The Evolution of a Conference: A Message from the Program Chairs

Since the inception of the Information Systems (IS) discipline scholars have questioned and debated what constitutes the domain of IS research. Diversity is not simply desirable it is essential for a discipline that demands understanding of both information technology and contexts of application. The pervasive use of information technology, throughout the economy and society, together with the volatility in interest and support for the discipline, have made the defining of the domain of IS more than just of academic interest. For ACIS for 2009 we seek not to look back at what the IS domain has been, but to look forward to what it is to become. We seek to examine the definition of the IS discipline not by reflecting on where the IS discipline came from, but by exhibiting research at the forefront of where the discipline is heading into the future

Electronic commerce publications and the implications for research quality output in Australia

Australian universities and academics will soon see a major change in the way research is reported and funded. It is expected that by 2008, according to the most recent timetable (Bishop 2006), the Research Quality Framework (RQF) will be implemented. The result of the announcement has been an increased activity within universities focusing on the proposed criteria. The proposed RQF will seek to have research assessed according to quality and impact. Part of both quality and impact relates to where research is published. For academics it will be increasingly important to target high quality journals if the research is to be rated as high quality. The question this raises for Information Systems academics is where do we publish for maximum impact? The Information Systems (IS) field is diverse with researchers working in many areas and a publication outlet for one area may not be relevant for another. One area where many Australian IS researchers have focused their research interest is the field of electronic commerce (e-commerce). The research reported in this paper identified the publication outlets that would be regarded as amongst the highest quality for researchers wishing to publish e-commerce research. The authors analysed e-commerce research papers by Australian researchers published in the period 2000 to 2005. The results describe where Australian researchers are publishing in this field. The paper also provides guidance to those working in the e-commerce field on which journals and conferences to target to ensure their work rates highly in terms of the RQF.<br /

Understanding the Intrinsic Motivations of User Acceptance of Hedonic Information Systems: Towards a Unified Research Model

Although user acceptance of entertainment-oriented information systems (IS), which are called Hedonic IS (HIS), has drawn considerable attention in literature, our understanding of user acceptance of HIS is still limited. This article focuses on exploring the intrinsic motivations of HIS acceptance from a unique perspective. It proposes a hybrid HIS acceptance model that considers the unique characteristics of HIS and the multiple conceptual identities of an HIS user. The model integrates intrinsic motivation factors from Hedonic theory, Flow theory, and the PAD (Pleasure, Arousal, and Dominance) emotion model with the Technology Acceptance Model. The proposed hybrid HIS acceptance model has been empirically tested by a quantitative field survey. The results indicate that emotional responses, imaginal responses, and flow experience are three main predictors of HIS acceptance

E-Commerce Research in Australia

Published research in the area of electronic commerce has increased several fold in recent years. Australian researchers have participated actively in this research field. An emphasis on quality has prompted us to review the publications in the area of electronic commerce. This paper reports on research, that used a framework developed by Scornavacca et al. (2005), to examine papers published in the leading, relevant journals and conferences over the period 2000 to 2005. Analyses of papers in the electronic commerce area, published during this period, reflects a number of trends in terms of research outlets, approaches, and methods used. The analyses presented here invite a comparative analysis by Scandinavian researchers in ecommerce. The Scandinavian research community represents an appropriate environment against which to benchmark the Australian research outputs. It is our hope that the analyses in this paper will lead to mutual learning and collaboration between researchers in both contexts

An Empirical Assessment of the Business Value Derived from Implementing Mobile Technology: A Case Study of Two Organizations

Mobile technologies are argued to offer unprecedented opportunities for organizations and individuals. In order for organizations to be persuaded that investment in mobile technologies is not only worthwhile, but also important to the achievement of corporate goals and objectives, then it is important to evaluate the potential of mobile technology so that the derivation of business value and the related risks involved in implementing mobile devices and services in an organization can be understood. This paper aims at understanding the organizational value that could be derived from investments in mobile technology. We present two in-depth case studies of mobile technology implementation in health care organizations. These studies show that deriving business value from the adoption and implementation of mobile devices does not seem at all certain, but is contingent upon clear business objectives and a willingness to make business changes to embrace the transformation to core business processes which are driven by the mobile technologies

Adoption of social media in Victorian local governments

The use of the Internet and social media tools by Australians has increased significantly over the last five years. Social media tools provide local governments with the opportunity to inform, serve and interact with their constituents on a level not previously possible. This paper uses a mixed method approach to firstly review current use of social media tools by Victorian local governments and secondly interview elected officials and administrators of four Victorian local councils about barriers to the adoption of social media tools. The results show that while 59 Victorian local governments (74%) are utilizing at least one social media tool, there are 20 councils (25%) that still do not utilize social media tools. The interviews indicate that the main barriers hindering social media implementations are: uncertainty, fear of risk, lack of knowledge and experience, lack of resources, lack of trust and, the culture of government. The main contribution of this study is a review of the current level of adoption of social media tools by Victorian local governments and identifies a number of barriers that prevent local government from fully utilizing the advantages of social media tools. Currently most Victorian local governments use social media to disseminate information.<br /

Development of a Model to Understand How Consultants Manage Conflicts during ERP Change Process: A Dialectic Perspective

ERP implementation and post-implementation initiatives involve changes and thus are regarded as ERP change processes. Conflicts due to various stakeholders’ engagement regularly arise in such a change process. Consultants can help mediate many of these conflicts, but their contribution in managing conflicts is not adequately understood. The aim of this research-in-progress paper is thus to develop a theory-driven model to understand how ERP consultants manage conflicts during ERP change process. The dialectic perspective is used as appropriate theoretical lens which could potentially provide valuable and rich insights into understanding the broader ERP change process phenomenon

The impact of Business Analytics on organisations: An Information Processing Theory perspective

Over the last few years, the number of organisations adopting business analytics (BA) has grown rapidly. Organisations adopt BA to gain better insights on their processes and structures that help them to make more informed business decisions. There are several studies that investigate how BA systems can improve decision-making, create competitive advantage and provide value. Mostly, the focus of these studies have been on the technical aspects of BA and its implementation in areas such as supply chain management, marketing, and finance. However, there is a lack of significant body of literature reporting on the impact of BA adoption on organisations. This study aims to develop a richer understanding of BA capabilities and organisational impact. Information processing theory (IPT) as a theoretical lens is used to investigate this phenomenon. This study will utilise an in-depth case study to provide rich explanations on the impact of BA adoption on organisations

Benchmarking Indonesian Local E-Government

This paper describes the status of local e-government in Indonesia using the United Nations e-government benchmarking model. Using data from the Indonesia Ministry of Internal Affairs, we examined 353 local government websites from early March to the end of May 2011. The results show that the majority of local government websites (193) are still at the emergence stage, 98 are at the enhanced stage, 61 are at the interactive stage, and only one local government website has achieved the transaction stage. None of the local e-government websites have moved to the final stage of e-government according to the UN model. Our findings also show that some local government websites are not well managed and maintained and that local government websites do not comply with central government standardization requirements outlined in the e-government blue print

Facebook - The Final Frontier For TV Fandom: A Lurker’s Perspective

The technology of Web 2.0 and especially social media has opened new avenues for creating communities online. Marketing to such communities can lead to better communication between consumers and those producing the product. By engaging communities online those who market film and television shows can use this new avenue to better communicate with their fans and build better communities. Through the study of three online fan pages on Facebook this paper observed how television and film companies are using this environment to market to their audience as well as what is working well and where improvement can be made