Ann-Frances Cameron

External Relationships and the Small Business: A Review of Small Business Alliance and Network Research

In order to thrive, small businesses are often advised to develop relationships with external organizations that have the potential to assist business development, survival, and growth. A focus on the external relationships of the small business underlines the vital importance of external resources in moving a small business toward increased success and profitability. Covering the period from 1990 to 2002, this paper reviews the small business literature as it relates to the use of these external relationships (such as organizational partnerships, networks, and alliances). In response to both academic and practitioner demand for further research in this area, an exhaustive analysis of the relevant literature was conducted and three “meta” research questions representing the connections within this literature were formed. The resource‐based view of the firm, resource dependency theory, and punctuated equilibrium theory are proposed as useful starting points for exploring these research questions and can give direction for moving forward in this research area.

Unintended consequences of emerging communication technologies: Instant Messaging in the workplace

With increased global connectivity, managers are faced with new technologies and rapid organizational changes. For instance, organizations may adopt emerging technologies such as Instant Messaging in order to increase collaboration at a distance and to decrease communications costs. However, the impact and implications of these technologies for managers and employees often go far beyond the original intent of the technology designers. Consequently, in this study, instant messaging (IM) and its use in organizations were investigated through interviews with employees. Results suggest that critical mass represents an important factor for IM success in the workplace that IM symbolizes informality, and that IM is perceived to be much less rich than face-to-face communication. Further, results demonstrate that employees use IM not only as a replacement for other communication media but as an additional method for reaching others. With IM, employees engage in polychronic communication, view IM as privacy enhancing, and see its interruptive nature as unfair. The paper concludes by discussing research and practice implications for organizational psychologists.

The Live Teaching Case: A New IS Method and its Application

When teaching Information Systems (IS), one of the crucial objectives is to make students understand the practical aspects of the integration of IS in organizations. Over the last decades, several pedagogical approaches were introduced to more tightly bridge theory and practice, e.g., hands on exercises, simulations, real world projects, guest speakers, and case studies. In this paper, we introduce a pedagogical approach novel to IS which brings practice into the classroom, i.e., the live teaching case method. The live teaching case method is a hybrid between a guest speaker event and a teaching case. The live teaching case method is different from a written case as it is the animator who experienced the case who is verbally presenting the case. The live teaching case is different from a guest speaker event as it is more focused around specific decision points, such as a written case would be. We believe that the live teaching case approach alleviates several of the traditional case method shortcomings while maximizing the benefits associated with the presence of a guest speaker in class. This paper outlines the various steps involved in the live teaching case including initiating contact, planning the decision points, selecting student readings and developing pre-course materials, guiding the initial presentation and discussion, guiding the presentation and discussion of the managerial decision points, and class wrap-up. This approach is explained and then illustrated using three different IS courses, namely, an IS project management course, a systems analysis and design course, and a capstone course on enterprise system implementation.

Software Project Risk Drivers as Project Manager Stressors and Coping Resources

Although the stressful nature of high risk exposure software projects and the adverse repercussions of stress on project participants and performance have long been recognized, there is still little research on the subject. This paper builds upon two foundations - the cognitive-transactional theory of stress and the concept of software project risk exposure - to propose a model of software project risk drivers as software project manager stressors and coping resources. The model posits that some software project risk drivers - core project characteristics and project objectives - play the role of stressors and that other risk drivers - project environment characteristics - play the role of coping resources. The model further suggests that software project managers are faced with both chronic stress and acute stress, which have different antecedents. This paper broadens current understanding of the role of software project risk drivers; it also contributes to knowledge on software project management by focusing on the emotional components this activity.