Varieties of Ritual Theory & Information Technology Implementation

This paper draws on contemporary ritual theory from two different disciplines and research traditions to show howrituals can affect IT projects. These theories suggest that commonplace project activities, such as signoffs and scopechanges, have symbolic and emotional effects that not only persist, but also accumulate from one occurrence to thenext. The analysis extends our understanding of ritual in IT projects and has practical implications for IT managers

Middle Management in Agriculture: Roles, Functions, and Practices

The role of middle managers in agriculture and agribusiness has been neglected by applied - as well as disciplinary - research, while gaining increasing importance in practice. This study provides an overview of middle management research and analyzes middle managers' authority in human resource decision-making and human resource management practices based on in-depth interviews analyzed through a grounded theory approach. Results show that these middle managers use both traditional and participative management practices to accomplish organizational goals, but would benefit from training tailored to their industry and specific needs.Case study research method, grounded theory, human resource management (HRM) practices, middle manager, supervisor, supervisory function, Agribusiness, Labor and Human Capital,

Considering Visual Artifacts in IT Cultures

Visuals carry cultural codes that communicate and reinforce cultural values and assumptions. Visual artifacts such as Powerpoint presentations are a ubiquitous feature in organizational life, but they are not yet widely studied. This paper presents a framework for analyzing visual artifacts that draws on concepts from visual and social science methods. In IT organizations and occupations, visual artifacts are useful tools for introducing, discussing and legitimating cultural assumptions and values for multiple audiences within technology organizations. To gain additional insight into IT culture, researchers should focus on visual artifacts as they are used in professions and organizations in IT

Two Techniques for Qualitative Data Analysis: Computer-Based Analysis Tools

Numerous innovative techniques for qualitative data analysis have been emerging and gaining consideration and acceptance in IS research. Amongtheseareanalyticinduction,hermeneutics,ethnography,participantobservation,contentanalysis,groundedtheory, case studies and action research

Teaching “people networking” skills for CIS students

Recent research on organizational social networks has continued to emphasize the importance of networks for individual as well as organizational performance in the U.S. Given the importance of networks and networking, we argue that IT students must learn networking skills in addition to technical skills in order to better understand the role of technology in organizations and to increase their chances of success in their careers. The goal of this paper is to describe a teaching module that we developed for CIS undergraduate students to improve their networking skills

Finding Common Ground: Collaboration Across the Disciplines in the Scholarship of Teaching

Many recent writings on the scholarship of teaching discuss the need to locate this scholarship within the disciplines. The authors argue that while scholarship within the disciplines is important, it should not come at the expense of work across the disciplines. They demonstrate the usefulness of cross-disciplinary collaboration for the scholarship of teaching and learning through the specific example of how collaboration contributed to their understanding of the role of such scholarship in the teaching of mathematics and negotiations courses. The authors also outline some of the pitfalls of cross-disciplinary collaboration, and they offer suggestions for beginning collaborative initiatives

Services, Processes and Routines: Literature review and implications

Service management involves building new services by combining and recombining processes and routines. In this paper, we examine the ontological and epistemological perspectives that inform our understanding of the chunks of functionality that are being recombined. Based on a review of 367 influential articles, we identify two very different sets of assumptions about the nature of processes and routines. We discuss the implications of these divergent assumptions for service management

Does Culture Matter? A Study of Cultural Influences on the Success of Women in IT

This paper discusses cultural influences on the success of women in Information Technology (IT) careers that emerged from 38 interviews with career women in Southern California. Interviews, conducted in 2008, lasted 60-90 minutes each. The women’s career stories reflect on comparable experiences with organizational and workgroup cultures, as well as occupational cultures and subcultures. Except for primarily female organizations, “old-boy” culture prevails at the upper levels of most organizations. Women who have climbed to those levels still feel like outsiders. Women complained about “old-school” occupational cultures, but they valued trust in their workgroup cultures, when and where that exists. “Token” women often experienced the most difficulties

Practices of power : meaning and legitimation in information technology consulting

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1993.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-166).by Elaine K. Yakura.Ph.D

Middle Management in Agriculture: Roles, Functions, and Practices

The role of middle managers in agriculture and agribusiness has been neglected by applied - as well as disciplinary - research, while gaining increasing importance in practice. This study provides an overview of middle management research and analyzes middle managers' authority in human resource decision-making and human resource management practices based on in-depth interviews analyzed through a grounded theory approach. Results show that these middle managers use both traditional and participative management practices to accomplish organizational goals, but would benefit from training tailored to their industry and specific needs