Aligning adoption messages with audiences' priorities: A mixed-methods study of the diffusion of enterprise architecture among the US state governments

2022 | Information and Organization | Citations: 0

Authors: Bui, Quang Neo; Lyytinen, Kalle

Abstract: Prior studies on the diffusion of complex Information Systems (IS) innovations h ... Expand

Abstract: Prior studies on the diffusion of complex Information Systems (IS) innovations have leaned on the rhetoric of persuasion perspective to formulate rhetorical strategies that can persuade adopters to engage in adoption behaviors. Yet, most of them ignore the shifting priorities and changing identity of the audience. To address this gap, we extend the perspective by examining how in­ novators need to evolve the adoption message of an innovation by aligning it with the audience’s diverse and shifting priorities (and related identities). We trace rhetorical changes that the Na­ tional Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) introduced to promote the diffusion of enterprise ar­ chitecture (EA) between 2000 and 2012 among the 50 US states. We conduct a mixed methods analysis: first we qualitatively discern changes in the content of the rhetoric (message change); then we use a latent semantic analysis to measure the frame resonance between NASCIO’s shifting rhetoric and the audience’s changing priorities (alignment with audience priorities). Our findings highlight the importance of: 1) frame ambiguity that renders a complex IS innovation appealing to varied audiences over its diffusion trajectory; and 2) listening to the community members’ pri­ orities and aligning the adoption message with their dominant beliefs. Our analysis posits the rhetoric of identification as a complementary lens to account for the co-evolution of shared pri­ orities and identity alignments between innovators and their audiences. Collapse

Topics: innovation management Chief Information Officer digital innovation diffusion of innovation enterprise architecture

Methods: mixed method qualitative content analysis latent semantic analysis survey computational algorithm

Theories: co-evolution theory

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Digital Transformation and the Covid-19 Pandemic

2021 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: dos Santos Tavares, Ana Paula; Fornazin, Marcelo; JOIA, LUIZ

Abstract: Digital transformation is changing the world landscape with the rise of new tec ... Expand

Abstract: Digital transformation is changing the world landscape with the rise of new technologies such as social media, IoT, blockchain, big data, etc. However, despite the multiplicity of technological novelties and recipes for their successful implementation, whether in business, public administration, or private life, these initiatives are taking much longer and facing more difficulties than has been expected. During the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and with the implementation of social distancing, digital transformation has become a major issue. Nevertheless, while adopting the same was inevitable, the world has encountered several challenges to do that. Thus, this study aims to understand the role of digital transformation during the Covid-19 pandemic, by analyzing several mini-cases in Brazil. Therefore, via an integrative approach, one analyzed the positive, negative, and unforeseen outcomes accrued from digital transformation initiatives in Brazil, unveiling potential challenges and opportunities for technology in a post-Covid-19 reality. Collapse

Topics: pandemic digital transformation societal evaluation criteria privacy digital innovation

Methods: design artifact

Theories: theory of economic development structuration theory theory of social shaping of technology

Affective Politics and Technology Buy-In: A Framework of Social, Political, and Fantasmatic Logics

2020 | Journal of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Pignot, Edouard; Nicolini, Davide; Thompson, Mark

Abstract: We propose a socially informed explanation of technology framing by examining te ... Expand

Abstract: We propose a socially informed explanation of technology framing by examining technology “buyin”—actors’ relative susceptibility to such framing. We draw on the field of critical social theory to introduce the “Logics,” a new framework to the IS discipline that reveals a performative relationship between collective framing, power, and affect. The Logics enable us to study buy-in by revealing the differing degrees of affective self-identification that underpin and color social practices, showing their inherently political nature. We exemplify the affective as well as social politics of buy-in with an account of Unity 3D, a market-leading game engine that underwent a major repositioning from “fringe” to “mainstream” markets, and discuss four poles of affective positioning with which to conceptualize technology buy-in. We conclude by highlighting the consequent need for greater political and ethical awareness about the framing of IS and by proposing a framework for conceptualizing actors’ orientations toward and thus possible buy-in or resistance to technology framing. Collapse

Topics: systems design online community LinkedIn IS discipline blog

Methods: theory development field study qualitative interview ethnography qualitative content analysis

Theories: technology acceptance model actor network theory social sciences theory Lacanian theory

Big data: From beginning to future

2016 | International Journal of Information Management | Citations: 31

Authors: Yaqoob, Ibrar; Hashem, Ibrahim Abaker Targio; Gani, Abdullah; Mokhtar, Salimah; Ahmed, Ejaz; Anuar, Nor Badrul; Vasilakos, Athanasios V.

Abstract: a b s t r a c tBig data is a potential research area receiving considerable att ... Expand

Abstract: a b s t r a c tBig data is a potential research area receiving considerable attention from academia and IT communities. In the digital world, the amounts of data generated and stored have expanded within a short period of time. Consequently, this fast growing rate of data has created many challenges. In this paper, we use structuralism and functionalism paradigms to analyze the origins of big data applications and its current trends. This paper presents a comprehensive discussion on state-of-the-art big data technologies based on batch and stream data processing. Moreover, strengths and weaknesses of these technologies are analyzed. This study also discusses big data analytics techniques, processing methods, some reported case studies from different vendors, several open research challenges, and the opportunities brought about by big data. The similarities and differences of these techniques and technologies based on important parameters are also investigated. Emerging technologies are recommended as a solution for big data problems. Collapse

Topics: big data distributed computing cryptographic hash function parallel computing Cassandra

Methods: case study web mining machine learning social network analysis computational algorithm

Information sharing and interoperability: the case of major incident management

2014 | European Journal of Information Systems | Citations: 42

Authors: Allen, David K.; Karanasios, Stan; Norman, Alistair

Abstract: Public sector inter-organisational information sharing and interoperability is a ... Expand

Abstract: Public sector inter-organisational information sharing and interoperability is an area of increasing concern and intense investment for practice and an area of increasing scholarship. This paper focuses on one particular set of public sector organisations (emergency services) and illuminates the key technological and organisational issues they face concerning information sharing and interoperability. The particular contexts in which these are studied are ones where decisions are non-trivial and made in high-velocity environments. In these conditions the problems and significance of inter-organisational information sharing and interoperability are accentuated. We analyse data gathered from two studies: the first focused on ‘first responders’ (police, fire and ambulance services) in the United Kingdom. The second, a follow on study, with emergency service managers and interoperability project managers in the United Kingdom and the European Union. Using activity theory as a conceptual framework we describe the informational problems critical emergency responders face in their initial response to, and management of, an incident. We argue that rather than focusing on interoperability as a primarily technological issue it should be managed as an organisational and informational issue. Second, we argue that rather than designing for anomalous situations we should design systems, which will function during both anomalous and routine situations. Third, we argue for focus on harmonisation of policies, procedures and working practices. Collapse

Topics: information exchange decision making systems design misinformation system integration

Methods: qualitative interview synthesis triangulation qualitative coding company material

Theories: activity theory

An integrative semiotic framework for information systems: The social, personal and material worlds

2014 | Information and Organization | Citations: 1

Authors: Mingers, John; Willcocks, Leslie

Abstract: The paper argues that semiotics, the theory of signs and symbols, is at the hear ... Expand

Abstract: The paper argues that semiotics, the theory of signs and symbols, is at the heart of the representation and transmission of information and meaning, and is thus central to communication and information systems, but especially in their contemporary, more virtualized forms. The paper is distinctive in eschewing post-structuralist uses of Saussurian semiotics, and recent theorizations of sociomateriality, instead developing an integrative framework grounded in Habermasian concepts, Peirceian semiotics and an underlying, integrating critical realist philosophy. We develop a semiotic framework to help analyze the complex interactions between three different worlds – the personal, the social and the material. Here semiosis relates to the personal world through the generation and interpretation of signs and messages. It relates to the material world in that all signs must have some form of physical embodiment in order to be signs, and must also be transmitted through some form of physical media. Semiosis relates to the social world in that the connotive aspects of sign systems are social rather than individual – they exist before and beyond the individual's use of signs. The personal, social and material worlds between them bear relationships of sociation, sociomateriality and embodiment. The framework draws on fundamental concepts of information, meaning and embodied cognition. The paper examines critically the implications of this formulation for studying information systems. It discusses commonalities with and departures from other studies, illustrates points with empirical examples, and details how the integrative framework can be utilized. Collapse

Topics: virtual world social media human computer interaction usability analytical information system

Methods: case study phenomenological method qualitative content analysis

Theories: semiotic theory sociomaterialism theory theory of signs

Reconsidering deconstruction in information systems research

2012 | European Journal of Information Systems | Citations: 14

Authors: Chiasson, Mike; Davidson, Elizabeth

Abstract: Deconstruction, a post-structuralist approach to examining language in texts, is ... Expand

Abstract: Deconstruction, a post-structuralist approach to examining language in texts, is most often associated with the philosophical works of Jacque Derrida. After a flurry of interest among management and information systems (IS) scholars, this qualitative approach to exploring organizational texts has received little attention in the IS literature. We suggest deconstruction could help our field explore how IS texts describe the social and technical past and also prescribe and circumscribe the future of IS practice. Thus, we suggest the IS field reconsider how deconstruction might contribute to language-based approaches in IS research and practice. In this paper, we discuss deconstruction in light of the linguistic turn in social science research and the support and criticism for its use in management research. We consider IS research publications that have employed deconstruction explicitly, examine a well-known IS publication as an example of the deconstruction of IS texts, and suggest ways in which deconstruction might be applied to various genres of IS texts to inspire insights and creativity. To conclude, we highlight considerations for researchers who might adopt this approach and for the editors and reviewers who would evaluate qualitative research papers that employ deconstruction. Collapse

Topics: systems development system development method digital innovation business process management innovation management

Methods: design artifact literature study qualitative content analysis

Antecedents and Consequences of Board IT Governance: Institutional and Strategic Choice Perspectives

2012 | Journal of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 115

Authors: Jewer, Jennifer; McKay, Kenneth N.

Abstract: In spite of the potential benefits of board IT governance and the costs of ineff ... Expand

Abstract: In spite of the potential benefits of board IT governance and the costs of ineffective oversight, there has been little field-based research in this area and an inadequate application of theory. Drawing upon strategic choice and institutional theories, we propose a theoretical model that seeks to explain the antecedents of board IT governance and its consequences. Survey responses from 188 corporate directors across Canada indicate that both board attributes and organizational factors influence board involvement in IT governance. The results suggest that proportion of insiders, board size, IT competency, organizational age, and role of IT influence the board's level of involvement in IT governance. The responses also indicate that board IT governance has a positive impact on the contribution of IT to organizational performance. Overall, the results support the integration of strategic choice and institutional theories to explain the antecedents to board IT governance and its consequences, as together they provide a more holistic framework with which to view board IT governance. Collapse

Topics: IT governance IT skill organizational productivity corporate governance IS management

Methods: survey qualitative interview theory development multiple regression longitudinal research

Theories: institutional theory strategic choice theory

Facts, myths and thought-styles… and a rallying cry for civic engagement

2010 | Journal of Strategic Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Wastell, Dave; White, Sue

Abstract: This polemic concludes with two programmatic recommendations for the Information ... Expand

Abstract: This polemic concludes with two programmatic recommendations for the Information Systems (IS) field. First, a call for more research in the public services, and for greater civic engagement generally; second, that we shake off our enchantment with Theory, not least in the interests of dissemination and communication, especially with non-academic audiences. Our critique of theory uses Barthes’ structuralism to argue that theories are myths which order, interpret and normalise the world. Leading into this, we address the fundamental question “what is a fact”, drawing on the epistemology of Ludwik Fleck (his concepts of thought-style and thought-collective in particular) which we believe deserves more recognition in IS. The empirical material for our analyses comes from two case studies, both from the domain of child protection in the UK. The paper is introduced with a brief exposition of the myth that information systems are fact-repositories. We stress that, though based on domestic examples, our messages are universal and strategic for the field. To set the scene, the paper opens with some lines from Aeschylus, describing a mythical event at the outset of Agamemnon’s ill-fated Trojan campaign. Collapse

Topics: knowledge representation communication service infrastructure

Methods: ethnography ontological modelling literature study survey business process modeling

Theories: attachment theory

Panel: A call for action in tackling environmental sustainability through green information technologies and systems

2009 | European Conference On Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Aier, Stephan; Fischer, Christian

Abstract: In parallel to widely accepted behavioural research, Design Research (DR) has em ... Expand

Abstract: In parallel to widely accepted behavioural research, Design Research (DR) has emerged in Information Systems. Nonetheless, the debate about the scientificity of DR is still ongoing. In the course of this debate, the role of scientific progress has hardly been discussed. But, doubtlessly, scientific progress is regarded as one of the main aims of science; science can even be defined by scientific progress. Philosophy of science has therefore developed a variety of concepts for scientific progress mostly adapted to explanatory and/or predictive theories. Nonetheless, the output of DR differs from those theories; therefore, concepts developed cannot be applied to DR without further ado. In this paper, we propose a first concept for scientific progress of DR artefacts. Because of the complexity of the field we firstly restrict to the research question: What is scientific progress of DR artefacts? Progress is commonly defined as a transition from step A to B whereby B is “better” than A. The aim of our research is to identify criteria for concretizing what is “better” in the context of DR and to define criteria of progressive DR artefacts. We thereby identified the following five criteria: utility, internal consistency, external consistency, scope, and efficiency. Collapse

Methods: design science synthesis design theory literature study theory development