Internet-based information systems use in organizations: an information studies perspective

Abstract. This case study investigates various ways in which different internet-based information systems (IS) are used by organizational participants. Borrowing theoretical insights on information behaviour accumulated over 50 years of information studies research, a conceptual framework is presented to help understand and assess the social and organizational impacts of internet-based IS. The framework describes the use of internet-based IS as a dynamic cycle of information needs–seeking–use activity situated in the context of a firm's information environment. Research questions pertain to the process of how individuals in organizations seek and use information from internet-based IS to satisfy information needs. In terms of information needs, this involves understanding the problem situations that lead participants to use internet-based IS, as well as the characteristics of those problems beyond subject matter. With respect to information seeking, this involves analysing how information from internet-based systems is displayed and formatted to signal their potential usefulness. In terms of information use, this involves how information obtained from internet-based systems is used in practice to resolve or redefine problems. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used. Data collection involves web tracking to identify significant episodes of internet-based IS activity, as well as one-on-one interviews to explore the context behind these episodes. Results suggest that it is possible and valuable to identify scenarios of internet-based IS use dominant in an organizational work setting. Doing so can help to identify ways to improve the situated use of internet-based IS that ameliorate the information needs–seeking–use cycle in firms.     

Organizational impact of system quality,information quality,and service quality

Increased organizational dependence on information systems drives management attention towards improving information systems’ quality. A recent survey shows that “Improve IT quality” is one of the top concerns facing IT executives. As IT quality is a multidimensional measure, it is important to determine what aspects of IT quality are critical to organizations to help Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to devise effective IT quality improvement strategies. In this research, we model the relationship between information systems’ (IS) quality and organizational impact. We hypothesize greater organizational impact in situations in which system quality, information quality and service quality are high. We also hypothesize a positive relationship between system quality and information quality. We test our hypotheses using survey data. Our structural equation model exhibits a good fit with the observed data. Our results show that IS service quality is the most influential variable in this model (followed by information quality and system quality), thus highlighting the importance of IS service quality for organizational performance. This paper contributes theoretically to IS success models through the system quality-to-information quality and IS quality-to-organizational impact links. Implications of our results for practice and research are discussed.     

A reflection on information systems strategizing: the role of power and everyday practices

We review the IS strategizing literature and highlight its main strengths and weaknesses. Strengths include an account given to the relevance of tensions between planned and executed strategy, and associated tradeoffs such as rigidity and flexibility, formal and informal strategizing and the exploitation of static resources vis à vis the exploration of novel capabilities. Weaknesses relate to a predominant focus on an organizational level of analysis and a lack of power considerations. In this paper we aim to build on these strengths and to ameliorate these weaknesses by proposing a comprehensive IS strategizing framework that uses extant IS strategizing research as a foundation, rejuvenated by insights from the emerging strategy‐as‐practice literature. The paper extends our understanding of IS strategizing in light of the practice perspective by providing a multilevel account and incorporating power considerations.     

Educating reflective Enterprise Systems practitioners: a design research study of the iterative building of a teaching framework

This research paper reports on the iterative design of a teaching framework developed for teaching Enterprise Systems (ES) classes for Information Systems (IS) graduates. These systems embed technical complexity and create organizational challenges when implemented in organizations. Therefore, teaching good ES classes is pedagogically challenging for faculty, and ES curricula are difficult for students. We have gradually designed and rebuilt curricula and teaching frameworks over 8 years. This has also resulted in a set of eight design principles. We report from our design and evaluation process and present our final artefact, the teaching framework. The aim is to educate reflective practitioners with multiple ES skills, enabling them to tackle the complexities of ES implementation contexts. The framework has implications for IS educational research and practice and has some generic values that are transferable to other academic institutions and adaptable to other IS learning environments. Further, the study contributes to IS design research by extending its application area. The ES teaching framework is a specific contribution to IS teaching frameworks as a class of problems.     

The organizational fit of information systems

Abstract. One can expect that the fit, match or congruence between an information system and its organizational context will be of increasing importance as information systems become more and more integral parts of organizations. Existing IS research has largely neglected the theoretical analysis of the concept 'fit', however, even though it has been widely used in a 'pre-theoretical' sense. The analysis of the concept of 'organizational fit of an information system' put forward in this article is essentially based on the recent analysis of 'fit' in contingency theory, suggesting three interpretations for the concept: a selection approach, an interaction approach and a systems approach. A review of the IS literature on the organizational fit of information systems indicates a lack of any cumulative tradition in existing empirical contingency research into information systems and dominance of the selection approach. Because of the two limitations, this paper regards any definite assessment of the potential prospects of contingency research into information systems as overhasty and proposes a framework for future research into the situation dependence and organizational fit of information systems which integrates contingency research into information systems, contingency research into IS impacts and contingency research into the IS adoption (development/implementation) process.     

Effects of strategic alignment on IS success: the mediation role of IS investment in Korea

The purpose of this research is to develop a comprehensive information system (IS) evaluation model for IS success linked to organizational performance. The primary focus of this research is to investigate the role of IT investment in business values by means of a group survey of about 300 business executives in Korea. We used the contingency theory to discover the mediation effect of IS investment on strategic alignment and IS success. In contrast to previous research, this study expanded the test scope to IS architecture and organizational structure at the operational level. The results from 273 business executives in Korea indicated that strategy integration with IT is positively related to IT investment, and IT investment is a critical antecedent of IS success. Thus, the implications of the findings are that right-directional IT investment has played an important role in the success of IT companies in Korea.     

Organizational information systems competences in small and medium-sized enterprises

We used resource-based theory and evidence from empirical studies to evolve a framework of IS competences in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The framework significantly improved our understanding of internal IS expertise in SMEs. We used relevant IS competence and SME literature, as well as empirical data from SME case studies. Our set of twenty two IS competences were organized around six macro competences. Each competence refers to a specific ability at the organizational rather than the individual level and they cover a broad range of activities, such as those associated with recognising business opportunities, IS planning, accessing IS knowledge, defining requirements, software and hardware sourcing, applications development, and managing relationships with IS suppliers. The framework was tested against prior literature, including studies of IS adoption, IS success, and entrepreneurial competence. Each competence was fully explained and discussed using evidence from the case studies. The framework creates a comprehensive set of IS competences that can be used in both SME practice and research.     

Guidelines for improving the contextual relevance of field surveys: the case of information security policy violations

The information systems (IS) field continues to debate the relative importance of rigor and relevance in its research. While the pursuit of rigor in research is important, we argue that further effort is needed to improve practical relevance, not only in terms of topics, but also by ensuring contextual relevance. While content validity is often performed rigorously, validated survey instruments may still lack contextual relevance and be out of touch with practice. We argue that IS behavioral research can improve its practical relevance without loss of rigor by carefully addressing a number of contextual issues in instrumentation design. In this opinion article, we outline five guidelines – relating to both rigor and relevance – designed to increase the contextual relevance of field survey research, using case examples from the area of IS security. They are: (1) inform study respondents that a behavior is an ISP violation, (2) measure specific examples of ISP violations, (3) ensure that ISP violations are important ISP problems in practice, (4) ensure the applicability of IS security violations to the organizational context, and (5) consider the appropriate level of specificity and generalizability for instrumentation. We review previous behavioral research on IS security and show that no existing study meets more than three of these five guidelines. By applying these guidelines where applicable, IS scholars can increase the contextual relevance of their instrumentation, yielding results more likely to address important problems in practice.     

Understanding IS implementation by estimating power of subunits

Understanding distribution of intra-organization power can provide useful information about implementation processes and also explanations (or predictions) of events and outcomes. When the implementation of IS/IT is used for both automatisation and business process changes, implementation involves organizational politics. Politics involves the interplay of various groups pursuing different interests while exercising power. Previous research of IS in power is discussed and extended by presenting a framework to measure subunit power. This framework is derived from organizational literature. The value of the framework for IS settings is illustrated by a case study. This framework is found to be useful for mapping relative power distribution at different moments in time. Changes in power distribution help explain a dramatic change in an implementation process. The understanding of relative subunit power is found to provide valuable ex ante information on the likely outcome of an IS implementation project or the possible obstacles an organizational change project might face.     

Interpretation,intervention, and reduction in the organizational laboratory: a framework for in-context information system research

Understanding how technical artefacts are created and used within organizations is a central aspect of the IS research discipline. The conduct of research in an organizational setting is thus a major issue for the IS community. A research framework for in-context IS research is presented and used to position purified and hybrid forms of research method. From the framework theoretical support for an `action case' research method is presented. Two IS research cases are presented and analyzed using the IS research framework, leading to a practice-based rationale for an action case method. Characteristics of the action case method, a hybrid of interpretation and intervention, are described. Learning at three levels of analysis—concrete, general, and meta—is proposed and used as a way of reflecting on IS research methods and IS research frameworks.     

云计算在智慧校园中的应用研究

云计算是一种商业模型,它通过将计算任务分配给多个服务器来达到分时共享计算资源和存储资源的目的。作为一种最能体现互联网精神的计算模型,云计算在计算成本、计算模式和计算能力上的优势将从多个方面改变人们的学习、工作和生活。云计算技术在智慧校园中的应用研究,对教育科研和相关技术发展产生深远的影响,为校园网中长久以来无法解决维护和安全问题提供切实可行解决方案,为信息技术在校园中的科学合理应用奠定基础。根据云计算的本质,给出云计算在智慧校园建设上的优势,以云计算技术在校园网中的应用为例,提出切实可行解决方案。     

An extension of the tri-core model of information systems innovation: strategic and technological moderators

There has been significant empirical work on information systems (IS) innovation. With the advent of a myriad of new and diverse technologies being introduced into contemporary organizations this work is only going to increase in its importance. Unfortunately, results of prior empirical work have been fragmented. Many of these studies treat IS innovations as homogeneous entities and do not effectively integrate notions of IS innovation with general organizational innovation. Swanson (1994) proposes a tri-core model and theory of IS innovation that can help integrate the isolated studies in this area, and can form the foundation on which future study of IS innovation can be based. This paper, in the spirit of a cumulative research tradition, presents and builds on Swanson's framework by incorporating contingencies that might affect the model. Specifically, notions of strategy (strategic push) and technology impact are discussed in the context of the framework. We hope that continued inquiry into this area will facilitate formulation of rich theory that will enable focused inquiry on IS innovation.     

The role of IT in organizational innovation – A systematic literature review

Information technology (IT) is broadly recognized as an important element in organizational innovation, however there has been relatively little integration of Information Systems (IS) research on the role of IT in organizational innovation. Such integration is particularly important in view of recent calls to examine the evolving ontological nature of IT, wherein IT artifacts are now shaping physical reality. We systematically examine innovation-related literature published in the leading IS journals in the period between 2009 and 2020 and we identify and summarize the core theoretical discourses in this domain. We find that extant literature largely examines the role of IT in innovation at a high level of abstraction, focusing on IT investments and IT capabilities, and consequently precluding granular insights on who, what, when, where, how, and why in relation to organizational innovation. To address this limitation and to provide a structuring lens for future research, we develop the organizational innovation system framework which posits that actors, IT artifacts, actions and organizational context are the key elements in organizational innovation systems that require more granular examination to yield deeper insights on how information technology contributes to organizational innovation. We re-examine the literature through the organizational innovation system lens and we identify gaps in extant research. We also outline potential directions for expanding the scope of future research.     

From information systems resources to effective use: Moderating effect of network embeddedness

This research examines how organizations can achieve effective information systems (IS) use by aligning internal IS resources with embeddedness in the IS outsourcing network. Leveraging the empirical opportunity of large-scale organization-wide meaningful use attestation of electronic health records, we conducted a longitudinal analysis of US hospitals from 2013 to 2017. We found that an organization’s network embeddedness amplifies the positive relationship between IS resources and effective IS use. We also identify different impacts depending on network embeddedness types and organization sizes. We found positive moderating effects of structural and positional embeddedness. However, junctional embeddedness has no direct or moderating effect on IS use. In addition, the moderating effects manifest differently for different-sized organizations – i.e., structural embeddedness has a stronger positive moderating effect for large organizations, while positional embeddedness’ positive moderating effect is stronger for small organizations. We also found heterogeneous direct effects of structural and positional embeddedness on organizational IS use. Solely depending on structural embeddedness will result in lower IS use, which is more prominent for small organizations. Positional embeddedness has a negative direct effect on small organizations’ IS use but positively relates to large organizations’ IS use. This research highlights the role of network embeddedness in facilitating IS use and offers a nuanced understanding of its impacts. Our findings also provide practical implications for organizational IS use through strategic IS outsourcing.     

Determinants of software quality: A survey of information systems project managers

Software quality is important for the success of any information systems (IS). In this research, we find the determinants of software quality. We used five attributes for software quality: system reliability, maintainability, ease of use, usefulness, and relevance. By surveying 112 IS project managers, we collected data about their perceptions on the software quality attributes and their determinants. We arrived at six factors through exploratory factor analysis. We determined the individual factors that impacted the software quality attributes; for example, reliability is associated with responsiveness of IS department; ease of use is influenced by the capabilities of users and attitude of management; and usefulness is impacted by capabilities of IS department and responsiveness of IS department. We show that organizational factors are more important than technical factors in impacting software quality in IS projects. We provide implications of our research to practice and to future research.     

An empirical evaluation of existing IS change theories for the case of IOIS evolution

The phenomenon of inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) evolution has not yet been adequately researched and understood. We present and analyse empirical data from a case in which electronic ordering in the Australian pharmaceutical industry evolved over a 30-year period from closed to quasi-open systems. We analyse this revelatory case using a practice-theoretical framework to make visible the phenomenon of IOIS evolution. An essential characteristic of this framework is the distinction between and symmetrical treatment of material, normative and ideational structures within the practices that constitute the IOIS. Against the findings of this case study, we then evaluate two promising models of long-term IS change, namely Porra's (1999) Colonial Systems model and Lyytinen and Newman's (2008) Punctuated Socio-technical IS Change model. These models are selected as highly elaborated IS exemplars of two classes of theories of organizational change, namely evolutionary and dialectical theories. We find that these two models can only partially explain our findings. Finally, we make suggestions for developing more comprehensive theoretical models within these two classes of IS change theories. In practical terms, our paper shows that the transformation from closed to open IOIS may require adoption of longer time frames than are usually assumed and closer attention to norms and rationales usually neglected in IS projects.     

Integrative framework for assessing firms’ potential to undertake Green IT initiatives via virtualization – A theoretical perspective

Green IT (information technology) has recently emerged into an active research area in the information systems (IS) discipline. A major gap that exists in the Green IT research literature today is the absence of a theoretical framework that can be used to assist organizations in assessing their potential for undertaking Green IT initiatives and implementing them via modern technological means such as virtualization. This study attempts to bridge this gap by developing and proposing an integrative framework which focuses on identifying and examining the factors that contribute to the assessment of a firm’s readiness to go green via IT-enabled virtualization. The framework is firmly grounded using three well-established IS theories: (a) technology-organization-environment, (b) process-virtualization, and (c) diffusion of innovation. It integrates these three theoretical lenses to utilize the strengths of each for assessing the potential for undertaking Green IT initiatives and the stages of Green IT implementation at the organizational level. The implications of the outcome of this study, both for the IS researchers and for the practicing managers are discussed. The plan for empirical testing and validation of our propositions is presented, as well as suggestions for future extensions of this study.     

Breaking bad habits: A field experiment about how routinized work practices can be made more eco-efficient through IS for sensemaking

We conducted a field experiment to compare the effects of information systems (IS) supporting reflective disclosure and information democratization on the sustainability footprint of a routine organizational work practice, paper printing. We find that both sensemaking processes lead to employees reducing their printing; however, the processes are interchangeable and do not mutually reinforce each other's effects. This finding contrasts a latent assumption of prior research about a co-dependence between reflective disclosure and information democratization, and suggests organizations have a choice in how they can design and use IS to help employees make sense of different possibilities for more eco-efficient work.     

The surface of emergence in systems development: agency,institutions, and large-scale information systems

There is a strong tendency in the systems development literature to focus primarily on the system under development and to underemphasize the role of pre-existing information systems. Pre-existing information systems are treated largely as black boxes that serve as resources or constraints on development. A case study of a large-scale information system within a major university system in the U.S. is used to explore the role of pre-existing information systems in the development and emergence of a new system. The case study develops the argument that pre-existing information systems are active forces in systems development. Their influence occurs both through the material constraints and directions inherent in existing systems and through the experiences and learning from previous systems, which shape developers' approaches to building the new system. The study also develops a theoretical framework that integrates elements of structuration theory and actor-network theory to provide a more fine-grained analysis of how information technologies and institutional features interact in the structuring of organizational information systems. This study offers several theoretical and practical implications for IS development.     

CASE tools and organizational action

Abstract. CASE research to date has been dominated by positivistic enquiry; particularly tool building, surveys and normative writings. In contrast, there is a growing community of IS researchers developing models of IS practice that highlight the complex relationship between context and process that has to be mastered in order to develop viable information systems. This paper bridges the gap between the two bodies of knowledge by presenting a phenomenological study of CASE tool usage in a large UK manufacturing company over a four year period which shows that organizational context, tool features and usage are inextricably linked. The lessons arising from the work are presented and grounded in interpretive IS theory. The results of the work are clearly in accord with this theory, thus, showing the importance of interpretive CASE research, as a complement to positivist thinking, in bringing to light the human and organizational issues which strongly influence systems development practice