Papers

This paper draws from communication research and negative asymmetry theory to examine how employee social network ties at work affect deep structure use and job performance in the context of an enterprise system implementation. Specifically, we examine how the content—i.e., advice and impeding—and source—i.e., friends and acquaintances—of social network ties interact with one another to influence both deep structure use of the new ES and employee job performance. A longitudinal field study was conducted, with data collected from 145 employees and their supervisors in a business unit of a large multinational telecommunications firm. Results show that both source and content of social network ties influenced deep structure use of the new ES as well as employee job performance. This work contributes to the ES implementation literature by examining the influence of both positive and negative social ties. This work also identifies an important boundary condition of negative asymmetry theory by showing that not all negative stimuli influences behavior equally.

Drawing on expectation confirmation research, we develop hypotheses regarding the effect of compensation on key customer outcomes following a major data breach and consequent service recovery effort. Data were collected in a longitudinal field study of Sony customers during their data breach in 2011. One hundred forty-four customers participated in the two-phase data collection that began when the breach was announced and concluded after reparations were made. Using polynomial modeling and response surface analysis, we demonstrate that a modified assimilation-contrast model explained perceptions of service quality and continuance intention and a generalized negativity model explained repurchase intention. The results of our work contribute to research on data breaches and service failure by demonstrating the impacts of compensation on customer outcomes. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.

Drawing from a total rewards perspective, we introduce three work outcomes—namely, extrinsic, social and intrinsic—as determinants of person-organization (PO) and person-job (PJ) fit perceptions of new IT employees. Gender is proposed as a moderator of the relationships between valuations of different work outcomes and fit perceptions. We found support for our model in three separate studies. In each of the studies, we gathered data about the work outcomes and fit perceptions of IT workers. The studies were designed to complement each other in terms of cross-temporal validity (studies were conducted at difference points in time over ten years, in periods of differing economic stability) and in terms of prior work experience (entry-level workers in studies 1 and 2, and those with prior work experience starting new jobs in study 3). All three studies also included data both pre- and post-organizational entry in order to further validate the robustness of the model. The studies largely supported our hypotheses that: (a) the effect of extrinsic outcomes on PO fit was moderated by gender, such that it was more important to men in determining their PO fit perceptions; (b) the effects of social outcomes on both PO fit and PJ fit was moderated by gender, such that it was more important to women in determining their fit perceptions; and (c) intrinsic outcomes influenced perceptions of PJ fit for both men and women. We discuss implications for research and practice.

There has been widespread use of auto-ID technologies for firm-side applications and operations, such as inventory control. With the increasing diffusion of smartphones, the potential to serve content to shoppers using auto-ID technologies is starting to receive interest among technology firms and retailers alike. Using a design science approach, we design-and-build, theorize about, and compare six shopping assistance artifacts by manipulating the hardware design—barcode scanner vs. radio frequency identification (RFID) reader—and content design—product information vs. product review vs. both. We theorize about how these artifact conditions will compare to a control condition (no shopping assistance artifact available) across three sets of outcomes: technology adoption, security beliefs, and shopping. We tested our propositions in two experiments—wherein the task was varied: general browsing and shopping (n=227) vs. goal-directed shopping (n=221)—conducted in a retail store laboratory. We found support for the propositions that the RFID reader was most favorably received in terms of technology adoption outcomes and shopping outcomes, although it was most negatively viewed in terms of security beliefs. We also found support for the propositions that the content design conditions—i.e., product information, product reviews, and both—were favorably received. In a post-hoc analysis, we found a two-way interaction of hardware and content designs such that content fueled by RFID was most favorably received in terms of technology adoption and shopping outcomes, whereas most negatively viewed in terms of security beliefs. Interestingly, the two-way interaction was most pronounced in the goal-directed shopping condition such that the most positive effects were observed for RFID in combination with both product information and reviews.

Research on information technology (IT) adoption and use, one of the most mature streams of research in the information science (IS) literature, is primarily based on the intentionality framework. Behavioral intention (BI) to use an IT is considered the sole proximal determinant of IT adoption and use. Recently, researchers have discussed the limitations of BI and argued that behavioral expectation (BE) would be a better predictor of IT use. However, without a theoretical and empirical understanding of the determinants of BE, we remain limited in our comprehension of what factors promote greater IT use in organizations. Using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as the theoretical framework, we develop a model that posits two determinants (i.e., social influence and facilitating conditions) of BE and four moderators (i.e., gender, age, experience, and voluntariness of use) of the relationship between BE and its determinants. We argue that the cognitions underlying the formation of BI and BE differ. We found strong support for the proposed model in a longitudinal field study of 321 users of a new IT. We offer theoretical and practical IT implications of our findings.

Interorganizational business process standards (IBPS) are IT-enabled process specifications that standardize, streamline, and improve business processes related to interorganizational relationships. There has been much interest in IBPS as organizations from different industries implement these process standards that lead to successful organizational outcomes by integrating and standardizing intra- and inter-organizational business processes. These process standards enable data analytics capabilities by facilitating new sources of interorganizational process data. The purpose of this study is to unearth employees’ reactions to a new type of supply chain process innovations that involved an implementation of new IBPS, a supply chain management (SCM) system and associated analytics capabilities. We gathered and analyzed qualitative data for a year from the employees of a healthcare supplier, a high-tech manufacturing organization, during the implementation of a SCM system and RosettaNet-based IBPS. In what we termed the initiation stage, there was quite a bit of confusion and unrest among employees regarding the relevance of the new process standards and associated analytics capabilities. With the passage of time, in the institutionalization stage, although the situation improved slightly, employees found workarounds that allowed them to appropriate just part of specific processes and the analytics capabilities. Finally, once routinized, employees felt comfortable in the situation but still did not appropriate the new supply chain processes faithfully. Overall, employees’ reactions toward the SCM system and associated analytics capabilities were different from their reactions toward the new business processes. We contribute to the literature by offering novel insights on how employees react to and appropriate process innovations that change their work processes.

Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and floods, have a profound impact on healthcare by limiting healthcare providers’ ability to effectively provide patient care in the affected areas and respond to myriad healthcare needs of the affected population. The situation can potentially be exacerbated if healthcare providers do not have effective mechanisms in place for disaster response. The response to Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that made landfall in August 2005 and affected several states in the southwestern U.S., was a vivid example of how the lack of effective planning and responsiveness can affect healthcare services. In this article, based on an extensive case study, which included a rigorous examination of the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) information technology (IT) infrastructure and its response to hurricane Katrina, we present five strategies that healthcare organizations can undertake to develop and leverage IT-enabled disaster response. These include the development of: (1) an integrated IT architecture; (2) a universal data repository; (3) web-based disaster communication and coordination; (4) an IT-enabled disaster support system; and (5) standardized and integrated IT-enabled disaster response processes. We discuss how these strategies can help healthcare providers manage continuity and offer quality healthcare during natural disasters.

Developing countries, such as India and China, are the fastest growing economies in the world. The successful implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in these countries is likely to hinge on a set of institutional factors that are shaped by environmental tension created by two competing forces, emergent catalysts, such as new economic policies and reform programs, and traditional challenges, such as infrastructure and traditional value systems. To unearth the temporal dynamics underlying the success and failure of ICT implementations in organizations in developing countries, we conducted a 2-year multi-method study of an ICT implementation at a large bank in India. Based on data collected from over 1,000 employees and over 1,000 customers, we found, relative to pre-implementation levels for up to 2 years post-implementation, that we characterized as the shakedown phase: (1) operational efficiency did not improve, (2) job satisfaction declined, and (3) customer satisfaction declined. In-depth interviews of approximately 40 members of top management, 160 line employees, and 200 customers indicated that these outcomes could be attributed to the strong influence of a set of institutional factors, such as ICT-induced change, labor economics, western isomorphism, parallel-manual system, and technology adaptation. The interplay between these institutional factors and environmental tension posed a formidable challenge for the bank throughout the implementation that led to the poor and unintended outcomes.

In this paper, we extend the guidelines of Venkatesh et al. (2013) for mixed-methods research by identifying and integrating variations in mixed-methods research. By considering 14 properties of mixed-methods research (e.g., purposes, research questions, epistemological assumptions), our guidelines demonstrate how researchers can flexibly identify the existing variations in mixed-methods research and proceed accordingly with a study design that suits their needs. To make the guidelines actionable for various situations and issues that researchers could encounter, we develop a decision tree to map the flow and relationship among the design strategies. We also illustrate one possible type of mixed-methods research in information systems in depth and discuss how to develop and validate metainferences as the outcomes of such a study.

The United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals listed high infant mortality rates as a major problem in developing countries, especially in rural areas. Given the powerful information dissemination capabilities, information and communication technologies (ICTs), they have been suggested as interventions to build infant care awareness, modify healthcare behaviors. We examine how the use of one ICT intervention—specifically, eHealth kiosks disseminating authenticated and accessible medical information—can alleviate the problem of high infant mortality in rural India. We investigate how mothers’ social networks affect their use of eHealth kiosks, seeking professional medical care for their infants and ultimately, infant mortality. Drawing on social epidemiology and social networks literatures, we focus on advice and hindrance from both strong and weak ties as the conduit of social influence on mothers’ health-related behaviors for the care of their infants. Over a period of 7 years, we studied 4,620 infants across 10 villages where the eHealth kiosks were implemented along with support resources for proxy use. The results revealed that (1) eHealth kiosk use promotes seeking professional medical care and reduces infant mortality, (2) mothers are especially vulnerable to hindrance from both strong and weak ties as they choose to maintain the status quo of traditional infant healthcare practices (e.g., reliance on untrained personnel, superstitions, fatalism) in villages, and (3) advice from both strong and weak ties offers the potential to break down misplaced beliefs about infant healthcare practices and to develop literacy on seeking professional medical care. In contrast, in a comparative group of 10 neighboring villages, the reduction in infant mortality was not as pronounced and the effect of professional medical care in reducing infant mortality was lower. Our findings suggest that an ICT intervention can effectively address one of society’s most important problems—i.e., infant mortality—even in parts of the world with limited resources and deep suspicion of technology and change. Overall, we believe such an ICT intervention will complement other investments being made including the facilitation of use (proxy use) and provision of professional medical facilities to reduce infant mortality.