THE FUTURE OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS AS AN ACADEMIC FIELD: YOUR FATE IN 1998

The academic study of information systems is dynamic and exciting. It tends to have very fluid boundaries. Researchers in information systems venture into problem areas associated with such diverse fields as computer science, communications, cognitive psychology, and sociology. Information systems are studied in the context of innovation, organizational change, and competitive advantage. The changing technology provides new and revisited opportunities for investigation and problem solving. Until quite recently, the information systems faculty were the custodians in schools of management of most of the technical knowledge of organizational computing. That technical knowledge is being rapidly diffused to the entire faculty. Faculty in accounting at one time fled from computers; they now embrace them. The same is true of other functional areas in schools of management. What will happen to the academic field of information systems when the computer expertise is shared by most faculty members

Application Description and Policy Model in Collaborative Environment for Sharing of Information on Epidemiological and Clinical Research Data Sets

BACKGROUND: Sharing of epidemiological and clinical data sets among researchers is poor at best, in detriment of science and community at large. The purpose of this paper is therefore to (1) describe a novel Web application designed to share information on study data sets focusing on epidemiological clinical research in a collaborative environment and (2) create a policy model placing this collaborative environment into the current scientific social context. METHODOLOGY: The Database of Databases application was developed based on feedback from epidemiologists and clinical researchers requiring a Web-based platform that would allow for sharing of information about epidemiological and clinical study data sets in a collaborative environment. This platform should ensure that researchers can modify the information. A Model-based predictions of number of publications and funding resulting from combinations of different policy implementation strategies (for metadata and data sharing) were generated using System Dynamics modeling. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The application allows researchers to easily upload information about clinical study data sets, which is searchable and modifiable by other users in a wiki environment. All modifications are filtered by the database principal investigator in order to maintain quality control. The application has been extensively tested and currently contains 130 clinical study data sets from the United States, Australia, China and Singapore. Model results indicated that any policy implementation would be better than the current strategy, that metadata sharing is better than data-sharing, and that combined policies achieve the best results in terms of publications. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our empirical observations and resulting model, the social network environment surrounding the application can assist epidemiologists and clinical researchers contribute and search for metadata in a collaborative environment, thus potentially facilitating collaboration efforts among research communities distributed around the globe

Calling spirits from the deep : competing for and through sophisticated customers

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2001.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis explores why professional services industries stratify into hierarchies and how firms change their positions in those hierarchies over time. Essay one is entitled "Reinforcing feedback between market position and firm capabilities" and asks why Merrill Lynch succeed in building a leading investment-banking practice while rival brokerage firm Paine Webber tried and failed. The two firms' experiences and previous research are used to specify a model of competition among professional services firms. Reinforcing feedback between the nature of a firm's client work and its capabilities and intendedly rational policies lead to a hierarchy of industry competitors. Analysis of the model highlights two key elements differentiating Merrill Lynch's and PaineWebber's efforts to improve: speed in developing capabilities and discipline in accepting and rejecting client work. Essay two is entitled "You are whom you serve." It explores why hierarchies develop in professional-services industries where some firms develop stronger capabilities and execute more sophisticated client work than their rivals do. The paper develops and analyzes a game-theoretic model based on competition in the investment-banking industry. One outcome of the model is an asymmetric competitive structure where firms serve different kinds of customers, charge different prices, and earn different economic returns. That outcome is analyzed over a range of cost structures and client preferences to derive implications for firm size and economic welfare. Essay three is entitled simply "Merrill Lynch and PaineWebber." Sustained differences in profitability are evident among firms within the securities industry. Two firms, Merrill Lynch and PaineWebber, are studied to identify structural and managerial reasons why one succeeded in developing the market position and firm capabilities both sought while the other failed. The paper draws on interviews with current and former employees of the two firms and other industry experts. Interview data are checked and complemented with three decades of underwriting and two decades of merger and acquisition transaction data, annual reports, and data and commentary appearing in the industry press and academic press as well as industry association publications.by Scott F. Rockart.Ph.D

The rate and potential of capability development trajectories

This paper examines differences in the rate and potential of firms’ capability development trajectories. Capability development trajectories are the paths over which firms’ capabilities change with experience and other activities. While prior research focused on factors affecting capability development rate (the fraction of the gap between a firm's current and potential capability eliminated with each unit of that activity), we argue that capability development trajectories also differ in potential (the maximum capability level a firm could achieve through a given set of activities over time). We develop and estimate a formal model of capability development, showing that larger underwriting projects lead to a lower rate of improvement toward higher potential capabilities, and derive implications for research on industry dynamics and the nature of competitive advantage

Implications of changes in information technology for corporate strategy

HD28 .M414 no.1408-, 83,