Strategies for global information systems development

Developing global information systems is a formidable task. Multinational companies operate in regions that are thousands of miles, many time zones, and many cultures away from headquarters. Organizing the activities and aligning the tasks and mindsets of people that are so far apart and to change the way that business is conducted through the use of IS is a major challenge. This study discusses alternative global IS development strategies and the factors that impact their selection. Four systems from a large transportation company are presented as real life examples to demonstrate the viability of these strategies and the accompanying factors.     

Social interactions of information systems development teams: a performance perspective

We report results from a longitudinal study of information systems development (ISD) teams. We use data drawn from 60 ISD teams at 22 sites of 15 Fortune 500 organizations to explore variations in performance relative to these teams' social interactions. To do this, we characterize ISD as a form of new product development and focus on team-level social interactions with external stakeholders. Drawing on cluster analysis, we identify five patterns of team-level social interactions and the relationships of these patterns to a suite of objective and subjective measures of ISD performance. Analysis leads us to report three findings. First, data indicate that no one of the five identified patterns maximizes all performance measures. Second, data make clear that the most common approach to ISD is the least effective relative to our suite of performance measures. Third, data from this study show that early indications of ISD project success do not predict actual outcomes. These findings suggest two issues for research and practice. First, these findings indicate that varying patterns of social interactions lead to differences in ISD team performance. Second, the findings illustrate that singular measures of ISD performance are an oversimplification and that multiple measures of ISD performance are unlikely to agree.     

GDISD团队动态协作信任演化过程研究

异地分布式信息系统开发(GDISD)团队间协作关系是动态发展的,根据组织间信任演进理论,分析分布式开发团队协作关系的发展过程,构建GDISD团队动态协作信任演进的理论模型.从生态学种群增长的视角,运用logistic方程对GDISD团队协作信任演化进行数理分析,使用Jacobi矩阵对方程改进,通过仿真对演化模型进行模拟分析.研究发现,GDISD团队形成与建立的初期,协作方自身信任度的建立对协作信任的发展具有积极作用,并且对信任度的感知积极影射给对方,会加速GDISD团队协作信任的动态演化.研究结果对于分布式团队的管理具有显著的意义.     

Implementing information systems with project teams using ethnographic-action research

Architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) projects are characterized by a large variation in requirements and work routines. Therefore, it is difficult to develop and implement information systems to support projects. To address these challenges, this paper presents a project-centric research and development methodology that combines ethnographic observation of practitioners working in local project organizations to understand their local requirements and the iterative improvement of information systems directly on projects in small action research implementation cycles. The paper shows the practical feasibility of the theoretical methodology using cases from AEC projects in North America and Europe. The cases provide evidence that ethnographic-action research is well suited to support the development and implementation of information systems. In particular, the paper shows that the method enabled researchers on the cases to identify specific problems on AEC projects and, additionally, helped these researchers to adapt information systems accordingly in close collaboration with the practitioners working on these projects.     

Capital budgeting in information systems development

The results of an empirical study on the current usage of capital budgeting techniques for evaluating, terminating, and auditing information system investments are presented. Findings based on 134 senior MIS personnel and management executives indicate that capital budgeting has little impact on IS investment, and simple techniques such as payback period and cost benefit ratio are preferred over more sophisticated discount cash-flow models. Problems with cost and return estimations are shown to be the key factors that limit their use. It is suggested that the decision authority varies according to the project value and the type of decisions being undertaken.     

Learning failure in information systems development

Abstract. Abstract. Information systems development is a high-risk undertaking, and failures remain common despite advances in development tools and technologies. In this paper, we argue that one reason for this is the collapse of organizational intelligence required to deal with the complexities of systems development. Organizations fail to learn from their experience in systems development because of limits of organizational intelligence, disincentives for learning, organizational designs and educational barriers. Not only have many organizations failed to learn, but they have also learned to fail. Over time they accept and expect poor performance while creating organizational myths that perpetuate short-term optimization. This paper illustrates learning failure in systems development and recommends tactics for overcoming it.     

Action research in information systems development

Abstract. Action research is located within a spectrum of problem-solving activity that ranges from pure basic scientific research, the purpose of which is to add to knowledge, to human action designed to achieve a purpose without thought of contributing to knowledge. Action research both adds to knowledge and applies it in practice. Action research is particularly appropriate information systems development. A number of alternative methodologies for action research exist that make differing philosophical assumptions. A body of theory exists that enables a choice to be made among methodologies. This theory is useful in analysing information system problems.     

Intellectual capital and team resilience capability of information system development project teams

Adversities are inherent in the information system development (ISD) process and often put projects to a halt. However, it is unclear what capabilities the team needs to resist and bounce back from adverse events. The purpose of this study is to propose that team resilience capability (TRC), containing affective, cognitive, and behavioral factors is vital for effective project performance. Further, by adopting the conservation of resource perspective, we theorize that intellectual capital, including human capital, technology capital, and political capital fosters TRC. Survey data collected from 149 ISD project teams confirmed our ideas that TRC is strongly tied with project performance and is more affected by human capital, followed by political capital and technology capital.     

Towards client-led development of information systems

Abstract. With the incorporation of Information Technology into most areas of modern life, the methods used by the Computer System Analyst (CSA) needs to be reconsidered. To suppose Systems Analysis to be concerned solely with computing is to minimize the task as an information system is greater than a computer system. As such, the information system designer needs to be able to 'appreciate' the wider implications of a clients information needs. An argument is put forward that Information System Design should be undertaken by the client with the CSA acting as facilitator. This paper attempts to provide a re-appraisal of the CSA and arising from this re-appraisal, suggest that ideas originating from organizational analysis could be usefully embodied in the design process for Information Systems.     

Linking soft systems methodology with data-focused information systems development

Abstract. Where the soft systems methodology (SSM) is used in the development of organizational information systems a clear division exists between the use of SSM to identify what information systems are required and conventional development activities in which it is decided how those information systems will be supplied. Discussion of how SSM might be more closely linked to conventional information systems development methodologies has been concentrated upon process-focused approaches to information systems development. This has been partly due to a perceived mismatch between the underlying philosophies of SSM and the alternative data-focused development methodologies. This paper argues that this perception may be mistaken; not only do the existing forms of data analysis have a large though unacknowledged subjective component but the SSM concept of appreciation may provide a model of human sense-making that the data-focused approaches currently lack and from which they may benefit. The idea of appreciation also allows that an alternative, interpretative form of data analysis might be used within SSM. It is therefore the conclusion of this paper that some closer integration of SSM with data-focused approaches to information systems development is theoretically feasible and may be practically desirable. A number of possible advantages of such integration are described.     

Human and organizational issues in information systems development

The paper describes the first phase of a project funded in the UK by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Science and Engineering Research Council (Project I ED 1249). The paper reviews a number of systems development methods, examines the extent to which they incorporate consideration of a set of relevant human and organizational issues, and describes the findings of an exploratory study of the ways in which systems analysts work, including their use of methods.     

Individual attitude toward improvisation in information systems development

In the area of information systems development (ISD) the traditional approaches to developing innovative projects, which are historically characterised by top-down, meticulously planned procedures, may not allow the effective handling of the emergent and continuously evolving needs of users. This article investigates the role of improvisation in addressing the shortcomings of traditional approaches to ISD in the fulfilment of the user's need for the maximisation of IS effectiveness. Prior research on software engineering and human–computer interaction (HCI) has focused considerable attention on the need for a shift in the developer's attitude in dealing with contingencies departing from the original plan, while less emphasis has been placed on the factors that may augment the incidence of the attitude towards extemporaneous action (i.e. improvisation). In an attempt to fill this gap, we theoretically analyse the antecedents of individual attitude toward improvisation, grounding our theoretical framework on the ISD domain.     

Assessing information systems strategy development frameworks in SMEs

Information systems strategies (ISS) are generally believed to be of considerable benefit when planning information systems. The development of ISS is often performed in an ad hoc manner, though it may be undertaken with the support of frameworks. Some of these frameworks include the codification of existing practice, while others are the result of theory development. Some are tried and trusted, while other languish unused. This paper evaluates the usefulness of ISS frameworks in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises. The applicability of the frameworks to these organisations is assessed. The paper demonstrates that the assumptions upon which ISS development models are based may have limited applicability outside their original domain. Finally, a modified framework is proposed.     

Sociomateriality and boundary objects in information systems development

Information systems (IS) development is a complex organisational activity involving multiple stakeholders who interact with various artefacts in order to facilitate understanding and cooperation across diverse knowledge domains. A considerable body of work has analysed such artefacts as boundary objects, focusing on their interpretive flexibility across communities of practice. Increasing interest in the materiality of organisational practices directs attention to how such objects result from the performance of sociomaterial relations. This paper draws on these two strands of research to complement the analysis of project-related artefacts as boundary objects with a sociomaterial perspective on such objects and the practices within which they are constituted. The contribution of this combined approach is illustrated using the findings of a longitudinal case study of IS development. We trace the production and use of a prototype, the various people and practices with which it was associated, the multiple sociomaterial configurations that constituted it as a boundary object, and the social and material consequences of its use. The utilisation of sociomateriality as a theoretical lens enables us to further our understanding of how project-related artefacts act as boundary objects, and in doing so, constitute IS development as a sociomaterial practice.