A Socio-technical Approach to CASE and the Software Development Process

An increasing number of organizations are adopting computer aided software engineering (CASE) technology to support their system development process. Proponents of CASE predict that its use will improve development productivity, reduce backlog, and improve software quality (Forte and Norman, 1992). At the same time, there is evidence to indicate that CASE technology may not meet these expectations (Orlikowski, 1992). One of the reasons identified has been the substantial changes required to the development process for implementing CASE (Fichman and Kemerer, 1993). The paper adopts a socio-technical-system based framework for examining CASE in the context of software development process. Analysis of the socio-technical context of CASE adoption and the software development process could suggest implications of different change management strategies and extend our understanding of existing research result

Securing Serverless Computing

Serverless applications are based on a microservices-oriented system design, often consisting of several services, each with distinct functions that are composed and orchestrated to deliver specific functionality. The architecture allows firms to build and deploy software applications without consideration towards provisioning or maintaining the underlying infrastructure. The novelty of the architecture and its inherent characteristics present new challenges for cybersecurity. We discuss the security imperatives of this emerging cloud computing software paradigm. We then identify some of the approaches and practices that can be used by organizations to mitigate security threats in the context of serverless computing

Who are our students? A profile of IS majors

The decline in IS enrollments since 2002 have been a cause of serious concern for IS departments. Many programs have closed IS departments, reduced in size or merged with other departments. IS faculty and associations have taken numerous steps to stem the tide of declining enrollments such as redesigning the IS curricula, forming partnerships with alumni and IS professionals, improved marketing and information dissemination to alleviate myths and stereotypes as well as apprise students of the global opportunities available in IS. An understanding of the IS student will help us better target programs and approaches to reduce the enrollment decline. This study seeks to answer this question about the academic standing, demographic profile and satisfaction levels of the IS student by analyzing the 277,238 exit surveys of which 13,910 are from IS majors from 344 US business schools for the period 1999 – 2007

A Mediated Impacts Model of Demand Volatility on Inventory Flow Integration in Supply Chains

We develop a theoretical model about how organizations cope with the bullwhip effect created by consumer demand uncertainty through product modularity and information sharing across the supply chain. Unpredictability of consumer demand is likely to accentuate inventory flows in the supply chain. Information sharing and product modularity can be used by organizations to mediate the impact of uncertain product demand on inventory flow integration. An organization’s success in coping with the bullwhip effect is reflected in the degree to which inventory flows are integrated across the supply chain. Our results suggest that (1) information sharing is essential for achieving integration of inventory flows irrespective of the demand environment, and (2) the strategy of modular product design can help organizations enhance inventory flows under conditions of consumer demand uncertainty

IT Alternatives to Social Control in Organizations

This paper extends theories of control as an organization design tool and empirically explores the efficacy of delegation technologies in providing the equivalent of social (clan) control for effort-averse agents engaged in low programmable, low outcome measurement task environments

Adopting New Software: Drivers of Voluntary Adoption in the same Product Category

Information systems use research has investigated post-adoption issues as a means for identifying the factors that are relevant for long term IS success. Our objective in this study is to investigate voluntary adoption decisions of new software in an organizational setting. We study how attributes of prior use, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness affect knowledge transferability and adoption intention of new software in the same primary base domain. Out study was based in the context of changeover of a course management system at a small Southern University. Data was collected from 81 faculty members about their intention to adopt the new CMS. Results indicate that in the context of voluntary adoption of new software in the same primary base domain, habit and knowledge transferability are positively associated with adoption intention while frequency of feature use is negatively associated

Firm Performance Impacts of Digitally Enabled Supply Chain Integration Capabilities

Best practice exemplars suggest that digital platforms play a critical role in managing supply chain activities and partnerships that generate performance gains for firms. However, there is limited academic investigation on how and why information technology can create performance gains for firms in a supply chain management (SCM) context. Grant’s (1996) theoretical notion of higher-order capabilities and a hierarchy of capabilities has been used in recent information systems research by Barua et al. (2004), Sambamurthy et al. (2003), and Mithas et al. (2004) to reframe the conversation from the direct performance impacts of IT resources and investments to how and why IT shapes higher-order process capabilities that create performance gains for firms. We draw on the emerging IT-enabled organizational capabilities perspective to suggest that firms that develop IT infrastructure integration for SCM and leverage it to create a higher-order supply chain integration capability generate significant and sustainable performance gains. A research model is developed to investigate the hierarchy of IT-related capabilities and their impact on firm performance. Data were collected from 110 supply chain and logistics managers in manufacturing and retail organizations. Our results suggest that integrated IT infrastructures enable firms to develop the higher-order capability of supply chain process integration. This capability enables firms to unbundle information flows from physical flows, and to share information with their supply chain partners to create information-based approaches for superior demand planning, for the staging and movement of physical products, and for streamlining voluminous and complex financial work processes. Furthermore, IT-enabled supply chain integration capability results in significant and sustained firm performance gains, especially in operational excellence and revenue growth. Managerial initiatives should be directed at developing an integrated IT infrastructure and leveraging it to create process capabilities for the integration of resource flows between a firm and its supply chain partners