Category Archives: Information Systems

Entrepreneurship, Information Systems

The Relationship Between Website Quality, Trust and Price Premiums at Online Auctions

Gregg, Dawn G. and Walczak, Steven
Electronic Commerce Research, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p. 1-25

This study measures the value of website quality in terms of its impact on trust, intention to transact and price premiums. Prior research on online auctions has focused on the use of reputation systems for building trust in online auction vendors and subsequently to generate price premiums. This study examines the extent to which trust can be induced by improving the quality of online auction listings for both new and existing auction ventures. A survey of 701 eBay users is conducted which compares the price premiums of two nearly identical online auction businesses, one that has online auction listings with a perceived high quality and the other that has substantially lower perceived quality. Results of this study indicate that website quality can explain 49 % of the variation in the trust for eBay sellers. In fact, it shows that sellers with good website quality are all perceived to be equally trustworthy regardless of their eBay reputation; whereas sellers with poor website quality are not perceived to be trustworthy even if they have a high eBay reputation score. The results also show that the trust resulting from increased website quality increases intention to transact and results in price premiums of 12% (on average) for sellers with higher quality listings. Theories from marketing, economics, and social psychology are used to explain why website quality induces trust in unknown vendors without providing any concrete evidence regarding the vendor’s past history.

Information Systems

UNMET PUBLIC EXPECTATIONS, PAY IT NOW OR PAY IT LATER – LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE COLORADO BENEFITS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CBMS)

Bruce Neumann, James Gerlach, Hyo-Jeong Kim
International Journal of Public Information Systems, vol 2010 Issue 1, Pages: 83-109

When a government entity outsources IT projects, consideration must be given early in the project to potential disputes and/or litigation with other parties, particularly thirdparty
vendors, the public-at-large, and other parts of the supply chain. In this case, the State contracted for the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) and the counties throughout the state were expected to deliver client services using the new system. The public expected transparency of government reporting while the State focused on accountability measures of the CBMS project. We use Agency Theory to help explain why certain public expectations were not initially met by CBMS and how some of these “disconnects” could have been avoided. Since the State, IT vendors, the public, and counties have different goals, risk preferences, and information needs, they used different measures to evaluate any government IT project. These mismatched measurements help explain the cause of any unmet expectations that can lead to disputes and/or litigation. We found that the State and IT vendors evaluated this IT project using more process-based accountability measures while the public and counties evaluated the project more with outcome-based measures. Therefore, we recommend that the State and IT vendors should emphasize both outcome-based and process-based measures in order
to be more transparent when designing and implementing IT projects. The Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) provides an interesting case study showing how Agency Theory can be applied to a governmental IT project and how different measurements used by the State, IT vendors, the public, and counties contributed to the
tension and turmoil experienced while implementing CBMS.

Entrepreneurship, Information Systems

Factors Influencing Corporate Online Identity: A New Paradigm

Steven Walczak and Dawn Gregg
Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce, Vol 4, Issue 3,  pp. 17-29.

Electronic commerce research has shown that factors like website quality and vendor reputation influence consumer behaviors, including: trust, intention to transact, and return visits. However, these factors are typically studied in isolation and frequently show conflicting results. This paper proposes a unifying model of online identity (or e-image) that combines the various factors that influence user perceptions of an e-business. Survey results support the importance of a wide variety of e-image factors when forming impressions online and show that while information content is the foremost concern for most users, other factors vary depending on the role of the user in establishing a relationship with the owner of the online identity.

Accounting, Information Systems

Information technology acceptance in the internal audit profession: Impact of technology features and complexity

Hyo-Jeong Kim, Michael Mannino, and Robert J. Nieschwietz
International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp. 214-228

Although various information technologies have been studied using the technology acceptance model (TAM), the study of acceptance of specific technology features for professional groups employing information technologies such as internal auditors (IA) has been limited. To address this gap, we extended the TAM for technology acceptance among IA professionals and tested the model using a sample of internal auditors provided by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). System usage, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use were tested with technology features and complexity. Through the comparison of TAM variables, we found that technology features were accepted by internal auditors in different ways. The basic features such as database queries, ratio analysis, and audit sampling were more accepted by internal auditors while the advanced features such as digital analysis, regression/ANOVA, and classification are less accepted by internal auditors. As feature complexity increases, perceived ease of use decreased so that system usage decreased. Through the path analysis between TAM variables, the results indicated that path magnitudes were significantly changed by technology features and complexity. Perceived usefulness had more influence on feature acceptance when basic features were used, and perceived ease of use had more impact on feature acceptance when advanced features were used.

Information Systems

Mashups: A Literature Review and Classification Framework

Brandon A. Beemer and Dawn Gregg
Future Internet, Vol. 1 Issue 1, pp. 59-87.

The evolution of the Web over the past few years has fostered the growth of a handful of new technologies (e.g. Blogs, Wiki’s, Web Services). Recently web mashups have emerged as the newest Web technology and have gained lots of momentum and attention from both academic and industry communities. Current mashup literature focuses on a wide array of issues, which can be partially explained by how new the topic is. However, to date, mashup literature lacks an articulation of the different subtopics of web mashup research. This study presents a broad review of mashup literature to help frame the subtopics in mashup research.

Information Systems

Developing a Collective Intelligence Application for Special Education

Gregg, Dawn G.
Decision Support Systems, Vol. 47 Issue 4, pp. 455-465.

This research uses an action research methodology to develop a web-based collective intelligence application, DDtrac. DDtrac allows special education practitioners to collect data and share insights related to student performance during educational tasks and social interactions and can be used to assess special education student progress and improve decision making. A survey of 40 special education professionals and a four year case study using a single subject both indicate that educators, clinicians, families, parents, or other professionals that work with individuals with developmental disabilities achieve tangible benefit from the real time data tracking and decision support provided by the DDtrac application. The development of the DDtrac application and subsequent end-user evaluation is used to develop a set of six requirements for collective intelligence applications. These requirements can be used to guide future developers seeking to create web-based applications that harness the collective intelligence of groups.

Entrepreneurship, Information Systems

Online Reputation Scores: How well are they Understood?

Gregg, Dawn G.
Journal of Computer Information Systems , Fall, pp. 90-97.

This paper presents a study comparing existing reputation systems to determine if the different reputation system designs are equally capable of eliciting meaningful feedback from users and if the information from these systems is equally useful for evaluating whether or not to purchase from a given seller. A survey of online consumers and data from both the eBay and the Amazon reputation systems are used to determine the impact of reputation system design on overall system effectiveness. Results of this research indicate that the five-star response system used by Amazon may be more useful to users attempting to determine which sellers to buy from.

Information Systems

The Role of ERP Implementation in Enabling Digital Options: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis.

Karimi, Jahangir, Somers, Toni M. and Bhattacherjee, Anol
International Journal of Electronic Commerce Vol. 13 Issue 3, p. 7-42

Many firms are transforming themselves from vertically integrated organizations into digitally enabled organizations. As firms become more innovative in their technical infrastructures and more competitive in their respective industries/verticals, their extended enterprise models include using their previous enterprise resource planning (ERP) investments as foundations for prioritizing additions and for longer-term strategies. The key issue for many firms is how to leverage their ERP implementation to become better partners and collaborators by enabling digital options to exploit business opportunities. This paper ascertains the contextual conditions under which ERP system implementations have the greatest impact on intention to adopt digital options. Using empirical data, it finds that the impact of ERP implementation on digital-options adoption intention is moderated by a firm’s digital-resource readiness. For information systems (IS) practice, the study suggests that firms should view ERP divisibility as an option value generator for supporting new customers and revenue opportunities. For IS research, it relates digital-options theory to specific measurable constructs and to the firm’s digital-resource readiness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Information Systems

Cognitive engagement with a multimedia ERP training tool: Assessing computer self-efficacy and technology acceptance

Scott, Judy E. and Walczak, Steven
Information & Management Vol. 46 Issue 4, p. 221-232

Computer self-efficacy (CSE) is a person’s judgment of his or her ability to use a computer system. We investigated cognitive engagement, prior experience, computer anxiety, and organizational support as determinants of CSE in the use of a multimedia ERP system’s training tool. We also examined the impact of CSE on its acceptance. We determined the benefits of a sequential multi-method approach using structural equation modeling and neural network analysis. High reliability predictions of individual CSE were achieved with a sequential multi-method approach. Specifically, we obtained almost 68% perfect CSE group prediction overall, with almost 85% perfect CSE group prediction using fuzzy sets and over 94% accuracy within one group classification. The resulting CSE assessment and classification enables management interventions, such as allocating users to appropriate instruction for more effective training.

Health Management, Information Systems

Managing clinical knowledge among hospital nurses.

Ghosh, Biswadip, and Scott, Judy E.
International Journal of Technology Management Vol. 47 Issue 1-3,  pp. 57-74

Knowledge Management (KM) tools and processes, while established in many industries, are relatively new to healthcare. Healthcare organisations resemble virtual organisations that build flexible and dynamic care networks of multiple medical providers and professionals to address a patient’s needs. This research studies the major factors impacting clinical KM strategy and processes in the floor nursing function in a large metropolitan area hospital. Empirical data has been collected and analysed to understand what infrastructure enablers and process capabilities are important contributors to KM effectiveness in floor nursing. The results indicate that technology can play a pivotal role in KM initiatives among nurses, provided it supports the processes involved with knowledge acquisition and application in solving new problems. The findings have implications for the selection, deployment and management of Information Technology (IT) to enable clinical KM.

Information Systems

Classification algorithm sensitivity to training data with non representative attribute noise

Michael Mannino, Yanjuan Yang, and Young Ryu
Decision Support Systems Vol. 46, Issue 3, p. 743-751

We present an empirical comparison of classification algorithms when training data contains attribute noise levels not representative of field data. To study algorithm sensitivity, we develop an innovative experimental design using noise situation, algorithm, noise level, and training set size as factors. Our results contradict conventional wisdom indicating that investments to achieve representative noise levels may not be worthwhile. In general, over representative training noise should be avoided while under representative training noise is less of a concern. However, interactions among algorithm, noise level, and training set size indicate that these general results may not apply to particular practice situations.

Information Systems

Balanced prediction of protein functions: a hybrid approach using homologies and protein interactions

Nguyen, C., Mannino, M., Gardner, K., and Cios, K.
Journal of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Vol. 6, Issue 1, p. 203 – 222

We introduce a new hybrid algorithm, ClusFCM, which combines techniques of clustering and fuzzy cognitive maps for prediction of protein function. ClusFCM takes advantage of protein homologies and protein interaction network to improve low recall predictions associated with existing prediction methods. ClusFCM exploits the fact that proteins of known function tend to cluster together and deduce funtions not only through their direct interaction with other known proteins, but also from other proteins in the network. We use ClusFCM to annotate protein functions for cerevisiae (yeast), Caenorhabditis elegans (worm) and Drosophila melanogaster (fly) using protein-protein interaction data from the General Repository for Interaction Datasets (GRID) database and functional labels from Gene Ontology (GO) terms. The algorithm’s performance is compared with four state of the art methods for function prediction – Majority, 2 statistics, Markov random field, and Functional Flow using measures of Matthews correlation coefficient, harmonic mean, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The results indicate that ClusFCM predicts protein functions with high recall while not lowering precision.

Information Systems, Marketing

A comparison of consumer views of traditional services and self-service technologies

Lawrence F. Cunningham, Clifford E. Young, James Gerlach
Journal of Services Marketing Vol. 23, Issue 1, p. 11-23

Purpose – Few marketing studies look at service classifications for self-service technologies (SSTs) and none directly compare consumer-based perceptions of traditional services to SSTs. To fill this gap, this study aims to examine how customers perceived traditional services and SSTs on service classifications criteria proposed by Lovelock, Bowen and Bell.
Design/methodology/approach – In two separate studies consumer ratings for each classification method on each service were obtained. Using multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), 13 traditional services and 12 SSTs were separately mapped onto a perceptual space of service classifications.
Findings – The comparison of the two perceptual spaces reveals that consumers viewed the classifications of convenience, person/object, and delivery for SSTs differently than that for traditional services. The classifications of traditional services were represented by two dimensions of customization/standardization and person/object. In contrast, the classifications of SSTs were represented by two dimensions of customization/standardization and separability/inseparability. Thus the description of the underlying dimensions of services varied by traditional services or SSTs.
Research limitations/implications – It is possible that the results of the MDS were influenced by the use of preset classifications. Results may also be influenced by the authors’ choice of MDS method. Further research is needed regarding the classification of SSTs and the use of these classifications for SST design.
Originality/value – This research extends previous consumer-based classification research by including SSTs. The findings identified separate typologies for SSTs and traditional services. The typologies should be of interest to both researchers and managers who are interested in how SSTs are perceived by consumers.

Information Systems

Physician acceptance of information technologies: Role of perceived threat to professional autonomy

Zhiping Walter, and Melissa Succi Lopez
Decision Support Systems, Vol. 46 Issue 1, p. 206-215

Physician acceptance of clinical information technology (IT) is important for its successful implementation. We propose that perceived threat to professional autonomy is a salient outcome belief affecting physician acceptance of an IT. In addition, level of knowledge codification of an IT is an important technological context affecting physician acceptance. Data from a sample of U.S. physicians were collected to test the hypotheses using partial least squares analysis. Results show that perceived threat to professional autonomy has a significant, negative direct influence on perceived usefulness of an IT and on intention to use that IT. Level of knowledge codification is also an important variable. The effect of perceived threat to professional autonomy is larger for clinical decision support systems than for electronic medical records systems. Awareness of these results would help managers better manage IT implementation in health care settings.

Information Systems

Knowledge management and organizational learning: An international research perspective

Steven Walczak
The Learning Organization Vol. 15, Issue 6, p. 486 – 494

Purpose – This article aims to examine international studies of knowledge management (KM) and organizational learning (OL).
Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of a literature review of KM and OL research that focuses on a business or businesses located outside traditional Western economies.
Findings – There is a need to increase research that examines KM and OL existing in different and multiple countries. Additionally, cultural factors should be included in KM and OL research analysis.
Research limitations/implications – The limitation is that the only practical empirical evidence is supplied through the highlighted articles in the literature review.
Originality/value – The article shows that, in order to increase the application of KM and OL research world-wide, national culture and other geopolitical influences need to be represented in KM and OL models and measurement instruments.

Information Systems

Technology Acceptance and ERP Documentation Usability

Scott, Judy
Communications of the ACM Vol. 51, Issue 11, p. 121-124

The article discusses enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, examining the effectiveness and usability of the system documentation used for training and to help users relearn their jobs. ERP documentation that is highly usable can result in more effective training and a quicker payback in ERP investment, the article states. Other topics include documentation that explains that rationale for the process embedded in ERP software, research streams on the technology acceptance model (TAM), and documentation support for relevant new tasks.

Entrepreneurship, Information Systems

Dressing Your Online Auction Business For Success: An Experiment Comparing Two E-Bay Businesses

Gregg, Dawn G. and Walczak, Steven
MIS Quarterly, Vol. 32, Issue 3, p. 653-670

Businesses can choose who they want to be online. Product and company attributes that are directly perceivable in the real world can be manipulated to make a favorable impression on online buyers. This study examines whether creating a more professional online e-image can signal consumers about unobservable product or company quality, and whether this signal influences their willingness to transact with the company, and ultimately the prices they are willing to pay for the company’s goods and services. An empirical study is presented that examines two new online auction businesses utilizing different company names and auction listing styles to sell items in parallel over the course of one year. The findings suggest that increasing the quality of an auction business’s e-image does increase consumers’ willingness to transact with the business, and increases prices received at auction. The study also demonstrates the ability to use eBay as an experimental laboratory for testing a variety of hypotheses about purchasing behavior online.

Information Systems

Terminability and compensatibility of cycles in business processes with a process-oriented trigger

Injun Choi, Jisoo Jung, Michael Mannino, and Chulsoon Park
Data & Knowledge Engineering, Vol. 66, Issue 2, p. 243-263

BPTrigger is a process-oriented trigger model that provides economy of specification and efficient execution for complex business constraints. An essential part of trigger execution is detection and resolution of cycles. This paper presents an approach to determine the terminability of a cycle introduced by a BPTrigger in a business process and determine whether a cycle is allowable in terms of compensatibility. The foundation of the approach is a set of conditions for cycle termination derived from classifications of business processes by resource usage and activity types by compensation status. This paper formally presents cycle analysis procedures using the notion of cycle analysis graph. Further, a procedure is proposed which checks the terminability of multiple cycles using a composite cycle analysis graph constructed from the cycle analysis graphs of the associated cycles. The paper proves the correctness of the analysis and presents a validation example. The presented results extend some limitations of well-formed sphere which has addressed atomicity of workflow transactions.

Information Systems

Exploring Information Extraction Resilience

Gregg, Dawn
Journal of Universal Computer Science Vol. 14 Issue 11, p. 1911-1920

There are many challenges developers face when attempting to reliably extract data from the web. One of these challenges is the resilience of the extraction system to changes in the web pages information is being extracted from. This paper compares the resilience of information extraction systems that use position based extraction with an ontology based extraction system and a system that combines position based extraction with ontology based extraction. The findings demonstrate the advantages of using a system that combines multiple extraction techniques, especially in environments where websites change frequently and where data collection is conducted over an extended period of time.

Information Systems

Information technology innovation diffusion: an information requirements paradigm

Nigel Melville and Ronald Ramirez
Information Systems Journal, Vol. 18 Issue 3, p.247-273

Information technology (IT) innovation research examines the organizational and technological factors that determine IT adoption and diffusion, including firm size and scope, technological competency and expected benefits. We extend the literature by focusing on information requirements as a driver of IT innovation adoption and diffusion. Our framework of IT innovation diffusion incorporates three industry-level sources of information requirements: process complexity, clock speed and supply chain complexity. We apply the framework to US manufacturing industries using aggregate data of internet-based innovations and qualitative analysis of two industries: wood products and beverage manufacturing. Results show systematic patterns supporting the basic thesis of the information processing paradigm: higher IT innovation diffusion in industries with higher information processing requirements; the salience of downstream industry structure in the adoption of interorganizational systems; and the role of the location of information intensity in the supply chain in determining IT adoption and diffusion. Our study provides a new explanation for why certain industries were early and deep adopters of internet-based innovations while others were not: variation in information processing requirements.