The “problem” in and of management information systems

Management Information Systems uncritically draws upon a number of disciplines for its theoretical framework. In doing so it has imported a host of ontological, epistemological and behavioral assumptions which have shaped the theories, technologies and practices of information system analysis, design and implementation. This has taken place without careful reflection upon the historical emergence of these assumptions or upon the context within which attempts are made to operationalize them. This paper argues that the Management Information Systems field is in need of researching itself. It proposes that through a combination of genealogical and ethnographic research methodologies, the historical emergence of theoretical constructs and the organizational context within which information systems operate should be critically examined. In the following analysis, the historical emergence of the “problem” as a generic construct in the Management Information System literature is examined and contrasted to the manner in which a group of manufacturing managers defined problems within their organizational context. A critical tension is revealed which suggests that information systems researchers, analysts and designers need to at least broaden their assumption about the nature of organizational reality, human behavior, information processing and problem solving.     

On “Superstable” discrete systems

For the class of nonstationary discrete linear systems whose parameters have only multiple estimates, the sufficient condition for their robust stability was obtained on the basis of a discrete analog of the Lyapunov method. If satisfied at each time instant, this condition can be interpreted as the sufficient stability condition for systems with “frozen” coefficients. Robust stability of the stationary systems of the specified class follows from it as a special case.     

Countering the “dam effect”: the case for architecture and governance in developing country health information systems

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a case for enterprise architecture (EA) and IT governance for driving techno-organizational change and coordination of health information systems (HISs) in developing countries. We support our claim with analyses of a large-scale electronic HIS in Ethiopia by tracing the logic of actors’ decisions and conduct within and beyond the organizational boundaries of the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health to understand how the information system innovation process is designed, legitimized and imposed by internal and external organizational forces. In the absence of formalized institutional arrangements throughout the HIS development and implementation, an international development agency fills a key gap forming an obligatory passage point which we conceptualize as “the dam effect.” Drawing on actor-network theory, we identify three important implications of EA and IT governance: (1) to help achieve an alignment of interests within the enterprise; (2) to serve as a tool for protecting the interests of the enterprise in external negotiations; and (3) to serve as a pragmatic approach to carrying out techno-organizational change.     

Does micro-blogging make us “shallow”? Sharing information online interferes with information comprehension

Micro-blogging sites such as Twitter and its Chinese equivalent Weibo are characterized by fragmentation in information communication (FIC). Yet little is known about information comprehension in the micro-blogging context and the mechanism underlying any possible influence. Using E-Prime^® to simulate information communication at Weibo, we conducted two experiments to investigate the effect of Weibo's structural features, namely, irrelevant information interference and feedback, on information comprehension. We found that participants' online information comprehension was negatively affected after browsing (reposting and passing) Weibo messages through the feedback function, and that this negative effect further extended to an offline reading task. Furthermore, meditation analysis showed that cognitive overload mediated the negative effect of reposting on information comprehension. The findings provide important insights into the influence of Internet technology on reading and learning.     

“Standardizing information security – a structurational analysis”

Given that there are an increasing number of information security breaches, organizations are being driven to adopt best practice for coping with attacks. Information security standards are designed to embody best practice and the legitimacy of these standards is a core issue for standardizing organizations. This study uncovers how structures at play in de jure standard development affect the input and throughput legitimacy of standards. We participated as members responsible for standards on information security and our analysis revealed two structures: consensus and warfare. A major implication of the combination of these structures is that legitimacy claims based on appeals to best practice are futile because it is difficult to know which the best practice is.     

From “website” to “on-line presence”: From “internet” to “information society”

This paper discusses some of the key drivers that will enable businesses to operate effectively on-line, and looks at how the notion of website will become one of an on-line presence which will support the main activities of an organisation. This is placed in the context of the development of the information society which will allow individuals-as consumers or employees-quick, inexpensive and on-demand access to vast quantities of entertainment, services and information. The paper draws on an example of these developments in Australasia.     

What do we mean by “information security”?

This is really a rather interesting question and, I believe, not one that we bother to ask ourselves nearly often enough. This may be because, suspiciously enough, for many of us it often just means “job security”. More importantly, we really need to consider what is understood by “information security” by the various stakeholders¹ we engage with.     

Embedding data on “communicating materials” from context-sensitive information analysis

Nowadays, intelligent products carrying information or having decision-making abilities are becoming widespread. The idea of using intelligent products to ensure an information continuum all along the product life cycle is more and more shared today. However, it is not that easy to identify the information that must be linked to the product. As a result, this paper proposes an information dissemination process for selecting information sensitive to the context of use of the product. This information is then stored on the products themselves using a new type of augmented material, referred to as “communicating material”.     

Understanding organizational learning by focusing on “activity systems”

This paper suggests that in order to understand relations between different aspects of organizational learning, an appropriate unit of analysis and a concrete, historical approach is needed. The units of analysis used in representative theories of organizational learning are first reviewed and evaluated. “Activity system”, a concept that is based on Cultural Historical Activity Theory, is then introduced as a potential candidate for a unit of analysis that makes it possible to analyze the specific historical, local challenges and problems of organizational learning and to direct a collective learning process. A case of organizational learning is then presented by using a model of the activity system and Activity Theory-based intervention methodology. Theoretical implications of the case are pointed out in discussion.     

Comment on “Time optimal control of linear systems with delay” and “Optimal control for systems which include pure delays”

A basic numerical matrix of infinite dimension is highlighted which is of significance to the development of computer programmes for the design of sampled data systems. A few elegant properties of this matrix are briefly outlined     

Designing service systems by bridging the “front stage” and “back stage”

Service management and design has largely focused on the interactions between employees and customers. This perspective holds that the quality of the “service experience” is primarily determined during this final “service encounter” that takes place in the “front stage.” This emphasis discounts the contribution of the activities in the “back stage” of the service value chain where materials or information needed by the front stage are processed. However, the vast increase in web-driven consumer self-service applications and other automated services requires new thinking about service design and service quality. It is essential to consider the entire network of services that comprise the back and front stages as complementary parts of a “service system.” We need new concepts and methods in service design that recognize how back stage information and processes can improve the front stage experience. This paper envisions a methodology for designing service systems that synthesizes (front-stage-oriented) user-centered design techniques with (back stage) methods for designing information-intensive applications.     

Comment on “Stability of systems with rhp pole-zero cancellations”

Through the heat exchanger example of.Koppel et at. (1968) u rapid sub-optimal control algorithm is developed for optimal regulator problems in linear distributed parameter systems. The Galerkin approximation is first applied to obtain a lumped ODE model for the distributed parameter system. Then, a sub-optimal open-loop control for the resulting linear ODE optimal regulator problem is obtained through the Ritz-Trefftz algorithm of Bosarge and Johnson (1970). One-dimensional polynomial basis functions (modes) are employed to approximate both time and spatial behaviour throughout. To facilitate mode selection, emphasis is placed upon sequential ono-dimensional approximations rather than upon a single multidimensional approximation.

Applications of the resulting algorithm are characterized by low storage and on-line computational requirements. Numerical results for the heat exchanger example are presented and compared with those currently available in the literature. Performance of the algorithm with a small number of polynomial modes is assessed and experimental user-oriented guidelines are provided.     

Another treatise on the epistomological status of the concept of “information”

This paper addresses the epistemological status of the concept of “information,” the central concept in the discipline of informatics. Emphasis is made of its “human” origin. The viewpoint of some researchers that information is an attribute of matter ad initium that is contained in all objects of both living and inanimate nature is dismissed.     

Comment on “Stability of linear stationary systems with time delay”

Quadratic programming (QP) has previously been applied to the computation of optimal controls for linear systems with quadratic cost criteria. This paper extends the application of QP to non-linear problems through quasi-linearization and the solution of a sequence of linear-quadratic sub-problems whose solutions converge to the solution of the original non-linear problem. The method is called quasi-linearization-quadratic programming or Q-QP.

The principal advantage of the Q-QP method lies in the ease with which optimal controls can be computed when saturation constraints are imposed on the control signals and terminal constraints are imposed on the state vector. Use of a bounded-variable QP algorithm permits solution of constrained problems with a negligible increase in computing time over the corresponding unconstrained problems. Numerical examples show how the method can be applied to certain problems with non-analytic objective functions and illustrate the facility of the method on problems with constraints. The Q-QP method is shown to be competitive with other methods in computation time for unconstrained problems and to be essentially unaffected in speed for problems having saturation and terminal constraints