Integration of Different ERP Systems: The Case of Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are very important for the external growth of companies and tend to have a very high profile in the media. The recent proposed acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft is a case in point. However, research in finance has shown that many M&A initiatives fail in terms of the expected financial outcome. The reasons for failure include cultural problems and a lack of operative integration, which can be at least partially related to problems with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems integration. Despite the high importance and profile of M&A in the finance literature, surprisingly little IS research has looked at how different ERP systems might be integrated in the case of M&A. Therefore this paper suggests a preliminary model for ERP systems integration in M&A. The model is based on the research literature related to M&A, ERP systems, and interviews with M&A professionals

Evaluating the Implementation of Indiana Area ‘Communities That Care’

‘Communities That Care’ (CTC) is a research-based operating system designed to help communities identify and reduce risk factors, enhance protective factors, and prevent a number of adolescent problem behaviors, including delinquency, violence, substance abuse, school drop-out, and teen pregnancy. Indiana, PA, is one of approximately 125 communities throughout Pennsylvania that have chosen to use the CTC approach to promote the positive development of children and youth in the local area. This paper presents an initial review of Indiana Area CTC, in terms of the planning and implementation efforts that have taken place during the past five years

VALUES-BASED DIGITAL GAMES: Designing a digital game platform to foster sustainability in early childhood

Research suggests that many digital games include violence and about half of the violent incidents have negative repercussions such as increased aggression, serious injuries or death in the real world (APA, 2015; Children Now, 2015; Gentile 2014). This influential nature (Bogost, 2006) of digital games calls for research on ways in which the digital games can be leveraged instead. This is especially relevant for the early childhood context when players are most malleable (Gentile, 2014; Tootell, Freeman, & Freeman, 2014). Most individuals develop their value systems, habits, and attitudes through play in these early years (Epper, Derryberry, and Jackson 2012). “Play”, in today’s digital age, is facilitated by technology in the form of digital games. This makes digital games a powerful means of fostering values, attitudes, and developing social and emotional learning in children (Hromek and Roffey 2009). Using design science research, this research aims to tap into the power of digital games by creating a platform for designing digital games that foster values, including sustainability principles in early childhood

Design Of Ubiquitous Information Systems For Digital Natives

This paper focuses on how we can design Ubiquitous Information Systems (UIS) for digital natives. Digital natives are those who have grown up in a digital world, where the use of information and communications technologies is pervasive and ubiquitous, and where these technologies are used in organisational and personal contexts. Digital natives, unlike digital immigrants, like new technologies and they like change. This paper suggests that the rise of the digital native has profound implications for the design of information systems, and particularly UIS. Since many of our previous theories and models assume most users to be digital immigrants (who tend to resist new technology), a new set of design principles are needed for digital natives. We propose four key dimensions of UIS design for this new audience, namely, the system, the activity, the user, and the context that the system is designed to support. We conclude with a roadmap for the design and implementation of UIS for digital natives

Retweeting my feelings? Exploring the temporal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on social media use

Social media platform (SMP) use has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. New user groups are utilising SMPs more frequently to satisfy their unmet psychological needs. However, research to date has insufficiently explored variations in SMP use due to the pandemic. As the pandemic has adversely impacted the general public’s mental health, we propose and then apply the Temporal-Needs-Affordances-Features (T-NAF) model in this context. Public engagement with two international mental health awareness campaigns on Twitter were tracked over four years. Results show that the pandemic initially coincided with a significant increase in engagement (e.g., retweets) and a significant decrease in network size (e.g., followers). This establishes that a larger proportion of individuals engaged with resharing behaviour as the pandemic commenced, reinforcing the importance of SMPs in relation to mental health and needs satisfaction. This study also highlights the importance of temporality in social media research. Future research pathways are discussed

Unravelling Collective Social Media Affordance Dynamics During Crises: An Analysis of Online Mental Health Discourse

Social media can serve as a platform for collective engagement with diverse affordances during crises. We explore how social media served this role by focusing on how online mental health discourse evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we examine shifts in collective affordance dynamics within the online mental health community using Twitter. A comprehensive dataset of mental health-related tweets from 2018 to 2022 was collected (N = 3,953,836) and analysed using Computationally Intensive Theory Discovery as a guiding methodology. A subset of 757 representative tweets were categorised into a cascading set of actor groups. Analysis uncovers that collective engagement transitioned from decentralised actor utilisation (pre-crisis) to centralised organisational utilisation (early-crisis), culminating in centralised actor utilisation (late-crisis). The study contributes theoretically to collective affordance knowledge by integrating dynamics in an online setting and practically by revealing key actors\u27 evolution in shaping online discourse across crisis phases

DIGITAL NATIVES AND DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS: TOWARDS A MODEL OF DIGITAL FLUENCY

Recently it has been suggested that \u27digital natives\u27, a generation of young people born into the digital age, are inherently technology-savvy. If this suggestion is correct, there could be profound implications for Information Systems research, which traditionally has conducted empirical research on \u27digital immigrants\u27. This paper looks at whether there are significant differences between digital natives and digital immigrants. Our findings suggest that there is a continuum rather than a rigid dichotomy between digital natives and digital immigrants. We propose that \u27digital nativity\u27 can perhaps best be conceptualized as \u27digital fluency\u27 Digital fluency is the ability to reformulate knowledge and produce information to express oneself creatively and appropriately in a digital environment. We propose a conceptual model that outlines factors that have a direct and indirect impact on digital fluency, namely demographic characteristics, organisational factors, psychological factors, social influence, opportunity, behavioural intention, and actual use of digital technologies

ER-2 High Altitude Solar Cell Calibration Flights

Evaluation of space photovoltaics using ground-based simulators requires primary standard cells which have been characterized in a space or near-space environment. Due to the high cost inherent in testing cells in space, most primary standards are tested on high altitude fixed wing aircraft or balloons. The ER-2 test platform is the latest system developed by the Glenn Research Center (GRC) for near-space photovoltaic characterization. This system offers several improvements over GRC's current Learjet platform including higher altitude, larger testing area, onboard spectrometers, and longer flight season. The ER-2 system was developed by GRC in cooperation with NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) as well as partners at the Naval Research Laboratory and Air Force Research Laboratory. The system was designed and built between June and September of 2014, with the integration and first flights taking place at AFRC's Palmdale facility in October of 2014. Three flights were made testing cells from GRC as well as commercial industry partners. Cell performance data was successfully collected on all three flights as well as solar spectra. The data was processed using a Langley extrapolation method, and performance results showed a less than half a percent variation between flights, and less than a percent variation from GRC's current Learjet test platform

The Role of Social Media and the Crowd in Building Digital Community Resilience: Boundary Spanning during Disasters

The increasing frequency of disasters poses severe challenges to communities. In this study, we propose the concept of digital community resilience, which refers to a dynamic process of using digital technologies to support community recovery from a disaster. Among various disaster stakeholders, the crowd represents a powerful force. The crowd leverages social media platforms to contribute to digital community resilience. However, the resulting crowd actions are not always seamless. Rather, they encounter ongoing boundary coordination issues with other stakeholders. We conducted a case study of China’s response to COVID-19, focusing on the crowd’s efforts and the transforming of boundaries with the government and the public. This study identifies three types of boundaries faced by the crowd – administrative, cognitive, and professional. We propose a process model of digital community resilience showing how different disaster stakeholders use social media to span boundaries after a disaster