Opportunity Creation in Innovation Networks: Interactive Revealing Practices

Innovating in networks with partners that have diverse knowledge is challenging. The challenges stem from the fact that the commonly used knowledge protection mechanisms often are neither available nor suitable in early stage exploratory collaborations. This article focuses on how company participants in heterogeneous industry networks share private knowledge while protecting firm-specific appropriation. We go beyond the prevailing strategic choice perspectives to discuss interactive revealing practices that sustain joint opportunity creation in the fragile phase of early network formation.Center for Business, Technology and La

An Investigation of the Tables Versus Graphs Controversy in a Learning Environment

The study of computer graphics as decision aids has become popular among MIS researchers in the last several years. However, this area of research, like many others in management information systems, has been plagued with methodological problems and contradictory findings. In light of these difficulties, the current study examined the tables versus graphs controversy within a learning environment. Seventy-five MBA students were exposed to one of three experimental treatments and asked to develop financial forecasts for fictitious companies over five experimental trials. Following their forecasts for each firm, participants were provided with feedback on the quality of their decisions. The information presentation treatments were as follows:(l) traditional spreadsheet (tabular), (2) graphs using standard scaling, and (3) graphs using nonstandard scaling. Results suggest that, although graphics may initially demonstrate no advantage over tables, they do show an advantage i f decision makers are repeatedly exposed to the novel format and given feedback on their performance. L. arning will occur even when improper scaling is used. The implication is that the effectiveness of graphics as decision aids depends on practice. Researchers are encouraged to employ repeated measures, or longitudinal, designs when examining the tables-versus-graphs controversy

Esports, Digital Professionals, and Higher Education: An Autoethnography of an Administrator’s Experience with Liminality

Professional identity is a means for continued livelihood and, in this digitizing world, is in constant flux. Constantly changing occupational roles and professional classes are liminal, that is, they are increasingly “betwixt and between” formerly legitimized, stable categories. If, as current writings on the future of work suggest, a need for liminality in work identities persists, how will institutions of higher education help their students acquire “permanent” liminality? Through the eyes of an administrator at a mid-sized higher education institution, we examine how a university creates a new learning environment under the umbrella of esports. The findings raise questions about digital transitions in higher education and about liminality and the future of work by highlighting esports as a liminal category. The study contributes to the literature on the future of work by offering insights into higher education challenges to “institutionalize” liminality and to prepare future digital professionals

JAIS Theory Building Master Class: Revising Papers Based on Reviewer Feedback and Discussion

The purpose of the workshop is to allow successful authors of theory building efforts to report their main findings on ongoing work and share the journeys they have taken in the craft of theory building within the IS field. In some cases, authors travel the journey alone, in others, they do so with the company of others, but they always do it with the company and help of the editors and reviewers. At ICIS and in other conferences, editors of top journals are often asked to sit on panels to address the issue of how to get papers published. Little do we learn from authors who have successfully navigated or are navigating through the review process, or about intellectual processes that unfold during review cycles. To that end, what we would like to accomplish with the workshop, which is organized like a Master class in playing musical instruments is to focus the discussion on what the workshop audience/participants can learn from authors as they struggle to push forward their thinking, to learn from senior editors and editorial board members of JAIS, who will comment on the presented work and all the others as recipients of a dialogue with putting forward ideas and getting editorial feedback. The AMCIS JAIS “master class” will include 4-5 presentations of research papers in progress (under review for JAIS special issue on theory development). These papers have already been reviewed and discussed in Washington DC at ICIS 2004, and they have also survived one round of reviews during spring 2005 for the special issue. The authors will be presenting revised papers based on the review feedback they received in May 2005. The presentations will outline the main content of the paper and address in detail how authors have addressed the main issues raised during the review. Then Senior editors will comment on the papers and also on the way in which the review comments have been addressed. The workshop will also include a panel at the end which will discuss main issues and challenges in dealing with reviews and addressing reviewers concerns. Articles that will be presented in the JAIS theory building Masterclass “Information System Flexibility and the Performance of Business Processes” Authors: Judith Gebauer and Fei Lee “Managing Flexibility in Business Process Outsourcing” Authors: Chengxun Tan and Siew Kien Sia “IS security design theory framework and six approaches to the application of IS security policies and guidelines” Authors: Mikko Siponen “Effective work practices for FLOSS development: A Model and Propositions” Authors: Kevin Crowston and Hala Annabi “Market Forces and Unbiased Electronic Markets: A Theoretical Framework” Authors: Nelson F. Granados, Alok Gupta, and Robert J. Kauffma

END USER LEARNING BEHAVIOR IN DATA ANALYSIS AND DATA MODELING TOOLS

The research examined naive user analysts\u27 learning of data analysis skills; namely. (1) the difficulty of learning data analysis, (2) the differential learning rates among development tools, and (3) the dimensions of the tools contributing to the learning differences. A total of fifty-six students participated in two experiments. The experiments involved repeaied trials of practice and feedback in drawing application-based data models. On average, the participants were experienced end users of computer systems in organizations. The two tools examined in the experiments were the logical data structure model (LDS), which is based on the entity-relationship concept, and the relational data model (RDM). The correctness of the models improved over the trials in both LDS and RDM groups with LDS users performing better than RDM users, particularly in terms of representing relationships. LDS users were found to be more top-down motivated in their method of analysis than RDM users. The study suggests that among end users, the LDS formalism is more easily learned than the RDM formalism. The results also imply that end-user training should stress conceptual top*wn analysis, not bottom-up output directed analysis

Understanding the Influence of Temporal Focus on Users’ Self-Disclosure on Social Networking Sites

Self disclosure decision making on social networking sites (SNSs) can be considered an intertemporal choice between gaining benefits at the present and experiencing privacy harm in the future. Prior research shows that people tend to overemphasize the immediate benefits while discounting the delayed risks, but it remains unclear how and why different SNS users may subjectively discount the long term risks against the short-term benefits. This paper considers heterogeneity in users’ self disclosure decisions by focusing on the effects of temporal focus (i.e., the degree to which people think about the past, present, and future) on users’ self disclosure willingness. Using online experiments, this study tests the effectiveness of different interventions that manipulate people’s temporal focus in influencing SNS self disclosure willingness. The findings of this study provide practical implications for the design of SNS platforms and development of data policies

HOW DO ENTREPRENEURIAL FIRMS APPROPRIATE VALUE IN BIO DATA INFRASTRUCTURES: AN EXPLORATORY QUALITATIVE STUDY

Recent technological advances such as in genome sequencing have exploded bio data infra-structures including those that comprise of generic - anonymized or pseudonymized - data. As open data, the bio data infrastructures do not constrain the final application context for their data. Rather it is up to complementors, taking the role of digital entrepreneurs, to appropriate value from this data through their revenue streams while at the same time scaling their opera-tions and ventures. We undertake a qualitative explorative study of bio data ventures examining the tension of applying open generic genome data to specific contexts for customers while being able to scale their businesses. The study uses primary data from 26 interviews and secondary data to reveal six strategies that complementors use for value appropriation. We derive three mechanisms of appropriating value at different stages of the value chain for bio data analysis on open data infrastructures: data contextualizing, data decontextualizing, and data recontex-tualizing. The study sheds light to how bio data – which has received limited attention in infor-mation systems research – can be an important source of value appropriation in digital ecosys-tems

Methodological Issues in Experimental IS Research: Experiences and Recommendations

Within the last ten years, the use of experimental methodology in information systems research has substantially increased. However, despite the popularity of experimentation, studies suffer from major methodological problems: (1) lack of underlying theory, (2) proliferation of measuring instruments, (3) inappropriate research designs, (4) diversity of experimental tasks, and (5) lack of internal validity. These problems have led to an accumulation of conflicting results in several areas of IS research, in particular, research in the area of graphics and information presentation. This paper uses the area of information presentation format to explore the nature of the methodological problems mentioned above and to suggest potential remedies: 1. Due to the lackoftheoretical basis, informationpresentationresearchers do nothave any common ground for conducting and interpreting their results. This has resulted in oneshot, ad-hoc studies that do not build on the work of others. No state of relatedness among studies has emerged. Only through progrums of research can we hope for an underlying theory to emerge. 2. The proliferation of measuring instruments, many of which may have problems with reliability and validity, has plagued IS research. Again, only through a program of research can we hope to construct a set ofmeasuring instruments applicable and easily adaptable to a large number of studies 3. With regard to research design, simplistic and nonpragmatic studies as well as poorly controlled experiments have impeded the progress of IS research. Suggested remedies include the adoption of multivariate designs, use of decision maker productivity as a dependent vatiable, and more effective experimental control through measurement of factors that are 1mown from previous research to influence decision performance. 4. The presence of a multitude of task environments has also posed problems. The employment of diverse tasks makes comparisons of results across studies inappropriate. A taxomony of tasks must be developed before we can meaningfully integrate research findings. 5. Many studies have suffered from internal validity problems. A remedy for this requires more effective precautions to ensure that the findings of a study are due to the factors researched rather than to accidents. Tb illustrate this last problem of internal validity and the steps needed to improve the experimental studies involving mangerial graphics is described. The research study conducted at the University of Minnesota was initially set up to investigate the relationship between graphical decision aids, task complexity, and decision maker performance. First, a task, and a case that was to provide a task setting, were developed. Also, questionnaires and tests were constructed to gather information on the (1) backgroundof subjects, (2) motivation of subjects, (3) subjects\u27 satisfaction withthe graphs, (4) perceived complexity and difficulty of the problem solving task, and (5) the subjects\u27 interpretation accuracy in reading graphs After the development of the tasl and other experimental material, the experiment was pretested The results from the pilot study gave the authors every reason to believe that the task did not have any major validity problems. However, whenthe experiment was actually given to 63 graduate students, the data didnotreveal any consistent patterns due to graphical and task treatments. This, of course, concerned the authors, and, as a result, attention was directed toward improving the experimental task, research design, and measurement A second experiment was conducted to test whether the insignificant results in the first experimentwere causedbythegraphsorbymisleadingorconfusinginformationinthetask. The data from the second experiment collected on 20 experimental subjects, convinced the authorsthatthemainproblemcausingtheinsignificantresultshadnotbeenthepoorquality of the graphs, but the fact that, in general subjects were just not able to perform the task However, the authors did not know whether this poor performance was due to an overly difficult task or to misleading or confusing information within the task. Therefore, a third experiment was conducted to resolve this question. The third study used 17 managers as experimental subjects. It was assumed that if the managers couldsatisfactorilycompletethetasktheauthors couldconcludethatthe taskwas valid, but too difficult for graduate students. The analysis of the data collected from the third experiment confirmed, however, that serious problems existed with the task itself. Debriefings of the managers indicated that the case description, in combination with the presented data on marketing variables, included confusing and misleading data Obviously, thetaskwasnotprovidingthebasisforansweringtheresearchquestionontherelationshipof task, presentation format, the decision performance. Thus, a majorrevision of the task was undertaken. The revised material is currently undergoing pretesting. In summary, the authors have gone through several experiments in searching and testing for valid measurements. During this process we have learned an invaluable lesson that we hope willbe usefulto othersintheirresearch endeavors. We discoveredthatthe process of coming up with an effective taskand variable measurementis lengthy, costly, and mayhave uncertain outcomes even if considerable precautions are taken. For experimental IS researchers particularly those performing studies on the use of managerial graphics, cautions and guidelines are provided to help them address more effectively the common methodological

Integrating eBusiness, Knowledge Management and Policy Considerations Within an Information Systems Strategy Framework

Much has been written on the topic of Information Systems (IS) Strategy over the past 30 years or so since the early work of, for example, Kriebel (1968) and McFarlan (1971). We have gone through periods where various approaches to IS Strategy have had their heyday. (Galliers, 1993) These include, for example: long range planning; businessdriven (or ‘top-down’) approaches; strategic data planning; the proactive use of Information Technology (IT) for competitive advantage, and business process analysis (or BPR), to name but a few (e.g., McLean & Soden, 1977; Ein-Dor & Segev, 1978; Martin, 1982; Porter & Millar, 1985; Hammer, 1990). More recently, we have seen the emergence of e-business and knowledge management as major phenomena worthy of our attention in the strategy arena