A Framework for Linking the Structure of Information Systems with Organizational Requirements for Information Sharing - Lee, Sunro; Leifer, Richard P (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
This paper describes relations between organizational structures and IS structures based on requirements for information sharing. Information sharing is defined as a linking concept between organizational and IS structures. Task characteristics, technological interdependency, work teams, and networked structures of organizations determine information sharing requirements. Adopting the paradigm of the organizational fit school, this paper postulates that for IS structures to be effective they should possess capacities for matching information sharing requirements.
Keywords: information sharing; information system structure; information-technology fit; organizational computer-mediated communication

A Review of MIS Research and Disciplinary Development - Alavi, Maryam; Carlson, Patricia (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
The current study focuses on the development of MIS as a field of research and inquiry and examines its intellectual evolution. These issues are addressed through a systematic examination and analysis of 908 MIS articles published between 1968 and 1988 in eight core journals. The articles were analyzed for themes, topics, and research approach. The findings identify popular research topics, the dominant research perspective, and the relationship between MIS research and practice. The popular research topics consist of: IS management, information systems types and characteristics, and development and operation of systems. The dominant research perspective employed in almost all of the empirical articles included in the study can be characterized as a traditional approach reflecting a positivist orientation.
Keywords: MIS as discipline; MIS journals; MIS research

Measuring Performance of the Information Systems Function - Saunders, Carol S; Jones, Jack William (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
This paper reports a Delphi study followed by senior executive interviews aimed at determining the important dimensions and their measures for evaluating information systems (IS) function performance. The findings highlight (1) IS function performance dimension rankings and measurement usage, and (2) apparent contradictions between the considerable emphasis placed upon strategic impact of information systems and the lack of executive involvement.
Keywords: IS function performance evaluation; measurement; assessment; Delphi technique; IS strategic impact; top management support

Impact of the CEO's Participation on Information Systems Steering Committees - Raghunathan, T S (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
This exploratory research analyzes the impact of the CEO's participation as a member of an organization's information systems (IS) steering committee. Results, based on an analysis of responses to a survey instrument sent to information systems managers suggest that the CEO's participation can improve certain aspects of IS such as its alignment with organizational plans, its perceived importance, and effectiveness. Resource allocation to IS was not affected by the CEO's membership of the committee.
Keywords: executive involvement in information systems; information systems planning; steering committees

Implementation and Use of Expert Systems in Organizations: Perceptions of Knowledge Engineers. (English) - Byrd, Terry Anthony (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
This paper reports on the results of a survey of knowledge engineers from private organizations, and empirically examines the state of expert systems (ES) in organizational contexts. The knowledge engineers were asked to rate issues related to successful implementation, the extent of use in key areas, the original motivations for implementation, the perceived benefits, and the effects on end users of the systems. Factor analysis (varimax rotation) was used to reduce the number of issues so that reasonable conclusions in these areas could be drawn. The study resulted in several findings. Among these are: (i) knowledge acquisition and knowledge engineering should be separated in the overall ES development process and assigned to different ES team members; (ii) knowledge acquisition is the "bottleneck" in ES development; (iii) expert systems benefit organizations by helping personnel make more consistent, timely, and accurate decisions in hopes of improving competitiveness; and (iv) expert systems have not had dysfunctional effects on end users, such as lower job satisfaction, as seen in other automated technologies studies. Associated research issues are discussed and implications for practice are given.
Keywords: expert systems; knowledge acquisition; knowledge engineering; information systems implementation

The Analysis and Design of Embedded Knowledge-based Systems Using Box Structure Methods - Basu, Amit; Hevner, Alan R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Knowledge-based systems are widely used for decision support system and expert system applications. However, they are not a panacea for all business problems. Thorough requirements analysis methods must determine the need for knowledge-based systems vis-á-vis alternative information system designs. Furthermore, knowledge-based systems are often used as embedded subsystems within larger organizational information systems. Rigorous design methods must support the development of complex information systems with integrated, heterogeneous subsystems, including knowledge-based subsystems. In this paper, we demonstrate that the box structure methods of information systems development support both the requirements analysis of knowledge-based systems and the design of embedded knowledgebased systems. An extended example is presented to show the use of the box structure methods in the development of a financial planning system that requires embedded knowledge-based system components.
Keywords: knowledge-based systems; system analysis; system design; systems development method

Determinants of Information Technology Outsourcing: A Cross-Sectional Analysis - Loh, Lawrence; Venkatraman, N (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
This paper develops and tests a model of the determinants of information technology (IT) outsourcing by integrating both business and IT perspectives. Specifically, we attempt to explain the degree of IT outsourcing using business and IT competences as represented by their cost structures and economic performances. In addition, we posit that outsourcing is dependent on business governance, particularly financial leverage. Based on factor analyses and multiple regressions using data from fifty-five major U.S. corporations, we observed that the degree of IT outsourcing is positively related to both business and IT cost structures. We also established that the degree of IT outsourcing is negatively related to IT performance. Finally, we conclude with implications and future research directions.
Keywords: information technology outsourcing; information technology strategy

Root Causes of Strategic Information Systems Planning Implementation Problems - Lederer, Albert L; Sethi, Vijay (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Strategic information systems planning is the process of creating a long-range plan of computer-based applications to enable an organization to achieve its goals. Previous research has shown that many problems can potentially impede information systems planners as they carry out the process. The current study uses a survey of eighty information systems planners to investigate a causal relationship among the problems. It reveals a causal model describing (1) the influence of organization problems on hardware, cost, and database problems, and (2) the influence of organization, hardware, cost, and database problems on implementation problems. Cost problems had the largest direct effect on implementation problems.
Keywords: MIS implementation; organizational context of MIS; strategic planning for MIS

Information Centers as Organizational Innovation: Exploring the Correlates of Implementation Success - Fuller, Mary K; Swanson, B Burton (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
The information center (IC) provides an example of an organizational innovation based in the use of new information technology. While widely adopted, it has met with varying success among its implementors. This paper reports results from an exploratory study of IC adoption and implementation among twenty-seven information systems (IS) organizations. It identifies certain correlates of success--the size of the host organization at the locations served by the IS unit together with the total number of IC services provided--that have been previously overlooked. These findings have implications for research beyond the case of information centers. Specifically, they suggest that any implementation research founded on the "critical success factor" approach, where managers are asked to judge those factors important to the success of their innovations, will be inadequate unless organizational context is also considered by the researcher in explaining this success. Research to date has not always met this criterion; future research must do so.
Keywords: critical success factors (CSF); end-user computing; implementation; information center; organizational context of information technology; organizational innovation; organizational size and scope

MIS Skills for the 1990s: A Survey of MIS Managers' Perceptions - Leitheiser, Robert L (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
The effective management of human resources is an important challenge for MIS executives. Part of the challenge is obtaining and retaining MIS personnel with the skills and knowledge required to support the organization effectively. The purpose of this paper is to provide managers and educators with information on the current and future demand for MIS professionals and with information about the relative importance of specific MIS skills. To address these issues a survey of MIS managers was undertaken in the summer of 1990. The results include projections of demand for ten MIS job types. Also reported are the perceptions of importance of fifty-four skills for systems developers and twenty-six technical specialist skills. A model is proposed for explaining perceptions of skill need. Implications of the results are discussed for businesses, educational institutions, and researchers.
Keywords: demand for MIS professionals; human resources for MIS; MIS skills

The Influence of Individual Differences on Skill in End-User Computing - Harrison, Allison W; Rainer Jr, R Kelly (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Using survey data from 776 knowledge workers from a university, this exploratory study generates and tests eight propositions concerning the relationship between individual differences and computer skill. A multiple regression analysis showed that the male gender, younger age, more experience with computers, an attitude of confidence regarding computers, lower math anxiety, and a creative cognitive style are individual difference variables associated with higher computer skill. The regression also indicated that the individual difference variables accounted for 56 percent of the variance associated with computer skill. These findings suggest that organizations should manage EUC using two complementary processes: a global process and an individual process. The global or organizationwide process would be responsible for areas such as standards, controls, and security. The individual process would address issues such as education and training, selection and recruitment, and the introduction of new technology into the workplace.
Keywords: end user; end-user computing; individual differences; computer skill

Are Human-Factors People Really So Different?: Comparisons of Interpersonal Behavior and Implications for Design Teams - McLeod, Poppy L (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
This study examined differences between human-factors and machine-factors computer professionals in self-reports of their interpersonal behaviors. Three hundred and eleven computer professionals completed an instrument describing their jobs and three categories of their interpersonal behavior—Dominance, Friendliness, and Task versus Socio-Emotional. Human-factors professionals described their ideal and actual behavior as more dominant than that of other computer professionals. No differences were found for the other two behavior dimensions. Human-factors professionals on the average were more involved with research while machine-oriented professionals were more involved with product development. The findings are discussed with respect to their importance for computer system design teams. It is suggested that interpersonal factors may affect the utilization of human-factors experts.
Keywords: human factors; individual differences; MIS professionals

AEI: A Knowledge-Based Approach to Integrated Office Systems - Amaravadi, Chandra S; Liu Sheng, Olivia R; George, Joey F; Nunamaker Jr, Jay F (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Although various attempts have been made in the past to introduce office systems and office models, they have been limited in one or several ways: they have not been based on integrated views; no models were developed or the models were artificial; they have been limited in scope; they used restrictive representation schemes; they were not intelligent; they were not user-friendly. Our research attempts to address these issues with: an integrated view of the office; a model tied to the nature of office activity; integration across various office domains; and a knowledge base. Intelligence is supplied from the interface and from the planner, as well as from the domain knowledge. An important component of the domain knowledge is the functional structure which captures activity relationships with a uniform representation scheme. Users can access explanations about functions of the office and can add comments on them. The realization of these concepts in a prototype system is discussed.
Keywords: intelligent office systems; knowledge-based office systems; office knowledge representation; office models; office system architectures; office information systems

Knowledge-Based Support for Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Judgments in Resource Allocation Decisions - Agarwal, Ritu; Tanniru, Mohan R; Dacruz, Marcos (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
The allocation of scarce resources to competing information systems project opportunities is a key activity performed by the MIS planning group. Performing this task typically involves consideration of both quantitative as well as qualitative aspects of projects. Research in human information processing and cognitive psychology suggests that decision makers are often subject to biases that tend to assign greater salience to quantitative as opposed to qualitative and intangible factors. To help overcome such biases and to provide flexible decision support to the project selection committee, a knowledge-based system has been developed. Knowledge captured in the system was extracted from industry practitioners responsible for the project selection decision. The system architecture represents an integration of database, modeling, and expert system capabilities. It supports both intelligence and design phases of project selection and can assess the impact of a selected portfolio on an organization's cash flow. The operation of the system is illustrated through an extended example.
Keywords: knowledge-based systems; information systems projects; multicriteria decision-making; project selection; qualitative factors

Performance Analysis of "What-If" Databases Using Independently Updated Views - Ramirez, Richard G; Kulkarni, Uday R; Moser, Kathleen A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Multiple scenarios are critical to "what-if" analysis. Scenarios are built using alternate versions of a database; each version shows, in detail, the result of a decision or a combination of decisions. Relational database management systems, despite their widespread use, lack the explicit capabilities for what-if analysis. We present a concept called independently updated views (IUVs) for creating multiple scenarios. An IUV corresponds to a version of the database. Each version is manipulated and updated as if it were the "real" database; however, only differences between the version and the real database are stored. This paper describes an experiment for measuring the overhead of using IUVs for supporting what-if analysis for a range of typical views and queries. Results indicate that the overhead is minimal for creating what-if scenarios based on views with aggregate functions (SUM, AVG) and on views that are small subsets of the database. These are the classes of views that are more often used in decision making. For views that require retrieval of entire or large portions of the database, the overhead can be high and special data structures may be required.
Keywords: hypothetical databases; relational databases; relational views; view updates; What if

Information Technology and Industrial Cooperation: The Changing Economics of Coordination and Ownership - Clemons, Eric K; Row, Michael C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Cooperation is becoming increasingly important in the modern business environment. The resulting emergence of new forms of organizational relationships is challenging managers to understand the fundamental dynamics of cooperation in order to evaluate and restructure their industrial relationships. This paper applies transactions cost economics toward understanding cooperative relationships. Cooperation is viewed as an effort to increase resource utilization and value through higher explicit coordination of economic activities. However, increasing explicit coordination can create transaction risks: exposure to opportunistic behavior by the other party. Transaction risk limits the level of coordination that is achievable. Information technology can reduce the costs of coordination while also reducing the transaction risks associated with increased coordination. These dual effects suggest a move toward tightly coupled, cooperative relationships.
Keywords: electronic markets; intercorporate coordination; interorganizational information systems; strategic information systems

Message Management Systems: Concepts, Motivations, and Strategic Effects - Kimbrough, Steven O; Moore, Scott A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
This paper motivates the need for system-level message management software. It begins by considering information flows in the workplace as a source of potential gains in efficiency. We next investigate work-flow automation and electronic data interchange (EDI) as indicative of current technologies applied to work processes and message management. Having described current technology and our vision of work processes, we propose an alternative, general-purpose, software technology for supporting application-to-application communication. Problems of EDI, of process-to-process communication, and of describing information items are discussed in terms of the communication problems they present. We then justify the need for this kind of software and lay out the criteria (or plausibility conditions) for evaluating a proposal for this sort of system software. The use of a formal communication language is proposed as a common solution to these problems. This proposal is examined in the context of the EDI problem, in order to demonstrate how the proposal might work in practice. Practical benefits of the proposal are discussed that highlight the impact such a technology might have on business practices. The proposed solution is measured against the plausibility conditions presented earlier in the paper; it is found to be sufficient in some cases and in need of further investigation in others. We then discuss the industrial-organizational implications of the availability of such a technology, and hypothesize that it would affect the number and form of cooperative business relationships as well as their scope and depth. We also hypothesize that it would provide advantages to those firms that quickly adopt the technology.
Keywords: electronic commerce; electronic data interchange (EDI); electronic markets; interorganizational information systems; message management

Modeling the Profitability of Customer Relationships: Development and Impact of Barclays de Zoete Wedd's BEATRICE - Stuchfield, Nicolas; Weber, Bruce W (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Traditional management accounting systems are limited in their ability to provide profitability information relevant to management decisions. The problems of inadequate profitability measurement are intensified in today's business environments, where changing margins due to deregulation and new entrants, new products with unknown costs, and customer sophistication in locating low-cost providers often combine to leave unprepared firms with growing numbers of loss-making client relationships. In response, firms in a number of service and manufacturing industries are experimenting with new methods for measuring performance, and are implementing these techniques using information systems. The collection and analysis of information on the profitability of customer relationships enables managers to identify and defend their most attractive market segments, and to turn loss-making accounts into profitable ones. The London-based securities house, BZW, developed BEATRICE, an innovative information system that combines activity-based accounting principles and a model of customer profitability to make an income assignment to each of the 6,000 trades the firm makes in a day. The system's value is considerable, and can be evaluated by using industry performance benchmarks, and by comparing management decision making using the currently available information with what was possible with previous data.
Keywords: activity-based accounting; management accounting systems; profitability measurement

Information Systems for Managerial Planning and Control: A Conceptual Examination of Their Temporal Structure - Ariav, Gad (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
The managerial functions of planning and control are information-intensive "memory processes," and are inherently temporal. As such, they are a major application domain for temporally oriented information systems (TOIS), which are distinguished by their explicit handling of time and memory. Although TOIS have been studied vigorously in recent years, there has been no attempt to relate them to the temporal concerns pertinent to these managerial processes. This paper systematically examines the structure of, and access to memory in planning and control activities, in an attempt to identify major related design requirements. The examination proceeds as follows: First, a conceptual framework of planning and control is developed. This framework facilitates the examination of memory aspects of these processes, specifically the extent and nature of memory implied by the underlying models and the actual control schemes. The three themes that emerge from this examination are: (1) the fundamental necessity of temporally independent access to data in planning and control applications; (2) the inherent multiplicity of time perspectives upon which the notions of planning and control rest; and (3) the need to develop temporally oriented model management. These themes identify basic temporal functionalities that TOIS need to address. Current research on temporally oriented information systems, as assessed against these criteria, has not come up yet with adequate answers.
Keywords: design requirements for information systems; model management systems; temporally oriented information systems; planning and control

An Empirical Assessment of Information Systems Planning and the Role of Information Systems in Organizations - Premkumar, G; King, William R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Research in the information systems (IS) field indicates that organizations have different roles for IS in their operations and that various aspects of strategic IS planning will vary depending on the IS role. This study empirically evaluates the differences in planning, organizational support, and performance characteristics of IS planning among organizations with different roles for IS. An operationalization of the "role of IS" is developed on the basis of the notion of a "strategic grid." The study also evaluates the relationship between various performance measures and the "fit" between the IS planning process and the role of IS in the organization.The data for the study were collected from a field survey of 249 firms. The results of the data analyses indicate that there are significant differences in planning, organizational support, and performance characteristics of IS planning among organizations with different roles for IS. The planning and support characteristics generally match the predictions implicit in the strategic grid, thereby partially validating it. Significant relationships exist between two of the performance measures, planning effectiveness and IS's contribution to organizational performance, and the "fit" between the role of IS and the quality of the planning process.
Keywords: fit between role of IS and IS planning; IS planning; organizational support for IS planning; role of IS in an organization; strategic grid

Investigating the Impacts of Managerial Turnover/Succession on Software Project Performance - Abdel-Hamid, Tarek K (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
The persistent turnover problem in the software field combined with the tendency of managerial succession to promote instability make this phenomenon of crucial importance to the student as well as the practitioner of software project management. The focus of most studies to date has been on the use of aggregated statistical data to answer macro questions regarding aggregates of organizations. On the other hand, there is a serious lack of micro-empirical analysis of turnover/succession and its impacts on managerial performance. This paper reports the results of a simulation-based laboratory study to investigate the impacts of managerial turnover/succession on software project performance. Specifically, the study examines the staffing and cost/schedule trade-off choices of successor project managers, and compares them with the choices made by managers who run their projects from start to finish without interruption. The results indicate that managerial turnover/succession can lead to a discernible (albeit unintended) shift in cost/schedule trade-off choices, affecting staff allocations and ultimately project performance in terms of both cost and duration.
Keywords: managerial succession; managerial turnover; software project management; software project staffing

Career Anchors of Information Systems Personnel - Crepeau, Raymond G; Crook, Connie W; Goslar, Martin D; McMurtrey, Mark E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Career research in the information systems (IS) field has primarily focused on external motivators associated with organizational factors and material incentives. IS empirical research investigating the internalized career orientations of practitioners is necessary to match individual expectations with corporate human resource planning. This study identifies several career anchors or orientations maintained by IS personnel. By administering the Career Orientations Inventory to 321 IS personnel, Managerial and Technical Competence, Identity, Service, Organizational Stability, and Variety career orientations are distinguished. These internal anchors significantly influence how IS and human resource management should (1) plan corporate IS career paths, (2) nurture IS employees during their careers, and (3) encourage appropriate communication about career advancement.
Keywords: career orientations; information systems career planning; management of information systems personnel

A Method to Identify Candidates for Knowledge Acquisition - Stein, Eric W (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
The purpose of this work is to introduce a systematic method for identifying expertise (knowledge identification). The technique, borrowed from the social sciences and known as network analysis, may be used to identify human experts as well as documented sources of knowledge within organizational settings. Network analysis is simple to administer, cost-effective, and complements interview methods. Following a discussion of the theory underlying the technique, its application in a field setting is demonstrated. The results are checked against what would be expected due to chance, and cross-validated through interviews. To ensure the efficacy of the method, knowledge identification at a second site is briefly described. The work closes with some ideas for future management information systems research using network analysis.
Keywords: expert systems; knowledge acquisition; knowledge engineering; knowledge identification; network analysis

A Business Case Framework for Group Support Technology - Post, Brad Quinn (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
As groupwork gains recognition, emerging group support technologies raise questions about the merits of these systems relative to group performance and return on investment. Business case variables of efficiency, quality, effectiveness, customer satisfaction and decision making are useful in measuring the potential contribution that group support technologies offer. This paper presents findings from a recent field study that used business case concepts as its design approach. The paper explores the infrastructure development requirements for building a business case study. Such a framework is useful to business decision makers and researchers interested in the deployment of these technologies in complex business environments.
Keywords: business case evaluation; business teams; group decision support systems; group support technology; group work

A Theoretical Perspective of Negotiation Support Systems - Lai-Huat, Lim; Benbasat, Izak (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
This paper provides an overview of the existing negotiation literature under the headings of game theory, economic models, political models, and social-psychological models. Inferring from the review the need for computer support for negotiation, the paper then proposes a theory for understanding the effects due to a support system in a two-party, monolithic, and multiple-issue setting. The theory conceptualizes a negotiation support system as consisting of individual decision support systems interconnected with an electronic communication channel; accordingly, it postulates two sets of effects, one owing to the decision aid, and the other to the communication support.
Keywords: electronic meeting systems; group decision support systems; negotiation support systems

Applying Adaptive Structuration Theory to Investigate the Process of Group Support Systems Use - Gopal, Abhijit; Bostrom, Robert P; Chin, Wynne W (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Adaptive structuration theory (AST) provides a sound basis from which to study the use of group support systems (GSS). The need for a theoretical approach such as AST is especially urgent because it helps explain the process of GSS use, thereby providing insights into the reasons for inconsistent research results. This paper illustrates the development of a research model based on AST, and reports the results of a study conducted on the basis of this model. The independent variables in the study were task and technology. The model's process component was represented by the attitudes of group members toward the technology they used. The six attitude dimensions were obtained from AST as well as from other information technology researchers. The model was tested using the partial least squares (PLS) technique.
Keywords: adaptive structuration theory; group decision processes; group decision support systems

Whither the Pen-Based Interface? - Briggs, Robert O; Dennis, Alan R; Beck, Brenda S; Nunamaker Jr, Jay F (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
This paper reports the results of six experiments to investigate the kinds of applications for which a pen-based interface might be useful, the kinds of users who might adopt pen-based interfaces, and the features or components of the pen-based interface that users find acceptable. The experiments revealed a strong user acceptance of pen-based systems for software navigation and position control across a range of applications, and showed that the responses of current nonusers were very similar to those of experienced users when using pen-based systems. The results also suggest that, contrary to conventional wisdom, handwriting recognition is unlikely to be widely accepted as a direct keyboard substitute for general-purpose computing. The paper discusses alternatives to handwriting recognition for pen-based character input, and ends with a brief discussion of future directions in pen-based interface research.
Keywords: handwriting recognition; pen-based systems; user acceptance

An Introduction to the ASCEND Modeling System: Its Language and Interactive Environment - Piela, Peter; McKelvey, Roy; Westerberg, Arthur (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Recently there has been a growing realization among researchers and practitioners that current technologies do not adequately support mathematical modeling "in the large." In this paper we discuss a technology called ASCEND (Advanced System for Computations in Engineering Design), which addresses this issue. We describe two aspects of the technology: a modeling language and an interactive model-building environment. The ASCEND language is structured, declarative and strongly typed, and incorporates object-oriented extensions. The interactive environment is based on the notion of a concurrent set of tools that reflect the various phases of ASCEND modeling. These tools do not enforce a strict sequence of operations, but rather have been designed to support the flexible access implied by declaratively specified models. We claim that ASCEND offers solutions to several of the issues raised by Arthur Geoffrion in his article, "Computer-based modeling environments," [21] and use categories introduced by him to frame this discussion.
Keywords: equation-oriented simulation; mathematical modeling; participatory design; structured modeling; user-centered design

AEROBA: A Blackboard Approach to Model Formulation - Vinze, Ajay S; Sen, Arun; Shue Feng, T Liou (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Building models for problem solving is a common practice for many disciplines. Model formulation is a complex process. Researchers have in the past approached this process from a variety of angles including planning, model structuring, model integration, and model representation, among others. Here we use observations of expert modelers in an attempt to understand the process. The observations, made in the form of protocol analysis, identified three important facets to this process: formulation tasks, control considerations, and the opportunism in the process of formulation. Using these observations, the AEROBA system was constructed, based on the blackboard paradigm. The system design and implementation details are presented. A consultation trace with AEROBA is also provided.
Keywords: blackboard systems; decision support systems; model formulation

The Convergence of Organizational and End-User Computing - McLean, Ephraim R; Kappelman, Leon A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Given the growing prominence of end-user computing (EUC), a survey was conducted among the senior information systems executives, from a broad-based cross-section of consumer-goods manufacturing firms, on the patterns of computing within their companies. The results indicated (1) that the definition of end-user computing is expanding considerably within their organizations; (2) that this expansion is blurring the distinction between end-user computing and traditional information systems: and (3) that these developments are, on the whole, successful and are likely to be even, more so in the future. These findings suggest the need for a closer working relationship between information systems professionals and end users, building what might be called a "partnership for success."
Keywords: end-user computing; management of information systems

Structure and Perceived Effectiveness of Software Development Subunits: A Task Contingency Analysis - Kyu Kim, K; Umanath, Narayan S (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
The nature of the task to be performed by the information systems (IS) unit as a contextual factor has received little attention in the IS research literature. In addition, prior empirical work examining IS structure lacks theoretical foundation. In this paper we first clarify the multidimensional nature of an organization's subunit structure. Then, we examine the impact of the structure variables on the perceived effectiveness of a subunit of lS--software development--using "task" as the contextual contingency influencing this relationship. Organizational information processing theory provides the theoretical foundation for this study. Analysis of data from thirty hospital reveals that a contingency relationship exists between task context and structural dimensions of software development subunits in determining their effectiveness. Task complexity and decision-making structure in interaction exhibit a nonmonotonic effect on the software development subunit's effectiveness. While the interaction of subunit work flow interdependence with both decision-making structure and control structure was significant, the direction of effect was unexpected. Implications of these findings for practicing managers, and IS planners and researchers are discussed.
Keywords: decentralization; IS effectiveness; IS task characteristics; IS unit structure; structural contingency model

An Application of Expectancy Theory for Assessing User Motivation to Utilize an Expert System - Burton, F Greg; Yi-Ning, Chen; Grover, Varun; Stewart, Kathy A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Evaluation of information system success has been the focus of much research. However, most variables such as user satisfaction and system usage can only be measured after system implementation. To predict system success before actual implementation, behavioral theories indicate that it is necessary to evaluate behavioral intention or users' motivation to use the system. Expectancy theory is considered one of the most promising models of individual motivation. This study examines the use of expectancy theory in explaining the motivation to use an expert system. Data gathered from 95 M.B.A. students in a judgmental modeling exercise suggest that the model is a significant predictor of motivation. It also provides insight into the development of such systems. The successful use of this model further suggests that it is appropriate for evaluating and understanding individual motivation to use a system and, subsequently, system success.
Keywords: behavioral intention; expectancy theory; expert systems; motivation; information systems success

Special Section: Research in Integrating Learning Capabilities into Information Systems - Ting-Peng, Liang (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Developing intelligent information systems has been a focus of recent research. A major component that makes a system intelligent is its learning capabilities. A learning system can adapt itself to new environments and improve its performance with minimum intervention from the developer. In this paper, we review major learning paradigms, examine the role of learning in intelligent information systems, and discuss potential research issues in integrating learning capabilities in information systems design.
Keywords: intelligent systems; machine learning; system integration

Inductive Learning for International Financial Analysis: A Layered Approach - Tessmer, Antoinette C; Shaw, Michael J; Gentry, James A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
This paper presents a layered approach to inductive learning that improves the stability and accuracy of the knowledge acquisition method. The methodology is applied to international financial analysis where the comparison of risk structures of different economic environments is critical. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the learning approach for financial decision support. The highly explicit decision structures are especially useful for comparing national differences. The method's utility for decision integration is also discussed.
Keywords: inductive learning; international financial analysis; layered learning; knowledge acquisition

A Comparison of Machine Learning with Human Judgment - Kattan, Michael W; Adams, Dennis A; Parks, Michael S (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
This paper compares human judgment with machine learning in a check processing context. An experiment was conducted comparing teams of subjects with three commercially available machine learning algorithms: recursive partitioning, ID3, and a back-propagation neural network. Also, the statistical technique discriminant analysis was compared. The subjects were allowed to induce rules from historical data under ideal human conditions, such as adequate time and opportunity to sort the data as desired. The results on multiple holdout samples indicate that human judgment, recursive partitioning, and the ID3 algorithm were equally accurate and more accurate than a back-propagation neural network. Subjects who chose mixed strategies of judgment were more accurate than those using noncompensatory strategies, while no subjects chose compensatory strategies. Large decision trees were not more accurate than smaller ones. There appeared to be a time threshold for humans to form accurate decision rules. Holdout sample accuracy tended to increase with primary sample accuracy. ID3 built larger trees than did either humans or recursive partitioning. The conclusion of this research is that the knowledge engineer faced with available historical data concerning a classification problem should not waste his time discerning rules, since he will only take longer and be no more accurate than a good learning tool. Knowledge of these tools will be the requisite skill for the knowledge engineer of the 1990s. Implications for IS design and further research are discussed.
Keywords: artificial neural networks; discriminant analysis; expert systems; ID3; machine learning; policy capture; recursive partitioning

DKAS: A Distributed Knowledge Acquisition System in a DSS - Melody Yihwa, Kiang; Chi, Robert T; Kar Yan, Tam (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Knowledge acquisition is the process of accumulating new information and relating it to what is already known. Knowledge acquisition has been regarded as the bottleneck in knowledge-based systems development. In this paper, a distributed knowledge acquisition system (DKAS) is introduced for automating decision rules construction from a set of examples in a decision support system. DKAS has the potential to include various learning mechanisms and employs a multi-agent and parallel processing paradigm. The implementation of a DKAS integrates inductive and deductive learning methods that use different learning strategies. A stock selection problem is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of DKAS in solving classification type problems. The performance of the DKAS in portfolio management is compared to the performance of the NYSE and the S&P 500. The results indicate that the rules derived from using the DKAS outperform both the NYSE and the S&P 500.
Keywords: decision support systems; deductive learning; distributed knowledge acquisition system; inductive learning; portfolio management

The Impact of Data Accuracy on System Learning - O'Leary, Daniel E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of database accuracy on system learning. The paper assumes a basic model of an information system with a database, a rulebase, and an embedded machine learning approach that is used to add rules to the rulebase. The system learns from its database, changes to that database, and the examination of other databases. The results in this paper can be of use in the analysis of the design and behavior of such learning systems. It is found that the information system accuracy impacts the magnitude of a measure of goodness of individual roles. Thus, if only rules of a certain magnitude are kept, then some rules will be discarded because of database inaccuracy, unless that inaccuracy is accounted for. In addition, by accounting for database inaccuracy, the direction of the impact on measure of goodness can be determined. In some cases, the impact on the direction is monotonic. This finding allows us to understand the impact of database inaccuracy, without explicitly taking account of that inaccuracy. Further, information system accuracy can impact the resulting order of importance of rules, within a set of rules. Since only those higher-ranked rules are kept, database accuracy and measure of goodness can impact what rules are retained in the rulebase of the system. As a result, it is important to account for the information system accuracy in learning information systems.
Keywords: artificial intelligence; decision support systems; expert systems; machine learning

Managing High-Achieving Information Systems Professionals - Smits, Stanley J; McLean, Ephraim R; Tanner, John R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
The research reported here is part of an ongoing longitudinal study of career maturation and progression involving a national sample of information system (I/S) professionals. The present study describes the job characteristic preferences and self-described personal attributes and work traits (dependent variables) of persons entering I/S careers with three levels of demonstrated academic achievement (independent variable). A second analysis combined the respondents' sex and level of achievement to create a gender-sensitive independent variable. While high achievers enter the workplace with distinguishing work-related profiles, the results suggest that the commonalities among high-achieving females and males vastly overshadow their differences. The results are discussed in terms of recruitment, socialization, and commitment, motivation and performance, and career progression.
Keywords: career progression; gender or sex differences; high performing personnel; human resource management; information systems professionals; managing high achievers; personnel management

Measuring the Information Systems Supervisor's Work-Unit Environment and Demonstrated Skill at Supervising - Ferratt, Thomas W; Short, Larry E; Agarwal, Ritu (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Research suggests that the management of information systems professionals makes a difference in the quality and quantity of systems produced. Although technological developments affecting the productivity of systems professionals are relatively easy to isolate, the effects of differences in management are harder to assess. This paper reports the results of a two-stage effort to develop, validate, and score an instrument for measuring differences in management. In the first stage an instrument and scoring procedures for measuring the work-unit environment were developed and shown to have acceptable reliability and validity. In the second stage the work-unit environment instrument and scoring procedures were adapted to yield a shorter instrument for measuring differences in demonstrated skill at supervising. Based on different assumptions about the desirability of mid-range work-unit environments, alternative scoring algorithms are used with responses to the ten-item survey to yield alternate indices of demonstrated skill at supervising. Although factor and reliability analyses support the reliability and validity of the instrument, the scoring algorithms require further research. In addition, the relationship between the work-unit environment and demonstrated skill at supervising constructs and other related constructs could also be a worthwhile area for further investigation.
Keywords: productivity of information systems professionals; skill measurement; supervision of information function

Antecedents and Consequences of Job Satisfaction among Information Center Employees - Igbaria, Magid; Guimaraes, Tor (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
The determinants and consequences of job satisfaction for Information Center (IC) personnel have received very little attention, despite their importance to the successful implementation and use of computer technology in organizations. This study explores the antecedents and consequences of job satisfaction for IC employees. Five components of job satisfaction—work, supervision, coworkers, pay, and promotion—were examined besides overall job satisfaction. Two stress variables—role ambiguity and role conflict—were considered as antecedents to satisfaction. Organizational commitment and intention to leave the organization were considered as outcomes from job satisfaction. The study also assessed the importance of personal characteristics as moderating variables to the relationship between the two role stressors and job satisfaction. Results show that role ambiguity was the most dysfunctional variable for IC employees in relation to job satisfaction. Organizational tenure was found to moderate the relationships between role stressors and overall job satisfaction, and some of its components. In addition, the relationship between role ambiguity and some components of job satisfaction were found to be education- and age-dependent. Results also confirmed the importance of job satisfaction in predicting organizational commitment and intention to leave. Implications for IC management and future research are discussed.
Keywords: information center; information center personnel; information systems management; job satisfaction; organizational commitment

The Use of Mental Imagery to Facilitate Information Identification in Requirements Analysis - Zmud, Robert W; Anthony, William P; Stair Jr, Ralph M (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Many alternative approaches have been devised for eliciting information systems requirements. The majority of these approaches, however, assume a familiarity with and understanding of the organizational context by those individuals from whom requirements are to be derived. Such approaches often yield unsatisfactory results when the information system being developed involves ill-structured task contexts. The generation of a robust set of information items can be an important first step in the specification of information requirements. Scenario-based approaches to generate information items for requirements analysis appear intuitively promising as a mechanism for promoting the elicitation of information requirements for ill-structured task contexts. However, little empirical evidence exists regarding their potential effectiveness. This paper proposes the use of mental imagery as a scenario-based technique and reports on the results of an exploratory laboratory experiment that compared a mental imagery approach with goal-oriented and critical success factors approaches in the generation of information items. The results of this experiment provide modest evidence that positive and negative mental imagery protocols may both outperform goal-oriented and critical success factors approaches for ill-structured task contexts. Further, the strongest results were observed to favor the positive imagery protocol. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings and suggestions for future research.
Keywords: critical success factors (CSF); mental imagery; requirements analysis

Comparing the Modeling Performance of Regression and Neural Networks as Data Quality Varies: A Business Value Approach - Bansal, Arun; Kauffman, Robert J; Weitz, Rob R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Under circumstances where data quality may vary (due to inaccuracies or lack of timeliness, for example), knowledge about the potential performance of alternate predictive models can help a decision maker to design a business-value-maximizing information system. This paper examines a real-world example from the field of finance to illustrate a comparison of alternative modeling tools. Two modeling alternatives are used in this example: regression analysis and neural network analysis. There are two main results: (1) Linear regression outperformed neural nets in terms of forecasting accuracy, but the opposite was true when we considered the business value of the forecast. (2) Neural net-based forecasts tended to be more robust than linear regression forecasts as data accuracy degraded. Managerial implications for financial risk management of mortgage-backed security portfolios are drawn from the results.
Keywords: business value of information technology; data quality; decision support systems; forecasting; information economics; neural networks; mortgage-backed securities; prepayment forecasting; risk management forecasting systems

A Microeconomic Production Assessment of the Business Value of Management Information Systems: The Case of Inventory Control - Mukhopadhyay, Tridas; Cooper, Randolph B (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Determining the business value of management information systems (MIS) is hindered by the lack of a strong theoretical foundation. To better understand and evaluate the impact of MIS in organizations, microeconomic production theory is offered as a foundation that relates MIS to decisions and decisions to firm productivity. Based upon analytic and empirical analyses, this production approach is found to be appropriate in more programmed and management or operational control contexts, such as inventory control. The utility of the approach is demonstrated by providing the ability to compare and evaluate alternative MIS as well as to identify optimal MIS configurations. The use of this approach is illustrated in an inventory ordering context.
Keywords: firm productivity; microeconomics; MIS characteristics; MIS evaluation; production theory

Software Development Outsourcing Contract: Structure and Business Value - Richmond, William B; Seidmann, Abraham (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
We address the case where a user contracts for the delivery of a new information system from an independent vendor, both of whom are risk-neutral. The delivery task is partitioned into two consecutive stages: system design and software development. The parties can contract for each stage separately or specify an initial contract that covers both stages. We compare the impact of different contracting structures on prices, project value, project completion probability, and the value to the developer of obtaining the first stage of the contract. Specifically, we show that a two-stage contracting can lead to a higher business value than stage-by-stage contracting. When there is competition for the design stage, the vendors bear more of the software development risk, and the probability the system will be completed depends on the contract structure.
Keywords: contract development of software; outsourcing; software contracting; software development risk

Limits to Interfirm Coordination through Information Technology: Results of a Field Study in Consumer Packaged Goods Distribution - Clemons, Eric K; Row, Michael C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Researchers have suggested that information technology (IT) can reduce coordination costs, leading to increased coordination and cooperation among buyers and suppliers in an industry. However, improved coordination through IT, and the economic benefits from that coordination, may not be fully realized in practice; this conclusion is suggested by a field study in the consumer packaged goods industry investigating the impact of IT on interactions between manufacturers and retailers. New coordination mechanisms are emerging, driven by checkout scanner systems and IT, that permit more tightly coupled logistics operations in the distribution channel. The potential benefits of this increased coordination, through reduction in inventory and more stable manufacturing, are dramatic. However, we have observed considerable resistance by retailers to these innovations. Analysis of our field study results suggests that this resistance is due to the impact of the new coordination mechanisms on bargaining power; retailers perceive that their bargaining power will be eroded under the new coordination structure, and fear that this will preclude their sharing in the economic benefits.
Keywords: bargaining power in marketplace; intercorporate coordination; interorganizational information systems

Measuring the Organizational Impact of Information Technology Investment: An Exploratory Study - Mahmood, M Adam; Mann, Gary J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Organizations are investing ever-increasing amounts in information technology (IT). However, the existing literature provides little evidence of a relationship between IT investment and organizational strategic and economic performance. The exploratory research reported here appears to be the first to relate comprehensive sets of IT investment measures to organizational strategic and economic performance measures. Although the individual IT investment variables were found to be only weakly related to organizational strategic and economic performance, they were significantly related to performance when grouped and analyzed by means of canonical correlation. More specifically, canonical results suggest that organizational strategic and economic performance measures such as sales by employee, return on sales, sales by total assets, return on investment, and market to book value are affected by IT investment measures such as IT budget as percentage of revenue, the percentage of IT budget spent on training of employees, number of PCs per employee, and IT value as a percentage of revenue. The organizational performance measure growth in revenue and IT investment measure percentage of IT budget spent on staff were not significantly related to other measures and therefore were not indicated to be useful for investigating possible effects of IT investment on organizational strategic and economic performance. Finally, a model based on these results is suggested. The model depicts a framework for management evaluation of the relationship between IT investment and organizational performance.
Keywords: information technology investment; investment-performance analysis; organizational strategic and economic performance

Perceptions of Conflict and Success in Information Systems Development Projects - Robey, Daniel; Smith, Larry A; Vijayasarathy, Leo R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Previous research on the development of information systems has focused on the conflicts among participants and the consequences of satisfactory resolution of those conflicts. In this paper, we test a model of conflict during system development [40,41]. As specified, the model proposed relationships among participation, influence, conflict, and conflict resolution. We extend the model to include project success as an outcome variable. A sample of 84 participants in 17 system development projects in 3 organizations was surveyed. Results support the portions of the model reported earlier [41], show a strong positive relationship between conflict resolution and project success, and show a modest positive relationship between participation and project success.
Keywords: conflict resolution; information systems development; project success; social conflict

The Initiation, Adoption, and Implementation of Telecommunications Technologies in U.S. Organizations - Grover, Varun; Goslar, Martin D (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Despite the increasing pervasiveness of telecommunications technologies, very few studies have holistically attempted to examine their use in organizational contexts. This study approaches the use of these technologies from an innovation perspective. Literature on innovation is synthesized into a testable model and the results of a senior IS executive survey of 154 organizations is reported. Factors that enable initiation, adoption, and implementation of a set of 15 distinct telecommunications technologies are examined. Two factors in particular, environmental uncertainty and decentralization of decision making, show significant relationships with the usage of these technologies. The results provide useful insights into the usage of individual technologies and the contextual factors that enable diffusion of this important set of technologies in U.S. organizations.
Keywords: adoption of telecommunications; implementation of telecommunications; organizational innovation; telecommunications technologies

Marketing Information Systems in the Fortune 500 Companies: Past, Present, and Future - Li, Eldon Y; McLeod Jr, Raymond; Rogers, John C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Soon after the concept of a management information system was introduced in the mid-1960s, marketers tailored it to their own unique needs, naming it the marketing information system (MKIS). Several studies have been conducted of how MKISs are used in the Fortune 500 companies, and the authors compare their current findings to those of ten and eighteen years ago. It seems that both the MKIS support and the model use for the three levels of marketing management are more balanced today than ten years ago. Moreover, pricing decisions instead of product decisions are taking the lead in using the MKIS services today. Marketers have been taking advantage of developments in technology and methodology to increase the level of decision support since the 1960s. However, there is a lack of satisfaction with the MKIS among marketers today. Many firms are not linking their marketing plans with theft companywide information system plans to create competitive advantages. Under today's intense global competition, these situations must be rectified as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will definitely create pressures that could either increase the role of the marketing information system in these firms, or eliminate it entirely.
Keywords: computer usage; decision support systems; marketing functions; marketing information systems

The Impact of Information Technology on the Organization of Economic Activity: The "Move to the Middle" Hypothesis - Clemons, Eric K; Reddi, Sashidhar P; Row, Michael C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Investments to increase the level of explicit coordination with outside agents have generally resulted in increased risk to the firm; firms have traditionally avoided this increased risk by becoming vertically integrated or by underinvesting in coordination. This paper argues that information technology (IT) has the ability to lower coordination cost without increasing the associated transactions risk, leading to more outsourcing and less vertically integrated firms. Lower relationship-specificity of IT investments and a better monitoring capability imply that firms can more safely invest in information technology for interfirm coordination than in traditional investments for explicit coordination such as co-located facilities or specialized human resources; firms are therefore more likely to coordinate with suppliers without requiring ownership to reduce their risk. This enables them to benefit from production economies of large specialized suppliers. Moreover, rapid reduction in the cost of IT and reduction in the transactions risk of explicit coordination makes possible substantially more use of explicit coordination with suppliers. The resulting transaction economies of scale, learning curve effects, and other factors favor a move toward long-term relationships with a smaller set of suppliers. We call this combination--a move to more outsourcing, but from a reduced set of stable partnerships--the "move to the middle" hypothesis.
Keywords: interorganizational systems; interorganizational coordination; market governance; outsourcing

Information Technology, Incentives, and the Optimal Number of Suppliers - Bakos, J Yannis; Brynjolfsson, Erik (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Buyers are transforming their relationships with suppliers. For example, instead of playing off dozens or even hundreds of competing suppliers against one another, many firms are finding it more profitable to work closely with only a small number of "partners." In this paper we explore some causes and consequences of this transformation. We apply the economic theory of incomplete contracts to determine the optimal strategy for a buyer. We find that the buyer firm will often maximize profits by limiting its options and reducing its own bargaining power. This may seem paradoxical in an age of cheap communications costs and aggressive competition. However, unlike earlier models that focused on coordination costs, we focus on the critical importance of providing incentives for suppliers. Our results spring from the need to make it worthwhile for suppliers to invest in "noncontractibles" such as innovation, responsiveness, and information sharing. Such incentives will often be stronger when the number of competing suppliers is small. The findings of the theoretical models appear to be consistent with observations from empirical research which highlight the key role of information technology in enabling this transformation.
Keywords: buyer-supplier relationships; incomplete contracts; intercorporate coordination; interorganizational systems; outsourcing

Diagnosing the Human Threats to Information Technology Implementation: A Missing Factor in Systems Analysis Illustrated in a Case Study - Levine, Harold G; Rossmoore, Don (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Information technology (IT) implementation is likely to be a complex and difficult process involving both the technical and social systems of an organization. Much of the theory and practice of organizational IT implementation assumes that organizational decisions--whether technical or social--are consequences of individuals and organizational units objectively collecting, evaluating, and applying information in a rational manner to make choices on behalf of the organization. However, recent data from case studies on IT implementation suggest that rationality may be the exception, rather than the rule. One important limitation, then, of traditional research and systems analysis methods is that they fail to account for the human factors that impact IT implementation. As a result, there is no systematic way to incorporate what we might learn from individual action and practice into the model. A theoretical perspective and research methodology that successfully encompass and expand the normative approach in mainstream science is "action science." Action science is a theory of action that helps explain how, and why, individuals behave as they do; and how their actions impact their organizations. In this paper, our primary goal is to employ an action science perspective to understand how a large financial services firm was inhibited from implementing a major IT effort in a timely, effective, and error-free way because of the thought and action routines of those charged with designing and implementing the system. In particular, we look for disagreements and other, unproductive action routines among these individuals, and evidence of their inability to surface and discuss them. We also review two published studies of IT implementation to show that the level of analysis required by action science is implied, but not made explicit in them. We conclude with a discussion of what constitutes a descriptively adequate account of an IT implementation and the barriers to the production of such an account. We also suggest a competing framework, based on action science, for designing and managing organizational IT change.
Keywords: action science; human factors; implementation of information technology; organizational change

Survey Research Methodology in Management Information Systems: An Assessment - Pinsonneault, Alain; Kraemer, Kenneth L (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Survey research is believed to be well understood and applied by management information systems (MIS) scholars. It has been applied for several years and it has precise procedures which, when followed closely, yield valid and easily interpretable data. Our assessment of the use of survey research in the MIS field between 1980 and 1990 indicates that this perception is at odds with reality. Our analysis indicates that survey methodology is often misapplied and is plagued by five important weaknesses: (1) single-method designs where multiple methods are needed, (2) unsystematic and often inadequate sampling procedures, (3) low response rates, (4) weak linkages between units of analysis and respondents, and (5) overreliance on cross-sectional surveys where longitudinal surveys are really needed. Our assessment also shows that the quality of survey research varies considerably among studies of different purposes: explanatory studies are of good quality overall, exploratory and descriptive studies are of moderate to poor quality. This article presents a general framework for classifying and examining survey research and uses this framework to analyze the usage of survey research conducted in the past decade in the MIS field. In an effort to improve the quality of survey research, this article makes specific recommendations that directly address the major problems highlighted in the review.
Keywords: research of management information systems; research methodologies; survey research

The Chief Information Officer: A Study of Managerial Roles - Grover, Varun; Seung Ryul, Jeong; Kettinger, William J; Lee, Choong C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
This study investigates the managerial roles of the chief information officer (CIO) based on Mintzberg's classic managerial role model. Our findings indicate that CIOs differ from manufacturing and sales executives in the relative importance they place on managerial roles. This difference does not exist between CIOs and finance executives or between CIOs and information systems (IS) middle managers. As IS management matures, the spokesman and liaison role of the ClO becomes more important. Surprisingly, as IS matures, the strategic responsibilities entitled in the monitor and entrepreneur roles of the ClO do not become more important. However, it was found that the more centralized the IS resource, the greater the CIO's role in acting as a spokesman, environmental monitor, and resource allocator. The results of this study have implications for management development, training, and the career planning of IS management.
Keywords: chief information officer; information system managerial roles; information system maturity; information system middle managers; information systems personnel

A Short-Form Measure of Career Orientations: A Psychometric Evaluation - Igbaria, Magid; Baroudi, Jack J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
This paper reports on the results of two studies involving the development and construct validation of a short-form measure of the Career Orientations Inventory. The Career Orientations Inventory is a questionnaire designed to assess an individual's career interests, career values, and career motivators. The measure evaluates nine career orientations: technical, managerial, autonomy, job security, geographic security, service, pure challenge, life-style, and entrepreneurship. A short form of this questionnaire was derived and tested in two separate field studies of IS employees. Extensive evidence of the reliability and validity of the measure was demonstrated in both studies (the development, Study 1, and the validation, Study 2). The relationships between career orientations and various individual difference and satisfaction measures were also tested and provided additional evidence of the construct validity of the short-form measure. Researchers and practitioners who need to measure the career orientations of IS personnel should find this a useful questionnaire.
Keywords: career anchors; careers in information systems; career measures; career orientations; information systems management

Middle Managers' Contribution to Implemented Information Technology Innovation - Larsen, Tor J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
This research investigated whether implemented information technology (IT) innovation could best be explained by a general tendency among middle managers to create implemented business innovation or by experience with IT. The results indicated that middle managers responsible for implemented business innovation also generated IT innovation while managers' practical (hands-on or delegated) use of IT was not shown to result in more implemented IT innovation. Middle managers who actively used support functions (secretaries, staff, or IT experts) for help and discussion of IT-related issues created and implemented a greater amount of IT innovation. Implemented business and IT innovations related to the variables of attitude toward change and peer recognition for their implemented innovations but not to internal and external networking. Peers recognized their fellow managers for their implemented business innovation but not for their IT-related achievements.
Keywords: attitude toward change; business innovation; end-user computing; information technology innovation; middle managers; networking behavior; peer recognition

Learning to Specify Information Requirements: The Relationship between Application and Methodology - Vessey, Iris; Conger, Sue (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
The systems development process involves establishing the information requirements of an application and successively transforming those requirements into a computer-based model of the application. Attention is usually focused almost exclusively on the method of transformation, however, with little recognition of the role of the application. As a first step in examining the relevance of knowledge of the application to the systems development process, this study addresses whether there are synergistic effects of application and methodology knowledge in specifying information requirements. This was achieved via a repeated-measures protocol analysis study that manipulated both experience with the application and knowledge of the methodology. The results show that in learning to specify information requirements, novice analysts: performed more effectively over time when trained to use a methodology applied the methodology more effectively when familiar with the application; performed more effectively when they used procedural methodology knowledge rather than declarative methodology knowledge alone; improved the effectiveness of their problem solving over time only when they used procedural methodology knowledge; produced idiosyncratic results based on the application. Based on the findings of this research, it appears that research into the nature of applications, as well as methodologies, is warranted. From the viewpoint of the practitioner, since application knowledge is idiosyncratic, it may be necessary to include more than one application-knowledgable person on a systems development team.
Keywords: information requirements specification; learning; problem solving; structured methodologies

Toward an Assessment of Software Development Risk - Barki, Henri; Rivard, Suzanne; Talbot, Jean (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Despite the introduction and use of a wide variety of system development methods and tools, software projects are still plagued by time and cost overruns, and unmet user requirements. To avoid these problems, it is frequently recommended that the risk associated with a software project be managed. A task that is critical to the proper management of software development risk is the assessment of the risks facing the project. Based on previous research, this paper proposes a definition and a measure of software development risk. Subsequently, data collected in a survey of 120 projects is used to assess the reliability and validity of the instrument.
Keywords: information systems project management; risk management; software metrics; software development risk

Coordination Challenges in a Computer- Supported Meeting Environment - Horton, Marjorie; Biolsi, Kevin (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
In this study we observed the coordination activities of groups collaboratively writing in a low-structure computer-supported meeting room. We used video analyses of the sessions to identify well-coordinated and poorly coordinated groups. Through user questionnaires, group members evaluated their work processes and products as well as the computer-supported environment. Writing experts independently rated the quality of the groups' final documents. We discovered that quality of coordination was strongly tied to groups' evaluations of their work processes, work products, and tools. Well-coordinated groups tended to be more efficient than poorly coordinated groups although we observed no differences in the quality of their documents. We also identify what coordination strategies lead to effective group work and offer suggestions for additional tools to facilitate coordination.
Keywords: collaborative writing; computer-supported cooperative work; computer-supported meeting rooms; coordination; group work

Using Group Support Systems and Joint Application Development for Requirements Specification - Liou, Yihwa Irene; Chen, Minder (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
The increasing use of integrated computer-aided software engineering (CASE) environments is shifting the bottleneck of systems development from physical design and coding to upstream activities, particularly requirements specification. This paper explores the use of group support systems (GSS) and joint application development (JAD) in the context of CASE environments to facilitate the requirements specification process. We first examine the relevance of GSS, JAD, and CASE to requirements specification. We then propose an integrated framework that is augmented by a domain-analysis methodology. Results of a pilot study that evaluated two process models using tools of a GSS, GroupSystems&Trade;, for requirements specification are discussed.
Keywords: computer-aided software engineering (CASE); group decision support systems; group support systems; joint application design; joint application development; requirements specification

Implementing Gesturing with Cursors in Group Support Systems - Hayne, Stephen C; Pendergast, Mark O; Greenberg, Saul (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Gesturing from one human to another appears to span all cultural boundaries; one could possibly call it a universal means of communication. Group work studies have shown that gesturing makes up over 35 percent of all interactions. Participants use hand gestures to enact ideas, to focus the attention of the group, to signal turn-taking, and to reference objects on the work surface. Specifically, this paper explores gesturing as applied to users of group support systems. We address practical issues such as: at what level of interaction might gesturing be supported, how large and what shape should gesture pointers be, how they should move, network and processor throughput requirements, and group size effects. Our results show that while full motion computer gesturing can be supported on PC-LAN systems for small groups, gesturing for medium and large groups requires the use of special techniques such as regulating transmission rates, motion smoothing, and point and quiver cursors. These techniques could also be applied to wide area network implementations to reduce network traffic and latency problems.
Keywords: computer-supported cooperative work; gesturing; groupware; local area networks; telepointers

The Impact of Group Support Systems on Group Conflict and Conflict Management - Miranda, Shaila M; Bostrom, Robert P (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
This article proposes a model for examining the impacts of group support systems (GSS) on conflict and conflict management, based on literature on GSS, group conflict, and structuration theory. It reports on a study of the impacts of GSS use on group conflict and conflict management. A total of 25 groups participated in the study. After an initial training session, groups met for four decision-making sessions requiring a consensus decision from each group. Subjects reported their perceptions on group conflict, conflict management strategies used, and the productivity of conflict, using scales developed for this study. Overall, GSS-supported groups perceived lower amounts of issue-based and interpersonal conflict than did control groups. There were no significant differences for reported use of conflict management strategies and perceived productivity of conflict. The authors explore possible reasons for these results and propose future research issues related to conflict and conflict management within a GSS environment.
Keywords: conflict; conflict management; group decision support systems; group support systems

Using Electronic Meeting Technology to Support Economic Policy Development in New Zealand: Short-Term Results - Sheffield, Jim; Gallupe, R Brent (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
This paper describes an application of group support technology to a series of economic policy-making meetings. The meetings were part of a national study aiming to upgrade New Zealand's competitive position in global markets. The aim of the research is to determine if electronic meeting technology could support an economic development process where participants came from a variety of backgrounds (e.g., business competitors, different ethnic groups) and where meeting urgency and efficiency were of prime importance. A multiple case approach was adopted. The meetings were organized and facilitated by the coordinator of the national study. Research data were gathered by observing the meetings, by questionnaires administered to participants, and by interviews with the coordinator and his staff. Analysis of these data indicates that participants felt that the meetings were both very effective and efficient. Implications for using group support technology for economic policy development are discussed.
Keywords: economic development; electronic meeting systems; group support methodology; innovation

Methodology-Driven Use of Automated Support in Business Process Re-Engineering - Dennis, Alan R; Daniels Jr, Robert M; Nunamaker Jr, Jay F (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
This article describes a three-month pilot project to model and re-engineer an internal business unit of a major multinational firm using Enterprise Analyzer, a methodology and supporting group software tool for modeling and analyzing business processes. The methodology combines collaborative model building with creative problem reframing to enable multilevel, cross-functional business teams to quickly examine and redesign business processes. The tools developed for this project extend the capabilities of existing electronic meeting system technology to help groups build complex representations of their organization. The results of this pilot project suggest that the methodology and supporting tools can be effectively applied to re-engineer business processes, but also suggest the need for better ways to help groups accept innovative ideas. Many innovative ideas were generated, but few made it past the participants' evaluation and into the project's final recommendations.
Keywords: business process modeling; creativity; electronic meeting systems; group decision support systems; problem reframing; reengineering

Executive Information Systems: Their Impact on Executive Decision Making - Leidner, Dorothy E; Elam, Joyce J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
An executive information system (ETS) is a computer-based information system designed to provide senior managers access to information relevant to their management activities. With such trends as globalization and intense competition increasing the importance of fast and accurate decision making, the use of these systems by executives may become a particularly important component of their decision-making behavior. Previous research on EIS has focused on descriptive studies of how and why EIS are used. This research empirically examines the effects of EIS use on aspects of the decision-making process by surveying 46 executive users of US. The frequency and duration of EIS use are shown to increase problem identification speed, decision-making speed, and the extent of analysis in decision making.
Keywords: decision making; executive information systems; executive support systems; problem identification

Validating an Expert System for Financial Statement Planning - Back, Barbro (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1993)
Validation is often considered the cornerstone of expert systems evaluation. Validating expert systems has, however, turned out to be a difficult task because an expert system is often both a piece of software and a model. The general procedures for validation of traditional software cannot, therefore, usually be followed when validating an expert system. This article shows how the validation of a concrete full-scale expert system for financial statement planning was conducted, utilizing guidelines on validation of expert systems given in literature and incorporating them into the classical spiral model used in developing the system.
Keywords: expert systems; financial statement planning; validation

The Role of Information Technology in Organization Design - Lucas Jr, Henry C; Baroudi, Jack J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
We introduce a set of information technology variables which can be used in designing organizations. We first discuss traditional design variables and then present a series of options enabled by modern information technology (IT). We use these IT design variables to describe four prototypical organizations that are beginning to appear in the workplace: virtual, negotiated, traditional, and vertically integrated. It is argued that an organization designer must also consider how structure and technology influence job tasks and people in order to be successful. We then discuss potential implementation difficulties, particularly in motivating traditional organizations to take advantage of IT design variables. We conclude that the design of information technology and the design of organizations are largely becoming the same task.
Keywords: interorganizational systems; networked organization; organization design; strategic information systems; virtual organization

The Global Network Organization of the Future: Information Management Opportunities and Challenges - Jarvenpaa, Sirkka L; Ives, Blake (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
The key information processing building blocks for yesterday's organizations were typewriters, carbon paper, filing cabinets, and a government mail service. The constraints of these crude information processing technologies often required workers to be located under one roof and organizations to arrange themselves as efficient, but relatively change-resistant, management hierarchies. Those legacy organization designs have persisted despite fundamental changes in information processing technology. Tomorrow's successful organizations will be designed around the building blocks of advanced computer and communications technology. The success of these organizations will come from the ability to couple to, and decouple from, the networks of knowledge nodes. These networked organizations will link, on an as-needed basis, teams of empowered employees, consultants, suppliers, and customers. These ad hoc teams will solve one-time problems, provide personalized customer service, and then, as lubricant for subsequent interactions, evaluate one another's performance. In the network organization, structure will dominate strategy, credentials will give way to performance and knowledge, and human resources will be the only sustainable advantage. Despite the promise, networked organizations present difficult information management challenges. Among these are developing a flexible and efficient information architecture, establishing new values, attitudes, and behaviors concerning information sharing, building databases that can provide integrated customer support on a worldwide basis, and protecting personal freedoms and privacy. Here, we explore the opportunities and challenges that networked organizations will present for information technology management.
Keywords: information systems architecture; networked organization; organizational knowledge processing; scenario analysis

Electronic Integration and Business Network Redesign: A Roles-Linkage Perspective - Kambil, Ajit; Short, James E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Electronic integration--the use of information technology to reengineer key business processes and business relations--enables new forms of organization that transcend traditional industry and firm boundaries. Indeed, electronic integration strategies alter the fundamental structure of both firms as well as their environments, requiring a shift in the study of organizations from the level of a focal firm to that of the business network. The business network represents the pattern of interdependent relationships between the activities of a given firm and those of other firms in its competitive environment that influence each other's strategies. We analyze here the effects of electronic integration on organization structure and competitive processes at the level of the business network. We propose the roles-linkage perspective as a useful abstraction to characterize the business network and guide research on the effects of information technology on industry structures. Building and analyzing the effects of electronic filing on the tax preparation market, we build a preliminary model of how electronic integration strategies alter roles and linkages in a business network. The contributions of this article are a provisional theory of electronic integration at the level of the network, and an abstraction mechanism to characterize and study business networks.
Keywords: business network redesign; business reengineering; electronic integration; interorganizational systems

Coordination of Information Technology Management: Team-Based Structures and Computer-Based Communication Systems - DeSanctis, Gerardine; Jackson, Brad M (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
The coordination of information technology (IT) management presents a challenge to firms with dispersed IT practices. Decentralization may bring flexibility and fast response to changing business needs, as well as other benefits, but decentralization also makes systems integration difficult, presents a barrier to standardization, and acts as a disincentive toward achieving economies of scale. As a result, there is a need to balance the decentralization of IT management to business units with some centralized planning for technology, data, and human resources. Here we explore three major mechanisms for facilitating interunit coordination of IT management: structural design approaches, functional coordination modes, and computer-based communication systems. We define these various mechanisms and their interrelationships, and we discuss the relative costs and benefits associated with alternative coordination approaches. To illustrate the cost-benefit tradeoffs of coordination approaches, we present a case study in which computer-based communication systems were used to support team-based coordination of IT management across dispersed business units. Our analysis reveals possibilities for future approaches to IT coordination in large, dispersed organizations.
Keywords: computer-based communications; information technology management; technology-based coordination; team-based organization

Self-Management Information System for the Service Industry: A Conceptual Model - Griffin, Robert K; Baldwin, Dirk; Sumichrast, Robert T (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Research suggests the practice of self-management can be beneficial to service operations. However, the self-management concept has received relatively little use in the service industry. This article discusses the concept of self-management in the service environment, identifies some of the critical information requirements unique to this environment, and proposes a conceptual model of an information system that supports the developmental functions and business activities of the self-managed, working in the service industry. The proposed self-management information system (SMIS) promotes self-managed behavior by facilitating: scanning and analyzing the environment, setting and contracting goals, monitoring and evaluating work, rewarding or punishing performance, learning new skills, and system maintenance. The SMIS also mitigates some of the bathers to self-management by providing executive management with a control system and by helping to improve the decision-making process of line workers.
Keywords: decision support in service industry; organizational support systems; self-management; self-management information systems

A Strategic Decision Support System at Orell Fussli - Belardo, Salvatore; Duchessi, Peter; Coleman, John R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Strategic decision support systems (strategic DSS) are one means of helping managers understand strategy and its implications. Strategic DSS contain many general decision support system (DSS) features, and are intended for senior managers. This article discusses the ongoing development of a strategic DSS for the Banknotes and Securities Division of Orell Fussli, a Swiss printing company. The system incorporates conceptual models, and provides explanations, cases, and guidance on how to use the models effectively. It helps train managers in strategic concepts and facilitates strategic thinking, and has been used to help develop and validate product/market strategies. We also provide several practical guidelines, including use of multiple conceptual models to present different perspectives and provision of a strategic management framework to organize those models. The system's features and guidelines add to our growing knowledge of how to electronically support strategic thinking.
Keywords: conceptual models; intrinsic analysis; strategic decision support systems; strategic thinking

Establishing Mutual Understanding in Systems Design: An Empirical Study - Tan, Margaret (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Effective communication is critical to the development of mutual understanding between professionals and their clients. The processes by which this mutual understanding is achieved, however, are not well understood. This article reports a study of the communication behaviors of systems analysts when they work with clients to determine systems requirements. The study hypothesizes that three key processes shifting perspective, managing transaction, and establishing rapport-affect mutual understanding. Twenty-eight systems analysts employed in government departments in Australia participated in the study. Their verbal and nonverbal behaviors during the interview with the clients were recorded on video-and audiotapes. These tapes were then analyzed using a content analysis method together with the perceptual responses obtained from interviews with the system analysts and their clients. The findings suggest that, while there is great variability in the communication behaviors of system analysts, there are nevertheless discernible styles and patterns of effective communication. The study has both theoretical and practical significance. It suggests that effective communication is the outcome of complex processes that are influenced by the personal and situational characteristics of the participants. It also provides clues for better-designed communication training programs. The findings of specific effective verbal and nonverbal behaviors can be incorporated into these training programs to improve the communicative behavior of systems analysts (and also other professionals), and so help them establish mutual understanding with clients.
Keywords: content analysis; effective communication; knowledge elicitation techniques; mutual understanding; protocol coding; systems analysts-client communication; verbal and nonverbal behaviors

Organization Designs for the Management of End-User Computing: Reexamining the Contingencies - Brown, Carol V; Bostrom, Robert P (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
To date, little research has been directed at the management infrastructure for end-user computing (EUC) from an organization design perspective. This study reports on the testing of a previously published contingency model in which two different structural forms are modeled for four states of EUC implementation: (1) an organic design (characterized by a decentralized, highly participatory form of decision making with loose controls), and (2) a mechanistic design (characterized by centralized decision making with a more tightly controlled form of management). Based on questionnaire data from 63 companies, statistical support is found for only the two states of EUC implementation for which a mechanistic design is modeled. Although only moderate support for this contingency model is found, the results of this study provide additional evidence for the effectiveness of a more controlled approach to EUC management under a low EUC growth objective at an early stage of implementation. This finding has important implications for other EUC management models and organization design options for assimilating new information technologies in general. The article concludes with recommendations for future empirical research, including a revised contingency model.
Keywords: contingency models; end-user computing; information systems management; organization design

Relating Electronic Mail Use and Network Structure to R&D Work Networks and Performance - Rice, Ronald E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
This study analyzes computer-monitored and self-reported electronic mail usage and network data collected over time from mentors and their summer interns at an R&D organization. Amount and network measures of E-mail usage were significantly associated with work and work familiarity networks, As time passed, interns communicated through E-mail more outside their formal mentor-intern relations. However, amount of E-mail use and most E-mail network measures (such as centrality) were not related to mentors' assessments of interns' performance several months later. An intriguing exception was how interns were located in the overall E-mail network. Surprisingly, overall, most forms of communication were negatively associated with performance ratings. These results imply that it is not necessarily how much one uses an E-mail system, but how the users are positioned in that system's structural context, that may affect R&D performance.
Keywords: diffusion; electronic mail; implementation; network analysis; organizational computer-mediated communication; organizational structure; R&D networks; R&D performance

A Group Support Systems Approach to Cognitive Mapping - Sheetz, Steven D; Tegarden, David P; Kozar, Kenneth A; Zigurs, Ilze (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Cognitive maps are valuable tools for understanding individual and group perceptions. But developing such maps is a resource-intensive activity. To reduce required resources, group support system (GSS) technology is proposed as an aid in uncovering cognitive maps. A GSS session was used to develop a cognitive map of users of object-oriented (OO) techniques perceptions of OO system complexity. Seven participants identified concepts and categories, categorized the concepts, rated category importance, and defined relationships between categories. The data collected and analyses performed provide the basis for a cognitive map of the participants' perceptions of OO system complexity. A comparison with similar individual cognitive mapping results supports further investigation of using the GSS approach for identifying perceptions of complexity.
Keywords: cognitive mapping; complexity; group decision support systems; object-oriented systems

A Mathematical Model of Performance of Computer-Mediated Groups during Idea Generation - Valacich, Joseph S; Dennis, Alan R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
As the use of computer-mediated systems for group work grows, the need for a better understanding of the impact of such systems becomes more important. Studies of non-computer-mediated group work have long been guided by mathematical models of group interaction and performance, but recent research suggests that these models do not fit the unique capabilities of computer-mediated systems. This article builds on Previous group research to create a mathematical model of computer-mediated group performance which is then tested using data from two prior studies. This testing enabled us to conclude that models of computer-mediated groups run counter to the many guiding models of non-computer-mediated groups. We therefore discuss the implications of these differences in relation to users of this technology and to future developmental and empirical research.
Keywords: group interaction modeling; group process gains; group process losses; group decision support systems; idea generation

An Application of Qualitative Reasoning to Derive Behavior from Structure of Quantitative Models - Raghunathan, Srinivasan (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Mathematical modeling and analysis are a valuable tool in decision support contexts. Consequently, model management system(s) have become a key component of decision support system generators. Model management systems support modelers in various phases of the modeling life cycle including model representation, formulation, selection, integration, and execution. An important phase of the modeling life cycle involves analyzing and explaining the behavior of the formulated model. Such an analysis is necessary to understand the structure and behavior of the model, and to verify the appropriateness of the model to the problem. Traditional computer-based methods of analysis use the model solution as a basis to explain the model structure that caused the solution. This article presents an alternate approach that explains model behavior using the model structure and commonsense mathematical rules. The approach builds upon the qualitative reasoning methodology, developed in the artificial intelligence area to explain the behaviors of physical devices. A benefit of the qualitative reasoning approach is that it may describe the causes of modeling errors in terms of model structure. I also describe an implemented prototype model preprocessor that uses qualitative reasoning to provide qualitative explanations of the model behavior prior to solving the model. While I do not claim the sufficiency of the qualitative reasoning approach to detect and describe all types of modeling behavior, the article presents several examples demonstrating the utility of the approach.
Keywords: artificial intelligence; computer-assisted analysis; decision support systems; model management systems; modeling; qualitative analysis

Extending SQL with Graph Matching and Set Covering for Decision Support Applications - Jorng-Tzong, Horng; Gwo-Dong, Chen; Baw-Jhiune, Liu (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Graph matching, set covering, and partitioning problems are both theoretically and practically important in decision support systems. Numerous decision support applications have been modeled as graph matching, set covering, and partitioning problems. These include applications in the areas of task assignment, marriage problem, airline crew scheduling, truck deliveries or vehicle routing, political redistricting, and the like. Currently, these applications are supported through programs written in external (to the database system) programming languages that use only the data in the database system. Thus, decision makers or application programmers require extra effort to get required decision support information. As opposed to database systems, the purpose of a model management system (MMS) is to make a wide variety of models available to decision makers so they can apply these models without having to become involved in technical and/or procedural aspects of implementation. The goal of this research is to integrate database systems and model systems for zero-one integer programming problems especially concerning graph matching, set covering, and partitioning problems. Users utilize a single integrated language for both problem formulation and model execution. In order to achieve this goal, we extend relational operators and the query language SQL. The relational operators are extended with six operators, namely, match, maxmatch, cover, mincover, partition, and minpartition. Some of these operators may take a very long time to find an optimal solution. In this article, we adopted genetic algorithms to find a near-optimal solution of this kind of operators. We found they performed well both on the computational effort and on the quality of the solutions through a variety of test problems. These algorithms are bounded by a polynomial time. Therefore, they enable a DBMS to respond to queries involving proposed operators in a restricted amount of time.
Keywords: decision support systems; genetic algorithms; integer programming; model management systems; relational databases; SQL

Business Computing Research Journals: A Normalized Citation Analysis - Holsapple, Clyde W; Johnson, Linda Ellis; Manakyan, Herman; Tanner, John R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Several studies have been conducted that rank the relative importance of journals publishing MIS research. Yet the study of business computing systems has grown to encompass not only management information systems, but other business computing systems as well (e.g., decision support systems and business expert systems). In a recent study, journals publishing business computing system research were ranked using a citation analysis methodology. This article extends that study by taking into account the number of years each journal has been published. This normalized ranking scheme is then compared with the original ranking.
Keywords: business computing research; citation analysis; MIS journals

Impacts of End-User and Information Center Characteristics on End-User Computing Support - Mirani, Rajesh; King, William R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
In a cross-sectional survey of 114 information centers, it was found that support needed by end-users varied with their computing sophistication and the maturity of the information center. However, information centers did not take into account differences among users in designing support services, and provided all users with the same amount of support. For most users, the support provided was far less than the support needed, but end-user satisfaction was higher when more support needs were fulfilled. The implication of these results is that information centers are not making the requisite effort to identify and fulfill the support needs of their end-users.
Keywords: end-user computing; information center; user-developed applications; user satisfaction

Influence of Experience on Personal Computer Utilization: Testing a Conceptual Model - Thompson, Ronald L; Higgins, Christopher A; Howell, Jane M (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
The influence of prior experience on personal computer utilization was examined through an extension of a conceptual model developed and tested previously. Respondents were classified on the basis of their self-reported skill level and length of time having used personal computers. Three competing ways of modeling the influence of experience were tested: (1) a direct influence, (2) an indirect influence through six distinct attitude and belief components, and (3) a moderating influence on the relations between the attitude/belief components and utilization. The results suggested that experience influenced utilization directly, that indirect influences were present but less pronounced, and that the moderating influence of experience on the relations between five of six antecedent constructs and utilization was generally quite strong. For researchers, the implications are that prior experience with an information technology (IT) is an important factor to include when developing, testing, or applying models of IT adoption and use. For practitioners, the results highlight the importance of emphasizing applicability of the information technology to the current job and professional development early in the adoption process, with more emphasis on future benefits as experience is gained.
Keywords: adoption of information technology; end-user computing; personal computer utilization

Segmentation, Differentiation, and Flexible Pricing: Experiences with Information Technology and Segment-Tailored Strategies - Clemons, Eric K; Weber, Bruce W (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Information technology (IT) radically alters the cost of capturing, storing, and analyzing information, and thus dramatically alters the value of the historical data represented by a firm's detailed transaction records of customer interactions. Yet, information systems are seldom used to their full potential in developing flexible pricing strategies and tailored offerings for individual customers, based either on the actual cost of serving these customers or on their demonstrated preferences and requirements. This will become increasingly crucial in industries with heterogeneous customers and with costs that vary widely across customers, in order to enable flexible pricing and to provide services that are accurately targeted at the needs of specific customer segments. In addition, accurate, detailed, and robust cost-accounting systems and expertise in the interpretation of performance data will increasingly become essential for competing successfully; those firms prevented from accurate microsegmentation by corporate culture and tradition, by regulation, or by an outmoded information infrastructure will be vulnerable to newer and more nimble competitors. In particular, being the low-cost provider with economies of scale will not provide adequate defense against targeted cream-skimming by opportunistic competitors, able to offer lower prices to selected customer segments. The earliest academic papers on the strategic implications of information technology explicitly adopted a framework recommending that firms adopt a single, simple generic strategy from a small set (cost leadership, differentiation, or niche). In contrast, recent experience suggests that IT may enable firms to select from more finely tuned strategic options, arid that it may require them to implement multiple strategies simultaneously.
Keywords: flexible pricing; market segmentation; value of information

Interdependent Benefits from Interorganizational Systems: Opportunities for Business Partner Reengineering - Riggins, Frederick J; Mukhopadhyay, Tridas (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Managing the growth of interorganizational systems (IOS), such as electronic data interchange (EDI), and the adoption decisions of trading partners have become major concerns for network managers. The fact that IOS are shared by separate trading partners means that the benefits from IOS are both unequal and interdependent. Therefore, how trading partners implement and use the system internally may directly affect the original firm's benefit. In order to maximize benefits from IOS, we propose that firms engage in business partner reengineering. We study two buyer-initiated EDI systems where the way in which trading partners internally implement the technology directly affects the level of benefit for the initiating buyer. In both cases, the buyer's benefit is increased when suppliers choose to adopt an optional buyer-initiated modification to their system. However, because it is not clear how suppliers benefit from the modification, they may not have adequate incentives to make the modification. Buyers with substantial leverage over their suppliers may require trading partners to implement the system in a particular way or not be considered for future business.
Keywords: business partner reengineering; electronic data interchange (EDI); interdependent benefits; interorganizational systems

An Examination of Information Technology's Impact on the Value of Information and Expertise: Implications for Organizational Change - Sampler, Jeffrey L; Short, James E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
This paper is organized around two research questions and three issue areas in business reengineering. We address: (1) To what extent does environmental volatility affect the rate of accumulation or decay of critical firm assets? and (2) How can expertise and information related assets be operationalized in the context of process-based ("radical") organizational restructuring? With respect to business reengineering, we address: (1) How can differing needs for process reengineering projects be characterized? (2) To what extent does organizational resistance to reengineering projects differ by categories of need? and (3) To what extent are failure rates experienced by reengineering practitioners traceable to lack of alignment between project needs, planning agendas, and dominant modes of organizational resistance? We develop an explanatory framework based on two constructs, expertise half-life and information half-life, and apply these to help analyze current practices in business reengineering. We posit that under certain conditions high project failure rates are associated with weak coupling between reengineering project objectives and the firm's general business and information systems planning agendas. Under other conditions, this weak coupling is associated with successful projects. We conclude with recommendations for methodological approaches and suggested research extensions.
Keywords: business reengineering; core competencies; strategic assets; time-based competition; value of expertise

Researching the Costs of Information Systems - West Jr, Lawrence A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
This paper explores the issue of scale economies in the construction of information systems. Economic theory is used to identify transaction attributes that contribute to scale economies and the concept of an information system is then decomposed into separable components. Each component is analyzed with respect to the availability of one or more of the sources of scale economy. The analysis finds that each component possesses at least some potential for realizing scale economies and that some components may realize very large per-unit cost savings as scale of system use or capability is expanded. The implications of these findings for the organization of information services, including outsourcing, are highlighted and illustrated with consistent examples from IS-intensive industries. Future research is proposed with respect to the actual nature of IS scale economies; the presence of scope economies with respect to multicomponent systems; the relative importance of production costs, transaction costs, and benefits as determinants of acquisition choice; and the impact of IS acquisition method on the organization of firms and industries.
Keywords: economies of scale; information economics; information services; transaction costs

A Form-Based Approach to Natural Language Query Processing - Adam, Nabil R; Gangopadhyay, Aryya; Clifford, James (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
We describe a methodology for processing data retrieval and update queries using a form-based natural language interface. For the purpose of illustration, we use computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) as the application domain. The interface consists of a set of fourth-generation interface tools (SQL forms), a set of form definitions, a lexicon, and a parser. The forms are developed from the functional and data models of the system. A form definition consists of a form name, a form object, a set of form fields, and a set of fragment grammars. A form object is a single or composite entity that uniquely identifies a form. Form fields consist of database fields whose values can be entered by users (user-defined), and others whose values can be derived by the system (system-defined). Fragment grammars are templates that identify the information requested by user queries. The lexicon consists of all words recognized by the system, their grammatical categories, synonyms, and associations (if any) with database objects and forms. The parser scans a natural language query to identify a form in a bottom-up fashion. The information requested by the user query is determined in a top-down manner by matching the fragment grammars associated with a form against the user query. Extragrammatical inputs with limited deviations from the grammar rules are supported. Elliptical queries are supported by deriving the missing information from those specified in previous queries and forms. Combining a natural language processor with SQL forms allows update queries and prevents violation of database integrity constraints, duplication of records, and invalid data entry.
Keywords: database management systems; complementarity; natural language interfaces; query processing

Understanding Qualitative Data: A Framework of Text Analysis Methods - Lacity, Mary C; Janson, Marius A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Information systems (IS) researchers have argued the need for using qualitative approaches, such as action research, ethnomethodology, phenomenology, and futures research, to supplement widely used quantitative approaches. Despite the interest in qualitative approaches, almost all IS articles published in leading IS journals during the previous decade continue to report the results of quantitative studies. The disparity between the interest in and adoption of qualitative approaches may be attributed to unfamiliarity with qualitative approaches for analyzing text data and the mistaken belief that all qualitative approaches are antipositivist. This paper makes qualitative methods more accessible to both researchers and practitioners by providing a framework that categorizes various text analysis approaches. The framework classifies methods as positivist, linguistic, and interpretivist, based on assumptions about the nature of text data, the researcher's influence on text interpretation, and the validity checks used to justify text interpretations. Thus, all researchers can consider qualitative text analysis methods regardless of their paradigmatic position.
Keywords: information systems research; interpretivist research methods; linguistic research; positivist research

Implementation of Electronic Data Interchange: An Innovation Diffusion Perspective - Premkumar, G; Ramamurthy, K; Nilakanta, Sree (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Electronic data interchange (EDI) has dramatically changed the manner in which interorganizational transactions are conducted. The electronic exchange of transaction documents has had a significant impact on business practices, particularly in the sales and purchase/merchandising functions of organizations. EDT brings in many benefits to the organization such as reduced costs, faster turnaround, better customer service, and in some firms strategic advantage over their competitors. Despite these benefits, firms still have problems in implementing EDI. This study, drawing upon research in innovation theory and information systems, examines the relationship between various innovation characteristics (complexity, two forms of compatibility, costs, relative advantage, and communicability) and various attributes of diffusion (adaptation, internal diffusion, external diffusion, and implementation success) of EDT in organizations. The data for the study were collected from a large-scale field survey of 201 firms in the United States that have implemented EDI. Two senior executives, one from information systems (IS) and the other from the sales/purchase function, provided matched responses to a questionnaire that measured the various research constructs. The results of the multivariate regression analyses revealed that relative advantage, costs, and technical compatibility were the major predictors of adaptation. While relative advantage and duration were important predictors of internal diffusion, technical compatibility and duration were found to be important predictors of external diffusion. Both forms of compatibility (technical and organizational) and costs were found to be important predictors of implementation success in EDI.
Keywords: diffusion of innovations; electronic data interchange (EDI); innovation theory; interorganizational systems; systems implementation

Procurement Strategies for Information Systems - Saarinen, Timo; Vepsalainen, Ari P J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
A general framework of different procurement strategies is introduced to help managers review their project portfolio to find more effective ways of using both internal and market resources in information systems development. Major decision criteria-the specificity of system design and the uncertainty involved in requirements specification-are adopted from transaction cost economics to determine what procurement strategies should be used in different situations. According to our Procurement Principle, systems that are company-specific and involve high uncertainty have to be internally developed because they require both the specific knowledge arid intensive interaction between developers and users. More standard requirements indicate the use of outside consultants or software contractors who have experience and knowledge about a similar type of systems. For routine systems common in many organizations, acquisition and tailoring of a software package provides the most efficient procurement strategy. The Procurement Principle is also empirically tested with data from recent system development projects in major Finnish companies. Partial support was gained for the framework, but some interesting deviations were also detected, such as a tendency to rely on in-house development of even routine systems.
Keywords: contingency approach; information systems procurement; outsourcing

Engagement of External Expertise in Information Systems Implementation - Thong, James Y L; Yap, Chee-Sing (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Most small businesses lack computer experience and do not have sufficient internal computer expertise. Hence, small businesses are more dependent on external expertise such as consultants and vendors than are larger businesses. This paper compares the information systems (IS) effectiveness of a group of small businesses that engage separate consultants and vendors (consultant-vendor approach) with that of another group of small businesses that engage vendors who also provide consultancy service (vendor-only approach). The results show that small businesses that adopt the vendor-only approach have more effective information systems than small businesses that adopt the consultant-vendor approach. Further, the vendor-only approach results in the same level of consultant effectiveness and a better level of vendor support for small businesses compared with the consultant-vendor approach. The relationship between vendor and other parties in the IS implementation project is found to be an important predictor of IS effectiveness.
Keywords: consultants; external expertise; small business

GANNET: A Machine Learning Approach to Document Retrieval - Hsinchun, Chen; Jinwoo, Kim (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Information retrieval using probabilistic techniques has attracted significant attention on the part of researchers in information and computer science over the past few decades. In the 1980s, knowledge-based techniques also have made an impressive contribution to "intelligent" information retrieval and indexing. More recently, information science researchers have turned to other, newer artificial intelligence-based inductive learning techniques including neural networks, symbolic learning, and genetic algorithms. The newer techniques have provided great opportunities for researchers to experiment with diverse paradigms for effective information processing and retrieval. In this article we first provide an overview of newer techniques and their usage in information science research. We then present in detail the algorithms we adopted for a hybrid Genetic Algorithms and Neural Nets based system, called GANNET. GANNET performed concept (keyword) optimization for user-selected documents during information retrieval using the genetic algorithms. It then used the optimized concepts to perform concept exploration in a large network of related concepts through the Hopfield net parallel relaxation procedure. Based on a test collection of about 3,000 articles from DIALOG and an automatically created thesaurus, and using Jaccard's score as a performance measure, our experiment showed that GANNET improved the Jaccard's scores by about 50 percent and it helped identify the underlying concepts (keywords) that best describe the user-selected documents.
Keywords: intelligent information retrieval; machine learning

Technological Support for Group Process Modeling - Dean, Douglas L; Lee, James D; Orwig, Richard E; Vogel, Douglas R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
During business analysis, business activities are modeled and analyzed. Redefined models become the blueprints for improved business activities. The cost to produce models of the organization is high and model accuracy is important. Involvement from knowledgeable participants and stakeholders is desirable during business modeling and analysis. Traditional modeling approaches limit direct participation to a small handful of participants. This paper discusses the development and evaluation of an electronic meeting system (EMS) based activity modeling tool. Modeling efforts supported by this new approach are compared with modeling efforts supported by analysts with a single-user tool. The results of this comparison reveal that the EMS-based modeling tool allows a greater number of individuals to participate efficiently in model development. Models are developed between 175 percent and 251 percent faster with the new approach than with the traditional approach. Specific features are discussed that help relatively novice modelers work with analysts to develop models of reasonable quality. Measures are set forth that can be used to assess modeling efficiency and quality.
Keywords: business process improvement; business process modeling; electronic meeting systems; group modeling; IDEF modeling

Understanding Runaway Information Technology Projects: Results from an International Research Program Based on Escalation Theory - Keil, Mark; Mixon, Richard; Saarinen, Timo; Tuunainen, Virpi (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Information technology (IT) projects can fail for any number of reasons, and can result in considerable financial losses for the organizations that undertake them. One pattern of failure that has been observed but seldom studied is the runaway project that takes on a life of its own. Such projects exhibit characteristics that are consistent with the broader phenomenon known as escalating commitment to a failing course of action. Several theories have been offered to explain this phenomenon, including self-justification theory and the so-called sunk cost effect which can be explained by prospect theory. This paper discusses the results of a series of experiments designed to test whether the phenomenon of escalating commitment could be observed in an IT context. Multiple experiments conducted within and across cultures suggest that a high level of sunk cost may influence decision makers to escalate their commitment to an IT project. In addition to discussing this and other findings from an ongoing stream of research, the paper focuses on the challenges faced in carrying out the experiments.
Keywords: escalating commitment; escalation; information systems failure; runaway; software project management; sunk cost

The Structuring of Creative Processes using GSS: A Framework for Research - Nagasundaram, Murli; Bostrom, Robert P (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Radical and discontinuous change is the order of the day in the 1990s. Organizations are seeking to improve their fit with a constantly changing environment through initiatives such as business process redesign (BPR) and total quality management (TQM). Getting people to think creatively is critical to the success of these change efforts. Group Support Systems (GSS) have emerged as a potential means of supporting and augmenting creativity in the modem team-based organization. GSS research, however, has largely ignored the nature (i.e., creativity) of ideas that are generated. This paper seeks to move GSS research on idea generation beyond its previously limited focus on the quantity of ideas generated when using GSS. Drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives and research streams--creativity and idea generation, Kirton's cognitive style, GSS, and adaptive structuration theory (AST)--we distinguish between two orthogonal dimensions for measuring creativity (of ideas, individuals, and creativity processes)--creativity level and paradigm-relatedness, identify and characterize fundamental structuring mechanisms present in creativity techniques and OSS that influence one or the other dimension; and explore the implications of the above for research, design, and the targeted deployment of GSS and creativity techniques in organizations. We develop a theoretical framework of creative processes that is independent of any available or yet unforeseen technologies and techniques. The framework allows researchers and designers to examine OSS and creativity techniques at a finer level of detail than before, thereby allowing a richer understanding of how they work. This improved understanding will help organizations develop and maintain environments that foster creativity in the work force.
Keywords: brainstorming; creativity; idea generation; structuration; group decision support systems

Politics and the Function of Power in a Case Study of IT Implementation - Levine, Harold G; Rossmoore, Don (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Viewing organizations as political coalitions has a long history in management studies and has generated a great deal of research on the roles of organizational politics and power in decision making. Information technology (IT) researchers generally have followed the general trend by providing structural-functional accounts of politics, power, and control strategies. Although such studies underscore the importance, nature, and complexity of politics in IT implementation, they are constrained by the lack of both a general theory of human behavior as well as a model of power that bridges the individual actor and the wider interpersonal/organizational setting. In this paper we present a case study of power and politics in a large financial transactions company, but seen through the lenses of the action science perspective of Argyris and his associates and the model of power developed by A.A. Berle. More specifically, we examine the power vacuum in the IT effort that resulted from the senior executive abrogating his power and failing to delegate it to his subordinates. The resulting political havoc, in turn, caused competition and confusion, wasted effort, and a significant lack of productivity with regard to the implementation of a multimillion-dollar IT effort. We conclude with several hypotheses about how principles of action science and interpersonal power must be used by executives to manage the politics of IT design and implementation.
Keywords: organizational politics; human factors; implementation

Using Group Support Systems to Improve the New Zealand Economy Part II: Followup Results - Sheffield, Jim; Gallupe, R Brent (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
In 1991, a series of computer-assisted, industrywide planning meetings were held in New Zealand to develop opportunities for enhancing the country's competitiveness in world markets. The short-term results of these meetings arc reported in [16]. This paper presents the results of a followup study based primarily on interviews with participants one to two years after their meeting. The action plans and participants' implementation activities are reported as well as their opinions, in retrospect, of the role of the meetings and the impact of electronic meeting technology. The followup results show that the electronically assisted meetings promoted interorganizational learning, and were effective catalysts of industrywide change in situations previously characterized by dysfunctional conflict.
Keywords: economic policy development; electronic meeting systems; industrywide change; interorganizational learning

Expert Systems and Multimedia: Examining the Potential for Integration - Fuerst, William L; Ragusa, James M; Turban, Efraim (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
Expert systems and multimedia are being incorporated into organizations at increasing rates because, while being independently developed, they possess capabilities appropriate for integration with each other. This paper examines the potential for such integration, providing support to users beyond the capabilities of each independently used technology. An integrated system, essential to the city of Los Angeles during the 1992 riots and the 1994 earthquake, is examined to demonstrate the usefulness and benefits of expert systems and multimedia integration. The potential for this integration is further explored by examining issues related to an integration framework where the two technologies support each other. Three integrated prototype systems are reviewed to promote the legitimacy of expert systems and multimedia integration. Preliminary findings conclude that this integration will offer benefits to various applications.
Keywords: expert systems; hypermedia; hypertext; multimedia

An Examination of Gender Effects on Career Success of Information Systems Employees - Baroudi, Jack J; Igbaria, Magid (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1994)
We examine the differences and similarities in the human capital variables of male and female information systems (IS) workers and the affect these differences have on job outcomes. The human capital variables studied include age, education, organizational and job tenure, and number of years in the IS occupation. We found that even when controlling for the differences in human capital variables, women in IS still tend to be employed at lower levels of the organization, make less money, and have greater intentions to leave the organization.
Keywords: career success; gender differences; human capital; IS career

Inter Shop: Enhancing the Vendor/Customer Dialectic in Electronic Shopping - Baty Ii, James B; Lee, Ronald M (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Electronic shopping systems offer new horizons in vendor marketing, customer convenience, and overall market efficiencies. Information networks can gather thousands of vendors and millions of customers into an information-rich marketplace that serves both their perspectives. Unfortunately, existing electronic shopping systems provide a vendor/customer dialectic that offers low product differentiation and comparability. This limits market efficiency and results in negative experiences for both vendors and customers. We propose a functional architecture for a new generation of electronic shopping infrastructures to dramatically improve vendor representation and customer navigation. This design reshapes the vendor/customer dialectic by providing higher levels of both product differentiation and comparability. A prototype implementation of the architecture is described.
Keywords: electronic commerce; electronic shopping; home shopping; hypertext; hypermedia; multimedia; heterogeneous databases; object-oriented databases

A Model-Driven Approach to Accessing Managerial Information: The Development of a Repository-Based Executive Information System - Chen, Minder (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Most executive information systems (EIS) are focusing on the delivery of information to executives on line. Clicking on icons or command buttons, executives can browse through a series of screens of tabular or graphical information organized in a hierarchical structure. There is, however, no underlying model to guide the navigation of the diverse data and applications used by executives. A repository-based and model-driven EIS that captures integrated organization and information system (IOIS) models of an enterprise is therefore needed. A prototype system, called Repository-based Executive Information System (R-EIS), designed to integrate instead of replacing various existing application systems to support managerial information delivery is presented in this paper. This integrated IOIS model can be used directly by executives to assist them in navigating a model from a business perspective in order to gain access to applications and information to support their decision making. The navigation paths become contexts for the information delivered. Executives who can use an explicit organization model in their navigation of large information bases may learn more about their businesses and therefore facilitate organizational learning.
Keywords: contextual information systems; data warehouses; executive information systems; information delivery; mental model; organization model; repository systems

Making Large-Scale Information Resources Serve Communities of Practice - Marshall, Catherine C; Shipman Iii, Frank M; McCall, Raymond J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Community memory can provide the crucial bridge between large-scale information bases like digital libraries and the day-to-day activities of a community's members. Just as a digital library is based on a general structure and conventional means of access to diverse collections of materials, a community memory will help cull and shape the structure and contents of this collection to meet more particular needs. But it is by no means straightforward for people to collect, maintain, share, and apply the materials that are part of a community memory. Useful and usable community memories require support for: (1) the acquisition and evolution of content and structure; (2) the identification of materials and community members relevant to a particular task; and (3) the maintenance of organizations that are mutually intelligible across the community. In this paper, we explore issues related to these three requirements based on a meta-analysis of our collective experiences with the development and use of shared hypermedia information resources.
Keywords: collaboration; community memory; digital libraries; electronic community support; hypermedia; information spaces; shared understanding

Testing the Determinants of Microcomputer Usage via a Structural Equation Model - Igbaria, Magid; Guimaraes, Tor; Davis, Gordon B (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
The objective of this study was to develop and test an integrated conceptual model of microcomputer usage. This study used the technology acceptance model and sought to extend it by investigating the impact of the external factors (i.e., individual, organizational, and system characteristics) on the user acceptance of microcomputer technology. The paper reports the results of a field study investigating the determinants of microcomputer usage. The analyses of the measurement model confirm the existence of two distinct constructs of (1) beliefs-perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use; (2) organizational support-management support and end-user computing (EUC) support; and (3) microcomputer usage-perceived usage and variety of use. The tested conceptual model confirms the effects of individual, organizational, and system characteristics on perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. The model also confirms the influence of perceived ease of use on perceived usefulness, and the effects of perceived usefulness on perceived usage and variety of use. Results confirm several previously proposed notions, including the effects of individual, organizational, and system characteristics on ease of use and usefulness; the influence of ease of use on usefulness, and the effects of perceived usefulness on usage and variety of use. The results demonstrate the utility of investigating factors contributing to microcomputer usage and the external factors affecting endogenous variables such as system usefulness. The importance of EUC support and management support is corroborated, as well as the need for designing mechanisms such as training programs and newsletters to improve user perceptions of microcomputers.
Keywords: microcomputer usage; perceived usefulness; questionnaire analysis; technology acceptance model

Computer Support for Group Work: Perceptions of the Usefulness of Support Scenarios and End-User Tools - Satzinger, John W; Olfman, Lorne (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Computer support for group work-often called "groupware"--is receiving considerable attention from researchers and system developers. Despite these efforts, not much is really known about user-perceived needs for group support. This study surveyed professional employees and managers about their perceived needs for various types of group work support technologies--support for face-to-face meetings, support for electronic meetings, and support for group work between meetings. One hundred and fifty-three respondents in thirty-four organizations assessed the usefulness of the three support scenarios and a variety of associated software tools to one of their specific work groups. Generally, potential users were quite receptive, although a number of respondents were rather skeptical about computer support for meetings. Overall, support for group work between meetings was perceived to be more useful than either support for face-to-face or electronic meetings, and traditional single-user tools were perceived to be more useful than multiuser group tools. Respondent assessments of the usefulness of support scenarios and tools were partially explained by variables such as attitude toward computers, computer usage intensity, attitude toward group work, number of work groups, and time spent in meetings. Variables related to the specific work group described by the respondent also explained differences respondents in a group with multidepartment membership, multilocation membership, larger size, more formal meetings, and higher between-meeting communication intensity perceived computer support to be more useful. Even though the assessments were based on written descriptions, these results indicate that respondents generally understood the support scenarios and tools. Implications for researchers, system developers, and groupware implementers are discussed.
Keywords: end-user perceived needs; groupware; group support systems; group work; technology acceptance model

Element Finding: The Impact of a Group Support System on a Crucial Phase of Sense Making - Massey, Anne P; Clapper, Danial L (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Many of the problem situations facing organizations today are complex and ill-structured, lacking a definitive structure and formulation. The attempt to clearly understand and make sense of these situations is difficult, but crucial, early requirements for effective problem solving. Problem-solving theory suggests that element finding--identifying the elements or variables that are relevant to a problem situation--is one of the earliest essential divergent activities of sense making. This paper details a theoretical framework synthesizing the work of a number of problem-solving research streams to highlight how brainstorming, although with distinct objectives, can be used as a divergent tool during very different phases of the problem-solving process. Using this framework, we empirically explored the impact of electronic brainstorming--a feature of group support systems--on element finding as groups attempted to identify the elements of an ill-structured situation facing them.
Keywords: brainstorming; cognitive models; group environment; group decision support systems; problem structuring and formulation; sense making

An Empirical Taxonomy of the Decision- Making Processes Concerning Strategic Applications of Information Systems - Sabherwal, Rajiv; King, William R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
The strategic potential of information systems (IS) is now well recognized. However, there has been little explicit research on the process through which managers decide to develop IS applications that may provide strategic benefits. Consequently, several divergent views exist about this process, including those that consider it as a planned process, as a process that ignores formal planning methodologies, as a process that takes place incrementally, and as a process that occurs accidentally. This paper addresses this divergence of views by using strategic IS decisions in eighty-one companies to generate an empirical taxonomy including five alternative ways of making strategic IS decisions. The five decision-making processes--namely, planned, provincial, incremental, fluid, and political--seem quite distinct, in terms of the activities involved and the influences encountered, as well as the conditions under which they are used. Thus, the paper suggests to managers deciding on potentially strategic systems that no one process should be considered universally applicable. Instead, any one of five processes comprising the taxonomy may be used, depending on the specific circumstances.
Keywords: empirical taxonomy; information systems planning; strategic decision making; strategic information systems

Strategic Information Systems and Financial Performance - Brown, Robert M; Gatian, Amy W; Hicks Jr, James O (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Investment in strategic information systems (SIS) is advocated by numerous authors as an important way for firms to seek competitive advantage. Yet there is still little empirical evidence that implementation of SIS results in long-term competitive advantages. This is primarily due to the difficulty of isolating economic benefits attributable to SIS implementation. In this research, thirty-five sample firms identified in the media for successful employment of SIS are analyzed for evidence of long-term financial success. This analysis is conducted over a thirteen-year period, centered around the year in which firms were identified for employment of SIS to either support growth, control costs, form alliances, differentiate products, or provide innovation of products/processes. Results show that the stock market reacted favorably to announcements that firms were using SIS, and in subsequent years those firms tended to be more productive and more profitable than their industries and than firms in their respective industries. The greatest profitability differences occurred in the years after SIS firms were initially recognized as successfully employing SIS or investing in SIS. Further, a subsample analysis revealed that the positive results were primarily driven by those firms employing SIS to support growth.
Keywords: information systems for competitive advantage; financial performance; productivity; growth; profitability; strategic information systems

Special Section: Toward a Theory of Business Process Change Management - Kettinger, William J; Grover, Varun (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
This special section comes during a period of tumultuous change in business. Global competition, economic downturn, and the potential offered by emerging technologies are pushing firms to fundamentally rethink their business processes. Many firms have reached the conclusion that effecting business process change is the only way to leverage their core competencies and achieve competitive advantage. This belief has led to a near "re-engineering frenzy." Consultants, seeking to provide solutions to these issues, prescribe business process re-engineering (BPR) as a means to re-engineer aging processes to achieve strategic objectives. BPR practitioners typically repackage existing change theories and techniques from organizational behavior and design, information system management, operations research, quality and human resources disciples in a new synthesis directed at dramatic improvements in business performance. While earlier cross-functional process redesign conceptualizations including Porter's [93] value chain analysis and Gibson and Jackson's [38] business transformation via information technology (IT) existed, it was the writings of both Davenport and Short [21] and Hammer [48] that triggered intense interest from both academia practitioners in re-engineering. Similar to the "classic" success stories touted on strategic information systems about a decade ago [64], early literature on BPR included many examples of BPR successes, such as Ford, Hallmark, Bell Atlantic, Taco Bell [47], AT&T [45], Kodak [108], Texas Instruments, Merck and Cigna [104]. Despite the five odd years this phenomenon has been the rage, there is little research support for its effectiveness beyond anecdotal evidence. This is in part because no theory describing, explaining, and predicting the impact of BPR has been presented to guide the progress of empirical research. In fact, the role that this phenomenon has played in the formalization and advancement of management theory (or vice versa) remains a relatively unexplored topic. Clearly, the purpose of radical process change (re-engineering), as well as more incremental business process improvement approaches (continuous improvement), is the transformation of business processes. The desire to achieve such transformation has served to propel practice ahead of formalized theory. We believe that the formalization of the theoretical context of effective business process change management is essential for improved implementation and, more generally, to advance systematic inquiry in the field. The goal of this special section introduction is to present discussion that moves toward a theory of business process change (BPC) management. The beginnings of such a theory are based upon both conceptual synthesis of observations from practice as well as drawn from research literature from several related social science disciples. Our analysis leads to the conclusion that the theoretical basis of business process change should concern the creation of an organizational environment that develops a culture supportive of change through learning, knowledge sharing (including IT enablement), and internal and external network partnering which facilitates the implementation of effective process and change management practice, which leads to improvement in business processes and greater stakeholder benefits, both of which are important in achieving measurable performance improvements. Implied in this statement is the vital role that the strategic leader plays in establishing strategic initiatives such as communicating a vision to move the organization toward business process change and providing tangible support to enable and maintain an organizational environment that is receptive to BPC management practice.
Keywords: business process reengineering; process change management

Strategies for Business Process Reengineering: Evidence from Field Studies - Earl, Michael J; Sampler, Jeffrey L; Short, James E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
This paper reports on early results from case study research into the relationship between business process reengineering (BPR) and strategic planning. First a framework for analysis is proposed based on the concept of alignment. This "process alignment model" comprises four lenses of enquiry: process, strategy, information systems. and change management and control. Four case studies are then described, selected from a wider sample to demonstrate variation across the four domains. A taxonomy of strategies for BPR is derived from the case studies. This taxonomy suggests a richer variety of BPR practice than has been documented to date and provides an opportunity and platform for further research.
Keywords: business process reengineering; change management; information systems planning; strategic planning

Managing Information about Processes - Davenport, Thomas H; Beers, Michael C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
This study addresses the issue of how leading firms manage information about their business processes. The researchers interviewed twenty firms, many of which were Baldrige quality award winners, and conducted a detailed case study of one firm particularly advanced in process management. The paper suggests that a key aspect of success in process improvement is effective management of information about process performance, even independent of information technology. The concept of double-loop learning is applied to process information. A process model of how to manage process information is advanced, with many examples from interviews of leading practices. Challenges in moving toward increased use of process information are also described.
Keywords: business change; business process reengineering; double-loop learning; leading process practices; managing process information; process information; process management information; process measures

Business Process Redesign: Tactics for Managing Radical Change - Stoddard, Donna B; Jarvenpaa, Sirkka L (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
By definition, business process redesign (BPR) represents radical change in today's bureaucratic functionally structured and managed organizations. The radical change theorists predict that to accomplish radical change requires the use of revolutionary change tactics. We propose that as the "radicalness" of the planned change increases, more revolutionary change tactics are used. We analyze the change tactics of three organizations' BPR initiatives to understand whether and how revolutionary tactics were used. The initiatives evinced a varied amount of revolutionary tactics depending on the scope and depth of planned change. The use of revolutionary tactics also varied by the phase of the initiatives. The frequency of revolutionary tactics was highest in the early phases of the initiatives and decreased as they approached implementation. We explore the reasons for reduced deployment of revolutionary tactics. We conclude by implications to BPR practice and research.
Keywords: business process redesign; case study; change management; evolutionary tactics; implementation phases; radical change; revolutionary tactics

The Implementation of Business Process Reengineering - Grover, Varun; Seung Ryul, Jeong; Kettinger, William J; Teng, James T C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
As more organizations undertake business process reengineering (BPR), issues in implementing BPR projects become a major concern. This field research seeks empirically to explore the problems of implementing reengineering projects and how the severity of these problems relates to BPR project success. Based on past theories and research related to the implementation of organizational change as well as field experience of reengineering experts, a comprehensive list of sixty-four BPR implementation problems was identified. The severity of each problem was then rated by those who have participated in reengineering in 105 organizations. Analysis of the results clearly demonstrates the central importance of change management in BPR implementation success. Resolutions of problems in other areas such as technological competence and project planning were also determined to be necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for reengineering success. Further, problems that are more directly related to the conduct of a project such as process delineation, project management, and tactical planning were perceived as less difficult, yet highly related to project success. This situation was also true for human resource problems such as training personnel for the redesigned process. These findings suggest that reengineering project implementation is complex, involving many factors. To succeed, it is essential that change be managed and that balanced attention be paid to all identified factors, including those that are more contextual (e.g., management support and technological competence) as well as factors that pertain directly to the conduct of the project (e.g., project management and process delineation). As one of the first pieces of empirical evidence based on a field study, this research emphasizes the importance of addressing BPR implementation within the broader context of organizational change in a complex sociotechnical environment.
Keywords: business process reengineering; change management; implementation of innovations

DX: A Deontic Expert System - Lee, Ronald M; Ryu, Young U (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Social norms have a pervasive effect on our lives, affecting how and what we eat, how we dress, where and how we travel, our recreation, the way we work, and our participation in the society at large. Other social norms make constraints on the behavior of commercial companies and other institutions, affecting the way they do business, their treatment of employees, their treatment of the environment, and so on. As societies grow and become more diverse, the system of norms becomes correspondingly complex. This paper attempts to bring computational assistance to bear in managing and interacting with these normative systems. A prototype expert system is described that utilizes deontic rules for reasoning about normative constraints in organizations and other social systems. Applications to bureaucracies and electronic contracting systems are discussed. DX can be used to model regulations and policies in organizations, such as library regulations of universities, resource access policies, and the like. Also, regulatory aspects in interorganizational systems (e.g., EDI) can be effectively modeled and managed by DX. Automated regulation and policy reasoning help manage normative rules and reduce complexity in their applications.
Keywords: bureaucratic systems; deontic logic; electronic contracting systems; expert systems; normative systems; performatives

Natural Language Access to Multiple Databases: A Model and a Prototype - Ein-Dor, Phillip; Spiegler, Israel (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
A model is proposed that defines "context" for natural language queries in a multiple database environment and a suggested implementation for this model is described. The approach developed in this study relaxes the assumption usually made for natural language query systems that the context, in the form of a specific database, is given. The formal model defines a universe of discourse consisting of multiple contexts, each of which is represented by a database, which consists of a dictionary, a thesaurus, relations, columns, and values. A mechanism for identifying and selecting the appropriate context for a query and its implementation as a prototype are described. The integration of this mechanism into the general model of natural language query processing is indicated and implementational issues are discussed.
Keywords: context; database; dictionary; index; lexical analysis; natural language queries; semantics; synonyms; syntax; thesaurus

An Empirical Assessment of the Information Resource Management Construct - Lewis, Bruce R; Snyder, Charles A; Rainer Jr, R Kelly (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
The concept of information resource management (IRM) has been surrounded by confusion for almost two decades. This study first defines the IRM construct as a comprehensive approach to planning, organizing, budgeting, directing, monitoring, and controlling the people, funding, technologies, and activities associated with acquiring, storing, processing, and distributing data to meet a business need for the benefit of the entire enterprise. The study then operationalizes the IRM construct by developing a measurement instrument. The instrument demonstrates acceptable content validity as well as construct validity and reliability. Eight dimensions underlying the IRM construct were found via exploratory factor analysis chief information officer, planning, security, technology integration, advisory committees, enterprise model, information integration, and data administration. The instrument serves two functions: (1) to create a coherent, theoretical foundation for further research on the IRM construct, and (2) to provide reference norms for practicing managers to use to assess the extent of IRM implementation in their organizations.
Keywords: information resource management; management of information technology

Assessing Expert Systems Impact on Users' Jobs - Youngohc, Yoon; Guimaraes, Tor (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
A comprehensive list of ten major expert systems (ES) related factors likely to affect users' jobs has been defined, including problem importance, problem difficulty, developer skill, domain expert quality, user characteristics, user satisfaction, shell quality, user involvement, management support. and system usage. Impact on the job has been defined in terms of eleven items dealing with changes in job importance, amount of work, accuracy requirements, skills needed, job appeal, feed-back about performance, freedom in how to do the job, opportunity for advancement, job security, relation with peers, and job satisfaction. Data were collected on sixty-nine expert systems developed through IBM's Corporate Manufacturing Expert Systems Project Center in San Jose, California. The results show that the major variables having the most impact on users' jobs are problem importance, problem difficulty, domain expert quality, user satisfaction with the ES. shell quality, and user involvement in ES development. Based on the results, recommendations are made for corporate and ES development managers to increase the likelihood that ES will have a desirable impact on users' jobs.
Keywords: expert systems; job impact of technology; success factors

Editorial Introduction - Zwass, Vladimir (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
The three papers in the special section on Strategic and Competitive Information Systems that opens this issue have a broad common theme. Their concern is the management of several classes of risks accompanying the implementation of major information system platforms expected to support organizations in reaching for categorically new levels of performance. Eric K. Clemons and Michael C. Row, the Guest Editors of the Special Section, will introduce the papers in more detail. Two papers that open the general section of this issue probe the factors that lead to successful executive information (or support) system (EIS). A comprehensive study of the key factors of EIS success is offered by R. Kelly Rainer, Jr., and Hugh J. Watson. The authors interviewed representatives of three principal EIS constituencies: executive users, professional developers, and vendors. The factors are divided into those that contribute to successful development and those that underlie successful operation of EIS. Indeed, a number of successfully developed EIS have been have been abandoned early in their operations, often because they satisfied the needs of an individual, which turned out to be idiosyncratic after the executive has left the company. The issues of the information quality are right on top of the list of the keys to EIS success. Betty Vandenbosch and Christopher A. Higgin stake a learning perspective on executive support systems (ESS) to probe deeper into their success factors. This perspective does not lead them to the quality of delivered information as the top success factor, but rather to the capabilities for re-visioning the busi-ness, to borrow a phrase from the Guest Editors of the Special Section. ESS are generally understood to provide more extensive analysis capability than EIS - they combine the easy access to timely and relevant information, furnished by EIS, with some of the analytical capabilities of decision support systems. The latter features prove crucial to the point being made in this work. The authors find that ESS are perceived to contribute more to the competitive performance of the owner firm when they enable their users to build new mental models - to see the business opportunities and threats differently - than to simply use the existing mental models. To use March's [1] words, ESS are perceived to be of much higher value when they help in the exploration of new possibilities than when they assist in the exploration of old certainties. The work argues, in effect, for the inclusion of analysis capabilities in EIS - and thus for true ESS. The following two papers apply economic theory to obtain prescriptive results for information systems governance. The first of them, by A. Chaudhury, Kichan Nam, and H. Raghav Rao, addresses contracting for outsourcing services. Enthusiasm and extreme caution are the succeeding tides of the dominant opinion on outsourcing of information systems. The facts remain in plain sight: outsourcing has become a major avenue to the acquisition of information services. The authors formulate an economic model leading them to a bidding mechanism that would induce the offerors of outsourcing services to reveal their bottom-line prices. The results are helpful to the buyers of outsourcing services who aim at cost minimization. Gerald V. Post, Albert Kagan, and Kim-Nam Lau develop an economic model that should help managers to determine the best time implementing a strategic information system. Using the model, the managers would be able to select a favorable tradeoff between an early move into a new strategic system, with the attendant benefits and high costs, on the one hand, and a delayed implementation, with attenuated gains, but significantly lower costs, on the other. The authors illustrate how their approach might be used in the banking business. In the coda to the issue, Sang M. Lee, Yeong R. Kim, and Jaejung Lee turn to the factors that lead to successful training programs for the end users of information systems and to end-user satisfaction. The authors find that simply increasing the users' proficiency with new systems through training programs is not enough. Rather, it is necessary to ensure that the end users understand how the information system can best contribute to its users' enhanced job performance. System training is no substitute for an organizational change process. We invite all of you to read the papers and always welcome your comments and contributions. VLADIMIR ZWASS Editor-in-Chief
Keywords: strategic information systems

Special Section: Strategic and Competitive Information Systems - Clemons, Eric K; Row, Michael C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
The current interest in business reengineering is significant both as part of the ongoing evolution of business and as a discontinuity unique to this time and place in history. Reengineering involves both a change in concepts and perspective, from functions to processes, and the development of tools and techniques. But reengineering is also a discontinuity brought on by changes in the business environment and by new capabilities made possible by information technology. Specifically, organizational processes, information systems, and other infrastructures that have evolved over the past twenty to thirty years are increasingly becoming obsolete and dysfunctional and must be replaced. Indeed, even the strategies that were supported by these processes may need to be rethought. These aspects of reengineering can be thought of as business re-visioning. Business re-visioning involves "placing bets" on the firm's future: deciding on an organization and information technology infrastructure that will carry the firm for the next decade. The investments and risks involved in such a large-scale reorientation are tremendous. This Special Section addresses the risks of re-visioning from three different but complementary perspectives. The first paper explores the organizational forces that can create and shape re-visioning risk. The second paper investigates infrastructure flexibility as a means of reducing re-visioning, particularly what the characteristics of flexibility are and how they can be measured. The final paper presents an empirical study of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) implementation with results that link the concept of barriers to change with the concept of flexibility. All three papers are substantial revisions and expansions of work originally presented at the 28th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences in January of 1995. The first paper, "Identifying the Sources of Reengineering Failures: A Study of the Behavioral Factors Contributing to Reengineering Risks," by Eric K. Clemons, Matt E. Thatcher, and Michael C. Row, argues that the outcomes of business re-visioning efforts are often strategies and investments are meant to address. This mismatch can be understood in terms of the organizational forces that shape how a firm views the future and the influence the firm's ability to make the changes necessary to prepare for that future. These forces lead to conflict between what the firm should do, what the firm says it is doing, and what the firm actually does. The result is a tension between functionality risk - the risk of not going far enough in implementing change - and political risk - the risk of going farther than the organization can tolerate. The authors note that it is critically important to identify and manage these forces in order to reduce the risk of re-visioning failure. Even in the absence of political risk, functionality risk may be considerable, given the difficulties in envisioning and preparing for an uncertain future. One way of reducing the risk of making a wrong decision is to develop flexibility - the capability to operate in many different situations and to react rapidly to changes in the environment. But what is flexibility and how do you achieve it? Nancy Bogucki Duncan, in "Capturing Flexibility of Information Technology: A Study of Resource Characteristics and their Measure," explores the concept of flexibility in the context of information technology infrastructure. Using field study methodologies, Duncan explores the issues involved in defining flexibility and suggests a framework for designing measurement tools. The perspective taken is that definition and measurement of flexibility are necessary before informed decisions can be made as to how much and what kind of flexibility to invest in. Both organizational barriers to change and the concept of flexibility come together in the third paper, "Computer Integrated Manufacturing: Empirical Implication for Industrial Information Systems," by John Johansen, Uday S. Karmarkar, Dhananjay Nanda, and Abraham Seidmann. CIM is a set of technologies that has the potential to provide a flexible infrastructure supporting production; however, the study suggests that in some situations the implementation of CIM has failed to achieve significant integration and flexibility. The CIM implementations studied tended to be developed "bottom-up" along existing functional and operational line, with narrow operational objectives. These results are consistent with the framework on organizational barriers to change developed by Clemons et al. Taken together, the three papers of the Special Section should help expand our view of the risks that need to be managed in the process of business reengineering, and of the means for doing so.
Keywords: strategic information systems

Identifying Sources of Reengineering Failures: A Study of the Behavioral Factors Contributing to Reengineering Risks - Clemons, Eric K; Row, Michael C; Thatcher, Matt E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Recent experience suggests that many reengineering efforts fail, and that they fail for reasons unrelated to the technical ability of organizations to implement information systems. Our research suggests that the two principal reasons for failure are functionality risk and political risk: respectively, the organization's inability to understand its uncertain future strategic needs, and its inability to make painful and difficult changes in response to these future strategic needs. Recent research in the organizational change literature suggests that these risks are the result of conflict among the organization's current strategy, its espoused degree of change, the actually accepted and generally smaller degree of change, and the generally larger degree of change that would be in some sense optimal. Moreover, the conflicts among these may be unperceived or undiscussable within the organization, exacerbating the risks. We summarize in a few testable hypotheses our experience with managing the risks of reengineering, and use a small set of representative case studies to examine these hypotheses informally.
Keywords: business reengineering; implementation of information systems; risk of information systems

Capturing Flexibility of Information Technology Infrastructure: A Study of Resource Characteristics and their Measure - Duncan, Nancy Bogucki (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Information technology (IT) infrastructure has been identified in recent years in some businesses as having a critical impact on the firm's ability to use IT competitively. Although a flexible infrastructure is considered highly valuable under certain circumstances, it is difficult to plan and to measure because there is no common, operational definition. This paper addresses the problem at two levels. First, it presents and explores various efforts to define or describe infrastructure flexibility in the literature. It identifies basic components of IT infrastructure and previously proposed characteristics of flexibility. The discussion considers concepts of IT resource management, including technological architecture, alignment of planning, and human resource skills, all of which have also been linked to definitions of infrastructure flexibility. Second, the paper explores how the concept of infrastructure flexibility is viewed among IT executives. The characteristics of infrastructure may vary with firm resources and industry characteristics such as information intensity; consequently, we may expect flexibility to be either developed or thwarted in a great number of ways. An informal study of IT executives' experience with and opinions of infrastructure flexibility results in a view of the practical issues of infrastructure flexibility. Based on the outcome of this study, a framework is presented for developing tools for future efforts to evaluate infrastructure flexibility. Methods by which the framework may be used to develop individualized infrastructure benchmarking tools are proposed.
Keywords: flexibility of information systems; information systems planning; information technology infrastructure

Computer Integrated Manufacturing: Empirical Implications for Industrial Information Systems - Johansen, John; Karmarkar, Uday S; Nanda, Dhananjay; Seidmann, Abraham (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
This paper describes the results of a recent field study of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) adoption strategies in U.S. manufacturing firms. The purpose of the study was to identify the extent to which CIM technologies are in use in U.S. firms, the impact of a facility's process characteristics on the CIM development process, and the adoption policy being followed implicitly or explicitly. The survey focused on manufacturing process characteristics, the CIM development process, the CIM architecture, and perceived value and benefits. Our results indicate that CIM implementations follow a definite temporal pattern with respect to the adoption of certain information technologies. We also find evidence of labor substitution through CIM, although the direct labor jobs that are lost are partially replaced by engineering and design tasks. While most CIM users find that their CIM projects successfully meet their initial operational goals, the technology seems to be poorly integrated in most sites. More crucially, it appears that CIM does not live up to its promise: it is not being adopted as a strategic information system for competitive missions. The initiative for CIM programs is usually generated from the bottom-up by small groups of technical experts who tend to focus on localized data-processing concerns. This gradual bottom-up approach appears to severely restrain, rather than enable, plant-wide integration for critical crossfunctional business processes such as order fulfillment or the introduction of new products. The decentralized, bottom-up, development pattern of these information systems reinforces the existence of many incompatible divisional islands of automation, thereby negatively affecting the competitive capability of the firm.
Keywords: adopting of information systems; computer integrated manufacturing

The Keys to Executive Information System Success - Rainer Jr, R Kelly; Watson, Hugh J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Executive information systems (EIS) are high-risk/high-return systems, largely because the clientele these systems serve are not only influential in the firm, but have information needs that are very difficult to provide through computer-based information systems. As a result, it is important to understand the keys to successful EN development and ongoing operation. This two-phase study first interviewed executives, EIS professionals, and vendors and consultants to elicit keys to success. The findings of the first phase rank-ordered the keys to successful EIS development and the keys to successful ongoing EIS operation. The first phase also indicated differences among the constituencies regarding the relative importance of the keys. The second phase of the research surveyed a large sample of EIS professionals to further examine the keys obtained from the interviews. These findings showed underlying dimensions of the two sets of keys, which in turn were used to produce a model of successful EIS development and operation. These factors also provided evidence to support and integrate the existing literature on information systems success.
Keywords: executive information systems; executive support systems; information systems success

Executive Support Systems and Learning: A Model and Empirical Test - Vandenbosch, Betty; Higgins, Christopher A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
A model of the relationships among executive support systems (ESS), learning, and performance is developed. This model describes the impact of ESS on perceptions of competitive performance when viewed from a learning perspective. The model proposes two types of learning: mental-model maintenance, in which new information fits into existing mental models and confirms them; and mental-model building, in which mental models are changed to accommodate new information. The results of a survey of seventy-three executives support the view that the success of ESS may be contingent upon the type of executive learning they engender. The research found that perceptions of competitive performance resulting from ESS use are strongly related to mental-model building, but found no link between competitive performance and mental-model maintenance. Hence, it seems that ESS can and do foster executive learning. Nevertheless, organizations that embark on ESS development on the basis of promised gains in competitive performance should proceed cautiously. The presence of analysis capability seems to be the best differentiation between mental-model maintenance and mental-model building, leading to a consideration of behaviour vis-à-vis the ESS as a predictor of learning. Without mental-model building, competitive performance gains seem unlikely. In addition, companies should be leery of systems that are justified on the basis of improved technical quality.
Keywords: executive support systems; organizational learning

Management of Information Systems Outsourcing: A Bidding Perspective - Chaudhury, A; Nam, Kichan; Rao, H Raghav (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Outsourcing is the contracting of various information systems' sub- functions by user firms to outside information systems vendors. A critical factor in the outsourcing process is the bidding and vendor selection mechanism. This paper describes the process of outsourcing and identifies the various stages involved. Subsequently, considering that cost reduction is a driving force of outsourcing for user-firms, this paper proposes a bidding mechanism to reduce expected outsourcing costs in the final bidding and vendor selection process. The paper studies outsourcing contracts of routine and repetitive activities such as maintenance and operation of telecommunication networks. A realistic scenario is studied, wherein multiple vendors bid for such contracts and where one vendor has cost and expertise advantages over other vendors and as a result tends to inflate bids. A mixed integer programming model is formulated for a multiple vendor scenario. In general, the results suggest a prescription that calls for the use of "carrot and stick" policies by the user firm. Subsidies (the carrot) need to be used as incentives for bidders to announce their most competitive bids. In addition, penalties (the stick) have to be levied in order to pressure bidders not to bid high.
Keywords: bidding mechanisms; information systems management; mixed integer programming; outsourcing of information systems

A Modeling Approach to Evaluating Strategic Uses of Information Technology - Post, Gerald V; Kagan, Albert; Kin-Nam, Lau (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Traditional static benefit-cost methods were useful when evaluating transaction processing systems. Strategic benefits are more difficult to evaluate, since they involve dynamic interactions between customers, suppliers, and rivals. In an attempt to gain a competitive advantage, there is a strong incentive to be the first implementor of new technology. However, information technology (IT) costs decline overtime, so there is an incentive to delay implementation. A model is developed that enables managers to evaluate this trade-off and choose the best implementation time. The model emphasizes competition between large firms in a regional (or national) market, interacting with firms in a local market. The model is illustrated with an application to the banking industry. It compares the implementation times of larger regional banks vis-à-vis smaller local banks, and shows how the banks might use technology to respond to various changes in the banking industry.
Keywords: evaluating strategic investments; game theory; strategic information systems

An Empirical Study of the Relationships among End-User Information Systems Acceptance, Training, and Effectiveness - Lee, Sang M; Kim, Yeong R; Lee, Jaejung (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
With the advent of powerful microcomputers and software, end-user computing has become an important competitive weapon for organizations. However, little is known about what factors should be considered in designing end-user training programs. This empirical study investigates the factors that are essential for successful end-user training. The study results indicate both the importance of end-user information system (IS) acceptance and the strong relationships among end-user IS acceptance, end-user IS satisfaction, and end-user job satisfaction.
Keywords: human information processing; end-user training; user satisfaction

Special Issue: Information Technology and Its Organizational Impact - Nunamaker Jr, Jay F; Sprague Jr, Ralph H (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
This special issue contains ten papers that address key issues in management information systems (MIS), a rich field with many referent disciplines. It is a strength of our community that we strive for a full understanding of the complex phenomena we study by approaching them from many epistemological and methodological perspectives. Each methodological approach informs the others. Case studies inform experimentation by discovering phenomena and drawing inferences from them. Experimentation informs case studies by demonstrating phenomena under controlled conditions to untangle confounds and separate superstition and myth from useful explanation. Mathematical modeling provides insights about complex interrelationships among phenomena observed in the field and laboratory, often reducing the time required to find solutions. Surveys reveal patterns and trends in the field and provide a starting point for both case and experimental studies by suggesting fruitful possibilities for software engineering efforts. Software engineering clarifies concepts and embodies theory, while providing the necessary content for both field and laboratory work. Software engineering also provides invaluable insights about concepts at the core of our discipline: the need to produce large information systems on time and under budget and to deliver timely, accurate, and complete information at a minimum of cognitive and monetary cost. It is important to our field that we value and nurture our methodological diversity and maintain a balance among the methodologies we use. Our problems are complex and rapidly changing . No single research method, no single technique will answer every question. Toward that end, in this special issue, we are pleased to present ten of the best papers from the 1995 Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 28). Two are ward winners and others are award nominees. The papers span the methodological groups of software engineering, case studies, mathematical models, experiments, and a survey. The two papers on software engineering address new approaches for developing software designs. Nanduri and Tugaber, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, present an innovative approach for creating and validating object definitions in "Requirements Validation via Automated Natural Language Parsing." This paper reports a fascinating attempt to use a natural language parser to automate the development and validation of object models for object-oriented (OO) programming. To date, the best method available for creating object models has been for an analyst to review documents and text-based requirement definitions looking for possible objects to model. The authors adapted a natural language parser to a requirements document, extracting candidate objects, methods, and associations, and composing them into an object model diagram. The automated results compare favorably with those produced by manual OO analysis processes, but do not exceed them. The authors report that the automated results were useful to analysts for checking completeness and correctness and posit that future improvements to the parser may produce much better output. This papers tries to bring much needed rigor to a very difficult and largely artistic process. Holden and Wilhelmij, of the University of Cambridge, in "Improved Decision in a Hospital Situation," present a detailed method for evaluating and improving business process. It is a method based on structured interview and modeling that addresses many of the traditional business process reengineering issues, but it also focuses specifically on intangible factors relating to people, culture, and knowledge - factors that can influence the success or failure of an enterprise. The steps of the process are described along with a computer-based tool for capturing and modeling the information that surfaces during the analysis. The paper illustrates the processes of the method by reporting the analysis of a diagnostic team within a department of a large hospital. The two case studies in this issue report on very different phenomena."Learning, Working, and Innovation: A Case Study in the Insurance Industry," by Henderson and Lentz of Boston University, examines the link between IT investments and business value. Senior IS managers are now being required to demonstrate the contribution that IT makes to the bottom line, but little is known about how to measure such a linkage. The IT-performance link is rarely clear, direct, or immediate. The authors present an approach to studying the concept of value management by building upon cybernetic theory. Cybernetic theory defines a feedback process consisting of standards of performance, measures of value, and a system for monitoring and tracking performance, processes for feeding back the information, and modifying actions. The authors create an approach called Value Management as an explicit, adaptive mechanism to systematically influence IT initiatives. This case study uses the Value Management model to examine the contrast between canonical (prescribed) work practices and noncanonical (actual) work practices and draws inferences about how the differences between them affect the value of the organization. The case study by Money of George Washington University, "applying Group Support Systems to Classroom Settings: A Social Cognitive Learning Theory Explanation," details a semester-long use of group support systems in a master's level IS course. Money used social cognitive learning theory to guide the development of prototype learning experiences for the students. His paper includes detailed descriptions of the online activities and describes student reactions and student results. The paper provides rich details about the classroom methods that should enable other researchers to replicated and extend the work presented here. The two modeling papers address probabilistic networks and genetic algorithms. Roehrig, of Carnegie Mellon University, presents a method for deriving useful analysis from probabilistic networks where some of the conditional probabilistic are not available in "Incompletely Specified Probabilistic Networks." Probabilistic networks are used as an adjunct or alternative to logical models in artificial in artificial intelligence and decision support systems applications. They are a useful way to represent a distribution over a set of random variables. Ordinarily, one must specify all relevant conditional probabilities in order to use the network. This paper describes general rules derived from application of the method to some simple networks. Dworman, Kimbrough, and Liang, of the University of Pennsylvania, in their award-winning HICSS 28 paper, "On Automated Discovery of Models Using Genetic Programming: Bargaining in a Three-Agent Coalitions Game," report on an effort to automate the model-formulation process. They describe an approach to finding optimal strategies for solving problems relating to game theory by using evolutionary , or genetic, algorithms. Genetic algorithms simulate various strategies by representing them as a set of finite state automata. The various strategies compete with one another, and the strategies with the best results are retained. New strategies are generated by crossing the characteristics of older, successful strategies. Over the life of the simulation the strategies that produce the best results are retained and reported. This approach can be used to find optimal strategies for complex economic and game-theoretic problems. The paper illustrates the approach using the prisoner's dilemma and other problems and reports that the algorithm can often find strategies superior to the best generated by humans. This issue includes three experiments, all of which deal with aspects of electronic support for group processes. In "The Effects of Distributed Group Support and Process Structuring on Software Requirements Development Teams: Results on Creativity and Quality," Ocker, Hiltz, Turoff, and Fjermestad, of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, report on a 2x2 experiment examining the use of computer conferencing technology for distributed software development. Some of the subjects used the system and a structured technique, while others used the system with no structured technique. Some used no computer conferencing system, both with and without a structured technique. The subject designed an automated post office. The study found that participants using the computer conferencing system produced designs that were of slightly higher quality and considerably more creative. The paper examines reasons why this might have occurred. The next two experiments described in this issue come from the same research team at the University of Arizona. The two studies examine very different phenomena relating to group support systems (GSS), but are presented here as a related set. One deals with increasing productivity in electronic brainstorming, while the other posits that large increases in productivity are not always enough to ensure organization-wide diffusion of new technologies. The pairing of these two papers reminds us that laboratory studies can lead to more effective technique and technology, but eventually our findings must be accepted in the workplace for our contributions to be realized. The first paper of this pair is "Invoking Social Comparison to Improve Electronic Brainstorming: Beyond Anonymity," by Shepherd, Briggs, Reinig, Yen, and Nunamaker. The authors argue that social loafing may suppress productivity in anonymous loafing. The authors built a real-time feedback tool that provided a basis for social comparison and observed a 63 percent increase in production of unique ideas. An interesting point is that this paper seeks, but does not find, the classic goal-setting effect, where teams given higher goals outperform teams with lower goals. The authors suggest that this may be a social-comparison effect. The second paper of this pair is the HICSS 28 award-winning research, "Affective Reward and the Adoption of Group Support Systems: Productivity Is Not Always Enough," by Reinig, Briggs, Shepherd, Yen, and Nunamaker. The authors observed in the field that certain teams using group support systems were productive beyond all expectation, and were very satisfied with their results, but a felt a distinct lack of gratification about their online work. The paper presents the development and validation of an instrument to measure affective reward, or the sense of emotional fulfillment that sometimes accompanies successful team efforts. The paper posits that affective reward might be an excitation transfer phenomenon and presents an experiment testing that hypothesis. It concludes by offering a short form of the affective reward instrument to support future research. The final paper in this issue, from Deephouse, Mukhopadhyay, Goldenson, and Kellner of Carnegie Mellon University, is a survey study entitled "Software Processes and Project Performance." The authors conducted a survey of eighty-seven large-scale systems development projects to determine which of several factors might be most important to the success of a project as measured in terms of product quality, productivity, time to market, and customer satisfaction. They asked respondents about the importance of software project planning, software process stability, software prototyping, and cross-functional teams. Only two factors - project planning and cross-functional teams - were consistently associated with favorable outcomes. The survey results showed that IS professional perceived the other practices to have little impact on project outcomes. We would like to thank the anonymous referees for their timely, thorough, and diligent work. Also, a special note of appreciation to Robert Briggs for his assistance in pulling this issue together and for the time we spent debating the merits of the many high-quality papers that were reviewed and considered for publication. We think the papers are an interesting and informative combination of methodologies and applications. We hope the knowledge you gain from reading this special issue of outstanding papers will stimulate your creativity.
Keywords: organizational innovation; information systems management

Requirements Validation via Automated Natural Language Parsing - Nanduri, Sastry; Rugaber, Spencer (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Object-oriented analysis (OOA) has become a popular method for analyzing system requirements. Unfortunately, however, none of the current versions of OOA has included a validation technique tailored to the object-oriented approach. Most, instead, merely recommend document reviews without specifying the kinds of problems to look for. This paper explores the question by applying a natural language parser to a requirements document, extracting candidate objects, methods, and associations, composing them into an object model diagram, and then comparing the results with those determined by manual OOA. To do this, we have adapted an automated natural language parser and used it to examine several high-level system descriptions. The results indicate that, with a modest amount of effort, the technique can give valuable feedback to the analyst.
Keywords: link grammars; natural language processing; object-oriented analysis; systems analysis

Improved Decision Making through Better Integration of Human Resource and Business Process Factors in a Hospital Situation - Holden, Tony; Wilhelmij, Paul (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Business process models are designed in isolation but must be applied in real organizational and business situations. A key management concern is how to identify the nonprocess factors that allow a business process to achieve maximum performance. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of the KNOVA (KNOwledge Value-Added) technique to the problem of making visible the hitherto intangible people, culture, and knowledge factors that can easily influence the success or failure of a business process. We illustrate its application to the processes of a diagnostic team within a department of a large hospital. Two benefits ensue: (1) the articulation of a common understanding of the factors that affect team performance and, (2) the pinpointing of resource investment to maintain performance and reduce risk or cost.
Keywords: business process modeling; business reengineering; organizational knowledge; team-oriented management

Learning, Working, and Innovation: A Case Study in the Insurance Industry - Henderson, John C; Lentz, Christine M A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
The worldwide environment in which strategic information technology (IT) initiatives are deployed is changing. Increasingly, these IT investments are intended to produce not only internal operating efficiencies and cost savings but also external market outcomes. The linkage between IT investments and business value is critical in the service sector for industries, such as financial services, transportation, and retailing, where IT is an integral part of the products and services delivered to customers. Using case study research data from six large North American companies and recent theory as our guide, this paper identifies ways in which information systems (IS) organizations can become more innovative by using learning as the bridge between working and innovation. To illustrate the findings, we present data from a case study at Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, a large, multinational North American insurance company.
Keywords: organizational innovation; organizational learning; value management in organizations

Applying Group Support Systems to Classroom Settings: A Social Cognitive Learning Theory Explanation - Money, William H (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
This paper utilizes social cognitive learning theory to guide and explain the development of prototype educational experiences for information systems concepts. The paper applies the major framework of social cognitive learning theory, its recognition of the reciprocity and interaction among cognitive, behavioral, environmental, and physiological/affective influences. In this learning process, it is argued that people learn from a variety of experiences and from the observation of the actions of others. This paper uses social cognitive learning theory to explain the structure for an MIS educational experience, and applies a group support system (GSS) in a course module with specific learning objectives. Finally, the paper describes an MIS classroom experience (a module covering systems analysis [SA] methodology) which has been used to apply the GSS to prototype MIS problems (working scenarios with questions and organizational data).
Keywords: group support systems; MIS education; social cognitive learning theory

Incompletely Specified Probabilistic Networks - Roehrig, Stephen F (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Probabilistic networks, used as an adjunct or alternative to the logical models used in artificial intelligence (Al) and decision support systems (DSS), offer a way to compactly represent a distribution over a set of random variables. Nonetheless, the specification of a given network may require conditional probabilities that are simply unavailable. In this paper a means for analyzing incompletely specified networks is presented, and some general rules are derived from the application of the method to some simple networks. The use of the technique in MIS settings is illustrated.
Keywords: automated reasoning; decision modeling; probabilistic networks

On Automated Discovery of Models Using Genetic Programming: Bargaining in a Three-Agent Coalitions Game - Dworman, Garett; Kimbrough, Steven O; Laing, James D (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
The creation of mathematical, as well as qualitative (or rule-based), models is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Recent developments in evolutionary computation hold out the prospect that, for many problems of practical import, machine learning techniques can be used to discover useful models automatically. The prospects are particularly bright, we believe, for such automated discoveries in the context of game theory. This paper reports on a series of successful experiments in which we used a genetic programming regime to discover high-quality negotiation policies. The game-theoretic context in which we conducted these experiments--a three-player coalitions game with sidepayments--is considerably more complex and subtle than any reported in the previous literature on machine learning applied to game theory.
Keywords: automatic model discovery; game theory; genetic programming; machine learning

The Effects of Distributed Group Support and Process Structuring on Software Requirements Development Teams: Results on Creativity and Quality - Ocker, Rosalie; Hiltz, Starr Roxanne; Turoff, Murray; Fjermestdad, Jerry (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Previous research has indicated that the creative task of deciding upon the initial specifications for a software system can benefit from a structured process to guide group interaction in face-to-face meetings, and can benefit from computer support. This 2 x 2 experiment is the first to look at the joint effects of a distributed asynchronous computer conferencing mode of communication (CC, as compared with face-to-face), and a structured process, on software design outcomes. Subjects were teams of graduate students in computer science and business, who designed an automated post office as a course assignment. The quality of solution produced by the CC groups was judged to be marginally higher, while CC groups were rated as considerably more creative. There were no main effects for the structured/unstructured factor, or any significant interactions.
Keywords: distributed group support; group creativity; group support systems; software requirements analysis

Invoking Social Comparison to Improve Electronic Brainstorming: Beyond Anonymity - Shepherd, Morgan M; Briggs, Robert O; Reinig, Bruce A; Yen, Jerome; Nunamaker Jr, Jay F (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
This paper presents a study of electronic brainstorming (EBS) that begins with theory building, tool development, and experimentation, and ends with practical guidance for facilitators and developers. The paper argues that social loafing impairs the productivity of EBS groups, and that social comparison is a way to decrease the effect(s) of social loafing. The literature on brainstorming productivity suggests that there is a correlation between the quantity of ideas produced and the number of high-quality ideas produced. By inducing social comparison with a graphical feedback tool and increasing the salience of that social comparison with facilitation techniques, we increased the productivity of EBS groups by 63 percent.
Keywords: electronic brainstorming; group creativity; group support systems; social loafing

Affective Reward and the Adoption of Group Support Systems: Productivity Is Not Always Enough - Reinig, Bruce A; Briggs, Robert O; Nunamaker Jr, Jay F; Shepherd, Morgan M; Yen, Jerome (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Research shows that group support systems (GSS) have dramatically increased group productivity. However, researchers in the field discovered that users sometimes find themselves feeling emotionally unfulfilled despite exceptionally good results: users report a loss of the affective reward often associated with a challenging meeting where they struggle and succeed. This lack of engagement has been shown to be a cause of user resistance to adopting GSS technology. Team effectiveness may be reduced over time as users seek less-effective but more-gratifying alternatives. This paper frames affective reward as a function of excitation transfer. It describes the development and validation of an instrument to measure affective reward, and presents the results of the first laboratory investigation of the construct.
Keywords: affective award; electronic brainstorming; group support systems; instrument validation

Software Processes and Project Performance - Deephouse, Christopher; Mukhopadhyay, Tridas; Goldenson, Dennis R; Kellner, Marc I (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1995)
Firms developing software face increasing pressures to improve project outcomes in terms of product quality, productivity, time to market, and customer satisfaction. As projects expand in size and complexity, and competition grows, firms are reengineering their software processes. They are adopting more intensive procedures for requirements management, project planning, defect tracking, configuration management, design and code inspections, and so forth. To assess the effectiveness of these efforts, we conducted a survey of senior practitioners at the 1993 Software Engineering Process Group National Meeting. The survey asked participants about the processes followed on, and the outcome of, a specific software project. Certain practices--notably project planning and cross-functional teams--were consistently associated with favorable outcomes. Based on the survey results, other practices may have little impact on project outcomes.
Keywords: cross-functional teams; software development processes; software project management; software project planning

Beyond Accuracy: What Data Quality Means to Data Consumers - Wang, Richard W; Strong, Diane M (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Poor data quality (DQ) can have substantial social and economic impacts. Although firms are improving data quality with practical approaches and tools, their improvement efforts tend to focus narrowly on accuracy. We believe that data consumers have a much broader data quality conceptualization than IS professionals realize. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that captures the aspects of data quality that are important to data consumers. A two-stage survey and a two-phase sorting study were conducted to develop a hierarchical framework for organizing data quality dimensions. This framework captures dimensions of data quality that are important to data consumers. Intrinsic DQ denotes that data have quality in their own right. Contextual DQ highlights the requirement that data quality must be considered within the context of the task at hand. Representational DQ and accessibility DQ emphasize the importance of the role of systems. These findings are consistent with our understanding that high-quality data should be intrinsically good, contextually appropriate for the task, clearly represented, and accessible to the data consumer. Our framework has been used effectively in industry and government. Using this framework, IS managers were able to better understand and meet their data consumers' data quality needs. The salient feature of this research study is that quality attributes of data are collected from data consumers instead of being defined theoretically or based on researchers' experience. Although exploratory, this research provides a basis for future studies that measure data quality along the dimensions of this framework.
Keywords: data administration; data quality; database systems

Key Dimensions of Facilitators and Inhibitors for the Strategic Use of Information Technology - King, William R; Teo, Thompson S H (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
A field survey was conducted to determine key organizational factors that facilitate and/or inhibit the development of strategic applications of information technology (IT) in business firms. A comprehensive list of potential facilitators and inhibitors for the strategic use of information technology was derived from past research and used as the basis for collecting data from 121 firms. These data were factor-analyzed to determine the key underlying dimensions of facilitators and inhibitors. On the basis of the resulting seven dimensions, stepwise discriminant analysis was used to compare companies that have used IT applications for strategic purposes and companies that have not done so. The results suggest that innovative needs, competitive position, environment, economies of scale, and top management guidance are the most important facilitators, while the lack of IT drivers, the lack of economies of scale, and the lack of innovative needs are the most important inhibitors.
Keywords: competitive advantage; factors of information system success; strategic information systems

Impact of Competitive Strategy and Information Technology Maturity on Firms' Strategic Response to Globalization - Karimi, Jahangir; Gupta, Yash P; Somers, Toni M (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Recently the globalization of competition has caused many firms in the financial services industry to integrate their information systems. Based on a selective review of literature from strategic and information management disciplines, a model is developed to study the firms' strategic response to Europe 1992 and Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreements. According to a survey of 213 managers, this study finds that competitive strategy, information technology (IT) maturity and size influence firms' perceived increase in IT investment. Further, this study finds that the degree of IT integration within firms is a primary determinant of firms' willingness to use IT as part of their strategic response to globalization. It suggests that the new competitive strategies will be increasingly technology-based global initiatives that are affected by the firms' IT maturity.
Keywords: globalization; Europe 1992; Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreements; firms' strategic response to globalization; information technology investment; competitive strategy; information technology maturity

The Effect of Service Quality and Partnership on the Outsourcing of Information Systems Functions - Grover, Varun; Myun Joong, Cheon; Teng, James T C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Numerous corporations today are outsourcing specific information systems (IS) functions. The diversity of these outsourcing arrangements goes well beyond that associated with the more traditional facilities management. This paper examines outsourcing trends and reports the results of an empirical study on IS outsourcing. Overall IS outsourcing and its five component functions namely, applications development, systems operations, telecommunications, end-user support, and systems planning and management--are examined for their relationships with outsourcing success. The effect of service quality of the provider and the ability of companies to build a partnership on these relationships are hypothesized and studied. Data from senior executives in 188 companies are gathered. Outsourcing success is found to be highly related to the degree of outsourcing of two functions, systems operations and telecommunications. The results indicate that transaction cost theory provides a good framework for IS outsourcing and that asset specificity of outsourcing transactions needs to be considered in any decision to outsource. Also, both service quality of the vendor and elements of partnership such as trust, cooperation, and communication are important for outsourcing success. Implications of the study for research and practice are discussed.
Keywords: business partnership; information systems outsourcing; outsourcing success; service quality

Toward Formalized Object-Oriented Management Information Systems Analysis - Wang, Shouhong (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Object-oriented approaches have received attention in management information systems development due to the advantages over the traditional approaches claimed by the proponents of the object-oriented approaches. To describe how people actually perform object-oriented analyses, this paper formalizes an object-oriented systems analysis approach. Protocol analyses of seven systems analysts, who were experienced with structured analysis, were used to formalize procedures for object-oriented analysis. The protocol analyses revealed four fundamental types of object classes in a management information system. They are: input, output, physiomorphic, and event object classes. The identification of input, output, and event classes depends upon the problem domain being analyzed. Physiomorphic classes, on the other hand, are more likely to match a schema that is perceived by the analyst based on his a priori knowledge about the problem domain classes. The protocol analyses also revealed that object classes are identified in an ad hoc manner; however, when checking the analysis, depth-first or breadth-first searching methods are often used. These, in turn, are controlled by a global backward or forward tracing strategy. Tracing the origin of data in messages was the strategy used for checking the completeness of the analysis. An experiment was conducted to compare the protocol-based object-oriented method and structured analysis. Thirty-two students who had no previous systems analysis experience were trained and then completed a problem using both techniques. The protocol-based method produced analyses that more closely matched the problem. Furthermore, it required less time to complete an analysis, and it was perceived as easier to use by the participants than the structured analysis method.
Keywords: management information systems analysis; object-oriented systems analysis; protocol analysis

An Examination of Some Software Development Effort and Productivity Determinants in ICASE Tool Projects - Subramanian, Girish H; Zarnich, George E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Integrated computer-aided software engineering (ICASE) tools and their effect on software development effort and productivity have gained interest in recent research. This research studies the applicability of function points and technical complexity factor as software development effort estimators for ICASE projects. In addition, the effect of three factors--ICASE tool type, systems development method, and ICASE tool experience--on software development productivity is studied. ICASE-based software projects from Texas Instruments and Electronic Data Systems were used in this empirical research. Function points accounted for 74 to 82 percent of the variance in software development effort. Technical complexity factor, however, had only a small indirect effect on software effort. While software productivity differences between the ICASE tool types could not be confirmed, productivity was significantly higher for the rapid application development method in comparison with the productivity associated with the traditional systems development life cycle method. Higher levels of ICASE tool experience were associated with significant increases in software productivity.
Keywords: function points; integrated CASE tools; rapid application development; software development effort estimation; systems development method

A Framework to Limit Systems Developers' Legal Liabilities - Bordoloi, Bijoy; Mykytyn, Kathleen; Mykytyn Jr, Peter P (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Defects in computer-based systems (CBS) can adversely affect systems development efforts and can present serious legal challenges to developers. Of particular significance are the torts of strict products liability and negligence that can arise as a result of harm or injury resulting from, among other things, poor testing of systems, inadequate warnings, or failure to use state-of-the-art technology. The threat of injury has caused federal and state agencies and legislatures to consider seriously courses of action to inhibit the more injurious effects of such systems. This paper examines these two torts in some detail and illustrates how CBS developers could be threatened as a result of defective systems. We also present a framework for injury assessment and reduction of legal liability that can be used to guide CBS developers in assessing the possibility of injury resulting from development flaws. Further, the framework aids developers in their decision-making process by identifying appropriate measures to take to reduce their legal liability arising from what could be determined to be faulty systems development efforts. In addition, the use of the measures suggested by our framework might provide safer systems to avoid harming individuals.
Keywords: computer systems legal liability; legal aspects of computing; software development; tort liabilities

The Influence of Database Structure Representation on Database System Learning and Use - Leitheiser, Robert L; March, Salvatore T (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Successful use of a computerized database by end users requires both an understanding of the structure of the database and knowledge of the available query language. Previous research has focused almost exclusively on query languages with little concern for how database structure is represented. This paper reports on an experiment that explores the influence of database structure representation on the ability of users to learn and use a database system. Four alternative representations of the same databases are developed and compared. These representations differ in semantics, symbols, and means of representing relationships. Interestingly, representation features that aid in communicating the contents of a database appear to hinder the learning of the SQL query language. We conclude that database representation is an important factor in database use and that the interaction between a database structure representation and a query language may dramatically affect database leaning and use.
Keywords: database querying; entity-relationship model; relational model; human factors; interface design; SQL; training

The Relationships among Performance of Accounting Information Systems, Influence Factors, and Evolution Level of Information Systems - Jong-Min, Choe (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
In previous implementation studies, the relationships between influence factors and information systems (IS) performance under the level of IS evolution were not empirically examined. The studies did not consider the evolution level of IS in examining influence factors of IS performance. They have tried to identify critical influence factors without considering the state of the IS and the IS department, that is, the levels of IS evolution. The objectives of this study are to examine the direct relationships between influence factors and performance of accounting information systems (AIS), and to identify the moderating effect of evolution level of IS on the relationships. In this study, the direct relationships and the moderating effect of evolution level of IS were hypothesized. The results of the empirical test suggested that there are significant positive correlations between the performance of an AIS and the influence factors such as user involvement, capability of IS personnel and organization size. It was also proved that the relationships between performance of AIS and influence factors are significantly influenced by the evolution level of IS. Hence, for the success of AIS, each influence factor should be considered differently in the degree of importance according to the level of IS evolution.
Keywords: accounting information systems; evolution level of information systems; user satisfaction with accounting IS

An Empirically Derived Taxonomy of Information Technology Structure and Its Relationship to Organizational Structure - Fiedler, Kirk Dean; Grover, Varun; Teng, James T C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
This study empirically develops a taxonomy that has implications for matching information technology (IT) and organizational structures. The taxonomy of IT structure is based on the degree of centralization of computer processing, capability to support communications, and the ability to share resources. By using a multistep cluster analysis, both the membership and number of groups are derived from the responses of 313 firms. Four IT structures are identified: centralized (centralized processing, low communication, low sharing), decentralized (decentralized processing, low communication, low sharing), centralized cooperative (centralized processing, high communication, high sharing), and distributed cooperative computing (decentralized processing, high communication, high sharing). Centralized computing is related to functional organizational forms with low integration and centralized decision making. Decentralized computing is related to product organizational forms with decentralized decision making. Centralized cooperative computing is related to functional organizational forms with high integration. Distributed cooperative computing is related to both matrix and product organizational forms with high integration. The ability to identify and understand the implications of IT structure is of critical importance to both academic and management practitioners.
Keywords: information technology structure; organizational decision-making structure; organizational integration; organizational structure; taxonomy

Key Prescriptions for Strategic Information Systems Planning - Lederer, Albert L; Sethi, Vijay (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Strategic information systems planning (SISP) has been defined as the process of identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realizing its business goals. SISP is an important activity for helping information executives and top management identify strategic applications and align IT with business needs. Previous researchers and practitioner observers have identified measures of successful SISP and have recommended many prescriptions for achieving success. In this research, the SISP experiences of 105 planners contribute a new perspective on these prescriptions and the success of SISP. Planners extensively follow the prescriptions that promote the efficient management of the SISP study. Although they also extensively follow those prescriptions that lead to their own greater satisfaction, they do not so rigorously follow those that meet SISP objectives. However, the fit between information technology capabilities and the needs of the organization is important to them. Furthermore, plan implementation remains critical to meeting SISP objectives. Combined, these generalizations suggest the central contribution of this research-planner's paradox: The planner must complete the SISP study rapidly to facilitate its implementation but in doing so risks compromising its fit to the organization and therefore reduces its chances of implementation. The planner must thus plan rapidly enough to produce the plan quickly but carefully enough to produce a relevant one.
Keywords: MIS implementation; organizational context of MIS; strategic planning for MIS

The Congruence between a Firm's Competitive Strategy and Information Technology Leader's Rank and Role - Karimi, Jahangir; Gupta, Yash P; Somers, Toni M (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Today's firms are faced with new competitive and technological challenges. As a consequence, many senior executives are looking for information technology (IT) leaders who not only can understand technology but also can comprehend technology's potential to affect business strategy. For the IT leaders, rising to such numerous, and often conflicting, challenges is not easy. Indeed, there is a higher than average corporate dismissal rate and shorter tenure for IT leaders compared with other top executives. Based on the responses from 213 IT leaders in the financial services industry, this study found that the rank and role of a firm's IT leader must be aligned with the firm's competitive strategy. The implications of the findings for the firms' executives, as well as researchers, are discussed in detail.
Keywords: competitive strategy; information technology leaders; strategy-technology alignment

An Empirical Study of Factors Affecting Software Package Selection - Montazemi, Ali R; Cameron, David A; Gupta, Kalyan Moy (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Evidence suggests that information centers (ICs) have significantly more interest in evaluating software packages and assisting in the selection of software packages than end users have. However, the selection of software packages by the information center product specialists (ICPSs) can compromise their usage. Ease of use and usefulness are believed to be fundamental predictors of usage. The question of whether ICPSs are able to correctly evaluate ease of use and usefulness of software packages for end users is posed. An insight into this issue could enhance end-user computing (EUC) policy and lead to a more effective partnership between end users and information systems (IS) professionals. A search for this insight provided the motivation for our empirical investigation of the perception of ICPSs and end users in assessing the ease of use and usefulness of thirty different software packages. Our investigation was performed in an organization with an IC that had evolved to the formalization stage. The findings show that the perceptions of the end users and ICPSs were similar in terms of assessing the ease of use of software packages. However, end users found the software packages less useful than did IC product specialists. Therefore, in sophisticated environments, end users should be empowered to develop their own user groups and suggest to IC personnel which useful software packages to acquire. Otherwise, selection of software packages without end-user participation could have an adverse effect on their usage.
Keywords: human information processing; information center; software selection criteria

Participation on Electronic Bulletin Board Systems: An Empirical Analysis of Work Value Congruency - Tillquist, John (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
In an empirical study, perceptions of work and the workplace are compared with information systems (IS) support for those values. It is proposed that the congruence between the work values held by an individual and the perception of support for those values by an information system will affect the decision to use the system. Using a modified version of Elizur's Work Value Questionnaire, the work values and perceptions of IS support for those values are examined. Three factors that relate to the subjects' orientation to the world--societal, organizational, and individual--are isolated. The organizational orientation is found to be the most influential of the three in determining voluntary user participation, explaining 47 percent of the variation among subjects' usage patterns of a bulletin board system. These findings support the contention that when users became convinced of the efficacy of using an IS in mediating organizationally bestowed values, and when they perceive value in these organizational relationships, the system is used.
Keywords: adoption of technology; information technology use; technology assimilation; work values; workplace vision

A Motivational Model of Microcomputer Usage - Igbaria, Magid; Parasuraman, Saroj; Baroudi, Jack J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Survey data gathered from 471 professionals and managers in 62 companies in North America were used to test a motivational model of microcomputer usage. The model synthesized prior research findings and proposed that perceived usefulness, perceived fun/enjoyment, and social pressure would motivate increased use of microcomputers by professionals and managers. Results provided substantial support for the proposition that perceived usefulness (rather than perceived fun or social pressure) is the principal motivator. The findings also demonstrated that perceived complexity is a key intervening variable linking the antecedent variables (skills, organizational support, and organizational usage) with the three motivational variables. The results also suggested that skills play a critical role in affecting microcomputer usage. Skills directly promote microcomputer usage and influence usage through their effects on perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and social pressure. The findings of the study contribute to an expanded understanding of the factors that promote microcomputer usage and also have important implications for the management of information systems.
Keywords: end-user skills; microcomputer usage; perceived usefulness; social pressure

An Empirical Test of the Contingency Approach to User Participation in Information Systems Development - Saleem, Naveed (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
User participation in information systems development is considered the key to system success in organizations. The empirical evidence, however, does not support this. A review of the literature suggests that one critical weakness in empirical investigations is inadequacy of operational measures of participation to gauge user influence on system design. Furthermore, there is also a growing consensus that the contradictory evidence may be due to a contingent, rather than a direct, relationship between participation and system success. This conception asserts that the outcome of user participation may depend on various contextual variables. One variable in particular--users' system-related functional expertise--is believed to moderate the outcome of participation. This paper derives the contingent effect of user expertise and reports the results of a controlled laboratory experiment and a field survey conducted to test it. The data suggest that users who perceive themselves as functional experts, relative to others, are unlikely to accept a system unless they exerted a substantive influence on its design. On the other hand, users who perceive themselves as functional nonexperts, relative to others, are likely to accept a system regardless of the extent of their influence on its design. This finding suggests user expertise as a useful criterion for selecting participants to serve on design teams and for determining the appropriate extent of a participant user's influence on system design.
Keywords: design teams; system acceptance; demand for MIS professionals; system development; system success; user participation

User-Developed Applications: An Empirical Study of Application Quality and Developer Productivity - Edberg, Dana T; Bowman, Brent J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
As inexpensive microcomputers and easy-to-use software have proliferated throughout organizations, increasing numbers of employees are developing applications. The end-user computing (EUC) literature contains many prescriptions for managing this activity, but there has been little direct empirical examination of the effectiveness of end users as application developers. This paper describes a study in which five different applications were developed independently by paired teams of end users and IS students acting as surrogate IS professionals. This permitted comparison of end users and surrogate IS professionals on the quality of the finished applications and on productivity. The quality analysis focused on technical design and implementation factors as measured by defect counting and a subjective quality attribute rating. Productivity was measured by function point analysis and lines-of-code metrics. The results of the study indicate that the surrogate IS professionals were much more productive and produced higher-quality applications than did the end users. The fact that student surrogates significantly outperformed the end users is particularly interesting since experienced IS professionals might be expected to show even greater differences in productivity and quality. The study should be replicated using IS professionals to confirm the preliminary findings. The results suggest that additional research on the efficacy of end users as application developers is needed.
Keywords: human information processing; programmer productivity; quality of programming; user-developed applications

A Note on Project Risk and Option Values of Investments in Information Technologies - Kumar, Ram L (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Justification of investments in information technologies is an important research topic in the information systems area. Several approaches have been proposed. One of these highlights the deficiencies of traditional economic justification based on net present value, and proposes the use of techniques based on financial option pricing theory. This paper examines the relationship between project risk and option values of investments in new information technologies and illustrates how this relationship is significantly different from well-known results in the case of financial option pricing. Conditions for determining the desirability of risky projects are derived.
Keywords: information-system economics; information-technology investments; real options

Interorganizational Business Process Redesign: Merging Technological and Process Innovation - Clark, Theodore H; Stoddard, Donna B (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Interorganizational business process reengineering is a logical extension of discussions of the potential for interorganizational systems to fundamentally redefine relationships among buyers, sellers, and even competitors within an industry. This paper presents a model of the relationship between technological and process innovations and describes the interdependence of these two forces. This model is used to explain the inconsistency in the literature regarding the benefits of EDI and other interorganizational systems, which are described as providing strategic competitive advantage in some papers and as providing little or no benefits for implementing firms in other articles. The framework describes the importance of merging technological and process innovations in order to transform organizations, processes, and relationships.
Keywords: business process redesign (BPR); business reengineering; channel transformation; electronic data interchange (EDI); interorganizational systems; organizational transformation; supply chain management (SCM)

Analyzing Cost-Effectiveness of Organizations: The Impact of Information Technology Spending - Mitra, Sabyasachi; Chayam, Antoine Karim (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
The performance impacts of information technology (IT) investments in organizations have received considerable attention in recent years. In this research, we investigate the cost factors that are affected by such investments. We analyze a data set containing the information technology budgets of over 400 large and medium-sized U.S. corporations. We find that higher IT investments are associated with lower average production costs, lower average total costs, and higher average overhead costs. We also find that larger companies spend more on information technology as a percentage of their revenues than smaller companies. We do not find any evidence that information technology reduces labor costs in organizations. We explain our findings, which are often counterintuitive but interesting, using basic microeconomic theory of the firm.
Keywords: business value of information technology; impact of information technology; information technology investment; information technology payoff

Market Dominance as a Precursor of a Firm's Failure: Emerging Technologies and the Competitive Advantage of New Entrants - Clemons, Eric K; Croson, David C; Weber, Bruce W (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
New entrants in many industries are able to challenge the business of historically dominant firms. In many markets, dominant players have pursued pricing and service policies that, although once highly effective, now make their markets attractive targets for aggressive new entrants. The entrants' strategies rely on lower overhead costs, new technologies, alternative distribution channels, and the active targeting of profitable customers. Several factors will make it possible for entrants to attack dominant players; simplistic historical pricing mistakes or policies of promising or providing universal service will make it attractive for new entrants to attack. Restrictions on the flexibility of incumbents--both externally and internally imposed--may make it difficult for dominant players to defend themselves effectively against attack by more flexible entrants with cream-skimming strategies and newer technology. We develop a set of alternatives for incumbent firms facing increasing "contestability" in their markets and the threat of agile entrants.
Keywords: banking; contestability; death spiral; dominant firms; insurance; market entry; market segmentation; strategic use of information

A Comparison of the Structural Contingency and Risk-Based Perspectives on Coordination in Software-Development Projects - Nidumolu, Sarma R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
This study compares the structural contingency and risk-based perspectives regarding the effects of project coordination and requirements uncertainty on performance dimensions such as process control and product flexibility. The structural contingency perspective suggests that the fit between coordination and requirements uncertainty influences performance, where fit is conceptualized in three ways: mediation, interaction, and profile deviation. The risk-based perspective suggests that performance risk is an alternative mechanism that explains the effect of coordination and uncertainty on process control and product flexibility. A survey methodology based on sixty-four projects from banking and other industries was used to test the two perspectives and their relevant hypotheses. The results suggest lack of support for any of the three approaches to the structural contingency perspective, but some support for the role of software performance risk in explaining performance. In particular, software performance risk seems to mediate the effect of vertical coordination and requirements uncertainty on process control. Horizontal coordination appears to have a direct and unmediated positive effect on product flexibility but is unrelated to either software performance risk or process control. The findings suggest that practitioners could benefit from awareness of the different capabilities provided by the two coordination mechanisms: Vertical coordination enables project managers to bring projects to closure by reducing performance risks and increasing control over the process, whereas horizontal coordination leads to flexible software applications because it allows exploration of ideas and issues.
Keywords: requirements uncertainty; software project coordination; software project performance; software performance risk

Organizational Learning during Advanced System Development: Opportunities and Obstacles - Stein, Eric W; Vandenbosch, Betty (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Higher-order organizational learning occurs when a company adopts new principles, assumptions, and paradigms, which often turn into competitive advantage. Systems development and implementation offer an opportunity for higher-order organizational learning that is rarely exploited. Advanced information systems, in particular expert systems (ES) and executive information systems (EIS), provide ample opportunities for higher-order organizational learning if the development process is structured in certain ways. This work includes an analysis of three organizations in terms of project outcomes, organizational learning outcomes, and organizational performance. On the basis of these assessments, five critical success factors are identified that may contribute to organizational learning during advanced system development. The relationships between these factors and organizational outcomes are summarized in a preliminary model that can form the basis for future research. The work closes with some recommendations for ways information systems managers can encourage higher-order organizational learning during advanced system development.
Keywords: advanced information systems; executive support systems; expert systems; information systems development; organizational learning; sociotechnical design

Cognitive Fit in Requirements Modeling: A Study of Object and Process Methodologies - Agarwal, Ritu; Sinha, Atish P; Tanniru, Mohan R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Requirements modeling constitutes one of the most important phases of the systems development life cycle. Despite the proliferation of methodologies and models for requirements analysis, empirical work examining their relative efficacy is limited. This paper presents an empirical examination of object-oriented and process-oriented methodologies as applied to object-oriented and process-oriented tasks. The conceptual basis of the research model is derived from the theory of cognitive fit, which posits that superior problem-solving performance will result when the problem-solving task and the problem-solving tool emphasize the same type of information. Two groups of subjects participated in an experiment that required them to construct solutions to two requirements-modeling tasks, one process-oriented and the other object-oriented. One group employed the object-oriented tool while the other used the process-oriented tool. As predicted by the theory of cognitive fit, superior performance was observed when the process-oriented tool was applied to the process-oriented task. For the object-oriented task, however, the performance effects of cognitive fit require further investigation since there was no difference in subject performance across the two tools.
Keywords: cognitive fit; human factors; object-oriented analysis; process-oriented analysis; requirements modeling

Dynamic Price Elasticity and the Diffusion of Mainframe Computing - Kar Yan, Tam (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
The organizational adoption of information technology (IT) innovations has been an area of increasing research activity in the last two decades. While much attention has focused on the relationship between attributes of the innovation and the adoption decision, little has been done to study the adopters' reactions to changes in these attributes over time. An important innovation attribute is price, which is commonly used as a proxy for adoption cost. In this paper, we investigate how organizations in the United States react to mainframe price changes over a period of thirty years, from 1955 to 1984. A parsimonious diffusion model that integrates both diffusion and pricing effects is developed. The model is empirically tested using annual adoption and pricing data of mainframes. Quality-adjusted price index is used to account for any changes in quality improvement overtime. Our findings indicate that (1) price is an important factor in the diffusion process, (2) organizations' reactions to price changes (i.e., price elasticity) are not constant, and (3) elasticity dynamics can serve as an innovation attribute that provides a continuous characterization of adoption behavior over the life cycle of an innovation. Implications to IS research and opportunities for future work are also discussed.
Keywords: innovation diffusion; information technology adoption; price elasticity

An Empirical Assessment of a Modified Technology Acceptance Model - Chau, Patrick Y K (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
The technology acceptance model (TAM) is one of the most influential research models in studies of the determinants of information systems/information technology (IS/IT) acceptance. In TAM, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are hypothesized and empirically supported as fundamental determinants of user acceptance of a given IS/IT. A review of the IS and psychology literature, however, suggests that perceived usefulness can be of two distinct types: near-term usefulness and long-term usefulness. This paper reviews the concept of perceived usefulness and modifies TAM to include the two types of perceived usefulness. Data collected from nearly 285 administrative/clerical staff in a large organization were tested against the modified model using the structural equation modeling approach. The results of the study showed that, even though perceived near-term usefulness had the most significant influence on the behavioral intention to use a technology, perceived long-term usefulness also exerted a positive, though lesser, impact. No significant, direct relationship was found between ease of use and behavioral intention to use a technology. Implications of the findings and future research areas are discussed.
Keywords: perceived ease of information systems use; perceived usefulness of information systems; structural equation modeling; technology acceptance model

A Structural Model for CASE Adoption Behavior - Rai, Arun; Patnayakuni, Ravi (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
The adoption rate of computer-aided software engineering (CASE) technology continues to be low among information systems departments (ISDs). Some ISDs have reported significant hurdles in propagating CASE usage, while documenting the advantages of the technology. We construct and empirically test a theoretical model to explain CASE adoption behavior. Factors considered include need pull (environmental instability of the ISD and performance gap of the ISD), technology push (internal experimentation and learning from external information sources), and the adoption context (top-management support for the IS function, CASE championship, training availability, and job/role rotation). A national survey of 2,700 ISDs resulted in 405 usable responses for the data analysis. Our analysis suggests a reasonable fit between the model and the data. The results indicate that the need-pull factors do not directly promote CASE adoption behavior. Performance deficit promotes CASE championship behavior while negatively affecting other elements of the adoption context. The instability of ISDs, where the very existence of the ISD may be in question, negatively affects all elements of the adoption context. Learning about CASE from external information sources directly promotes CASE adoption. Both technology push factors positively affect all four elements of the adoption context. Of the contextual elements, CASE training availability, CASE championship, and job/role rotation positively affect CASE adoption behavior. Top management support does not affect CASE adoption behavior, which suggests that such support may be more critical for postadoption stages of the diffusion process.
Keywords: CASE technology; information technology diffusion; information systems implementation; software engineering innovations

A Framework for Addressing Group Judgment Biases with Group Technology - Lai-Huat, Lim; Bensabat, Izak (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Systematic biases have been found in both individual and group judgments, calling for research into debiasing approaches. Although individual debiasing has been studied to some extent, no such effort exists for group debiasing. This paper advocates the use of group support systems (GSS) for group debiasing and presents a theoretical perspective on how this debiasing may be achieved. Special attention is paid to two important judgment biases: representativeness bias and availability bias. A research model is developed from which propositions are derived.
Keywords: availability bias; debiasing; decision-making bias; group support systems; representativeness bias

A Hypermedia-Based Design Image Database System Using a Perceptional Link Method - Shibata, Yoshitaka; Fukuda, Manabu; Katsumoto, Michiaki (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
We introduce a hypermedia-based distributed design image database system that can provide simple and flexible user access capabilities based on the "kansei" link method. As proof of this concept, we have developed a prototype distributed multimedia information network incorporating the DHS model. Dubbed the Textile Design Image Database System (TDIDS), this database aids designers using apparel computer-aided design (CAD) systems in different locations, collaborating or working separately, in the design of clothes, including kimonos. Our purpose has been to create a database that will allow each designer to make the best use of his or her creativity and originality--his or her "style and sensitivity to beauty," or, in Japanese, kansei. In our hypermedia system, "metanodes" are defined as abstract nodes that are dynamically organized by multimedia objects, while "metalinks" are defined as flexible kansei links. Metanodes and metalinks are combined to organize a dynamic hypermedia space from which users can easily retrieve desired design image objects by querying a knowledge agent. The knowledge agent, utilizing the knowledge base, creates links from kansei word objects provided by the user to suitable design image objects among those stored on multimedia databases distributed across the network. The knowledge agent also performs query conversion of individual users' subjective kansei (idiosyncratic, subjective use of kansei words) into objective kansei words using each user's own "user model." These objective kansei words are then converted to equivalent color values. Color value is the means by which all stored design images are characterized. This dynamic linking of kansei word objects to equivalent design images allows individual users' kansei to influence the retrieval process. The sophisticated and flexible CAD systems of the future will require multimedia database systems with cooperative supporting capabilities similar to our kansei system.
Keywords: design databases; hypermedia; image databases; perceptional retrieval

Spreadsheet Presentation and Error Detection: An Experimental Study - Galletta, Dennis F; Hartzel, Kathleen S; Johnson, Susan E; Joseph, Jimmie L; Rustagi, Sandeep (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
The pervasiveness and impact of electronic spreadsheets have generated serious concerns about their integrity and validity when used in significant decision-making settings. Previous studies have shown that few of the errors that might exist in any given spreadsheet are found, even when the reviewer is explicitly looking for errors. It was hypothesized that differences in the spreadsheets' presentation and their formulas could affect the detection rate of these errors. A sample of 113 M.B.A. students volunteered to search for eight errors planted in a one-page spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was presented in five different formats. A 2 x 2 design specified that four groups were given apparently conventional spreadsheets for comparing paper and screen and the presence or absence of formulas. A fifth group received a special printed spreadsheet with formulas visibly integrated into the spreadsheet printed in a small font directly under the resultant values. As in previous studies, only about 50 percent of the errors were found overall. Subjects with printed spreadsheets found more errors than their colleagues with screen-only spreadsheets but they took longer to do so. There was no discernible formula effect; subjects who were able to refer to formulas did not outperform subjects with access to only the final numbers. The special format did not facilitate error finding. Exploratory analysis uncovered some interesting results. The special experimental integrated paper format appeared to diminish the number of correct items falsely identified as errors. There also seemed to be differences in performance that were accounted for by the subjects' self-reported error-finding strategy. Researchers should focus on other factors that might facilitate error finding, and practitioners should be cautious about relying on spreadsheets' accuracy, even those that have been "audited."
Keywords: electronic spreadsheets; information systems audits; spreadsheet validation

Lotus Notes and Collaboration: Plus ça change - Vandenbosch, Betty; Ginzberg, Michael J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Work in organizations is becoming increasingly focused on collaborative work in groups. Groupware is widely touted as the information technology that can support this new mode of work by fostering collaboration. In a study of Lotus Notes, a popular groupware product, implemented throughout the professional staff of a large American insurance company, we found the impact of groupware to be somewhat different from certain common expectations. While almost everyone was quite pleased with the Notes, implementation and its perceived impact, there was no evidence of a change in the degree of collaboration among organization members. Two key themes are explored as possible explanations for this result: fit of the technology to the organization, and limited training in how best to use this new technology.
Keywords: collaboration technology; groupware; information systems implementation

A Machine-Learning Approach to Automated Negotiation and Prospects for Electronic Commerce - Oliver, Jim R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
This paper shows how a system of artificial adaptive agents, using a genetic algorithm-based learning technique, can learn strategies that enable it to effectively participate in stylized business negotiations. The negotiation policies learned are evaluated on several dimensions including joint outcomes, nearness to the efficient frontier, and similarity to outcomes of human negotiations. The results are promising for integrating such agents into practicable electronic commerce systems. What a system might look like is discussed, as are ways in which particular classes of business negotiations could be supported or even entirely automated.
Keywords: electronic commerce; genetic algorithms; machine learning; negotiation support; software agents

Market Process Reengineering through Electronic Market Systems: Opportunities and Challenges - Ho Geun, Lee; Clark, Theodore H (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Over the past few years, various electronic market systems have been introduced by market-making firms to improve transaction effectiveness and efficiency within their markets. Although successful implementation of electronic marketplaces may be found in several industries, some systems have failed or their penetration pace is slower than was projected, indicating that significant bathers remain. This paper analyzes the economic forces and barriers behind the electronic market adoptions from the perspective of market process reengineering. Four cases of electronic market adoption--two successful and two failed--are used for this analysis. Economic benefits are examined by investigating how the market process innovation enabled by information technology (IT) reduces transaction costs and increases market efficiency. Adoption barriers are identified by analyzing transaction risks and resistance resulting from the reengineering. Successful deployment of electronic market systems requires taking into account these barriers along with the economic benefits of adoption. The paper presents suggestions based on these case studies, which are relevant to the analysis, design, and implementation of electronic market systems by market-making firms.
Keywords: adoption barriers; electronic commerce; electronic markets; market makers; reengineering; transaction costs

Consensus and Perceived Satisfaction Levels: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of GSS and Non-GSS Outcomes within and between the United States and Mexico - Mejias, Roberto J; Shepherd, Morgan M; Vogel, Douglas R; Lazaneo, Litva (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
Few studies of group support systems (GSS) have considered cultural dimensions in their analysis of GSS applications, and even fewer have used empirical data to test their hypotheses. This cross-cultural field study was an exploratory investigation of the effects of "national culture" (U.S. and Mexican) upon group consensus levels and perceptions of participation equity and satisfaction within GSS environments and non-GSS (manual) environments. Within both the U.S. and Mexican cultures, results indicate no significant differences in consensus levels between GSS and manual treatments. However, both U.S and Mexican groups generated significantly greater relative changes in consensus levels using GSS technology versus manual technology. Comparison between cultures shows that Mexican groups generated higher levels of consensus than U.S. groups with main effects due to culture and experimental treatment (i.e., GSS support). While U.S. group participants reported no differences in satisfaction among experimental treatments, Mexican participants reported higher satisfaction levels using GSS-supported environments. In a similar pattern, U.S. participants reported no differences in perceived participation equity between treatments, while Mexican GSS participants reported higher participation equity than Mexican manual participants. A comparison study between cultures found that Mexican participants across all treatments perceived higher levels of satisfaction and participation equity than U.S. participants with main effects due to culture.
Keywords: consensus in group support systems; cross-cultural use of group support systems; group support systems

Lessons from a Dozen Years of Group Support Systems Research: A Discussion of Lab and Field Findings - Nunamaker Jr, Jay F; Briggs, Robert O; Mittleman, Daniel D; Vogel, Douglas R; Balthazard, Pierre A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1996)
During the past dozen years, researchers at the University of Arizona have built six generations of group support systems software, conducted over 150 research studies, and facilitated over 4,000 projects. This article reports on lessons learned through that experience. It begins by presenting a theoretical foundation for the Groupware Grid, a tool for designing and evaluating GSS. It then reports lessons from nine key domains: (1) GSS in organizations; (2) cross-cultural and multicultural issues; (3) designing GSS software; (4) collaborative writing; (5) electronic polling; (6) GSS facilities and room design; (7) leadership and facilitation; (8) GSS in the classroom; and (9) business process reengineering.
Keywords: group decision processes; group support systems; organizational role of information technology

Moral Hazard, Ethical Considerations, and the Decision to Implement an Information System - Tuttle, Brad; Harrell, Adrian; Harrison, Paul (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
A decision-making study was conducted to examine the effects of moral hazard on information systems (IS) professionals' decisions whether or not to implement a system with quality problems. Moral hazard was defined as an incentive to act in one's self-interest in conflict with the organization's overall goals while being able to hide those actions through privately held information. Highly experienced IS professionals provided responses to a hypothetical decision case that revealed a tendency to implement a project with quality problems in a moral hazard situation. Their decisions, however, were strongly influenced by ethical considerations. These findings suggest that key economic constructs, such as moral hazard, apply to system implementation contexts. They also suggest that organizations can significantly moderate self-interested behavior by fostering an ethical climate.
Keywords: agency theory; computer ethics; incentives; information systems implementation; information system quality; moral hazard

Preventive and Deterrent Controls for Software Piracy - Gopal, Ram D; Sanders, G Lawrence (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
In an attempt to protect their intellectual property and compete effectively in an increasingly dynamic marketplace, software publishers have employed a number of preventive and deterrent controls to counter software piracy. Conventional wisdom suggests that reducing piracy will force consumers to acquire software legitimately, thus increasing firm profits. We develop an analytical model to test the implications of antipiracy measures on publisher profits. Our results suggest that preventive controls decrease profits and deterrent controls can potentially increase profits. Empirical results are also presented that support the proposition on the impact of deterrent controls on the extent of software piracy derived from the analytical model.
Keywords: computer ethics; economics of software; information systems controls; software piracy; software pricing

To Purchase or to Pirate Software: An Empirical Study - Cheng, Hsing K; Sims, Ronald R; Teegen, Hildy (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Illegal copying of computer software, usually called software piracy, is a prevalent and serious problem. Some researchers attribute the widespread incidence of software piracy to people's attitudes toward piracy behavior and peer norms. However, current literature leaves unanswered a fundamental question of why individuals pirate software. The objective of this paper is to identify the underlying reasons why individuals pirate software. We also identify what motivates individuals to purchase software as opposed to pirating it. Understanding why individuals purchase and pirate software has clear value for policy makers to develop effective measures to curb the software piracy problem.
Keywords: income effect in software acquisition; software piracy; software purchase

Information Technology in Three Small Developed Countries - Ein-Dor, Phillip; Myers, Michael D; Raman, K S (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
The perception that small size may no longer be an economic disadvantage to either organizations or countries has become fairly widespread. We share the perception that not only are small countries not at a disadvantage, but they may actually have an advantage over larger competitors with regard to information technology industries. Indeed, small developed countries are achieving considerable success in the development of their information technology industries. The three countries studied here--Israel, New Zealand, and Singapore--are among those that have seen the rapid development of their IT industries in recent years, despite the fact that they are among the world's smaller countries, are considerably different in many geographic, cultural, and political respects, and are geographically dispersed around the globe. The objective of this study is to describe and compare the information technology industries of these three small developed countries. All three countries, with no inherent advantages in raw materials and only small domestic markets, have the IT infrastructure and the human skills needed. They are nimble and flexible and can find niche markets in which to specialize. Not all three, however, have developed IT industries to the same degree. There could be factors specific to small developed countries that facilitate the development of indigenous IT production. The dominant factor that seems to provide some explanation for different levels and directions of development of IT production is government policy in promoting IT production directly, in supporting IT industry R&D, and in education policies designed to provide appropriately trained labor pools.
Keywords: factors of national computing; information systems in developed countries; international computing; national computing policies

Key Issues in Information Systems Management: An International Perspective - Watson, Richard T; Kelly, Gigi G; Galliers, Robert D; Brancheau, James C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
This study compares and contrasts the findings of recent information systems (IS) management studies in ten nations or regions as well as one U.S. multinational study. It examines the key concerns of IS executives in these areas, focusing on identifying and explaining regional similarities and differences. Internationally, there are substantial differences in key issues. Possible reasons for these differences cultural, economic development, political/legal environment, and technological status are discussed. The analysis suggests that national culture and economic development can explain differences in key issues. The paper concludes with a revised framework for key issues studies that will more readily support comparison across time and nations.
Keywords: information systems management; international computing; key issues in information systems

Efficient Selection of Suppliers over the Internet - Barua, Anitesh; Ravindran, Sury; Whinston, Andrew B (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
The Internet has become increasingly important to organizations for certain aspects of electronic commerce. Many organizations have set up Web pages to capture the attention of potential buyers and to develop new business relationships. Others have set up indexing services to provide easy search capabilities to prospective buyers. While the unit search and communication costs have been lowered dramatically by the Internet, the cost of evaluating potential suppliers may still be prohibitive, especially for certain types of products and services. Thus, although the Internet makes it possible to locate a large number of new suppliers, an organizational buyer needs to deploy appropriate supplier-selection strategies (such as sequential evaluation with stopping rules versus bidding systems) that consider all cost elements involved in choosing a vendor. We develop an analytical model that allows a buyer to maximize payoff (net of supplier search, communication, and evaluation costs) from the selection process. We analyze how the nature of the product and the buyer's expectations about supplier characteristics determine whether a sequential evaluation or bidding should be used in the selection process. The Internet, when used in conjunction with the proposed strategies, results in a lower total expected cost to the buyer, even though more suppliers are being evaluated, because a better supplier is selected. We describe how intelligent database searching can further increase the efficiency of the proposed selection strategies. We also develop a minimum requirements announcement mechanism, which makes supplier selection through a bidding strategy economically feasible in situations where legal restrictions may bar the use of sequential evaluation.
Keywords: bidding; electronic shopping; Internet; search mechanisms; sequential evaluation; supplier selection

Organizational Transformation Using Electronic Data Interchange: The Case of TradeNet in Singapore - Hock-Hai, Teo; Tan, Bernard C Y; Kwok-Kee, Wei (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
This study illustrates how electronic data interchange (EDI) could be used in conjunction with organizational transformation to generate phenomenal gains in organizational efficiency and effectiveness. It reviews the current literature on information-technology-enabled organizational transformation to identify key variables for measuring organizational change. It employs the case research method to examine TradeNet, a well-established EDI system in Singapore. It discusses how the Trade Development Board (TDB) of Singapore has taken advantage of the TradeNet opportunity to drastically transform its own organizational structure, business processes, business network, and business scope. The organizational transformation that accompanied TradeNet implementation resulted in significant gains for both the public and the private sector in Singapore. TDB and other public-sector organizations gained in terms of increased productivity in carrying out their organizational functions. The trading community, comprising the private-sector organizations, benefited in terms of increased competitiveness. Change-point analyses carried out on annual organizational and performance figures confirmed the productivity increases at TDB. Analyses of the results of questionnaires administered to TradeNet participants confirmed the increased competitiveness experienced by the trading community. Noteworthy lessons from this study, important for EDI implementation, are a willingness to change existing mindset, to institute radical transformation, to leverage knowledge and technology, and to foster win-win situations. This study demonstrates that the use of IT, or EDI in particular, for organizational transformation could lead to phenomenal gains.
Keywords: electronic data interchange; information technology; organizational transformation; trade administration; TradeNet

Information Requirements of Turnaround Managers at the Beginning of Engagements - Fredenberger, William B; Lipp, Astrid; Watson, Hugh J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Managers who specialize in reviving failing businesses were surveyed to determine the information, the characteristics of the information, and the availability of the information they require during the first stage of a turnaround assignment, when the financial crisis must be addressed. One hundred turnaround managers rated the importance and availability of seven types of reports (financial, working capital, cost, expense, personnel, asset, and market analyses) at the onset of their engagements. For each type of report, the turnaround managers also specified which levels of reporting, time horizons, reporting intervals, and sources of the information they consider important. Finally, they specified how each type of report is used during financial crises. Results indicate that not all information considered important by turnaround managers in financial crises is available when it is needed. The second major finding was that, for all seven types of analyses, turnaround managers prefer current information that is either by cost/profit centers or detailed, and for all but asset reports, a monthly reporting interval is preferred. Although they consider financial and working capital analyses most important, all seven types of reports are either directly or indirectly used to improve cash flows while a company is in a financial crisis. Because these analyses are not available, it appears that the former CEOs did not use the information that turnaround managers require.
Keywords: financial crises; information attributes; information characteristics; management information needs; turnaround; turnaround managers

The Effects of Group Decision Support Systems and Task Structures on Group Communication and Decision Quality - Lam, Simon S K (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
This research examines whether structures of decision tasks moderate the effects of group decision support systems (GDSS) on patterns of group communication and decision quality of decision-making groups. It seeks to show that the effects of GDSS on decision-making processes and outcomes are task-structure-dependent, and the effects of GDSS cannot be evaluated on the basis of outcomes alone; decision processes must also be evaluated in order to understand how decisions are made and why GDSS can improve group outcomes in some situations but provide negative effects in others. A controlled laboratory experiment was conducted with a 2 x 3 factorial between-subjects design, manipulating two independent variables: levels of support (GDSS support and no support) and task structures (additive, disjunctive, and conjunctive). Practicing managers were chosen as subjects. The discussion records of the decision-making process were coded using a coding scheme. These communication patterns formed the first dependent variables. Another dependent variable was decision quality. The results support the hypothesis that the structures of a decision task moderate the effects of GDSS on both the patterns of group communication and the decision quality of a decision-making group. GDSS significantly improve decision quality in disjunctive and conjunctive tasks. GDSS also significantly alter patterns of group communication in disjunctive and conjunctive tasks. However, no significant differences in decision quality and patterns of group communication exist between groups using GDSS and face-to-face groups in additive tasks.
Keywords: decision tasks and processes; group decision quality; group decision support systems

Reengineering Effectiveness and the Redesign of Organizational Control: A Case Study of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore - Sia, Siew Kien; Neo, Boon Siong (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
While much publicity and hype surrounds business process reengineering, little attention has been paid to consequential management issues such as compression of responsibilities and the reduction of checks and controls. Redesigned processes require a corresponding alignment in organizational control to sustain reengineering effectiveness. Inadequate attention to these issues can expose reengineered systems to excessive risks or produce reengineering attempts that are prematurely self-defeating as they contradict the underlying control philosophy. This paper addresses the question of whether traditional management controls have been eliminated, compromised, or rendered irrelevant amid such dynamic organizational changes, and, if so, how the management control function in a reengineered organization evolves. This question was explored through an intensive case study of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. The analysis suggests a restructuring of control dependency through automation and cooperation with external agencies, a shift in management practices toward more refined segmentation of control practices and greater leverage on back-end control, and increased reliance on outcome control. The challenge of ensuring proper implementation of such controls, given the deep-rooted traditional control culture, is not trivial. Implications and suggestions for assessing the risks and benefits of organizational control are discussed.
Keywords: business process reengineering; organizational control; risk management

The Impact of IOS-Enabled Business Process Change on Business Outcomes: Transformation of the Value Chain of Japan Airlines - Chatfield, Akemi Takeoka; Bjorn-Andersen, Niels (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
This paper explores the relationship between IOS-enabled business process change and business outcomes. A generic framework for analyzing IT-enabled business process change is applied to a case study analysis of Japan Airlines (JAL). Drawing on a resource-based view of the firm, we investigate the ways in which lOS not only contributed to JAL's improved competitiveness but also enabled it more fully to leverage its strategic value chain as an engine of growth and a new source of competitive advantage. Our focus is on JAL's strategic use of the AXESS Computer Reservation System and Electronic Data Interchange, developed with a clear strategic intention to support JAL's emerging strategies on customer service, sales, value chain logistics coordination, and cost reduction. JAL's collaboration with the lOS-transformed virtual value chain firms significantly contributed to JAL's business growth and competitiveness. JAL's time-based competitiveness has been improved through its lOS-enabled interfirm joint product innovation cycle time reduction.
Keywords: business process change; computerized reservation systems; electronic blackboard; interorganizational systems; resource-based view of the firm; time-based competition; virtual value chain

Reengineering the Systems Development Process: The Link Between Autonomous Teams and Business Process Outcomes - Janz, Brian D; Wetherbe, James C; Davis, Gordon B; Noe, Raymond A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Increases in employee autonomy and the formation of teams often result from reengineering and process innovation efforts, as do moves to "downsize" or "flatten" organizations. Information systems departments have not been insulated from these trends. In spite of the rising interest in these initiatives, little is known about their impact on the systems development process. Past research in blue-collar contexts suggests that teams produce improvements in performance, while anecdotal evidence in the IS industry suggests that such improvements may never materialize. This paper reports on research conducted with 231 IS professionals from 27 systems development teams across 13 organizations. The results indicate that, while autonomy may lead to increased levels of satisfaction and motivation, the level of team development and an organization's learning capacity may be more important in achieving improved work outcomes.
Keywords: business process change; business reengineering; cooperative learning; employee autonomy; process improvement; self-direction; system development; team development; teams; teamwork

Balance in Business Reengineering: An Empirical Study of Fit and Performance - Huizing, Ard; Koster, Esther; Bouman, Wim (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
This study addresses the complex relationship between fit and organizational performance in business reengineering. First, a framework for analysis based on the concept of fit is proposed. Three generic archetypes for three levels of ambitions are defined. Archetypes or ideal-type patterns of change are consistent packages of design and change management measures. It is hypothesized that organizations that change according to an ideal-type pattern outperform organizations that follow a different, inconsistent pattern. On the basis of a questionnaire sent to organizations involved in reengineering, this paper shows that consistent reengineering endeavors generally result in greater benefits than do inconsistent change efforts. It also demonstrates that only a minority of organizations have succeeded in creating a "magical mix" between the level of ambition and the design and change management measures actually taken. Finally, the managerial implications and future research challenges are described.
Keywords: business reengineering; organizational change; organizational fit; organizational performance

Business Process Change and Organizational Performance: Exploring an Antecedent Model - Guha, Subo; Grover, Varun; Kettinger, William J; Teng, James T C (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Many organizations have undertaken major business process change (BPC) initiatives over the past ten years. Earlier thinking on this topic indicated a significant role for information technology in these initiatives, while more recently the importance of change management has been emphasized. This paper examines a model that proposes various antecedents to successful BPC. Three case studies with varying degrees of BPC project success are described in the context of this model, with the specific goal of determining facilitators and inhibitors to the success of these change efforts. The results indicate that the successful project tended to have facilitators in all dimensions of the framework, including the change environment, process management, and change management. The least successful project exhibited inhibitors primarily in the area of cultural readiness and change management.
Keywords: business process change; business reengineering; case study; facilitators and inhibitors; successful process change

Group Support Systems for Strategic Planning - Dennis, Alan R; Tyran, Craig K; Vogel, Douglas R; Nunamaker Jr, Jay F (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Strategic planning is typically performed by groups of managers. Group support systems (GSS), an information technology designed to improve group work, may therefore have useful application to strategic planning. In this paper, the application of GSS is examined with respect to four dimensions: process support, process structure, task support, and task structure. A GSS may assist the communication aspects of group meetings by providing process support to improve interaction among participants and process structure to direct the pattern or content of the discussion. GSS may also provide task structure, such as structured analysis and modeling techniques, and task support, such as access to important task information. This paper reports on the use of a GSS in the strategic planning processes of thirty organizations. The ability of the GSS to provide process support was found to be the most important contributor to strategic planning success, with task structure and process structure secondary. Task support contributed little. Those organizations that made greater use of electronic communication, structured problem analysis techniques, and structured meeting processes reported greater success.
Keywords: group support systems; groupware; strategic planning; strategic management

Integration between Business Planning and Information Systems Planning: An Evolutionary-Contingency Perspective - Teo, Thompson S H; King, William R (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
One of the key elements of strategic planning for information systems (IS) is the integration of information systems planning (ISP) with business planning (BP). This integration enables IS to support business strategies more effectively. Although this issue has received significant attention in recent years, empirical research focusing specifically on BP-ISP integration is still relatively sparse. This research extends existing results by examining the evolution of BP-ISP integration and the contingency variables that may influence BP-ISP integration. The results confirmed the existence of an evolutionary pattern that can be defined in terms of movement through four types of BP-ISP integration: administrative integration to sequential integration to reciprocal integration to full integration. Only a few firms indicated that they had reached full integration. Bypassed phases and reverse evolution, though observed, were uncommon. Among the contingency variables, the business competence of the IS executive appeared to be a key factor in influencing the extent of integration.
Keywords: alignment of MIS plans with business plans; information systems planning; integration of MIS and business plans

A Method for Easing Normalization of User Views - Batra, Dinesh (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Currently, most database management systems (DBMS) are based on the relational data model. Design methods that target relational models as the end product of logical design are generally based on the entity relationship model (ER) or semantic object model. Such methods entail developing an ER or semantic object representation followed by translation to the relational representation by the designer or by a CASE tool. However, there is no popular method that uses the relational concepts directly, that is, without an intermediate representation such as ER. Mathematically rigorous approaches using decomposition or synthesis do not seem to have been adopted by designers. When user views are complex, designers may encounter difficulty in the absence of an understandable method. This paper suggests a practical method for arriving at a normalized solution of user views.
Keywords: derived dependency; logical database design; normalization; relational data model

A Layered Communication Architecture for the Support of Crisis Response - Hale, Joanne (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Crises, situations characterized by high consequence, low probability, and short decision time, create a unique and threatening decision-making environment that must be conscientiously supported. The aim of this study is to derive a prescriptive architecture for crisis response systems, in particular, the role of communication and the characteristics of communication systems that are needed to connect the decision-making elements of crisis response. The layered crisis communication architecture (CCA) detailed in this paper enumerates the communication functionality required of any crisis response system. To support the crisis-handling team adequately during crisis response, such systems must include the services of each of the described six layers: The base, or connectivity, layer interfaces with the ISO's OSI model to provide error-free end-to-end message transfer. The data-validation layer protects against incorrect data sources through gathering information to corroborate an incoming message. The filtering layer organizes and synthesizes messages to ensure that the crisis-handling team is presented with relevant data in a meaningful, usable form. The values layer interprets messages based on preestablished crisis priorities. The organizational memory layer provides decision makers with access to relevant data and knowledge bases. The group process layer supports the communication, coordination, and collaboration among the crisis-handling team members. To support crisis response adequately, these six layers of the CCA must be implemented as a single, cohesive whole. Through the CCA, the study offers pragmatically sound principles for organizing crisis response systems and captures a comprehensive perspective of the crisis response process; that is, this work offers a system architecture. As an architecture, the model enumerates all the functions necessary to support crisis response communication effectively.
Keywords: crisis management systems; crisis response; communication architecture; information systems; organizational crises

Evaluating Alternative Information Regimes in the Private Health Insurance Industry: Managing the Social Cost of Private Information - Clemons, Eric K; Thatcher, Matt E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
This paper addresses the cost imposed on an insurance market when individual applicants possess an information advantage over the insurers; in short, we examine the social cost of private information. When consumers differ significantly in terms of their riskiness, and their insurance companies cannot, or are not permitted to assess these differences, insurance companies will attempt to charge all consumers the same premiums for equivalent coverage; unless mechanisms can be designed to allow consumers to signal accurately and credibly their private assessments of their own riskiness, low-risk consumers will consider that they are being overcharged and many will drop out of the market. These consumers, who wish to buy insurance--albeit at a lower price--but who are not now insured, represent a loss of social welfare. As information asymmetries increase, more consumers determine that they are being overcharged, increasing the loss of social welfare. This paper addresses minimizing the loss of social welfare, or maximizing the extent to which the population is insured, in the presence of extremely different consumer risk profiles by examining plausible pricing and policy designs, in order to assess which design minimizes decreases in consumer participation in the insurance market. While unable to make selections among information regimes, which entail a wide range of complex and subjective social choices, the paper does make clear comparisons of alternative designs within each information regime.
Keywords: adverse selection; information asymmetry; information economics; insurance regulation

Competing in Information-Intensive Services: Analyzing the Impact of Task Consolidation and Employee Empowerment - Seidmann, Abraham; Sundararajan, Arun (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
We analyze the competitive and economic implications of information technology, the allocation of decision nights, and task bundling during business process reengineering. The popular reengineering literature advocates employee empowerment-decentralizing decision authority and consolidating tasks as complementary strategies. Our analysis reveals, however, that implementing these two changes simultaneously is suboptimal in many cases. Decentralization and consolidation decisions can occur separately or together; the optimal combination depends on the effectiveness of technology aimed at skill enhancement and the customers' sensitivity to time and quality. We identify those process parameters that can cause decentralization and consolidation to have opposite effects on process performance; we also point to other parameters, such as customer-to-customer variability, which can cause them to complement one another. Finally, we explain why, in a time-based competitive marketplace, firms are more likely to centralize their decision-making process while concentrating their information technology investments on enhancing productivity and intraorganizational communications.
Keywords: business process reengineering; business process redesign; case manager; decentralization; economics of information systems; mass customization; queuing; strategic and competitive information systems; triage

Next-Generation Securities Market Systems: An Experimental Investigation of Quote-Driven and Order-Driven Trading - Schwartz, Robert A; Weber, Bruce W (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Several major securities markets including Nasdaq in the United States and the London Stock Exchange's SEAQ are organized as dealer markets that use computer screen displays of competitive dealer quotes to establish fair trade prices. To improve their markets and to reduce investors' trading costs, these exchanges are introducing new rules and systems for handling investors' orders. The redesign of a market structure raises important strategic issues for exchanges; more attractive trading mechanisms will increase order flow and improve liquidity, but margins and total profits earned by traditional exchange intermediaries may be reduced. To examine the consequences of market structure changes, we conducted experimental tests of the integration of an order-driven trading system into a dealer/quote-driven market. Using computer-based simulations of a stock market, experimental subjects traded using a traditional dealer quote screen to which a public limit order facility was added. Data captured on subjects' trading decisions revealed that the limit order system was used by the subjects, attracting some orders that would have otherwise gone to dealers, and lowered investor trading costs. The integration of limit orders reduced dealers' activities as a percentage of total market volume and lowered dealers' trading margins, except in a special "informed dealer" case.
Keywords: financial markets; market experiments; market microstructure; securities exchange technology; simulation; trading systems

Information Technology and Internal Firm Organization: An Exploratory Analysis - Hitt, Lorin M; Brynjolfsson, Erik (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
This paper examines the relationship between information technology (IT) and the organizational architecture of firms. Firms that are extensive users of information technology tend to adopt a complementary set of organizational practices that include: decentralization of decision authority, emphasis on subjective incentives, and a greater reliance on skills and human capital. We explore these relationships using detailed data on work systems and information technology spending for 273 large firms. Overall, we find that increased investment in IT is linked to a system of decentralized authority and related practices. Our findings may help resolve some of the questions about the relationships of information technology to internal organization and provide insight into the optimal organization of knowledge work.
Keywords: information; overload; information technology incentives; organizational architecture; technology usage

Exploring the Difficulties of Learning Object-Oriented Techniques - Sheetz, Steven D; Irwin, Gretchen; Tegarden, David P; Nelson, H James; Monarchi, David E (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Object-oriented (OO) analysis, design, and programming techniques have emerged as potential solutions to the software crisis. However, learning OO techniques can be a difficult process. This study investigates students' perceptions of the difficulties in learning and using OO techniques. Two groups of students who had recently completed a sixteen-week course on OO systems development participated in the study. Cognitive mapping techniques implemented with group support system (GSS) technology were used to gather information on the students' perceptions. The groups used the GSS to identify what was difficult about learning and using OO techniques, classify these concepts into categories, rank the relative importance of each category, and determine the relationships among the categories. Importance rankings of the categories show that learning basic object concepts was most important to and most difficult for the students, followed by design issues, and programming techniques. Composite cognitive maps of the shared perceptions of group members suggest that educators and industry trainers can reduce the difficulties of learning OO concepts by teaching simplified methodologies and controlling difficulties of the programming environment.
Keywords: cognitive mapping; group support systems; learning; object-oriented systems

Successful Strategies for User Participation in Systems Development - McKeen, James D; Guimaraes, Tor (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Past MIS research has indicated a mixed relationship between user participation and user satisfaction with system development projects, suggesting that user participation is not equally effective in all situations. This has led researchers to investigate the contexts within which user participation can be used to improve user satisfaction. This study builds on this past body of research by examining the relationship between specific user participative behaviors and user satisfaction in different contextual situations in order to identify the most successful participative behaviors. To do this, data were collected from 151 independent system development projects in eight different organizations. The context of development was described by two factors--task complexity and system complexity. As suggested in the literature, the combination of these two contextual factors determine the need for user participation. The relationship between specific participative behaviors and user satisfaction was then examined where the need for participation was high and those results were compared with situations with a lower need for participation. Not all participative behaviors were equally effective in all situations. Depending on the level of task complexity and system complexity, some user participative behaviors resulted in improved user satisfaction, while others had no relationship with satisfaction. The results add to earlier studies by identifying those specific user participative behaviors most beneficial under different contexts. The implications apply to both practitioners involved in the development of systems and academicians seeking to explain where and how user participation should be used. Strategies based on the results are suggested for the most appropriate involvement for users during system development.
Keywords: participative behaviors; system complexity; system development; task complexity; user participation; user satisfaction

Destination Information Systems: Design Issues and Directions - Hong-Mei, Chen; Sheldon, Pauline J (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
A destination information system (DIS) is defined as an interorganizational system (lOS) that provides travelers and travel counselors with easy access to comprehensive, timely and accurate information on a destination's faculties, and the option of making reservations. Its development requires extensive cooperation by competing tourism product suppliers and destination promoters in both the public and private sectors. This paper identifies challenges encountered in the design of a DIS such as: (1) comprehensive information content from multiple data sources, (2) multimedia data management, (3) interfacing with global electronic markets, and (4) resolving problems arising from different data formats and standards. Technical design options are examined to address these design challenges. A proposed system conditions architecture, called VIDIS, integrating viable design options is then presented. The VIDIS architecture exploits current technological advances in heterogeneous distributed databases, intelligent multimedia communication, and global electronic commerce. Implementation strategies of a DES that adapt to organizational changes and rapid technological advances arc suggested. Finally, design tasks and related organizational issues are discussed.
Keywords: cooperative interorganizational systems; destination information systems; heterogeneous distributed databases; IS design issues; metadatabase; multimedia information management; strategic information systems; travel industry; tourism; virtual integration

Environmental Scanning for Information Technology: An Empirical Investigation - Maier, Jerry L; Rainer Jr, R Kelly; Snyder, Charles A (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
An increasing number of organizations are recognizing the strategic significance of their information technology (IT) resources. A process by which emerging information technologies may be effectively identified and evaluated is rapidly becoming a necessity. This process may be accomplished through scanning the external IT environment. Based on the strategic emphasis given to IT resources, organizations may be classified as exploiter/innovator (El), competitor/early adopter (CEA), or participant/effective efficient follower (PEEF). This study uses data from 131 top information systems managers to examine differences in the three types of organizations across a number of issues concerning the process of scanning the external IT environment. These issues include: (1) the objectives of scanning the external IT environment; (2) the methods of scanning the external IT environment; (3) the existence of separate units dedicated to IT scanning; (4) the level of IT scanning intensity; (5) the sources of information used for IT scanning; and (6) the level of top management involvement with IT scanning.
Keywords: environmental scanning; information technology environment

Performance Evaluation of Neural Network Decision Models - Jain, Bharat A; Nag, Barin N (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
Recently, promising results with neural networks have been reported for two-group classification problems such as bankruptcy prediction and thrift failures. Such applications are usually characterized by unequal frequencies of the two states of interest. This creates a major obstacle to effective performance evaluation of various decision models. Critical issues affecting the comparison include training sample design and the use of an appropriate performance metric. This paper addresses these two issues by comparing the performance of neural networks with that of statistical models for the decision problem of identifying successful new ventures.
Keywords: logit models; neural networks; new ventures; sample design

A Facilitator's General Model for Managing Socioemotional Issues in Group Support Systems Meeting Environments - Kelly, Gigi G; Bostrom, Robert P (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1997)
This paper addresses the socioemotional dimension in group support systems (GSS) meeting environments from the perspective of the facilitator. A model is presented and discussed. This model represents how facilitators perceive and manage socioemotional issues in a GSS environment. The role of GSS in the model is also explored. The research methodology for gathering and analyzing the data in this paper was based on critical incident technique and semistructured interviews with twenty-six experienced facilitators. The research found that GSS provides a very useful tool for managing socioemotional issues; however, GSS also creates new issues. The implications of this research study's findings for facilitators and future research issues are posited.
Keywords: electronic meeting facilitation; group support systems; socioemotional aspects of meetings