Ashley A. Bush

Research Commentary---Platform Evolution: Coevolution of Platform Architecture, Governance, and Environmental Dynamics

The emergence of software-based platforms is shifting competition toward platform-centric ecosystems, although this phenomenon has not received much attention in information systems research. Our premise is that the coevolution of the design, governance, and environmental dynamics of such ecosystems influences how they evolve. We present a framework for understanding platform-based ecosystems and discuss five broad research questions that present significant research opportunities for contributing homegrown theory about their evolutionary dynamics to the information systems discipline and distinctive information technology-artifact-centric contributions to the strategy, economics, and software engineering reference disciplines.

Reconciling user and project manager perceptions of IT project risk: a Delphi study†

Abstract. In an increasingly dynamic business environment characterized by fast cycle times, shifting markets and unstable technology, a business organization’s survival hinges on its ability to align IT capabilities with business goals. To facilitate the successful introduction of new IT applications, issues of project risk must be addressed, and the expectations of multiple stakeholders must be managed appropriately. To the extent that users and developers may harbour different perceptions regarding project risk, areas of conflict may arise. By understanding the differences in how users and project managers perceive the risks, insights can be gained that may help to ensure the successful delivery of systems. Prior research has focused on the project manager’s perspective of IT project risk. This paper explores the issue of IT project risk from the user perspective and compares it with risk perceptions of project managers. A Delphi study reveals that these two stakeholder groups have different perceptions of risk factors. Through comparison with a previous study on project manager risk perceptions, zones of concordance and discordance that must be reconciled are identified.

A Comparison of Transaction Cost, Agency, and Knowledge-Based Predictors of IT Outsourcing Decisions: A U.S.-Japan Cross-Cultural Field Study

As outsourcing evolves into a competitive necessity, managers must increasingly contend with the decision about which software development projects to outsource. Although a variety of theories have been invoked to study the initial outsourcing decision, much of this work has relied in isolation on one theoretical perspective. Therefore, the relative importance ascribed by managers to the factors from these theories is poorly understood. The majority of this work also masks interesting insights into outsourcing decisions by focusing on the information technology (IT) function rather than individual projects as the unit of analysis, where many of these decisions occur. In contrast, prior research at the project level has focused on predicting development performance in the postoutsourcing-decision phases of projects. The objective of this study is to examine the relative importance that IT managers ascribe to various factors from three complementary theories—transaction cost economics, agency theory, and knowledge-based theory—as they simultaneously consider them in their project outsourcing decisions. A secondary objective is to assess the cross-cultural robustness (United States versus Japan in this study) of such models in predicting project-level IT outsourcing decisions. We develop and test a multitheoretic model using data on 1,008 project-level decisions collected from 33 Japanese and 55 U.S. managers. Overall, our results provide novel insights into the relative importance that managers ascribe to the factors from these three theories, their complementarities and occasional contradictions, and offer new insights into the differences among U.S. and Japanese IT managers. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.

Designing sticky knowledge networks

Much of any organizations experience and expertise remains underused and underexploited simply because it resides not in databases, repositories, or manuals but in the minds of its employees. Attempting to harness such distributed expertise, organizations have begun implementing collaborative knowledge networks---peer-to-peer digital networks connecting individuals with relevant expertise to their peers who need it [10, 11]. Unfortunately, however, successful knowledge networks represent the occasional island dotting a sea of failures. While many organizations are eager adopters of knowledge network systems, individual users frequently abandon them, leaving a trail of million- dollar paperweights. To be self-sustaining, knowledge networks must be sticky, though stickiness is an elusive design objective.

A social exchange architecture for distributed Web communities

Using the foundational lens of social exchange theory and communities of practice, proposes a three‐layer Web‐based architecture to facilitate knowledge integration in digital communities. Reviews the limitations of past collaborative filtering mechanisms and presents a prototype and the underlying mathematical model for the knowledge networking on the Web (KNOWeb) architecture. Further illustrates how real‐time active feedback and valuation mechanisms reinforce social exchange in such communities.

An empirical investigation of the drivers of software outsourcing decisions in Japanese organizations

Although Japan represents the single largest Asian market and 10% of the global software outsourcing market, little is understood about how Japanese companies make software project outsourcing decisions. Tried-and-tested outsourcing models consistently fail to predict the outsourcing decisions of Japanese companies, leaving global software development companies with little usable guidance in the Japanese outsourcing market. Analyses of 396 software project outsourcing decisions made by 33 IT managers in Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, IBM-Japan, and Mitsubishi provides novel insights into the drivers of Japanese software outsourcing decisions. The objective of this paper is to develop an analytic tool to predict the likelihood of a software project being outsourced by Japanese IT managers.

Exploring the use of the Delphi method in accounting information systems research

Recent focus on the diversity of research methodologies available to accounting information systems (AIS) scholars has led researchers to suggest the Delphi method has reached the limits of its usefulness. Using a review of the accounting and information systems literature, we suggest such a finding is premature for the AIS discipline. The Delphi method is especially useful in reducing ambiguity through the use of expert panels of both practitioners and experts and informing relevant and timely issues facing organizations. In essence, the Delphi method has potential to provide both rigor and relevance to AIS researchers. Our purpose is to review the prior literature on the use of the Delphi method and discuss potential areas of research within the AIS discipline where the method might add value. Based on this review, we develop a series of guidelines on how to properly develop, administer, and assess panel responses and then use an illustrative study example that explores IT risks in operations. We conclude with a discussion of the value of the Delphi method and provide insight into its limitations.

Questionnaire-based risk assessment scheme for Japanese offshore software outsourcing

As the volumes of software development increase and the cost reduction is required, most Japanese IT companies are interested in offshore software outsourcing. Although a lot of engineers have experienced the success and failure on their projects, their know-how still remains as tacit knowledge. This paper proposes a risk assessment scheme for new projects by externalizing such tacit knowledge. Such a scheme requires collaboration between industry and academia because the tacit knowledge is scattered over many companies and cannot be formalized by a single company or academic institute. Defining fourteen attributes related to software development and designing questionnaire about project evaluation, this paper clarifies how to quantify the risk of offshore software outsourcing. Risk assessment tool based on the proposed scheme will promote a knowledge spiral for project management.

Towards an understanding of the use of problem and design spaces during object- oriented system development

The importance of, and distinction between, problem and design spaces has been recognized in studies of information systems development (ISD). With increasing acceptance of objectoriented techniques, which promise close mirroring of real-world concepts in the IS artifacts, this distinction becomes even more important. In spite of a rich literature stream dealing with the general notion of ‘design,’ several inadequacies remain in our understanding of the ISD processes—one of these is the recognition and impact of problem and design spaces. In this paper, we analyze processes followed by two developers engaged in a non-trivial development task using the object-oriented modeling techniques—with a view to understanding their use of, and explorations in, problem and design spaces. Our analysis provides evidence for a distinction between the two spaces, and interprets the developers’ engagements and behaviors to structure the two spaces with the help of object-oriented modeling techniques. Several interesting findings emerge from our analysis, including the overlapping of spaces due to the use of object-orientation, disturbing patterns such as design fixation, interplay between simulation, expansion and validation in the design space, and the varying use of modeling techniques to structure the two spaces. Our analysis, supported by prior literature, provides a grounded description of some phenomena that have, hitherto, had only intuitive or prescriptive support. Based on these, we argue for more methodological and tool support for explorations of problem

Myths and paradoxes in Japanese IT offshoring

october 2008 | vol. 51 | no. 10 | communications of the acm 141 are driven by knowledge rather than cost or value drivers, their use of circles of trust with a high entry threshold, unusual but surprisingly effective governance strategies, and how they have mastered the sophisticated art of modularization. These paradoxical practices offer invaluable lessons for both Western companies that outsource IT as well as for offshore vendors attempting to gain a foothold in the burgeoning Japanese market.