Fundamental issues of decision support systems: A consequentialist perspective

While considerable enthusiasm for DSS exists in many quarters, there are still a number of fundamental issues which have not been seriously addressed. Of particular concern, is how DSS is likely to affect organizations. This philosophically motivated paper analyzes the underlying assumptions of DSS and develops an approach for consequence determination. Moreover, the paper uses this approach to assess how DSS might affect various organizational elements.     

Coping with complexity in home hemodialysis: a fresh perspective on time as a medium of Distributed Cognition

The existing literature on Distributed Cognition (DCog) mostly presents the temporal distribution of cognition in terms of system evolution that happens over time. In this paper, we illustrate how cognition can also be distributed through time in more immediate ways, through four principles we developed while studying how renal patients cope with the complexity of home hemodialysis. These principles are temporal assignments to tasks to aid prospective remembering; temporal arrangement of tasks to help deal with anticipated problems; temporal distribution of a task plan to avoid omission of steps; and temporal re-arrangement of tasks to reduce peak complexity. Like the physical environment, the time continuum is an external medium that can support distributed cognitive processes, serving as a representation for task reminders and allowing actors to organize the order, duration, and spacing of tasks to reduce complexity in cognitive work. These principles can highlight problems and opportunities in the design of socio-technical systems, by explicitly considering time as another medium that can be used to support DCog in short-term activity.     

Perceived absorptive capacity of individual users in performance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) usage: The case for Korean firms

We examined the effect of absorptive capacity of users on their use of ERP in a Korean context. The three components considered were understanding, assimilating, and applying ERP knowledge. We found that the capacities of users to assimilate and apply the knowledge had both direct and indirect effects on its value. The users’ ability to understand ERP knowledge was found to influence its performance by their assimilating and applying the knowledge. We also found that organizational support moderated the relationship between their absorptive capacity and performance.     

The role of readiness for change in ERP implementation: Theoretical bases and empirical validation

Implementation of ERP systems continues to drive change in organizations. However, the effort is often considered a failure, partially because potential users resist the change. Readiness plays an active role in reducing resistance to such efforts. Therefore, we examined the formation of readiness for change and its effect on the perceived technological value of an ERP system leading to its use. We developed a model of readiness for change incorporating TAM and TPB. The model was then empirically tested using data collected from users of ERP systems in Korea. Structural equation analysis using LISREL provided significant support for all proposed relationships. Specifically, we found that readiness for change had an indirect effect on behavioral intention to use an ERP system. At the same time, readiness for change was found to be enhanced by two factors: organizational commitment and perceived personal competence.     

Coping with information overload in email communication: Evaluation of a training intervention

The present paper introduces three facets of information overload in email communication: A large amount of incoming information, inefficient workflow, and deficient communication quality. In order to cope with these facets of information overload, a training intervention was developed and evaluated. Data were collected from 90 employees on several evaluation levels within a longitudinal evaluation design (one pretest double posttest design). The results reveal that the training contributed to an increase in knowledge and media competencies. We also found evidence for a transfer of training contents to the workplace. Finally, strain diminished on several dimensions. In particular, problems with media usage and work impairment decline significantly, an effect that was stronger for those participants who face a large amount of email at their workplaces.     

Improving VDT workplaces in offices by use of a physiologically optimized screen with black symbols on a light background: basic considerations

Due to the increased importance and usage of self-managed virtual teams, many recent studies have examined factors that affect their success. One such factor that merits examination is the configuration or composition of virtual teams. This article tackles this point by (1) empirically testing trait-configuration effects on virtual team performance, which are based on supplementary, complementary and interaction person-team fit perspectives and (2) extending the suggested trait-configuration model to include virtual team configuration in terms of the perceived problem-solving demands of the task as a predictor of team performance. To this end, median regression techniques were applied to data from 62 self-managed virtual teams that used an asynchronous bulletin board for working on a case study analysis. The findings suggest a plausible negative main effect of within-team conscientiousness heterogeneity on team performance, operationalised as standardised team grade. This effect depends on the level of the within-team extroversion heterogeneity which helps to mitigate the negative effect of within-team conscientiousness heterogeneity on team performance. Furthermore, within-team heterogeneity of the perceived problem-solving demands of the task reduces team performance. Overall, this study proves that virtual team configuration matters, and demonstrates that the joint utilisation of multiple person-team fit perspectives for improving virtual team performance has merit. Implications for research and practice are further discussed.     

Determinants of emoticon usage in mobile instant messaging: a construal level theory perspective

Mobile instant messaging is experiencing immense growth, and using emoticons has become a prevalent and highly popular means of communication. The small digital images are ubiquitous, from smartphone applications to social media, and people delight in sending them. Drawing from construal level theory, the aim of this research is to examine the underlying mechanism that drives the usage of emoticons and its usage enjoyment. People with experience using mobile instant messaging were recruited to participate in an online survey, resulting in 202 usable questionnaires. The research model was tested empirically. Covariance-based structural equation modelling was used to analyze the data. The findings highlight that the determinants of individual’s emoticon usage are driven by a dual-route path. One is the self-concept route, where self-image congruity between emoticons and individuals drives psychological ownership, which in turn influences word of mouth (WOM) intention and perceived enjoyment of emoticon use. The other is the utility route, driven by emoticons’ familiarity and perceived synchronicity. The findings reveal the importance of emoticon usage through a contextual lens that shows that a dual-route path has a prominent impact upon these digital-based communication behaviours, which provides important managerial implications.     

Congestion and Fiscal Policy in a Two-Sector Economy with Public Capital: A Quantitative Assessment

This paper analyzes the role of public capital when the services it yields is subject to two forms of congestion, which we characterize as relative and aggregate. We employ a two-sector growth model in which there are conventional profit-maximizing private firms, together with “public firms”, whose objective is to produce a specified quantity of government investment goods – determined by government policy – at minimum cost. We characterize the equilibrium dynamics, and analyze two forms of fiscal disturbances – an increase in public investment, and a decrease in the tax on capital income – by simulating a calibrated economy. We contrast the effects of these two types of congestion on both the existing steady-state equilibrium, as well as for the effectiveness of fiscal policy.     

Human-Machine Collaboration in Robotics: Integrating Virtual Tools with a Collision Avoidance Concept using Conglomerates of Spheres

This paper describes how virtual tools that represent real robot end-effectors are used in conjunction with a generalized conglomerate-of-spheres approach to collision avoidance in such a way that telerobotic trajectory planning can be accomplished using simple gesture phrases such as put that there while avoiding that. In this concept, an operator (or set of collaborators) need not train for cumbersome telemanipulation on several multiple-link robots, nor do robots need a priori knowledge of operator intent and exhaustive algorithms for evaluating every aspect of a detailed environment model. The human does what humans do best during task specification, while the robot does what machines do best during trajectory planning and execution.Four telerobotic stages were implemented to demonstrate this strategic supervision concept that will facilitate collaborative control between humans and machines. In the first stage, virtual reality tools are selected from a toolbox by the operator(s) and then these virtual tools are computationally interwoven into the live video scene with depth correlation. Each virtual tool is a graphic representation of a robot end-effector (gripper, cutter, or other robot tool) that carries tool-use attributes on how to perform a task. An operator uses an instrumented glove to virtually retrieve the disembodied tool, in the shared scene, and place it near objects and obstacles while giving key-point gesture directives, such as cut there while avoiding that. Collaborators on a network may alter the plan by changing tools or tool positioning to achieve preferred results from their own perspectives. When parties agree, from wherever they reside geographically, the robot(s) create and execute appropriate trajectories suitable to their own particular links and joints. Stage two generates standard joint-interpolated trajectories, and later creates potential field trajectories if necessary. Stage three tests for collisions with obstacles identified by the operator and modeled as conglomerates of spheres. Stage four involves automatic grasping (or cutting etc.) once the robot camera acquires a close-up view of the object during approach. In this paper particular emphasis is placed on the conglomerate-of-spheres approach to collision detection as integrated with the virtual tools concept for a Puma 560 robot by the Virtual Tools and Robotics Group in the Computer Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State).