Anne Hoag

People and information technology in the supply chain

Understanding people and how they factor into complex information technology (IT) implementations is critical to reversing the growing trend of costly IT implementation failures. Accordingly, this article presents an approach to dissecting the social and organizational influences impacting peoples’ acceptance of technology designed to improve business performance. This article applies the diffusion of innovation theoretical framework to understand and analyze IT innovation implementation challenges. The diffusion approach is applied to two recent cases of implementations of IT supply chain innovations at two aerospace firms, both with complex, global, inter‐firm supply chains. Results indicate that several social and organizational factors do affect the implementations success. Those factors include users’ perceptions of the innovation, the firms culture, the types of communication channels used to diffuse knowledge of the innovation and various leadership factors.

Measuring Media Entrepreneurship

Abstract Entrepreneurship theory complements established approaches to media management research with an alternative frame for viewing media ownership and the medias capacity for content diversity. Established entrepreneurship metrics were applied to media industries in the United States. All media sectors experienced varying rates in the second half of the last century; by the turn of the new century, nearly all were more entrepreneurial than any other U.S. service or manufacturing industry.

Factors Supporting and Hindering New Entry in Media Markets: A Study of Media Entrepreneurs

Despite ongoing concern about so-called “big media” erecting barriers to entry, thousands of new media enterprises are formed annually. It raises the question, “What factors support or hinder new entry in media markets?” A study of 30 U.S.-based media entrepreneurs was undertaken to answer the question. For these entrepreneurs, factors that support entry were abundant; and few, if any, barriers exist to entry and to sustained operations. Two sources of support stand out: the effects of technological innovation and so-called “big media,” which, far from erecting barriers, can be a major source of opportunity.

Journalism Degree Motivations The Development of a Scale

Scientific knowledge should reflect valid, consistent measurement. It is argued research on scale development needs to be more systematic and prevalent. The intent of this article is to address scale development by creating and validating a construct that measures the underlying reasons why undergraduate students seek a degree in journalism, the Journalism Degree Motivations (JDM) scale. Through a multimethod approach and seven-step process, a set of motivations that reflect existing theory and measures was developed. The JDM scale is composed of eight factors: social responsibility, reporting, social prestige, sports media, photography, writing, varied career, and numbers and science anxiety.

An Examination of How Academic Advancement of U.S. Journalism Students Relates to Their Degree Motivations, Values, and Technology Use

The newsroom is a powerful influence in a journalist’s identity formation. Research has yet to verify the socializing impact of academia. This research utilized the quantitative survey method applying it to undergraduate journalism students (n = 798) to assess how academic status relates to students’ degree motivations, life values, and technology use. The results show advancement is related to variations in perceptions of some degree motivations, which include perceiving journalism as a path to write and fame, but life values were not significantly different. The implication of this study suggests that academia may not have much impact on certain perceptions and behaviors.

A Literature Review of Computers and Pedagogy for Journalism and Mass Communication Education

A growing body of scholarship on computers and pedagogy encompasses a broad range of topics. This review is focused upon research judged to have implications within journalism and mass communication education. Broadly defined, the literature considers computer use in course design and teaching, student attributes in a digital learning context, the role of digital information in student learning outcomes, and the role of faculty attitudes. Course Design and Teaching The adoption of instructional computer pedagogy is associated with substantial changes to the configuration and format of a broad range of pedagogical practices, including increased student responsibility and active learning engagement. Course planning now may take into consideration increased faculty and student access to an extended range of information resources, student participation through out-of-class online interaction, and the asynchronous and immediate distribution of class-inclusive materials and information,1 as well as negative attributes such as increased access to materials that may be plagiarized and data that may be inaccurate. A comparative literature in which digitally enhanced pedagogies and curricula among disciplines are examined has yet to emerge. Nonetheless, disciplinary adoption is widely observable in disciplines outside of communication such as medicine and geography.2 One branch of inquiry has examined the relation of computers to new skill acquisition. In some instances, for example, students may become engaged at higher levels of cognition through application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation of class materials.3 In contrast to traditional environments, the integration of computers into a curriculum, however, requires new learning skills in order to manipulate Internet and computer network searching and to construct useful database archives.4 Within journalism and mass communication education, these newly acquired skills may generate increased immediacy of reporting while integrating reporting procedures involving a variety of media.5 One study investigated the adoption of computer-assisted reporting skills over the past decade among journalism and mass communication programs. The majority of the programs surveyed provided instruction in Internet utilization and included introductory skills for searching newspaper archives and online databases.6 E-mail and other electronic information forms may also play a relevant role and at least one study argued the importance of Internet mastery to public relations curricula.7 An often-expressed goal is the facilitation of active student engagement in learning, through activities that facilitate acquisition of knowledge from sources other than the traditional lecture, and by increased student-to-student and student-to-faculty interaction.8 Computer networks have been used to expand the learning community to include experts and industry professionals,9 although the most common usage appears to involve the creation of computer networks for student-to-student out-of-class discussion.10 Gunaratne and Lee also point to the use of digital networks to make library availability an integral element of curriculum and instruction.11 Access issues are not limited to mainstream populations. A developing body of literature highlights the possibility of extending the level of access to disabled students with vision, hearing, and mobility problems.12 Student Attributes Several scholars have examined the relations among student characteristics, computers and learning. Two categories or subdivisions are prominent in the literature: individual differences (prior computer experience, attitude, learning style preferences) and group differences (gender, ethnicity, disability). Few such published articles in communication journals were found, so we turned to education journals where the topic is receiving greater attention. Our review is confined to the most common types of studies that also have implications for journalism and communication education. …

An Examination of Print and Broadcast Journalism Students' Personality Traits.

Journalists identify with a medium because it aligns with their interests and talents, and they may resist tasks incongruent with their perceived creative strengths. Occupational conflict arises when one’s personality does not align with expected work tasks within a role according to Holland’s theory of vocational choice. We carried out a quantitative survey of aspiring print and broadcast journalists to investigate whether they differed in personality traits (i.e., extraversion, conscientiousness, life values, and journalism degree motivations). Results show broadcast journalism students perceived themselves as more extreme on many measures including extraversion, conscientiousness, and certain life values. Broadcast students were also more likely to choose journalism as a degree for social prestige, sports, reporting, and photography reasons, whereas print students were more likely to choose writing as their primary motivation.

Impact of Media on Major Choice: Survey of Communication Undergraduates.

Popular and news media sources may play a key role in influencing undergraduate choice of major, yet their unique impact has not been investigated. Most research has focused on the influence of unm...

“Ice Cream is Worse, and Joblessness is Not an Option”: Gendered experiences of freelancing

A rise in informal labor, characterized by contracted and non-salaried positions, has been observed in many industry sectors including journalism. While opportunities for freelance journalists have increased, the journalism industry has simultaneously experienced mass layoffs. Using a survey (N = 411), with quantitative and qualitative measures, this study assesses freelancers’ experiences in the US context with a particular attention to gender. The study finds that women perceive freelancing, but not full-time journalism, as compatible with raising children. Although there were no differences in perceptions about layoffs and job stability, the women in the sample were more likely to rely on freelancing as the only job and subsequently express concerns over pay. Open-ended responses provide further insight into the state of the journalism industry, full-time employment, and gender dynamics.