Understanding and Evaluating Relevance in IS Research

This commentary examines two questions of interest to the relevance debate in IS research: why is relevance a problematic issue in IS research, and how can IS research relevance be assessed accurately and fairly. Answers to these questions are centered around the pluralistic and dynamic nature of IS research: that IS research is influenced by multiple stakeholder groups with conflicting perspectives, and continuous changes in this domain prevented the formation of a shared consensus of what IS research should be. Since such a consensus is unlikely to emerge, given the nature of the discipline, any evaluation of IS research relevance must take into account the target audience for that research and yardsticks appropriate for the intended stakeholder groups

Beginning SAP R/3 Implementation at Geneva Pharmaceuticals

Faced with intense competition in the generics drugs industry, eroding margins, and continuous price pressures, Geneva Pharmaceuticals, the North American subsidiary of Novartis International AG, made a bold, multi-million dollar decision to reengineer all its demand and supply processes using the SAP R/3 system. This case describes Geneva\u27s journey through the first two of three phases of R/3 implementation from mid-1997 to mid-2000, and the company\u27s plans for Phase III (scheduled for completion by late-2000). It highlights initial mistakes during this journey, strategies that helped overcome those mistakes, and how R/3 delivered operational efficiencies and competitive advantage under difficult business circumstances. As the case illustrates, ERP implementation is much more than technology change, it also incorporates substantive process and people changes; and without appropriate change management strategies and experienced leadership, ERP projects are likely to fail

Consumer-Centric Reengineering at the Colorado Department of Revenue

In the summer of 1993, the Colorado Department of Revenue, in response to a directive by then Colorado Governor Roy Romer was faced with the following questions: How to transform a bureaucratic state agency into a customer- friendly\u27 organization at a time when public confidence in the government is deteriorating? How to instill a work culture within the organization that encourages proactive change and improves transparency and accountability in our operations? How to reengineer work processes and antiquated systems in the department in a way that adds value to our constituents and improves employee retention? How to accomplish these changes within the budgetary, staff, and resource constraints set by the State Legislature? This article describes three projects that addressed these issue

Explaining the Effect of Incentives and Control Mechanisms on Information Technology Usage: A Theoretical Model and an Empirical Test

Current theories of information technology (IT) usage do not include the role of managerial incentives and control mechanisms in motivating individual IT usage behavior. Drawing on agency theory in the microeconomics literature, this paper develops a principal-agent model (PAM) of intraorganizational IT usage which addresses this issue. This model is empirically validated using data collected from a laboratory experiment. PAM and TAM (technology acceptance model) variables are then combined within a TPB (theory of planned behavior) framework to propose an integrated model of IT usage. A comparison of the explanatory power of PAM, TAM, and the integrated model indicates that explanation of IT usage can be increased by adding incentives and control as additional determinants of behavioral intention, over and above the attitudinal variables in TAM

Information Technology Adaptation: A Study of Its Determinants and Effects

This paper is one of the first to examine a potentially important yet ignored area of information technology usage research, namely IT adaptation. Integrating adaptive structuration theory with findings from prior IT usage research, we propose a theoretical model of IT adaptation that elaborates the causative drivers, effects, and underlying dynamics of the adaptation process. A longitudinal study is proposed to empirically test the hypothesized model. We present results from a pretest study that validated our choice of constructs and generated initial measurement items for new constructs, and expect to complete and present instrument validation, data collection, and statistical analysis at the conference. Potential contributions of this study for IT usage research and practice are discussed

Web Accessibility: Factors Enabling the Visually Impaired to Using Websites

This paper applies and extends the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to understand website usage among visually impaired users. We propose two new constructs, web accessibility and vision impairment level, and suggest that these constructs moderate the effects of UTAUT constructs on behavioral intention and actual usage behavior of visually impaired users. We present a plan to empirically test our proposed hypotheses using a field survey of visually impaired users regarding their usage of a website that conforms to accessibility guidelines. This paper contributes to research by drawing attention to the disabled population – an underserved area of information systems research, by identifying relevant constructs that apply in this unique context, and by elucidating how these constructs influence their technology usage