Intentional and unintentional consequences of substituting face-to-face interaction with e-mail: An employee-based perspective

In this article, we undertake empirical research into e-mail communication in the workplace to provide organizations with practical information about how employees can effectively manage their e-mail interactions. We employ an interpretative, qualitative methodology to examine their views of e-mail. Specifically, we consider the interaction between this and traditional face-to-face (F2F) contact. Theoretical ideas are subject to empirical scrutiny from a database of 29 in-depth interviews with users. The findings suggest that as computer-mediated communication (CMC) intensifies, communication is increasingly characterized by a complex interplay between CMC and F2F, with e-mail affecting communication in positive and negative ways, and also with intended and unintended outcomes. For organizations, the key is to raise employee awareness about their e-mail communications in order to maximize effectiveness and prevent negative outcomes such as back-covering and relationship breakdown. The results inform the development of a conceptual framework for the interpretation and investigation of e-mail communications.     

Abstracts & Commentary

Abstract

Business e-mail has IT organizations caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, e-mail has become the communications vehicle of choice for efficient, low-cost interaction with associates, partners, suppliers, and customers around the world. On the other hand, e-mail is the primary vehicle for hackers, phishers, and spammers.     

Empirical analysis of risk-taking behavior in IT platform migration decisions

Information technology (IT) platform migration incurs a great deal of risk because of the massive rewriting of legacy systems and a wide range of new technology adoptions. Therefore IT platform decisions need to be made in a mindful manner because of the high degree of investment risk. However, more aggressive migrations, compared to the global trend, to an open system have been observed in Korean organizations. This phenomenon defies the common understanding of IT investment risk and encourages the investigation of the elusive characteristics underlying IT investment decisions. The effect of IT decision-makers’ perceptions and risk propensity on their IT platform migration decisions is examined in the context of risky decisions. In addition to risk perception, decision-makers’ risk propensity also has a significant effect on IT investment decisions. By observing the monarchical IT governance and IT-biased careers of decision-makers, some implications of large-scale IT investment decisions are derived.     

Strategic roles of IT modernization and cloud migration in reducing cybersecurity risks of organizations: The case of U.S. federal government

Many organizations run their core business operations on decades-old legacy IT systems. Some security professionals argue that legacy IT systems significantly increase security risks because they are not designed to address contemporary cybersecurity risks. Others counter that the legacy systems might be “secure by antiquity” and argue that due to lack of adequate documentation on the systems, it is very difficult for potential attackers to discover and exploit security vulnerabilities. There is a shortage of empirical evidence on either argument. Routine activity theory (RAT) argues that an organization’s guardianship is critical for reducing security incidents. However, RAT does not well explain how organizations might guard against security risks of legacy IT systems. We theorize that organizations can enhance their guardianship by either modernizing their legacy IT systems in-house or by outsourcing them to cloud vendors. With datasets from the U.S. federal agencies, we find that agencies that have more legacy IT systems experience more frequent security incidents than others with more modern IT systems. A 1%-point increase in the proportion of IT budgets spent on IT modernization is associated with a 5.6% decrease in the number of security incidents. Furthermore, migration of the legacy systems to the cloud is negatively associated with the number of security incidents. The findings advance the literature on strategic information systems by extending RAT to explain why the “security by antiquity” argument is not valid and how organizations can reduce the security risks of legacy IT systems through modernization and migration to the cloud.     

Complementary Investment in Change Management and IT Investment Payoff

Measuring information technology payoff continues to be a challenge for organizations. Considering the impact of complementary investments on IT payoff has been proposed by recent studies. This paper examines the impact of one type of complementary investment on IT payoff: organizational change management initiatives to support IT implementation. The paper reports a case study of Cisco Systems' IT investment in an operating systems upgrade of over 34,000 computer systems in 117 countries. The findings of the exploratory case study indicate that planned communications and change management strategies developed by their Organizational Change Management group led to the smooth implementation of the upgrade process and contributed to the payoff from the IT investment, measured in terms of client satisfaction with the process and system and reduced cost and time to upgrade all systems. The findings were supported by pre- and post-implementation surveys of clients, analysis of the change management initiatives and their impact on the process, and comparison of actual and budgeted costs for the project.     

Ambiguity in IT adaptation: making sense of First Class in a social work setting

This paper explores how people make sense of the ambiguity caused by newly introduced information technology (IT) in organizations. A better understanding of these sense‐making processes might provide some basis for improving the way in which information technology is adapted in organizations. On the basis of an interpretive case study, the paper identifies how certain attention structures facilitated and restricted the meaningful construction of IT in a particular organizational context – social work. In this context, the previous coincidence of IT introductions with increasing administrative workload had considerable implications for the way in which a communications technology (First Class) was adapted. On a general level, it is concluded that making sense of ambiguity is an important ingredient in successful IT adaptation.     

An empirical examination of a process-oriented IT business success model

The value of information technology (IT) to modern organizations is almost undeniable. However, the determination of that value has been elusive in research and practice. We used a process-oriented research model developed using two streams of IT research to examine the value of IT in business organizations. One stream is characterized by examining how IT and non-IT variables affect other so-called IT success variables. The second stream is commonly referred to as IT business value, defined as the contribution of IT to firm performance. The resulting research model is referred to in our paper as the IT business success model. Data was collected from 225 top IS executives in fairly large organizations to empirically examine several hypotheses derived from theory concerning the causal nature of the IT business success model. A set of measures for the IT business success model was developed through an intense investigation of the IT literature. The measures were tested for validity and reliability using confirmatory factor analysis. The hypotheses that resulted from past research and conceptually illustrated in the research model were assessed using structural equation analysis. The implications of these findings and the limitations of the study are discussed in an effort to contribute to building a process-oriented theory base for IT business success at the organizational level of analysis.     

CEO/CIO mutual understanding,strategic alignment,and the contribution of IS to the organization

Mutual understanding between the CEO and CIO is thought to facilitate the alignment of an organization's IS with its business strategy, and thereby enhance the contribution of the IS to business performance. A survey of 202 pairs of CEOs and CIOs was taken to investigate the relationships between them. Mutual understanding was measured as the role of IS in the organization, using the perspectives of both executives. Strategic alignment was measured as the fit between the CEO's assessment of eight STROBE dimensions and the CIO's assessment of the analogous STROEPIS dimensions; both the CEO and CIO evaluated IS contribution. Mutual understanding of the role of IT led to seven alignment dimensions whereas six alignment dimensions led to IS contributions. Our study extended the theory of IT strategic alignment and provided direction for CEOs and CIOs interested in improving the IS contribution of their organization.     

Maximizing the positive influence of IT for improving organizational performance

In the analysis of whether information technology (IT) has an impact on organizational performance, focus is usually placed on the relationship between an organization’s investments in IT and that organization’s performance. Therefore, it is standard to devote special attention to the size and complexity of the organization, to the investments in other organizational resources that may affect the performance of IT, and to the manner in which the two variables are measured. However, one area that has not been well explored is the manner in which the relationship between investments in IT and organizational performance develops. In this article, we show empirically that the planning and management of IT influence the organization’s endowment of resources (physical and human), which consequently has positive effects on each of the IT-related areas usually found in organizations (applications, reliable and secure systems and communications, and training and support). In turn, the functioning of these areas influences the impact of IT on the organization, which then has positive effects on organizational performance. We have used data corresponding to IT management in Spanish universities, as well as independent rankings that are useful for evaluating their performance.     

Social Comparison,Goal Contagion,and Adoption of Innovative Information Technology

When adopting a new, innovative information technology (IT), most institutions tend to lack knowledge about it initially. However, they often adopt new ITs despite their illiteracy. This behavior is difficult to explain using rational IT adoption theories. Focusing on the organizational decision-making process behind adoption of innovative IT, we examine the strategy by which some companies compensate for their lack of knowledge: collection of information from other companies that have successfully adopted IT previously. We develop a new IT adoption model for which goal contagion theory and social comparison theory are combined to interpret the circumstances under which organizations tend to adopt new, innovative IT despite limited knowledge about it. Big data, cloud services, and smart mobile systems are considered as examples of innovative IT in the empirical study.     

The IT Value Hierarchy: Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a Metaphor for Gauging the Maturity Level of Information Technology Use within Competitive Organizations

The purpose of this paper is to present a hierarchy of progressive IT maturity using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a metaphor for articulating the increasing value that can be derived by the application of Information Technology within competitive organizations. The authors refer to this maturity model as the IT Value Hierarchy. Each level of the IT Value Hierarchy is described using examples and comparisons to Maslow's Hierarchy. The model can be used by IT executives as a framework for better explaining and discussing the value of increasingly sophisticated Information Technology use within the enterprise.     

The IT Value Hierarchy: Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a Metaphor for Gauging the Maturity Level of Information Technology Use within Competitive Organizations

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a hierarchy of progressive IT maturity using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a metaphor for articulating the increasing value that can be derived by the application of Information Technology within competitive organizations. The authors refer to this maturity model as the IT Value Hierarchy. Each level of the IT Value Hierarchy is described using examples and comparisons to Maslow's Hierarchy. The model can be used by IT executives as a framework for better explaining and discussing the value of increasingly sophisticated Information Technology use within the enterprise.     

Spheres of It Project Complexity and It Project Manager Archetypes and Roles: A Case Study

ABSTRACT

Effective information technology (IT) project managers (PMs) are recognized as being essential for project success. However, little research has focused on the roles IT PMs must play. Utilizing a qualitative field study, we found 4 IT PM archetypes (checklist, technical lead, organizational process lead, and poly-synchronous) employed in practice. We discuss our findings regarding the assignment of multiple PMs in the presence of complex IT projects and provide organizations with practical inferences to consider.     

面向IT职业的英语应用能力培养对策研究

以计算机和信息为核心的信息技术与英语有着天生的关系,而且具体的IT工作也非常强调英语应用能力。对将来从事IT职业的学生而言,在学校开设IT职业英语课程对这方面能力的培养是一种行之有效的方法。     

IT centrality,IT management model,and contribution of the IT function to organizational performance: A study in Canadian hospitals

The characterization of the IT function in organizations represents a central topic of investigation in the information systems field. The main purpose of this study was to predict the contribution of the IT function to organizational performance by focusing on the centrality of IT and the IT management profile as primary determinants. A cross-sectional survey of CIOs working in Canadian hospitals reveals that IT centrality positively influences the strategic orientation of the IT management model. In turn, the stronger the strategic orientation of the IT management model in place, the greater is the IT function’s contribution to organizational performance.     

The CIO stereotype: Content,bias, and impact

The current work examines whether there is a stereotype of CIOs that can influence decisions about their role in organizations. We find evidence for a CIO stereotype informed by both an IT stereotype and a general leader stereotype, although CIOs are perceived to have more in common with IT personnel than leaders. Two experiments showed that the CIO stereotype was capable of biasing perceptions of CIOs’ suitability to occupy strategic roles (i.e., a “glass ceiling” effect) and the extent to which they are blamed for negative outcomes (i.e., a “glass cliff” effect). These findings point to the challenges CIOs face in gaining and maintaining strategic leadership roles in organizations.     

Resource Complementarity and IT Economies of Scale: Mechanisms and Empirical Evidence

ABSTRACT

In this study, we explore economies of scale for IT infrastructure and application services. An in-depth appreciation of economies of scale is imperative for an adequate understanding of the impact of IT investments. Our findings indicate that even low IT spending organizations can make a difference by devoting at least 60% of their total IT budget on IT infrastructure in order to foster economies of scale and extract strategic benefits.     

An empirical study of misalignment between Australian CEOs and IT managers

This paper discusses the results of a critical success factors (CSFs) study carried out to determine the key IT management needs of Australian CEOs. In the past, several studies to determine the IT management needs have been carried out, but they have aimed mostly at the IT managers, not the CEOs. This study fills this gap, and by comparing the CSFs of the CEOs with those of the IT managers shows the areas of misalignment in the management of IT in Australian enterprises. It is concluded that to achieve ongoing alignment, the CEOs and senior executives need to gain management level understanding of IT. But perhaps, even more important is for IT managers to develop a business oriented perspective for the success of their enterprise.     

IT governance for enterprise resource planning supported by the DeLone–McLean model of information systems success

I investigated the role of IT governance in driving the success of ERP projects. The tool for assessing ERP value was a comprehensive, multivariate and validated model adapted from the widely used Delone and McLean model of IS success. This showed that ERP investments were more effective in organizations having an IT governance domain consisting of proactive strategic guidance and participatory team building. Large enterprises, however, under-performed compared to SMEs and needed specific performance drivers, such as top management commitment to become effective.     

IT组织在企业中的定位和作用

在企业发展的不同阶段,IT组织的作用和地位是不一样的,而且不同规模、行业的IT组织的境遇也有着巨大差异,本文就非IT类企业内部的信息化管理组织机构的定位和作用做出阐述