It’s all a Matter of “Choice”. Understanding society’s expectations of older adult ICT use from a birth cohort\ud perspective

Little research exists that examines older adults and their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use or society’s expectations of their use. Using an intensive interpretive interactionism case study methodology, this paper examines how older adults ages 65-75 (from the Lucky Few birth cohort) view their own use and how other birth cohorts view the Lucky Few's ICT use

Chata Sia “I am Choctaw”. Using Images as a Methodology for Cultural and Technological Discourse

Unlike positivist quantitative designs, many qualitative researchers tend to dive right into data collection without benefit of an exploratory study or other pilot study. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to share an image-based methodology adapted from a community strategic planning process and applied to an exploratory study of one native American tribes reaction to cultural images and\ud ICT’s, and (2) to share the many benefits of a pilot study in advance of a larger qualitative research study, including opportunities for discourse around ICT’s in relation to local culture

The IT Compensation Challenge: Theorizing the Balance Among Multi-Level Internal and External Uncertainties

Attracting, motivating, and retaining Information Technology (IT) professionals has proven to be an ongoing challenge, regardless of the era in question. On average, almost two-thirds of the IT operating budget goes to staffing expenses, with managers and human resources experts struggling to balance IT compensation decisions with the uncertainties their organizations face. While there are many compensation studies that provide descriptive evidence using institutional variables, we lack a comprehensive IT compensation model that explores explanations for IT compensation decision factors from the angle of reducing IT-related uncertainties. This paper integrates concepts from traditional compensation literature, the role of non-monetary rewards, and a multi-level view of factors that influence IT compensation decisions. The use of multi-level factors is supported by traditional agency theory perspectives of compensation, and by contingency theory that looks at external and internal (organizational) contingencies. An interesting result of our analysis is that agency and contingency perspectives of risk provide insights on when fixed or variable pay plans may be more beneficial to the organization. There may be conditions when risk is logically lower, but overall IT compensation amounts will be higher. In particular, our paper proposes that IT compensation can be a viable IT governance mechanism in high-risk conditions when effective monitoring and performance measurement are less attainable, such as in outsourcing situations

On the Prospective Value of ICTs to New Service Conception

To stay competitive over time, many service providers develop new services continuously through a process comprised of three primary stages: strategic planning, in which a new service objective is articulated; new service conception (i.e., new service development’s ‘front end’); and service system design, development and testing (i.e., its ‘back end’). Of these stages, new service conception has received the least attention from new service development (NSD) and information systems (IS) researchers, particularly with respect to the computer-mediated tools that are used to support it. After reviewing the NSD literature, this paper draws from two reference domains (new product development (NPD) and computerized creativity support (CCS) studies) to demonstrate the prospective value of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to the new service conception process. The paper concludes by introducing a sensitizing model that can be used in an exploratory, foundational study of ICT use in the new service conception process

Three Perspectives on the Value of Bridgers Within IT: A Longitudinal Study of Eight Years of Job Placement of IT Graduates

Job placement data is important for understanding where graduates get jobs. We present an empirical study of eight years of undergraduate and graduate IT placement data to explore IT jobs obtained within IT functions. Niederman, Ferratt, and Trauth (2016) propose clustering IT jobs into four macro-level categories based on the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required for these jobs: IT bridgers, technical specialists, application domain specialists, and IT managers. They argue an increased need for and value placed on “bridgers” who can fill bridging jobs within IT. Bridgers within IT possess both technical and “soft skills” like communications/managerial and change/project management and work within the IT function but can liaise between IT and business units. Using a longitudinal sample of 1,980 IT graduates from one Information School, the data supports that IT bridgers are hired within IT, are hired earlier, and are largely hired in consulting, technology, and finance industry sectors. Contributions include exploring the utility of the macro-level categorization of NFT IT job categories to analyze job placement, the importance of tracking IT job placement in employer sectors, and the overall value of IT placement data for IT educators and administrators

Understanding an Organization\u27s View of the CIO: The Role of Assumptions About IT

At the 2003 Society for Information Management¡¯s (SIM) annual meeting in New York City, many of the sessions focused on what CIOs could do once they got a seat with their business peers at the executive meeting table. Heightened concerns about information security and legislative compliance have increased interest in the an-swer. Despite the importance of IT to modern organizations, many IT executives are still not at that table because they are not viewed as equal to their business peers. Even elevating IT executives to C-level management and giving them the title of Chief Information Officer (CIO) do not guarantee that they are accepted and invited to high-level business meetings. This article provides one perspective on why some organizations are more open than others to affording their CIO an effective, influential, senior executive role. Our conclusion: Dominant assumptions about IT in different areas of an enterprise can explain differences in CIO status. Five assumptions that matter are: 1. Who should control IT direction 2. How central IT is seen to business strategy 3. The value placed on IT knowledge 4. Justifications for investing in IT 5. Who are deemed winners and losers when a new IT system is installed. This article explores these assumptions, and the IT clusters they form, to help CIOs and other senior IT executive better address the different ¡°assumption environments¡± they face