A theoretical perspective on social agency

In interacting with artificial social agents, novel forms of sociality between humans and machines emerge. The theme of Social Agency between humans and robots is of emerging importance. In this paper key theoretical issues are discussed in a preliminary exploration of the concept. We try to understand what Social Agency is and how it is created by, negotiated with, and attributed to artificial agents. This is done in particular considering socially situated robots and by exploring how people recognize and accept social agents. The interplay between humans and agents is investigated through dynamics of interpretation, signification and attribution. The ultimate goal of this research is to explore the challenges and opportunities brought by the design of socially intelligent agents.

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Software agents and agency: A personal information management perspective

This paper considers the concept of agency and the applications of software agents within the field of Personal Information Management (PIM). PIM addresses the complex activities undertaken by individuals when organising their personal information. In the context of Personal Information Management, effective software agents may allow users to obtain information relevant to their tasks, and present it in a form that is directly targeted to the needs of the user.This paper concentrates on the notion of agency and its direct application to PIM tasks. A user-driven approach to the design of agent-based systems is presented. We argue that agent systems will only be successful if both usersand their tasks act as the bases for the design of such systems. An example task domain (searching the World-Wide Web) is introduced and a taxonomy of Web agents for the domain is discussed. Technical issues raised during the preliminary implementation of Web agents are also introduced.     

Poverty alleviation through government‐led e‐commerce development in rural China: An activity theory perspective

This paper uses activity theoretic analyses to investigate the role of governments in developing rural e‐commerce ecosystems and the effects of such ecosystems on poverty alleviation. On the basis of a case study of Longnan, one of the poorest regions in China, this paper reports and analyses the various actions taken by local governments in nurturing, supporting, and regulating the development of a local rural e‐commerce ecosystem and using this ecosystem to transform poverty alleviation. Our study articulates a model of poverty alleviation through e‐commerce. By documenting and theorizing the mechanisms underlying rural e‐commerce development and poverty alleviation through e‐commerce as well as governments' role in developing and sustaining them, this paper contributes to establishing a “theory of the solution” to the grand challenge of poverty alleviation both in China and globally.     

Interpolation in the eXtended Classifier System: An architectural perspective

Machine Learning techniques constitute a key factor to make Organic Computing (OC) systems self-adaptive and self-reconfigurable at runtime. OC systems are therefore equipped with a so-called self-learning property enabling them to react appropriately when the environmental demands change and the system is faced possibly unforeseen situations. The eXtended Classifier System (XCS) is a rule-based evolutionary online learning system that has gained plenty attention in the research field of Genetic-based Machine Learning in general and within the OC initiative in particular. In this article, the XCS system is structurally extended to incorporate numerical interpolation. With the presented approaches we pursue the overall goal to overcome the challenge of sparsely distributed samples in the problem space resulting from e.g., non-uniform data distributions. A novel Interpolation Component (IC) is introduced and two architectural integration approaches are discussed. We elaborate on three strategies to integrate interpolated values into various algorithmic steps of XCS. The potential of incorporating interpolation techniques is underpinned by an evaluation on a rather challenging theoretical classification task, called the checkerboard problem.     

The impact of legitimacy-based motives on IS adoption success: An institutional theory perspective

Firms frequently adopt new information systems (IS). To better understand IS adoption, research has been focused on motives for an IS adoption. In this study, three legitimacy-based motives (coercive, mimetic, and normative pressure) are examined for their impact on two success determinants (i.e., project management approach and team competence) and the subsequent impact of the success determinants on IS adoption success. In a quantitative study of Australian firms, we found that coercive pressure and normative pressure influence the project management approach, whereas mimetic pressure influences team competence. Both the project management approach and team competence in turn influence IS adoption success.     

Knowledge management perspective on e-learning effectiveness

The synergies, functional effectiveness and integration of KM within an e-learning environment have attracted little interest for serious research, despite the overarching importance of knowledge acquisition by students for fostering their innovation and creativity. Learners often fail to reach their desired learning objects due to the failure of indexing methods to provide them with a ubiquitous learning grid. The aim of this paper is to discuss how knowledge management can be used effectively in e-learning, and how it can provide a learning grid to enable the learner to identify the right learning objects in an environment which is based on the learner’s context and personal preferences.     

Social relationships and information dissemination in virtual social network systems: An attachment theory perspective

Web-based communication via social networking sites has become an integral method of communication, raising the question of whether the well-established Attachment Theory remains applicable to modern relationships. This communication shift is also likely to affect the information dissemination dynamic; i.e., how internal attachment working models relate to virtual modes of communication. Three studies (354 participants in total, median age 27) examined the applicability of Attachment Theory to web-based social network communications. Using self- report measures (Study 1) and an experimental simulation (Study 2), the results indicate that attachment security level predicts an individual’s number of social ties and willingness to initiate web-based relationships. Secure individuals emerged as best situated to become social hubs. Study 3 reveals that a decrease in avoidance scores predicts an increased willingness to deliver information to others. Anxious participants exhibited less willingness to deliver highly threatening information but more willingness to deliver neutral information to others.These findings support the applicability of attachment internal working models to predicting web-based social network communication, and suggest that Attachment Theory can be a predictor of the dynamics of web-based dissemination of information.     

An empirical study of the effectiveness of multimedia disclosure of informed consent: A technology mediated learning perspective

Informed consent is a term used to describe communications between physicians and their patients; it gives rise to important ethical and legal implications. We explored how multimedia-mediated disclosure of informed consent prior to surgery influenced the learning process and learning outcomes of patients.A total of 107 samples were obtained from patients with degenerative knee arthritis. Our research indicated that multimedia-mediated disclosure outperformed other more traditional method in that it enhanced learning, interest, remembering, comprehension, and satisfaction. Also learning motivation and interest were positively and strongly correlated with perceived comprehension and satisfaction. Furthermore, learning interest was more influential in improving the process than was learning motivation.     

An empirical investigation of end-users’ switching toward cloud computing: A two factor theory perspective

With the diffusion of cloud services, they are becoming an alternative to traditional information technology (IT). Despite the importance of cloud services, relatively few studies have been devoted to an empirical examination of the switching behavior from traditional IT to cloud services at the individual level. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the switching factors (i.e. switching enablers and switching inhibitors) and to empirically examine the relationships between those and users’ intention to switch to cloud services, based on the two-factor theoretic perspective. This study uses a longitudinal design to get survey data from undergraduate students at two universities in Korea in the context of IT switching to Google Apps settings. According to our findings, this study found that users’ switching intention to cloud services was not only positively influenced by expected switching benefits whose antecedents are omnipresence of cloud services and collaboration support, but also negatively influenced by expected switching costs whose antecedents are satisfaction with incumbent IT and breath use of inclement IT. The impacts of switching benefits and costs on switching intention were also positively moderated by end users’ personal innovativeness.     

A moderated mediation model linking entrepreneurial leadership to green innovation: An upper echelons theory perspective

Despite the dominant discourses on the important role of entrepreneurial leadership in firms' development, related theoretical and empirical studies are still lacking in the environmental management area. Adopting upper echelons theory, this study develops a moderated mediation model that examines how entrepreneurial leadership affects the adoption of green innovation (GI) through organizational learning culture and how environmental dynamism moderates the mediating effect. This theoretical model is tested using a sample of 248 Chinese firms. Findings support the positive impact of entrepreneurial leadership on GI and the mediating role of organizational learning culture. The moderated mediation path analysis shows that environmental dynamism moderates the indirect effect of entrepreneurial leadership on GI via organizational learning culture. Overall, this study adds to entrepreneurship and environmental management scholarship by providing novel insights into the key role of entrepreneurial leadership in embracing GI.     

A growth theory perspective on B2C e-commerce growth in Europe: An exploratory study

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) continue to have a profound effect on the economies and societies where they are used. In this article, we propose three related theories to describe the underlying mechanism for growth in e-commerce revenues at the national level. Endogenous growth theory posits that the primary drivers of e-commerce growth are internal to a country. Exogenous growth theory suggests that the primary drivers of e-commerce growth are external to an economic system, and reflect the forces of the regional economy. A blend of these, a mixed endogenous–exogenous growth theory, incorporates drivers from both the economy and the region of a country. We test a number of hypotheses about e-commerce growth in the context of these theories. The key variables include Internet penetration, telecommunication investment intensity, venture capital and credit card availability, and education level. The data are drawn from 17 European countries over a five-year period from 2000 to 2004, and are analyzed using panel data regression with robust error terms, a variant of weighted least squares. The results show the differential efficacy of internal and external drivers as endogenous and exogenous precursors of e-commerce growth across the countries for a number of different modeling specifications. We conclude with a discussion of alternative approaches to model e-commerce growth in a country. The results also suggest the appropriateness of exploring models of regional contagion for e-commerce growth.     

The effectiveness of office information systems: a social action perspective

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to show that a number of basic issues have not been adequately addressed in existing office information systems research. Prominent among these are the nature and role of offices, the goals of office information systems development, and the nature of its organizational and managerial consequences. It is proposed that office information systems should be analysed as social action systems the behaviour of which is strongly affected by socially determined forces and constraints such as the behaviour-channelling influences of authority, norms, customs, habits and precedence. Four types of social action are discussed: instrumental, strategic, communicative and discursive. Three contexts for perceiving and analysing the effects of social action in offices are introduced: technology, language and organization. Office information systems changes affect elements and relationships in these three contexts in different ways. By cross-relating social action types and contexts, nine classes of object systems are identified. Each object system class implies a different category of effectiveness concerns which in turn implies different office information system design requirements. The paper notes that the existing research literature has primarily been concerned with only three of the nine object systems. For more effective office information systems development, however, the other systems also need to be considered. The paper concludes by exploring how this may be done.     

Information technology development: A management perspective

The opportunities of the information age present a real challenge to business management today. To meet this challenge, and to realize the true benefits of information technology, management must get involved and provide leadership in defining the business direction for an enterprise. It is through this involvement that the enterprise can apply technology to make the maximum impact on how business is conducted.Major information system development projects at General Dynamics Fort Worth will impact the way product definition data is managed and provide an example of how information technology can change the way we do business.This article was originally published by American Society of Mechanical Engineers.     

An empirical development of critical value factors (CVF) of online learning activities: An application of activity theory and cognitive value theory

According to activity theory, activities are at the center of human behavior. Extensive attention has been given in literature to the success and effectiveness of online learning programs. Value theory suggests that human perceived value is a critical construct in investigating what is important to individuals. However, very limited attention has been given in literature to the role of users’ perceived value of learning activities in educational settings. Scholars suggest that additional studies on learning activities are needed in order to progress the current knowledge of the use of information systems in education. Therefore, this study investigated issues related to learners’ perceived value by uncovering the critical value factors (CVFs) of online learning activities. Participants in this study included 209 graduate students attending an online learning program. This study extended the first phase done in a prior research to uncover the CVFs of online learning activities. Results of this research study produced five reliable CVFs: (a) collaborative, social, and passive learning activities; (b) formal communication activities; (c) formal learning activities; (d) logistic activities; and (e) printing activities.     

An empirical development of critical value factors (CVF) of online learning activities: An application of activity theory and cognitive value theory

According to activity theory, activities are at the center of human behavior. Extensive attention has been given in literature to the success and effectiveness of online learning programs. Value theory suggests that human perceived value is a critical construct in investigating what is important to individuals. However, very limited attention has been given in literature to the role of users’ perceived value of learning activities in educational settings. Scholars suggest that additional studies on learning activities are needed in order to progress the current knowledge of the use of information systems in education. Therefore, this study investigated issues related to learners’ perceived value by uncovering the critical value factors (CVFs) of online learning activities. Participants in this study included 209 graduate students attending an online learning program. This study extended the first phase done in a prior research to uncover the CVFs of online learning activities. Results of this research study produced five reliable CVFs: (a) collaborative, social, and passive learning activities; (b) formal communication activities; (c) formal learning activities; (d) logistic activities; and (e) printing activities.     

ICT for development in the context of the closure of Chernobyl nuclear power plant: an activity theory perspective

This paper provides an analysis of a broadband implementation in the town of Slavutych, Ukraine. Slavutych was purposefully built 50 km from Chernobyl shortly after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) disaster in 1986 to house personnel of ChNPP and their families evacuated from the city of Prip'yat. Drawing on activity theory, and in particular the notion of activity systems, we demonstrate how an activity system approach can be used to frame Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) intervention. We highlight the tools used to mediate the activity, the activity motivation and the relevant stakeholders and examine the role of ‘contradictions’. Using the notion of connected activities, we also provide some theoretical basis for understanding the emergence of activities and conceptualising the impact of development projects, arguing that the outcome of an activity leads to/is consumed by other related activities. This paper contributes to scholarship in the field of ICTD using an empirical case in a complex setting and furthers theoretical development by advancing an activity system perspective for understanding and theorising ICTD interventions.     

Formalized systems development methodologies: a critical perspective

Systems development issues occupy a position of central importance in the information systems field and much has been prescribed in the quest for successful systems development. However, given the well-documented 'software crisis', success is far from guaranteed for systems development projects. Many researchers see the solution to the software crisis in terms of increased control and the more widespread adoption of rigorous and formalized system development methodologies. This paper presents some arguments and pressures which support the use of methodologies and some evidence of the literature bias which favours methodologies is provided. However the problems associated with the use of methodologies have not perhaps received as much attention in previous research. This paper identifies a number of arguments and pressures which question the value of methodologies, and reports the results of a field study which investigated the role of methodologies in practice. The critical perspective adopted throughout shows that, contrary to the predominant view in literature, the assumption that increased adoption of methodologies addresses the problems inherent in systems development is by no means proven.     

Self-disclosure in Chinese micro-blogging: A social exchange theory perspective

This paper examines the influence of social benefits and costs on self-disclosure in the context of micro-blogging in China. Data were collected from 441 micro-blogging users, employing an online survey. Self-disclosure is measured in terms of amount, depth, honesty, intent, and valence of disclosure. The study found that relationship building, enjoyment and trust in service providers are positively related to self-disclosure, while perceived anonymity of self and perceived risk are negatively related to self-disclosure. However, convenience of relationship maintenance and self-presentation are not related to self-disclosure.     

Investigating software process in practice: A grounded theory perspective

This paper presents the results of a study of how software process and software process improvement (SPI) is applied in actual practice in the software industry using the indigenous Irish software product industry as a test-bed. The study used the grounded theory methodology to produce a theory, grounded in the field data, that explains how software processes are formed and evolve and when and why SPI is undertaken. Our research found that SPI programmes are implemented reactively and many software managers are reluctant to implement SPI best practice models because of the associated costs.