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.     

Social systems that marginalize the psychological and organizational aspects of information technology

This polemical paper is concerned with identifying the factors which serve to marginalize the psychological and organizational aspects of the development, implementation and use of information technology. Five sets of factors are delineated, those associated with: end-users; suppliers, 'experts' and the development process; management and organizations; research and development; and education and understanding. The analysis points to the presence of a complex, mutually reinforcing set of social systems acting to marginalize psychological and organizational concerns, and helps explain the massive difficulties in achieving change. It also reveals that psychological and organizational expertise tends to be supply-pushed rather than demand-pulled into the community. This may help explain why many working in this field fail to practise the user-centred approaches that we preach.     

组织需求假设与信息系统的组织角色

本文区分了与信息系统开发相关联的两种基本假设,即信息需求假设和组织需求假设,分析了信息系统的组织角色,进一步提出了三种组织需求分析观点：技术观点、社会－技术观点和社会观点,并指出了这些观点在信息系统理论研究和开发实践中的重要性     

Chaos theory as a model for interpreting information systems in organizations

Abstract.  Chaos theory concerns the qualitative study of unstable aperiodic behaviour in deterministic non-linear dynamical systems. Concepts from chaos theory have recently been applied as a model for interpreting organizational change and understanding organizational behaviour. This paper applies these concepts to the study of information systems in organizations. Key concepts from chaos theory are identified and used to develop an interpretive framework. The importance of understanding the initial conditions when an information systems strategy is developed or an information system is implemented is highlighted. The idea of strange attractors, patterns of behaviours of information systems, organizations and actors, which are repeated is developed, and the effect of internal and external events and choices is considered. These chaos theory concepts are applied to a case study of information systems strategy implementation in the UK probation service. It is concluded that concepts from chaos theory offer valuable support in developing a coherent and meaningful story concerning interactions between information systems and their host organizations.     

Social systems that marginalize the psychological and organizational aspects of information technology

Abstract

This polemical paper is concerned with identifying the factors which serve to marginalize the psychological and organizational aspects of the development, implementation and use of information technology. Five sets of factors are delineated, those associated with: end-users; suppliers, ‘experts’ and the development process; management and organizations; research and development; and education and understanding. The analysis points to the presence of a complex, mutually reinforcing set of social systems acting to marginalize psychological and organizational concerns, and helps explain the massive difficulties in achieving change. It also reveals that psychological and organizational expertise tends to be supply-pushed rather than demand-pulled into the community. This may help explain why many working in this field fail to practise the user-centred approaches that we preach.     

Qualitative research: meanings or practices?

With information systems (IS), as in other social sciences, the critique of quantitative research can lead to an oversimplified opposition between 'positivism' and 'interpretivism'. This is one reason why qualitative IS research sometimes unnecessarily limits itself to the study of participants' meanings. A simple tabulation of published qualitative research is used to reveal the predominance of interview-based studies in both sociology and IS. This is followed by a brief account of the limits of both quantitative studies of 'objective' variables and qualitative studies of 'subjective meanings'. The emerging case for IS research on organizational practices is set out, coupled with an account of Suchman's (1987) study of how workers make use of a computer-based system attached to a photocopier. The paper concludes with a call for an end to paradigm wars in organizational studies.     

Narrowing the age-based digital divide: Developing digital capability through social activities

Healthcare information technologies (HIT) have shown great potential for improving the effectiveness and quality of healthcare services. However, the inequal ability of older adults to use HIT may limit their exploitation of these benefits. To narrow the age-based “digital divide”, this research further develops the concept of digital capability and emphasises the link between older adults and their social context. Based on a qualitative inductive study of 33 participants, who included Chinese patients and their family members, we generate a novel theoretical model for understanding the process by which social activities may shape older adults' digital capabilities. Based on the model, we suggest two strategies that might encourage older adults to engage with HIT. This research contributes to the information systems (IS) literature by strengthening digital capability as a conceptual lens to investigate individuals' engagement with information communication technologies (ICTs). It also extends research on the social context for ICT use by revealing how social processes at multiple levels influence digital capability development. Finally, this study offers practical implications for governments and private sectors to encourage and promote ICT use by older adults.     

Information systems strategy formation and implementation: The case of a central government agency

This paper describes an interpretive case study of the processes of strategy formation and implementation for three computer-based information systems developed by a central government agency in a Third World country and aimed at the monitoring and control of development projects in the country. Technical implementation of the first two systems was achieved, but there was little emphasis on organizational implementation and the systems were largely ineffective in use; the third system may suffer a similar fate. The systems reflected symbolic concern of the political centre for development activities at the local level, and can be considered to have reproduced the dominance of the centre, at the cost of system effectiveness. The theoretical framework for the case study was based on structuration theory, which was used both to guide field research and as a method of analysis of the field data. The theory provides a subtle way of linking social action and social structure in connection with computer-based IS, in terms of aspects of meaning, power relations, and values.     

Organizational identity and information systems: how organizational ICT reflect who an organization is

The work reported here contributes to our understanding of organizational identity regarding its influence on organizational action related to the development of information and communications technologies (ICT). The empirical basis of this work comes from case studies of integrated criminal justice information systems (IJIS). IJIS are organizational and technological ensembles created to facilitate inter-organizational information sharing among criminal justice agencies. The focus of these case studies was to examine how organizational identity shapes organizational ICT. This research found that organizational identity shapes an organization’s ICT-related processes and is reflected in the material configurations of an organization’s ICT; and that organizations with different identities exhibit those differences in their ICT. Three implications of this research are that organizational identity serves as both an enabler and constraint on organizational ICT development; organizational identity commitments will likely serve as a barrier to large-scale integration of different organizations’ systems; organizational identity is relatively static and difficult to change.     

Who are the users? Who are the developers? Webs of users and developers in the development process of a technical standard

The paper presents an empirical study of user involvement in developing a technical standard for a scientific community's information system project. The case illustrates how multiple perspectives are involved when considering the user role in practice. The case presents a situation where both developers and users were pre‐defined in the design and development phases of the standard as homogeneous groups of actors. Groups of actors changed to become more heterogeneous and ‘fluid’ in the deployment and implementation phases, thus forming ‘webs of developers’ and ‘webs of users’. Detailed analysis of the process in its entirety shows the blurredness of boundaries between ‘developer’ and ‘user’ categories and roles, and reveals challenges at social and organizational levels. Three models pertaining to the system development process are presented in order to illuminate differing perspectives on the user and on the development process itself. The paper draws theoretically from information systems, social informatics, and science and technology studies. The research contributes to a deeper, interdisciplinary understanding of ‘the’ user, of multiple roles in systems development, and of dynamic sets of user–developer relations.     

Representation of qualitative user preference by quantitativebelief functions

Many intelligent systems employ numeric degrees of belief supplied by the users to make decisions. However, the users may have difficulties in expressing their belief in terms of numeric values. The authors present a method for generating belief functions from symbolic information such as the qualitative preference relationships. The method of generating belief functions provides a practical interface between the users and a decision support system. It can be argued that the ability to generate numeric judgments with nonnumeric inputs is essential in the development of approximate reasoning systems. The proposed method can provide an important component for these systems by transforming qualitative information into quantitative information     

An integrated biophysical and socio-economic framework for analysis of climate change adaptation strategies: The case of a New Zealand dairy farming system

The development of effective climate change adaptation strategies for complex, adaptive socio-ecological systems such as farming systems, requires an in-depth understanding of both the dynamic nature of the systems themselves and the changing environment in which they operate.To date, adaptation studies in the New Zealand dairy sector have been either bottom-up, qualitative social research with farmers and communities, or top-down, quantitative biophysical modelling. Each of these approaches has clear benefits as well as significant limitations. This review considers concepts and approaches that support the potential for different disciplines to complement each other in developing a more in-depth understanding of farming systems and their adaptive potential. For this purpose, a Mixed Methods Framework is presented, using examples from a pilot study of a New Zealand dairy farm to illustrate the complementarities between the two current approaches.By presenting this methodology in a specific context, the review provides the theoretical basis for a practical way to integrate quantitative and qualitative research for climate change adaptation research.     

Goal Setting and Trust in a Security Management Context

ABSTRACT

Information security can be viewed as the efficient control of uncertainty arising from malicious acts intended to exploit valuable assets and in the context of information systems the valuable assets under consideration are data. A large part of information security approaches is technical in nature with less consideration on people and organizational issues. The research presented in this paper adopts a broader perspective and presents an understanding of information security in terms of a socio-organizational perspective. In doing so, it uses the goal-setting approach to identify any possible weaknesses in security management procedures in relation to trust among the members of information technology groups in communicating efficiently security risk messages. Data for the research were collected through in-depth interviews within three case studies. Interview results suggest that goal setting and trust are interrelated in managing information security. The research contributes to interpretive information systems with the study of goal setting and trust in a security management context.     

Case study research: a multi-faceted research approach for IS

Abstract. A wide variety of approaches can be applied under the heading of case study research; this paper explicitly discusses the range of the alternatives. Many papers discussing case study research emphasize one particular variation of case study research only. The current paper provides an overview of the various uses of case study research in the information systems field by describing the different ways in which case study research can be used, using examples from published IS literature for illustration, and providing references to other method papers for more detailed discussion of each alternative. Researchers are reminded that case study research can be used in the positivist and interpretivist traditions, for testing or building theory, with a single or multiple case study design, using qualitative or mixed methods. The range of case study research alternatives makes it a highly versatile research strategy for IS     

Empirical Measurement of the Effects of Cultural Diversity on Software Quality Management

The difficulties of achieving social acceptance for Software Quality Management systems have been underestimated in the past, and they will be exacerbated in the future by the globalization of the software market and the increasing use of cross-cultural development teams within multinational companies. Management that can take account of the cultural context of their endeavours will improve understanding, minimize risk and ensure a higher degree of success in improvement programs within the software industry.This paper addresses cross-cultural issues in Software Quality Management. Qualitative and quantitative research was carried out in five European countries by using a postal questionnaire. Empirical measures of organizational culture, national culture and their interdependence, are presented together with interim instruments developed for the purpose of classifying organizations. Verification of the statistical results from the survey was carried out by triangulation, which included qualitative research methods in the form of interviews and observation. Cultural factors, which may have bearing on successful adoption and implementation of Software Quality Management were identified, and an assessment model, has been developed for use by organizations developing software in different parts of the world. The intention is that the recommendations following from the assessment will lead to greater cultural awareness in addressing quality, and will provide stimulus for improvement. The model's aims is to predict to what degree there is a fit between the organizational and the national culture, and to give recommendations and guidelines for software process improvement.     

Can ICT enhance workplace inclusion? ICT-enabled workplace inclusion practices and a new agenda for inclusion research in Information Systems

Workplace inclusion is a strategic concern for organizations, yet challenging to achieve. We investigate how Information and Communications Technology (ICT) use can enhance workplace inclusion. Based on qualitative data collected from a leading UK organization, we conceptualize four ICT-enabled workplace inclusion practices – Expanding, Orienting, Enculturating, and Reflecting. Each practice entails the use of multiple ICT applications to enhance workplace inclusion through a distinct set of organizational activities. We also highlight the Reflecting practice as key in enhancing other practices. Drawing from our findings, we develop a framework for ICT-enabled workplace inclusion that constitutes inter-related ICT-enabled practices focused on multiple organizational activities. We contribute to the literature on the strategic role of ICT for organizational/social good, a current area of research priority for the information systems discipline.     

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.     

The wisdom nexus: Guiding information systems research,practice, and education

“Wisdom” has been at the heart of practical, philosophical, and spiritual disciplines since antiquity and is now increasingly receiving organizational as well as academic attention in scholarly areas that include psychology and organizational studies among others. However, practical wisdom has not received adequate focus in the information systems (IS) discipline. In this commentary, we make the case for a systemic focus on the role of wisdom in IS research, teaching, and practice. We introduce underlying theoretical concepts of wisdom; review relevant key research linking wisdom and IS; propose a framework to link wisdom with IS research, practice, and education; and discuss the implications of the framework and illustrate how it can be used to generate research opportunities for IS. We conclude that wisdom, whose goal is the common good, can provide a foundation to discover, view, understand, and resolve myriad issues that lie at the nexus of wisdom and information technologies.     

Multi-metaphor method: organizational metaphors in information systems development

Abstract.  Conventional methods have been criticized for their positivist philosophy and for either ignoring the organizational context of information systems development (ISD) or using only a simplistic, machine-based conceptual model of organizations. We have developed an approach to enable systems developers to use a richer view of organizations and a more interpretive approach. Multi-Metaphor Method (MMM) supports developers via a range of metaphors as cognitive structuring devices to understand an organization so that developers can learn to move between different ways of 'reading' the social context in which ISD occurs. We explain the rationale and theoretical underpinnings of MMM and then discuss our action research to investigate the viability and relevance of MMM during ISD practice. We show how the developers' use of organizational metaphors via MMM did not just enable rich conceptualizations of the client organizations but also influenced the ISD process and final product. We review the learning outcomes and discuss the implications for systems development practice of our research.