Geoffrey Dick

Disclosure of information by children in social networking-Not just a case of you show me yours and I'll show you mine

This paper reports the results of a study of MySpace use, by Sydney high school children. It examines the reasons why children disclose information on the website and their understanding of some of the privacy issues involved. The study provides a useful beginning for further work in this area. Regression is used to validate a proposed model of the factors influencing information disclosure and cluster analysis provides an indication of characteristics shared by children who disclose sensitive information, such as name, address and telephone number. It also suggests that children who are taught to value privacy are less likely to disclose sensitive information on-line.

Information Systems Enrollments: Can They Be Increased?

It is almost unbelievable that in this age of technology we are experiencing decreasing worldwide enrollments in Information Systems (IS) programs. Suddenly, within a year or two, enrollments decreased as much as 70-80 percent throughout the world. Industry is begging for more graduates with a business and technical background and is expecting an even greater shortage in the next few years. Despite reports of the outsourcing of technical positions, there is a growing demand for IS graduates. This paper presents an overview of the discussion, resulting from a panel at the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) 2007, of declining enrollments and some suggestions to reverse the trend. Two major themes, marketing and curriculum, emerged.

Taking Information Systems Business Process Outsourcing Offshore: The Conflict of Competition and Risk

As Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) moves offshore and now includes Information Systems (IS) Processes, there is a need to consider a combination of the two. This article explores the factors that a multinational organisation considered when it “offshored†its IS business processes to lower-cost destinations. It focuses on determining the driving factors and challenges faced during the offshore sourcing project. A single, in-depth interpretive case study approach was used to explore this research topic. The results of this study show that the organisation under investigation was primarily driven to offshore its IS business processes in order to become more competitive in the marketplace. This was assisted by the organisation reducing its operational costs, and establishing a global presence in many lower-cost locations offshore. A model was developed, which illustrates the interrelationships that exist between these concepts.

Information Disclosure on MySpace--the What, the Why and the Implications.

This paper reports the results of the first academic study of the use of a major social networking website, MySpace, by children. The study examined the degree of, and reasons for, information disclosure by children in high schools in Sydney, Australia. Social networking sites such as MySpace are a huge Internet phenomenon, some with hundreds of millions of users and often the most visited Internet sites on a daily basis. They are particularly attractive to, and used by, children, perhaps eclipsing email as a preferred communications medium. This study shows that, by and large, children are acting responsibly in embracing this new technology, however, there are a significant number potentially at risk, possibly due to their lacking individual personal privacy values. The paper concludes with a call for parents and teachers to become more familiar with social networking and to help their charges understand the implications of its use.

Telecommuting: management difficulties arising from workplace perceptions

While there is considerable literature reporting the results of studies of benefits and problems associated with telecommuting, there is little research available addressing how the perceptions of these might differ according to whether one is working as a telecommuter or not. Variations in these perceptions may indicate potential managerial problems and may affect the viability of the programme-an important aspect for those considering setting up telecommuting programmes. Staff working in a software development area in a major international organisation with a large presence in Australia were selected as the population for this study. Some staff were (or had been) working as telecommuters, others were not (and had not been). The staff were asked to rate a series of advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting. By comparing the two groups involved in this study, some insight may be gleaned into how perceptions of telecommuting may differ in the workplace. The results from the study showed that the two groups were different in the way they viewed the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting, although not in ways that seemed to present major difficulties for managers considering setting up telecommuting programmes. It also identifies a number of issues for further research.

Industry Involvement in Undergraduate Curricula: Reinforcing Learning by Applying the Principles

This paper describes industry participation in education through its involvement in the Business Information Technology programme at the University of New South Wales. Although primarily aimed at providing details of the practices followed and the experiences gained, the paper commences with a comprehensive review of the literature on IS education, particularly co-operative education. Industry is involved in all aspects of the programme, but makes a major contribution through provision of industrial training and a colloquium series. There is also interaction with students through leadership courses, recruitment evenings, industry visits and social activities.

Telecommuting: does it work in the long term?

While there is considerable literature reporting the results of studies of benefits and problems associated with telecommuting, there is little longitudinal research available addressing how the perceptions of these may change over time, an important aspect for those considering setting up telecommuting programmes. Staff working in a software development area in a major international organisation with a large presence in Australia were selected as the population for this study. The staff were asked to rate a series of advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting in a survey repeated after 18 months. By comparing the results from the two surveys, some insight may be gleaned into how perceptions of telecommuting may change as staff become more experienced in working in this way.

Telecommuting in Singapore

Telecommuting is a global phenomenon — countries in Asia, the Americas and Europe all report some of their countrymen working from home — in most cases this number seems to be gradually increasing, although not as fast as some of the earlier predictions. However, the research would indicate that telecommuting is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. Why do staff and their employers embrace telecommuting? The literature points to a series of reasons in the areas of advantages and disadvantages, personal attitudes to work and the tasks involved. This chapter, which looks at workers in Singapore, attempts to identify the reasons explaining the preference to telecommute, what governs the suitability of tasks for telecommuting, and what factors explain the amount of telecommuting being practiced.