Management Information Systems Commons^™

Genuinely Service-Oriented Enterprises: Using Work System Theory To See Beyond The Promise Of Efficient Software, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

The concept of service-oriented enterprise has great potential. Taken literally, however, it raises many issues, including practical difficulties of creating a service-oriented enterprise in the computer science sense and the huge leap from flexible IT infrastructure to an enterprise that is genuinely oriented toward providing services for customers and employees. This paper is a conceptual contribution showing how work system theory can help in seeing analysis and design issues beyond technical architectures that have dominated research to date. After summarizing background concepts related to service, service systems, and the vision of service-oriented enterprises, this paper explains how work system theory …

The Knowledge Cube: Scaffolding For A Body Of Knowledge About Information Systems, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper answers calls for a body of knowledge (BoK) for the IS field. Its new approach for thinking about a BoK provides a path for addressing a longstanding problem in the IS discipline. The paper proposes organizing knowledge as a three dimensional "knowledge cube" that goes beyond compilations of categories of knowledge, sets of generalizations, and sets of documents. The structure of the knowledge cube is based on recognition that "work system in general" is a general case whose subordinate cases include information system in general and project in general. In turn, the special cases have their own special …

A Work System Front End For Object-Oriented Analysis And Des, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper proposes that basic ideas from the work system theory (WST) and the work system method (WSM) might become a front end to object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD). After describing the background motivation and summarizing work system concepts, it uses a hiring system example to show how two tools from WSM can be used as a front end for OOAD, in effect, a step before creating use case diagrams. Potential benefits of this approach stem from a business-oriented question, "how can we improve this work system's performance," rather than an IT-oriented question, "how can we create an IT artifact …

Metamodel For Service Analysis And Design Based On An Operational View Of Service And Service Systems, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper presents a metamodel that addresses service system analysis and design based on an operational view of service that traverses and integrates three essential layers, service activities, service systems, and value constellations. The metamodel's service-in-operation perspective and underlying premises diverge from a view of service systems as systems of economic exchange that has appeared a number of times in the journal Service Science.

In addition to the metamodel itself, this paper's contributions include an explanation of eight premises on which it is based plus clarifications concerning concepts such as service, service system, customer, product/service, co-production and co-creation of value, …

Exploring The Temporal Nature Of Sociomateriality From A Work System Perspective, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper uses work system theory (WST) to explore the temporal nature of sociomateriality. It summarizes concepts related to WST and sociomateriality, and notes sociomaterial aspects of WST. It uses static and dynamic views of a work system toexamine six examples that can be classified in one of three time frames, minutes-to-hours, days-to-weeks, and months-to years. The result is a straightforward interpretation of systems and related events across all of the time frames, which exhibit different types of phenomena related to adaptations, workarounds, emergence of informal work patterns, and sequences of formal projects. After approaching sociomateriality from a perspective not …

The Impacts Of Personality Traits And Goal Commitment On Employees' Job Satisfaction, Wai Kwan (Elaine) Lau

Accounting Faculty Research

The present research investigates the effects of personality traits, such as self-efficacy and locus of control, on job satisfaction. It also examines the mediating impact of goal commitment on relationships between personality and job satisfaction. The results indicate that both self-efficacy and locus of control are positively associated with goal commitment. In addition, locus of control is found positively related to job satisfaction. However, self-efficacy does not have the same positive relationship with job satisfaction. The study further confirms the mediating effect of goal commitment on relationships between personality traits and job satisfaction.

Using The Work System Method With Freshman Information System Students, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

To date, the use of the work system method in information systems curricula has demonstrated that postgraduate students can benefit from this approach when examining a business situation involving an information system. To contrast the experiences of post-graduate students with work experiences, in this paper we report on use of a simplified version of the Work System Method in a freshman Information Systems course and study how students without work or technical knowl-edge performed when analyzing IT-reliant work systems in business settings. We reflect on an introductory information systems course that included a work system analysis assignment, and we examine …

Challenges For Service Science, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

Service science is still in a formative stage, with many basic ideas still in flux and significant disagreements about definitions and implications of basic concepts. This paper suggests directions for progress in relation to eight problematic areas within service science. It uses five typical medical services to question typical definitions of service and service system. It suggests that service science should not privilege servitizing over productizing; that a series of design dimensions whose end-points are often associated with products or with services are more useful than yes/no distinctions between products and services; that the concept of "the customer" should be …

Forensic Disciplines For Objective Global Strategic Analysis, Dale H. Shao, Lawrence P. Shao, Ralph E. Mckinney Jr.

Management Faculty Research

The global nature of investing requires a thorough analysis of the firm to determine the strategic viability of the firm for investment purposes. In addition, businesses are being held more accountable for the statements they make and the actions they take concerning their business. Several forensic disciplines have recently emerged that may supply subjective and objective data that can assist investors in making their final investment decisions and determining if ongoing businesses are truly doing what is in the best interest of their shareholders. Another factor influencing the increase forensic analyses of national and multinational corporations is the increase in …

The Information Technology Workforce: A Comparision Of Critical Skills Of Clients And Service Providers, Stephen Hawk, Kate M. Kaiser, Tim Goles, Christine V. Bullen

Business Faculty Publications

In this article the authors explore similarities and differences in skill needs of IT service providers and the firms that providers service (clients). The results show that providers and clients are more similar than different with regard to desired skills. Client firms emphasize technical skills for new hires more than providers do despite saying that these are the skills they would outsource to providers. The results have implications for organizations’ recruiting and retention, for individuals’ career development, and for educational programs.

Ancillary Service Capacity Optimization For Both Electric Power Suppliers And Independent System Operator, Lijian Chen, Dengfeng Sun, Guang Li

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

Ancillary Services (AS) in electric power industry are critical to support the transmission of energy from generators to load demands while maintaining reliable operation of transmission systems in accordance with good utility practice. The ancillary services are procured by the independent system operator (ISO) through a process called the market clearing process which can be modeled by the partial equilibrium from the ends of ISO. There are two capacity optimization problems for both Market participants (MP) and Independent System Operator (ISO). For a market participant, the firm needs to determine the capacity allocation plan for various AS to pursue operating …

Irish Cios’ Influence On Technology Innovation And It-Business Alignment, Harvey Enns, Joseph J. Mcdonagh

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

Technology is the driving force behind many of today’s new products, services, and cost-cutting measures. However, there are gaps in our understanding about how technological innovation is fostered and nurtured in organizations.

Part of the answer is to examine how Chief Information Officers (CIOs) exercise influence regarding technological innovation in organizations. This is particularly important since the CIO is the head of technology in organizations, an important source of technological innovation. This article draws on an established executive influence framework to demonstrate how Irish CIOs are able to solidify Information Technology’s (IT’s) contribution to technological innovation via relational means. Most …

Transformational Leadership In China: The Role Of Trust And Harmony, Wai Kwan (Elaine) Lau

Management Faculty Research

Transformational leadership attracted a significant amount of scholarly attention in the past few decades. This study is designed to develop an effective transformational leadership model that works in the Chinese context. A model is proposed to clarify the mediating effects of trust and harmony on the relationship between transformational leadership and its effectiveness. The model provides a new perspective on leadership in the Chinese context that is ignored in the Western leadership literature. It also offers a clearer understanding of how best transformational leadership practice combines with traditional Chinese wisdom to do a better job in accounting for the leader-follower …

A Linkedin Analysis Of Career Paths Of Information Systems Alumni, Thomas L. Case, Adrian Gardiner, Paige Rutner, John N. Dyer

Information Systems & Analytics: Faculty Publications

Information harvested from the LinkedIn profiles for 175 graduates of an Information Systems program at a mid-sized comprehensive university in the southeastern USA are summarized in this investigation. The current investigation was undertaken to examine the extent to which LinkedIn profiles are able to provide a more realistic picture of entry-level jobs held by program alumni and subsequent career progress. Additionally, our results suggest that LinkedIn profiles can help answer questions such as: what jobs do IS graduates get, what does the career of an IS professional typically look like, and can IS graduates successfully transition from technical to managerial …

Use Of Visualization In Digital Financial Reporting: The Effect Of Sparkline, Priyanka Meharia

Theses and Dissertations--Business Administration

Information visualization (InfoViz) is an essential component of decision support systems (DSS). Sparklines is a visualization tool. This study examines if Sparklines in digital financial reports aids novice investors and if so under what circumstances? Does it enhances decision-making performance and facilitates effective decision-making experience? Additionally, does it lowers decision making effort; reduces dilution effect from non-relevant data in financial reports and mitigates recency bias in using digital financial reports?

The hypothesis is guided by the theory of Proximity Compatibility Principle and the Theory of Cognitive Fit. The research methodology for this study is a repeated measure, controlled laboratory based …

Simulating School Closure Policies For Cost Effective Pandemic Decision Making, Ozgur M. Araz, Paul Damien, David A. Paltiel, Sean Burke, Bryce Van De Geijn, Alison Galvani, Lauren Ancel Meyers

Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics: Faculty Publications

Background: Around the globe, school closures were used sporadically to mitigate the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. However, such closures can detrimentally impact economic and social life.

Methods: Here, we couple a decision analytic approach with a mathematical model of influenza transmission to estimate the impact of school closures in terms of epidemiological and cost effectiveness. Our method assumes that the transmissibility and the severity of the disease are uncertain, and evaluates several closure and reopening strategies that cover a range of thresholds in school-aged prevalence (SAP) and closure durations.

Results: Assuming a willingness to pay per quality adjusted life-year (QALY) …

The Role Of Leadership In Facilitating The Performance Of Dispersed Teamwork, Jaime Beth Newell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A mature body of research on leadership has investigated the impact of a variety of leadership behaviors and styles on team performance. This corpus of work is built on an assumption that team leaders can motivate, direct, and monitor teams by way of sustained, personal contact with team members. However, this assumption is being challenged by recent advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs). Use of ICTs has altered traditional team-based structures, enabling organizations to employ teams composed of members who are dispersed across geographic boundaries, while severing the direct, personal ties leaders have to team members. Recent reviews of …

Transformational Leadership And Workplace Injury And Absenteeism: Analysis Of A National Nursing Assistant Survey, Doohee Lee, Alberto Coustasse, Andrew Sikula Sr.

Management Faculty Research

Background: Transformational leadership (TL) has long been popular among management scholars and health services researchers, but no research studies have empirically tested the association of TL with workplace injuries and absenteeism among nursing assistants (NAs).

Purpose: This cross-sectional study seeks to explore whether TL is associated with workplace injuries and absenteeism among NAs.

Methodology: We analyzed the 2004 National Nursing Assistant Survey data (n = 2,882). A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to test the role of TL in the context of workplace performances.

Principal Findings: Results reveal that the TL model was positively linked to workplace injury …

Adoption Of Cloud Computing Services In Malaysia : A Quantitative Study Using Technology Acceptance Model And Innovation Diffusion Theory., Izleen Rahayu Ab Rahman

Student Works (2010-2019)

In today’s IT world, organizations as well as individuals have choices in adopting IT in their day-to-day individual as well as business requirements. Cloud Computing, is one of the latest phenomena that arises from sharing of resources and consolidation and standardization of resources in a centralized facilities. The sharing of the resources gives various advantages to the users to start its usage as convenient as no start-up CAPEX investment. This proposed research will contribute to a new knowledge, especially in identifying the relationship between factors that determine ones decision in adopting cloud computing among Malaysian internet users. This underlying research …

2011 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

Critical Factors Affecting Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation Success., Shahin Dezdar

Student Works (2010-2019)

Implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in a company can bring many benefits. However, ERP implementations have been high spending projects with low success rates. International ERP vendors are now trying to extend their market to companies in developing countries. However, little research has been conducted on ERP implementation in developing countries. So, understanding the critical success factors (CSFs) involved in ERP implementation would be of benefit to implementing companies and ERP software vendors. Thus, this research developed and empirically tested a model for ERP implementation success in the context of a developing country, namely Iran. A survey questionnaire …

Making A Science Of Service Systems Practical: Seeking Usefulness And Understandability While Avoiding Unnecessary Assumptions And Restrictions, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This book’s theme is “The Science of Service Systems,” yet there is substantial question about whether the definition and nature of service systems have been articulated adequately. This paper examines definitions of service and service system that could frame or otherwise influence future developments in service science and could have implications for what should and should not be included within service science. It argues that the initial development of service science should use straightforward definitions that are understandable, useful, broadly applicable, and teachable. It proposes a definition of service system that is different from the definition proposed in this book’s …

Extending A Systems Analysis Method For Business Professionals, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

Despite having been explored, described, theorized, and measured in hundreds of IS research articles, frequent difficulties related to user participation and business/IT communication persist in relation to project management, specification of requirements, implementation in organizations, business/IT alignment, and IS failures. We report on an extension of a long term design sci-ence research project that previously demonstrated a possible path toward ad-dressing these longstanding problems by empowering business professionals to analyze systems in business terms rather than in formalisms for IT specialists. Previous research demonstrated that most of 75 working business professionals with extensive business experience were able to use the …

Using Work System Theory To Achieve Greater Business Value From Erp By Exploring Alternative Design Spaces, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper explains how various aspects of work system theory (WST) can be applied to achieve greater business value from ERP by assuming that the underlying "design spaces" encompass much more than the features, configuration, and limitations of ERP software. It uses WST concepts to identify directions for achieving business value that might not be considered thoroughly in ERP implementations that focus primarily on converting from legacy software to ERP software.

This paper starts by summarizing basic premises concerning the relationship between work systems and ERP. Focusing on the context of ERP usage, it explains the elements of the two …

How Cios Overcome The Competing Values Challenge: Irish Cios’ Perspectives, Harvey Enns, Dean B. Mcfarlin, Paul B. Sweeney

MIS/OM/DS Faculty Publications

Competing values are a fact of organizational life. However, there are gaps in our understanding about how these opposing beliefs hinder influence processes. This article draws on interview data to demonstrate how Irish Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are able to convince their colleagues to support new projects within their firms in the face of competing values. Focused interviews were used to explore the influence process and the competing values phenomenon, since this type of research is at an early stage and qualitative methods and analysis serve as a rich source of theory development.

The data showed that the CIOs who …

Reconciling The Social/Human And Technical/Material In Is Research Without Trying Too Hard, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This contribution to the SIGPHIL workshop on reconciling the social and technical in IS research proposes a sociotechnical approach that addresses many issues related to the long-standing duality of the social/human versus the technical/material. It shows that a sociotechnical approach based on work system concepts 1) highlights and potentially bypasses extremely basic ontological stumbling blocks in IS research, 2) incorporates many of the topics and concerns of the original sociotechnical school, 3) illuminates issues related to the duality of the social/human versus the technical/material, and 4) addresses these topics using concepts and terminology that are much easier to understand than …

The Work System Method: Systems Thinking For Business Professionals, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

No abstract provided.

The Security Implications Of Ubiquitous Social Media, Chris Rose

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

Social media web sites allow users to share information, communicate with each other, network and interact but because of the easy transfer of information between different social media sites, information that should be private becomes public and opens the users to serious security risks. In addition, there is also massive over-sharing of information by the users of these sites, and if this is combined with the increased availability of location-based information, then all this can be aggregated causing an unacceptable risks and unintended consequences for users.

Determinants Of E-Commerce Adoption Among Malaysian Smes., Khairul Anwar Mohamad Zaki

Student Works (2010-2019)

The use of electronic commerce (e-commerce) enables Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to improve their efficiency and competitive advantage. Although researchers have been increasingly exploring and predicting ecommerce adoption among SMEs in other developing countries, there is still a limited understanding of the behaviour of Malaysian SMEs towards e-commerce technologies adoption. As in many other countries, the SME sector constitutes the majority of business activities in Malaysia, and their contribution to Malaysian economy is very significant. Yet, very little research on Malaysian SMEs has taken a holistic view of the e-commerce adoption factors, from technological, organisational and environmental contexts. This …

The Challenge Of Implementing An Erp System In A Small And Medium Enterprise – A Teaching Case Of Erp Project Management, Hongjiang Xu, Patrick J. Rondeau, Sakthi Mahenthiran

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation projects are notoriously risky. While large-scale ERP cases continue to be developed, relatively few new ERP cases have been published that further ERP implementation education in small to medium size firms. This case details the implementation of a new ERP system in a medium sized manufacturing firm. As students explore the case, they will be required to address the many ERP-related project management, procurement, human resource, and management involvement issues raised by it. This case highlights the ERP implementation problems experienced by case company in one of their two divisions. The firm is considering …