lead to service innovation performance, the same element can both enable or inhibit service innovation performance, configurations leading to the outcome are different than those leading to its absence, and configurations might show different permutations of peripheral conditions. Such results are discussed in light of the current literature and implications for research and practice are explained

Creating Rich and Representative Personas by Discovering Affordances

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE via the DOI in this recordIEEE During the last decade, information system designers have used the persona technique to put user needs and preferences at the center of all development decisions. Persona development teams draw on qualitative data, quantitative data or a combination of both to develop personas that are representative of the target users. Despite the benefits of both approaches, qualitative methods are limited by the cognitive capabilities of the experts, whereas quantitative methods lack contextual richness. To gain the advantages of both approaches, this article suggests a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach to create user personas based on the patterns of the affordances they actualize rather than merely the actions they take. It enriches personas by referring to the purposes fulfilled through affordance actualizations, and it grounds personas in readily available objective log data. This study illustrates the practical value of the proposed methodology by empirically creating personas based on real user data. Furthermore, it demonstrates its value by having practitioners compare the suggested method to that of qualitative-only and quantitative-only methods.Concordia Universit

Impact of peritoneal surgery with intracavitary chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

RESUMEN : La carcinomatosis peritoneal (CP) es la diseminación localizada a nivel de la serosa peritoneal y estructuras adyacentes intra-abdominales, de las neoplasias malignas. La mayoría de los pacientes con CP tienen un pésimo pronóstico y habitualmente limitadas opciones terapéuticas. El reconocimiento de la CP como enfermedad tumoral loco-regional y la identificación de sus mecanismos fisiopatológicos y del comportamiento de la extensión tumoral, han modificado durante los últimos años su enfoque terapéutico. La cirugía citorreductora (CRS) asociada al empleo de quimioterapia intraperitoneal hipertérmica (HIPEC) es para algunos de estos enfermos el tratamiento de referencia, ya que mediante este procedimiento se han alcanzado mejores resultados de supervivencia en comparación con los obtenidos con la quimioterapia sistémica utilizada hasta la fecha. La evidencia acumulada en los últimos años sugiere que este tratamiento puede incluso ser curativo en determinados pacientes, siendo capaz de disminuir el riesgo de recurrencia. Sin embargo, es necesario tener presente el hecho de que esta alternativa, es sin duda un tratamiento complejo, asociado con una tasa de morbi-mortalidad no despreciable, y cuyos resultados de eficacia son aún a día de hoy controvertidos.ABSTRACT : Peritoneal Carcinomatosis (PC) is the spread, located at the level of the peritoneal serosa and adjacent intra-abdominal structures, of malignant neoplasms. Most patients with PC have an anticipated prognosis and usually limited therapeutic options. The recognition of PC as a loco-regional tumor disease and the identification of its pathophysiological mechanisms and the behavior of tumor extension have changed its therapeutic approach in recent years. Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) associated with the use of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is the treatment of reference for some of these patients, since this procedure has obtained better survival results in comparison with patients treated with systemic chemotherapy. The evidence accumulated in recent years suggests that this treatment may be curative in certain patients, being able to decrease the risk of recurrence. However, it is necessary to bear in mind the fact that this alternative is undoubtedly a complex treatment, associated with a non-negligible morbidity and mortality rate, and whose efficacy results are still controversial today.Grado en Medicin