Influence, Information Technology & Group Polarization: A Field Study of a Virtual Team

This study examines influence and IT in group polarization. Group polarization is the tendency of group members to shift their initial positions to a more extreme direction following discussion. We hypothesize that informational influence is relatively more important than normative influence in causing group members to shift their positions and that IT can be used to enhance the effects of informational influence. Our investigation of group processes, influence and IT use by a virtual team responsible for forecasting ozone levels reveals several important findings. First, we find the heterogeneity of pre-discussion individual decisions and greater task uncertainty increase group polarization through a greater relative use of informational influence. Second, surprisingly, we find that the relative use of informational influence and the use of IT for persuasion are substitutive not complementary in their effects on group polarization. These findings have significant theoretical and practical implications for decision making in virtual teams

How and When Review Length and Emotional Intensity Influence Review Helpfulness: Empirical Evidence from Epinions.com

Although longer reviews are generally considered more helpful, no research has investigated whether “the more the better” also applies to the expression of emotions. This paper explores the distinct effects of review length and emotional intensity. We propose that, in contrast to review length, the intensity of emotions has a negative effect on review helpfulness, and that this effect only applies to positive emotions. Additionally, drawing on elaboration likelihood model and the literature on the social functions of emotions, we predict that the respective effects of review length and emotional intensity are moderated by reviewer trustworthiness and the difficulty of reading review content. To test these hypotheses, we collected a rich data set from Epinions.com - a leading provider of consumer reviews. Our findings reveal the importance of taking the intensity of emotions into consideration when evaluating review helpfulness, and the results carry important practical implications

Special Issue in Honor of Prof. Ting-Peng Liang’s Lifetime Contribution to the Service Innovation Discipline

This special issue is dedicated to the reminiscences of TP for his significant contributions to the global IS discipline. This PAJAIS special issue solicits research submissions that are related to the Service Innovation discipline, one of TP’s key areas of research. Since service-oriented economy is evolving into experience economy, the research topics regarding how to design products, services, information systems, and mobile services to increase users’ experience value are becoming more and more important. From a service logic perspective, innovative service design focus on how they change customer thinking, participation, and capabilities to co-create value rather than new features in order to enhance user experience. Hence, this special issue focuses on issues related to service innovation, service quality & user experience (UX)

Knowledge Creation and Organizational Performation: An Organizational Agility Perspective

This paper is an extended summary of a research that examines the role of organizational agility as a mediator between knowledge creation processes and organizational performance. The moderating role of two knowledge characteristics, tacitness and institutionalization, in the mediation processes are also analyzed. Our results indicate that organizational agility significantly mediated the effect of knowledge creation on organizational creativity, which, in turn, affects organizational performance

SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE (SAAS) INNOVATION IN THE CONTEXT OF SOFTWARE INDUSTRY: A RESOURCE ORCHESTRATION PERSPECTIVE

Cloud computing brings a paradigm shift in the software industry and changes the business model of software vendors (SV). Software as a service (SaaS), the most popular form of cloud computing, has been recognized as the fundamental change in the delivery, utilization, and management of software. While the transformation to SaaS requires changes within the organization, SVs must actively take action to attract customers to accept the SaaS business model, the so-called pull strategy. Drawing on the resource orchestration view, we propose that the antecedents (i.e., structuring cloud resources, developing service bundling capability, and leveraging cloud ecosystem) are related to the likelihood of an innovative SaaS, which, in turn, is associated with SaaS attractiveness to users. Our proposed research framework provides a guideline for SV to attract and persuade customers to adopt SaaS solutions actively

Self-assembled biomimetic antireflection coatings

The authors report a simple self-assembly technique for fabricating antireflection coatings that mimic antireflective moth eyes. Wafer-scale, nonclose-packed colloidal crystals with remarkable large hexagonal domains are created by a spin-coating technology. The resulting polymer-embedded colloidal crystals exhibit highly ordered surface modulation and can be used directly as templates to cast poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) molds. Moth-eye antireflection coatings with adjustable reflectivity can then be molded against the PDMS master. The specular reflection of replicated nipple arrays matches the theoretical prediction using a thin-film multilayer model. These biomimetic films may find important technological application in optical coatings and solar cells

Knowledge Creation and Firm Performance: Mediating Processes from an Organizational Agility Perspective

Knowledge creation has emerged as a critical area in information systems research in the past decade (Nonaka 1994). However, the mechanism through which knowledge creation enhances firm performance remains unclear. This paper examines the role of organization agility as a mediator between knowledge creation processes and firm performance. Our survey study of 134 firms indicates that two forms of organizational agility – customer agility and operational agility, significantly and fully mediate the effect of knowledge creation on firm performance. Our findings extend prior research by providing insights into the role of organizational agility in facilitating the effect of knowledge creation processes on firm performance. Implications for researchers and managers are discussed

Changing Perceptions of Companies’ Website From Foreign to Local: An Experimental Study of Website Localization Strategies

Website localization is important for companies to do business in the international market. This paper-in-progress explores website localization strategies and their effects. Drawing from social identity paradigm, we develop two website localization strategies: Similarity strategy (leveraging similarities with local people to positively influence consumer attitude towards foreign companies’ websites in website design) and Prosocial strategy (bringing benefits to local people to enhance consumer attitude towards foreign companies’ websites in website design). We also propose hypotheses about how these two strategies affect perceived website localization, trust and purchase intention through perceived similarity and perceived support. An experimental study will be conducted to validate the hypotheses in Mainland, China

Templated biomimetic multifunctional coatings

We report a bioinspired templating technique for fabricating multifunctional optical coatings that mimic both unique functionalities of antireflective moth eyes and superhydrophobic cicada wings. Subwavelength-structured fluoropolymer nipple arrays are created by a soft-lithography-like process. The utilization of fluoropolymers simultaneously enhances the antireflective performance and the hydrophobicity of the replicated films. The specular reflectivity matches the optical simulation using a thin-film multilayer model. The dependence of the size and the crystalline ordering of the replicated nipples on the resulting antireflective properties have also been investigated by experiment and modeling. These biomimetic materials may find important technological application in self-cleaning antireflection coatings