MY PAPERS

In this paper, we draw on control theory to understand the conditions under which the use of agile practices is most effective in improving software project quality. Although agile development methodologies offer the potential of improving software development outcomes, limited research has examined how project managers can structure the software development environment to maximize the benefits of agile methodology use during a project. As a result, project managers have little guidance on how to manage teams who are using agile methodologies. Arguing that the most effective control modes are those that provide teams with autonomy in determining the methods for achieving project objectives, we propose hypotheses related to the interaction between control modes, agile methodology use, and requirements change. We test the model in a field study of 862 software developers in 110 teams. The model explains substantial variance in four objective measures of project quality�??bug severity, component complexity, coordinative complexity, and dynamic complexity. Results largely support our hypotheses, highlighting the interplay between project control, agile methodology use, and requirements change. The findings contribute to extant literature by integrating control theory into the growing literature on agile methodology use and by identifying specific contingencies affecting the efficacy of different control modes. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our results.

An Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) is developed to meet the needs of strategic decision making that operational data sources and systems such as online transaction processing (OLTP), by design, cannot support. In this article, we present an EDW architectural extension for the health care organizations so that they can continue providing high quality patient care during large-scale disasters. We develop this extension based on our study of the Veteran Health Administration�??s (VHA) information technology (IT) systems and responses during Hurricane Katrina.

Prior research has extensively studied individual adoption and use of information systems, primarily using beliefs as predictors of behavioral intention to use a system, which in turn predicts system use. We propose a model of acceptance with peer support (MAPS) that integrates prior individual research with social networks constructs. We argue that an individual�??s embeddedness in the social network of the organizational unit implementing a new information system can enhance our understanding of technology use. An individual�??s co-workers can be important sources of help in overcoming knowledge barriers constraining use of a complex system; and interactions with others can determine an employee�??s ability to influence eventual system configuration and features. We incorporate network density (reflecting �??get-help�?� ties for an employee) and network centrality (reflecting �??give-help�?� ties for an employee), drawn from prior social network research, as key predictors of system use. Further, we conceptualize valued network density and valued network centrality, both of which take into account ties to those with relevant system-related information, knowledge and resources, and employ them as additional predictors. We conducted a 3-month long study of 87 employees. The results confirmed our theory that social network constructs can significantly enhance our understanding of technology use over and above predictors from prior individual-level adoption research.

Agency theory has played a significant role in identifying drivers of offshore information system (IS) project success. Consequently, the role of relational factors in driving project success has been overlooked in this literature. In this paper, we integrate the social embeddedness perspective and the culture literature by theorizinghow and why relational factors affect the success of offshore IS projects that are strategic in nature, and by identifying organizational and interpersonal cultural differences as critical success factors in this context. Using data from a longitudinal field study of 155 offshore IS projects managed by 22 project leaders, we found evidence of a relationship between hypothesized relational factors and two measures of offshore IS project success�??namely, project cost overruns and client satisfaction�??over and above the effects of project characteristics and agency factors. Specifically, we found that information exchange, joint problem-solving, and trust reduce project cost overruns and improve client satisfaction. We also found a relationship between cultural differences at the organizational and team level, and offshore IS project success. The model explained 40% and 41% of the variance in project cost overruns and client satisfaction respectively for projects with a client representative. For projects with no client representative, the model explained 35% and 37% of the variance in project cost overruns and client satisfaction respectively. Collectively, the results have important theoretical and practical implications for how client-vendor relationships should be managed when partnering with offshore firms and designing offshore IS project teams.

Software development is a complex undertaking that continues to present software project teams with numerous challenges. Software project teams are adopting extreme programming (XP) practices in order to overcome the challenges of software development in an increasingly dynamic environment. The ability to coordinate developer efforts is critical in such conditions. Expertise coordination has been identified as an important emergent process through which software project teams manage non-routine challenges in software development. However, the extent to which XP enables software project teams to coordinate expertise is unknown. Drawing on the agile development and expertise coordination literatures, we examine the role of collective ownership and coding standards as processes and practices that govern coordination in software project teams. We examine the relationship between collective ownership, coding standards, expertise coordination, and software project technical quality in a field study of 56 software project teams comprising 509 programmers. We found that collective ownership and coding standards play a role in improving software project technical quality. We also found that collective ownership and coding standards moderated the relationship between expertise coordination and software project technical quality, with collective ownership attenuating the relationship and coding standards strengthening the relationship. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

We discuss three theoretical models from met expectations research in the fields of organizational behavior and consumer psychology. Based on the fundamental arguments in the models, we term these models: disconfirmation, ideal point, and experiences only. We present three-dimensional graphical and analytical representations of the models with satisfaction being a function of expectations and experiences. We tested the models in the context of a new information system implementation in an organization, with expectations, experiences, and system satisfaction measured for both ease of use and usefulness, the focal constructs of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). We found that an experiences only model in which expectations had no measurable effect best explained the data for ease of use. The results for usefulness indicated a modified version of the experiences only model in which the positive effect of experiences becomes slightly stronger�??i.e., more positive�??as expectations increase.

Employees�?? underutilization of new information systems undermines organizations�?? efforts to amass the expected benefits from such systems. The two main predictors of technology use in prior research�??behavioral intention and facilitating conditions�??have limitations that we discuss. We introduce behavioral expectation as a predictor that addresses the limitations of behavioral intention and facilitating conditions and provides a better understanding of technology use. Use is examined in terms of its three key conceptualizations�??duration, frequency, and intensity. Drawing on recent work on conceptualizations of use, we develop theoretical links between behavioral intention and behavioral expectation, and the various conceptualizations of use. We argue that the cognitions underlying behavioral intention and behavioral expectation differ and consequently, the mechanisms through which they influence different conceptualizations of use differ as well. We test the proposed model in the context of a longitudinal field study of 321 users of a new information system. The model explains 65%, 60%, and 60% of the variance in duration, frequency, and intensity of use respectively. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.

The health care sector, despite its importance, is still behind most other industries such as retail, manufacturing, and financial services to leverage information technology (IT) for operational and strategic purposes. Effective development and successful implementation of IT systems are immensely critical for the health care sector as it has direct implications for patient safety, mortality, and better quality of life. In this paper, based on a case study of one of the largest health care providers in the nation, the Veteran Health Administration (VHA), we discuss several potential drawbacks of current electronic medical records (EMR) systems and offer six key strategies for development and improvement. We expect that these strategies will have important ramifications for the overall IT architecture of health care providers and help them improve the quality of patient care.

Prior research has provided valuable insights into how and why employees make a decision about the adoption and use of information technologies (ITs) in the workplace. From an organizational point of view, however, the more important issue is how managers make informed decisions about interventions that can lead to greater acceptance and effective utilization of IT. There is limited research in the IT implementation literature that deals with the role of interventions to aid such managerial decision making. Particularly, there is a need to understand how various interventions can influence the known determinants of IT adoption and use. To address this gap in the literature, we draw from the vast body of research on the technology acceptance model (TAM), particularly the work on the determinants of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and: (i) develop a comprehensive nomological network (integrated model) of the determinants of individual level (IT) adoption and use; (ii) empirically test the proposed integrated model; and (iii) present a research agenda focused on potential pre- and postimplementation interventions that can enhance employees�?? adoption and use of IT. Our findings and research agenda have important implications for managerial decision making on IT implementation in organizations.

We conducted an exploratory study to understand the factors that played important role in the adoption of RosettaNet-based interorganizational business process standards (IBPS) in business-to-business integration (B2Bi). We found 3 sets of drivers of IBPS adoption in organizations�??i.e., external, internal, and instrumental. External factors include institutional pressures, standards uncertainty, and quality of interorganizational relationships. Internal factors include internal pressures, job change, technology readiness, ICT competence, and organizational culture. Finally, instrumental factors include perceived benefits, process compatibility, and complexity.