Knowledge Transfer Challenges for Universities and SMEs in the USA

Accompanying the global redistribution of commodity production to low wage countries, comes the need for companies to enhance innovation in order to remain competitive. Therefore, in order to better understand the barriers to leveraging research universities for revitalizing legacy industrial regions, field interviews were conducted with researchers at a Midwestern public university and its industry partners. The goal was to identify and better understand knowledge exchange barriers and facilitators. The constructs from Social Exchange Theory (reciprocity, cohesion, balance and power) guided the investigation of issues surrounding workplace collaboration and knowledge sharing across these organizations. The results of this investigation show that an important factor for productive exchange relationships is both maintenance and the awareness of mutual and balanced dependency (i.e. cohesion) between exchange partners. This can be facilitated by maintaining open communication channels that reinforce a perception of reciprocity and minimize perceptions of power and dominance among exchange partners

IDENTITY AND CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT IN GLOBALLY DISTRIBUTED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WORK

An interpretive case study was conducted to examine how team members construct their identities and manage cultural differences in globally distributed information technology work. Research investigating globally distributed information technology work acknowledges the influence of culture on team members and their work activities, but issues of team members’ individual identity and agency are under explored. Guided by social identity theory, our research findings suggest four identity categories constructed by global virtual team members, which are affected by societal culture, organizational culture, individual experience, and structure of the globally distributed IT work. They are: national identity, organizational identity, individual identity, and power identity. Manifestation of each identity is discussed along with how the enactment of these identities affects the ways in which global virtual team members manage cultural differences

Revisiting Career Path Assumptions: The Case of Woment in the IT Workforce

Many researchers have argued that additional systematic analysis of the information technology (IT) workforce is necessary in order to more deeply understand organizational human behavior as it relates to career anchors or values and motivations that attract an individual to a particular career. For these reasons the purpose of this paper is to examine the career anchors of women in the American IT workforce and their relationships to occupational decisions. The data for this examination comes from interpretive interviews conducted with 92 women and a quantitative survey conducted with an additional 210 women. The results of our analyses give cause for challenging some longstanding assumptions about career anchors that exist in the literature. This research also makes a theoretical contribution through its extension of an emergent theory about within-gender variation to the context of career anchor variations among women in the IT field

Meeting the IT Skills Crisis: An Interdisciplinary Response

The pervasiveness of computers in modern life has created a need for greater diversity in the knowledge and skills of information/technology professionals. We, as well as others, have identified an IT education gap between the technical focus of computer science degrees and the business focus of MIS concentrations. We describe a new interdisciplinary curriculum (a Bachelor of Science in Information Science) that Northeastern University has developed to fill the IT education gap. The new degree draws from computer science, business, and behavioral science, offering a balance between the technical, functional, and human dimensions of information/system analysis and design not found in other undergraduate programs. It encompasses three broad content areas: computer technology, information systems and human/organizational context. In addition, students acquire the analytical models and tools needed to approach the content areas from a conceptual perspective. An experiential learning requirement enables students to apply their classroom knowledge and skills in relevant productive work. In the future, academics and practitioners need to work together to better articulate new career paths for information/technology professionals and the appropriate educational programs to serve their needs

The Underrepresentation of Black Males in IT Higher Education: a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Individual Differences

Among the many research challenges in studying underrepresented groups in IT is understanding the appropriate theories to apply and much needed analysis at the individual level. This paper presents findings of two studies, which coupled with the application of the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT, led to a conceptual framework being developed to delve deeper into the understanding of Black males in IT higher education. The use of the conceptual framework will lead to a better understanding of the factors impacting underrepresented groups participation in IT

Narrowing the Innovation Gap: Factors Influencing Outcomes of Industry-University Collaborations

Universities have played a continued role in facilitating and enhancing the innovative potential of U.S. companies. Key tothese relationships is the transfer of knowledge both from university to industry as well as from industry to university. But,few researchers have explored how different relationships necessitate specific cultural orientations, absorptive capacityabilities, and management tasks. As industry and universities engage in relationships designed to accelerate innovation it iscritical to understand the factors that impact the outcomes of these relationships. Based on literature related to openinnovation and industry-university relationships, an integrative explanatory theoretical framework is proposed for identifyingkey factors shown to play a role in the success of industry-university relationships. Applying data from a study of knowledgeexchange between university and industry partners, the applicability of the framework in identifying key factors related tosuccessful outcomes is illustrated

Inclusive Design in IS: Why Diversity Matters

After decades of research and ambitious political programs, we still observe imbalances in the treatment of people on the basis of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, and social background. Such an issue raises questions about the degree to which information systems can help to overcome such imbalance; for instance, if design principles can be formalized to reshape information systems’ design into a different, more-inclusive direction. We contend that IS falls short in tackling this issue. We took the theme of ICIS 2013 (“reshaping society through information systems”) as an opportunity to reflect on the multiple aspects of social inclusion in the design and the resulting shape of information systems via a panel discussion. The fruitful discussion during the panel delivered more in-depth results than merely advocating a stance for more diversity in the IS workforce. Building on the principles of design science, we believe that our field can help reshape the digital economy. As a key takeaway, the panel and additional points added in this paper in the light of discussion at ICIS 2013 provide guidance on the impact of gender in IS theorizing as a demonstration example and reflect on the trend towards social design in the IS research community

Exploring Individual User Attitudes Towards Performance with Web Search Engines: An Extension Study

As the Internet fulfills an increasingly important role in society, study into human behavior and interaction with the technology becomes key to the development of improved systems. As a result, the research agenda of the authors seeks to identify the role of individual differences with users of technology and its subsequent impact on performance. In this initial study, we examine an instance of individual differences with users of the World Wide Web by evaluating user attitudes and performance with Web search engines. Search engine importance is connected to their role as the primary vehicle for locating content on the Internet. Prior research into user attitude has shown a connection with use of technology. In our study we replicate, extend, and critique an investigation conducted by Liaw and Huang (2003) into user attitudes toward search engines as information retrieval tools. Liaw and Huang found that factors such as individual computer experience, quality of search systems, motivation, and perceptions of technology acceptance impact users desire to use search engines as a tool for information retrieval. However, the connection is not drawn to actual individual user performance with a searching task. Based upon the analysis of our data, we were unable to replicate the results achieved in the Liaw and Huang study or draw a connection between these factors and performance. This finding, that our analysis yielded different results, supports the need for further investigation into individual differences and suggests areas for future research

The Credibility Crisis in IS

A credibility crisis continues to plague the Information Systems (IS) discipline. For almost a decade, IS has struggled to obtain and maintain its stature as a highly-respected academic discipline. The recent demise of several IS programs around the world highlights the credibility crisis, as departments have been subsumed into other business disciplines, or worse yet, abandoned entirely. In a recent MIS Quarterly article, Gill and Bhattacherjee (2009) highlight some of the challenges facing IS: low student enrollments, research that is rarely discussed in our classrooms, and research that fails to make an impact in practice. While useful tactics in terms of research (Dennis et al., 2008), student recruitment (Koch and Kayworth, 2009; Looney and Akbulut, 2007), and pedagogy (Firth et al., 2008) have surfaced in the literature, a holistic strategy for addressing the credibility crisis has yet to emerge. This panel brings together a group of IS professors to offer their perspectives on a series of propositions about the Credibility Crisis in the IS Discipline, and engage in an animated debate with each other and the audience on their positions

Out of the Box and Onto the Stage: Enacting Information Systems Research through Theatre

The quest for digital innovation leads to consideration of new ways to infuse creativity into research and practice. One approach is to import techniques from artistic disciplines such as theatre. This panel explores the benefits and pitfalls of importing theatrical techniques into IS research. The nonlinear and holistic approach of the artistic fields facilitates incorporation of the emotional, subtle and implicit aspects of IS research. Theatre can also serve as a generative research method that can facilitate the reframing of the way the world is seen and understood. But skeptics argue that the use of theatre might lead to the blurring of the lines between “fact and fiction” to the detriment of the scientific research tradition. This panel presents four different ways to increase IS research creativity by incorporating theatrical techniques into the process. The audience is invited to join the dialogue in search of productive creativity