Management Information Systems Commons^™

Data Warehousing And Business Intelligence Skills For Information Systems Graduates: Analysis Based On Marketplace Demand, A. Shirani, Maria Malu H. Roldan

Faculty Publications, Information Systems & Technology

In an effort to keep information systems (IS) curriculum current with emerging technologies, this research reports the result of a survey of marketplace demand for database, data warehousing and business intelligence skills. Sample job and skills data were obtained from Dice.com’s online postings for jobs that required a bachelor’s degree in IS or equivalent qualifications. Cluster analysis revealed some skill overlap among the three job categories. Significant skills for each category of jobs, along with skill and vendor rankings, are reported.

Comparing The Effectiveness Of Public Vs. Private Blogging In A Management Information Systems Strategy Course, Maria Malu H. Roldan, A. Shirani

Faculty Publications, Information Systems & Technology

This paper reports on a study of the use of blogs to support a Management Information Systems Strategy class requiring higher level thinking skills. Comparison of the use of private vs. public blogs showed that public sites were more effective in providing students with the skills to assess the potential of emerging technologies and to integrate blogs into their daily activities.

Using Information Noise To Compute The Economic Benefit Of A Search Service, Shailaja Venkatsubramanyan, Stephen K. Kwan

Faculty Publications, Information Systems & Technology

Search services are now ubiquitously employed in searching for documents on the Internet and on enterprise intranets. Search services may exhibit different behavior depending on the type of information need, the quality of the search service, the ease of filtering results, the user’s domain knowledge and search experience. Users are thus faced with the selection of a search service in order to minimize cost, reduce uncertainty, and maximize the benefits derived for their efforts. This research develops a model of the search process and considers the noise effects of querying, search and filtering of results to derive a benefit measure …

Strategic Flexibility And Smes: The Role Of Information Technology For Managing Internal And External Relations, Stephen K. Callaway, Kevin Celuch, Gregory B. Murphy

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

The purpose of the current study was to assess the impact of information technology on strategic flexibility for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Results of the study show that under conditions of low environmental dynamism, IT capabilities are associated with greater reactive strategic flexibility. Specifically, IT capabilities enabling the management of internal activities was significant. Under conditions of high environmental dynamism, IT capabilities are associated with greater proactive strategic flexibility. Specifically, IT capabilities enabling the management of competitor information was significant. Managerial as well as future research implications are discussed.

Addressing Business Agility Challenges With Enterprise Systems, D. L. Goodhue, D. Q. Chen, M. C. Boudreau, J. Cochran

Faculty Articles

It is clear that systems agility (i.e., having a responsive IT infrastructure that can be changed quickly to meet changing business needs) has become a critical component of organizational agility. However, skeptics continue to suggest that, despite the benefits enterprise system packages provide, they are constraining choices for firms faced with agility challenges. The reason for this skepticism is that the tight integration between different parts of the business that enables many enterprise systems' benefits also increases the systems' complexity, and this increased complexity, say the skeptics, increases the difficulty of changing systems when business needs change. These persistent concerns …

Understanding Consumers' Acceptance Of Online Purchasing, D. Amoroso, S. Hunsinger

Faculty Articles

This paper examines previous Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)-related studies in order to provide an expanded model that explains consumers’ acceptance of online purchasing. Our model provides extensions to the original TAM by including constructs such as social influence and voluntariness; it also examines the impact of external variables including trust, privacy, risk, and e-loyalty. We surveyed consumers in the United States and Australia. Our findings suggest that our expanded model serves as a very good predictor of consumers’ online purchasing behaviors. The linear regression model shows a respectable amount of variance for Behavioral Intention (R2 = .627). Suggestions are provided …

Service Science,Management, Engineering, And Design (Ssmed): An Emerging Discipline -- Outline And References, J. Spohrer, Stephen K. Kwan

Faculty Publications, Information Systems & Technology

The growth of the global service economy has led to a dramatic increase in our daily interactions with highly specialized service systems. Service (or value-cocreation) interactions are both frequent and diverse, and may include retail, financial, healthcare, education, on-line, communications, technical support, entertainment, transportation, legal, professional, government, or many other types of specialized interactions. And yet surprisingly few students graduating from universities have studied anything about service or service systems. Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Design (SSMED), or service science for short, is an emerging discipline aimed at understanding service and innovating service systems. This article sketches an outline and …

A Scientific Basis For Rigor In Information Systems Research, Allen S. Lee, Geoffrey S. Hubona

Information Systems Publications

Qualitative research is just as able as quantitative research to follow certain fundamental principles of logic in general and scientific reasoning in particular. Two such principles are the logic of modus ponens and the logic of modus tollens. In this essay, we frame different research approaches— positivist research, interpretive research, action research, and design research—in the forms of modus ponens and modus tollens. Three issues emerge from this framing and call into question how research is now conducted in the discipline of information systems. They are the issue of a common scientific basis, the issue of the fallacy of …

Mis 799 Capstone: 2009 Winter Cohort List, Raj Soin College Of Business, Wright State University

Master of Information Systems Capstone Executive Summary

Available for download is a list of the 2009 Winter Cohorts, complete with student names, project titles, and faculty advisor names.

Diffusion Of Complex Information Systems Across Organizations, Anand Jeyaraj

Management Information Systems Faculty Publications

Organizations deal with complex information systems innovations such as enterprise resource planning systems to enable and support their operations. While there is considerable research on organizations’ adoption, implementation, and use of such complex information systems, prior literature has not dwelt as much on the diffusion or the spread of such complex information systems across a population of organizations. A limited number of studies have shown different information sources such as external, internal, and mixed influences to drive diffusion, and found variations in the diffusion patterns of different complex information systems. These findings, however, belong to different populations and do not …

Implementing A Functional Iso 9001 Quality Management System In Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises, Andres Sousa-Poza, Mert Altinkilinc, Cory Searcy

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This conceptual paper provides guidance for the implementation of a functional ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To help a SME understand its starting point, four initial states for QMS implementation are defined. Five paths for moving the QMS from the initial state to the desired state are described. To support the transition from the initial to the desired state, some key considerations in implementing a QMS in SMEs are discussed. The paper is based on site visits and implementation assistance the authors have provided to several SMEs. It is anticipated the paper will …

Does Web Site Usability Correlate With Web Site Usage?, Charles E. Downing, Chang Liu

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This study compares usability ratings of Web sites, based on academic research, to actual usage data, from Nielsen Online. This is accomplished by consulting academic usability research, and using those guidelines to rate eight retail Web sites on usability. Then, this study uses “real world” data, the usage data from Nielsen Online, to longitudinally validate the academic findings. Results show that, over time, the calculated usability ratings move in the same direction and in the same magnitude as the usage data.

It Alignment With Business Strategies In Healthcare Organizations: An Empirical Analysis, Zach G. Zacharia, David S. Preston, Chad W. Autry, Charles W. Lamb

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper describes a study that assessed the performance implications of aligning information technology (IT) strategy to overall business strategy across a variety of health care organization (HCO) structures. We obtained survey results from senior executives of 178 hospitals to identify key configurations of IT strategic practices, business strategy and HCO structures. Using K- means cluster analysis, we identified which business strategies correlate strongly with certain IT strategy types. Our results indicate that HCOs achieve superior performance through unique combinations of business and IT strategy, suggesting that correctly aligning these strategies is a critical decision for healthcare organizations.

Cultural Issues In Software Estimation: From Intuition To Model Based Estimation In Upgrade Projects, Sanjay Mohapatra

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper discusses issues related to change in culture that happens when software estimation becomes scientific, methodical and predictive. From a person based intuitive approach to model based estimation techniques, the approach necessitates a change in mindset and culture. This change in culture has been noticed in upgrade projects. Upgrades play an important role in product life cycle. A product is released with required features to meet immediate requirements of the customers. Any additional or modifications to features are carried through upgrade projects. These upgrades planned well in advance by the product developing organizations are made available to customers through …

The Impact On Organizational Performance Of Contextual Factors, Strategy And Management Control Systems, Nazmi Saeb Jarrar

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This dissertation examined antecedents of the use of contemporary management control systems (MCS) by testing the alignment of strategic and contextual variables with variables of contemporary systems of control in the organization. The study further explored the performance consequences of the implementation of these control systems, and the manner in which strategy can influence the organization’s control culture and management accounting practices. The impact of contextual factors, notably size and structural arrangements, such as decentralization and diversification, on management's choice of control systems were also examined. Hence, the study addressed the need for a better understanding of the association between …

A Network Implementation Class Exercise: Businessquest Business Incubator, Llc, Priscilla Arling

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

One way to bring concepts to life in an introductory data networks course is for students to physically build a network that addresses a real business problem. However it can be challenging to find a suitable business problem, particularly if the network can exist only during the class period. This case presents a realistic business scenario and network implementation exercise that can be completed in one or two class periods in any classroom with Internet access. The objective of the exercise is for students to solve a business problem by applying concepts related to basic network configuration, local area networks …

The Impact Of A Computer Proficiency Exam On Business Students' Admission To And Performance In A Higher-Level It Course, Patrick Rondeau, Li Xiaolin

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Many colleges of business now assume incoming freshmen arrive on campus possessing high levels of computer skill and ability. Students are frequently offered the opportunity to take and pass a computer proficiency exam (CPE) in lieu of a freshman information technology (IT) course. While promoted as an efficient alternative, our analysis of the implementation of a CPE as a replacement for the freshman IT course at a small, Midwestern university revealed mixed results. As expected, we found those students who took and passed the CPE generally scored higher in their follow-on, sophomore IT course than those who passed the prerequisite, …

Smes And Competitiveness: The Role Of Information Systems, Pratyush Bharati, Abhijit Chaudhury

Management Science and Information Systems Faculty Publication Series

In this introductory article for the special issue on “SMEs and Competitiveness—The Role of Information Systems,” we provide a review of the current state of research on information systems and SMEs. A framework is provided that illustrates where the research has been concentrated and which areas are just beginning to be explored. The six articles that constitute this special issue are described in terms of this framework. A brief review of the articles is provided in which we indicate the question addressed, the factors taken into account, the nature of the research, and the dominant theory and perspective used in …

Predicting Patients’ Use Of Provider-Delivered E-Health: The Role Of Facilitating Conditions, E. Vance Wilson, Nancy K. Lankton

Accounting Faculty Research

This chapter presents a new rational-objective (R-O) model of e-health use that accounts for effects of facilitating conditions as well as patients’ behavioral intention. An online questionnaire measured patients’ behavioral intention to use a new e-health application as well as proxy measures of facilitating conditions that assess prior use of and structural need for health services. A second questionnaire administered three months later collected patients’ self-reported use of e-health during the intervening period. The new model increased predictions of patients’ e-health use (measured in R2) by more than 300% over predictions based upon behavioral intention alone, and all measured factors …

Creating Automated Plans For Semantic Web Applications Through Planning As Model Checking, Bonnie Brinton Anderson, James V. Hansen, Paul Benjamin Lowry

Faculty Publications

The uncertainties of planning engendered by nondeterminism and partial observability have led to a melding of model checking and artificial intelligence. The result is planning as model checking. Because planning as model checking tests sets of states and sets of transitions at once, rather than single states, the method remains robust and viable in domains of large state spaces and varying levels of uncertainty.

We develop a test bench for Semantic Web agents and use model-based planning to derive strong plans, strong cyclic plans, and weak plans. Our results suggest potential robustness and efficacy in devising plans for agent actions …

A Behavioral Analysis Of Passphrase Design And Effectiveness, Mark Keith, Benjamin Shao, Paul Steinbart

Faculty Publications

Although the use of multiple methods of user authentication for IT system increases security, passwords are often the only credential required for access. Consequently, the challenge is to discover ways to improve password strength without impairing usability. Longer pass “phrases” have received increased attention as a solution to this challenge because they are potentially more resistant to attacks yet are easy to remember. Recent evidence, however, suggests that passphrases increase the likelihood of typographical errors resulting in login failures and negative user perceptions. This paper presents experimental results that demonstrate well-designed passphrases do not increase login failures and, thereby, generate …

Detecting Concealment Of Intent In Transportation Screening: A Proof Of Concept, Judee K. Burgoon, Douglas P. Twitchell, Matthew L. Jensen, Thomas O. Meservy, Mark Adkins, John Kruse, Amit V. Deokar, Gabriel Tsechpenakis, Shan Lu, Dimitris N. Metaxas, Jay F. Nunamaker Jr., Robert E. Younger

Faculty Publications

Transportation and border security systems have a common goal: to allow law-abiding people to pass through security and detain those people who intend to harm. Understanding how intention is concealed and how it might be detected should help in attaining this goal. In this paper, we introduce a multidisciplinary theoretical model of intent concealment along with three verbal and nonverbal automated methods for detecting intent: message feature mining, speech act profiling, and kinesic analysis. This paper also reviews a program of empirical research supporting this model, including several previously published studies and the results of a proof-of-concept study. These studies …

Automatic, Multimodal Evaluation Of Human Interaction, Matthew L. Jensen, Thomas O. Meservy, Judee K. Burgoon, Jay F. Nunamaker Jr.

Faculty Publications

This article outlines an approach for automatically extracting behavioral indicators from video, audio, and text and explores the possibility of using those indicators to predict human-interpretable judgments of involvement, dominance, tension, and arousal. We utilized two-dimensional spatial inputs extracted from video, acoustic properties extracted from audio and verbal content transcribed from face-toface interactions to construct a set of multimodal features.Multiple predictive models were created using the extracted features as predictors and human-coded perceptions of involvement, tenseness, and arousal as the criterion. These predicted perceptions were then used as independent variables in classifying truth and deception. Though the predicted values for …

Applying Systems Thinking To Knowledge Management Systems: The Case Of Pratt-Whitney Rocketdyne, Mark Chun, Kiho Sohn, Priscilla Arling, Nelson Granados

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This paper describes Pratt-Whitney Rocketdyne's (PWR) use of a systems thinking methodology to define and improve knowledge management (KM) within the firm. Using systems thinking, the company identified and changed key behaviors within the KM environment and effectively established a generative learning environment. This manuscript is one of the first papers that analyzes and reports a real-world application of the systems thinking methodology to improve KM practices. We first review systems thinking concepts and adapt them to the KM context. We then present the case study of the application of systems thinking to KM at PWR. Finally, we use an …

Cultural And Diversity Perceptions Of It Workers Of Indian Descent, Amy B. Woszcznyski, P. Dembla, Sherri Shade

Faculty Articles

Globalization has led to increased use of international work teams comprised of individuals from diverse backgrounds. Beliefs and values of individuals affect the working of such groups, so it is important to understand these differences. The aim of this paper is to understand the cultural and diversity perceptions of IT workers specifically of Indian descent. Two instruments, namely the Diversity Perceptions Index and Hofstede Value survey, were used to collect data. One hundred and eleven respondents of Indian descent working in the IT field completed the survey. Descriptive statistics provided initial results and discussion. The respondents valued diversity, although they …

When Is It Beneficial For A Firm To Pursue A Unified Procurement Strategy For Enterprise Software Solutions?, Robert J. Kauffman, Juliana Y. Tsai

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The underlying structure of the enterprise software marketplace during the past ten years suggests that the arrangements that firms make with respect to the acquisition of such software capabilities will become increasingly concentrated. This article explores the multiple theoretical rationales and business cases for the move to a unified procurement strategy for enterprise software, reflecting some differences in terms of what might be expected from the predictions of the well known move-to-the-middle hypothesis. Our central argument is that a "move-to-the-middle" with more than just a single vendor is the likely outcome in unconsolidated industry markets. In industries experiencing consolidation, firms …

Egypt's Information Society Strategy: A Critical Lexicography, Neil Mcbride, Bernd Carsten Stahl

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The development of ICT policies within developing countries in the past ten years has opened up a new area for study. These documents chart the ambitions of the countries for the use of ICT to promote rapid development. As such they are intercultural documents, developing at the interface between the culture of the country and western economic culture. This paper develops a critical approach to understanding these documents and studying their message. The approach involves the preparation of a critical dictionary which identifies relevant terms within the ICT policy document and reflects on their multiple meanings. The approach was applied …

Usability Investigation Of E-Business Web-Based Forms, Gerald V. Post, Albert Kagan, Betsy Page Sigman

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Usability on Web sites is critical because almost no training is provided for users on commercial sites. Instead, Web design relies on standards and consistency across sites. Traditional usability results indicated that computer forms should follow paper-based forms. Yet, Web paradigms have evolved that are quite different from paper-based forms. Specifically, this study reveals that users commit fewer errors and prefer simple forms limited to a single concept per screen. This conclusion significantly alters the recommendations for designing business forms.

Formal Verification Of Urban Traffic System Using The Concept Of Fuzzy Workflow Simulation, Manuj Darbari, Abhay Kumar Srivastava, Sanjay Medhavi

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Modeling complex urban traffic system requires extensive use of workflow methodologies which can simulate almost real time traffic situations. Number of studies were done in the field of Urban Traffic Simulation like PLOTS, NETSIM and PALAMICS but none of them could provide a real formal solution. Our paper proposes a methodology using Fuzzy Petri nets for modeling real time traffic system. Fuzzy Petrinets are also visualised and tested by using Flow- Charter and HPSIM software packages. These packages help in providing successive iterations of process model for further refinement.

Supporting The Virtual Community: Social Bookmarking As A User- Based Classification Scheme In A Knowledge Library, Nicole Lytle, Tony Coulsom

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Knowledge libraries hold the promise of widespread access to information available anywhere, anytime, freeing patrons from the geographical and temporal boundaries that currently exist. The classification of materials and subsequent searching of knowledge library content is an overall problem with many complex parts. Relevant classification is important for optimal information retrieval. This is especially important for the virtual communities that exist with extended organizations. Rooted in the virtual community and digital library literature, this paper develops a theory for improving the information classification and retrieval process of knowledge libraries that support virtual communities by applying social bookmarking techniques.