Gerhard Schwabe

Factors in the Global Assimilation of Collaborative Information Technologies: An Exploratory Investigation in Five Regions

The diffusion of innovation theory is deployed to investigate the global assimilation of collaborative information technologies (CITs). Based on the concepts of IT acquisition and utilization, an assimilation framework is presented to highlight four states (limited, focused, lagging, and pervasive) that capture the assimilation of conferencing and groupware CITs. Data collected from 538 organizations in the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, Norway, and Switzerland are aggregated and analyzed to explore assimilation patterns and the influence of decision-making pattern, functional integration, promotion of collaboration, organization size, and IT function size on the assimilation of CITs. Although most of these factors influence assimilation of CITs from nonadoption to a state of limited assimilation, and from limited assimilation to a state of pervasive assimilation, they may not be critical when assimilation of CITs deviates from the expected path. The implications of our findings are discussed for practice and research on assimilation of CITs.

Designing for reintermediation in the brick-and-mortar world: Towards the travel agency of the future

The Internet and electronic marketplaces have profoundly transformed the travel services industry and challenged the traditional value proposition of travel agencies: What is the reason for their existence if information is abundantly available and transactions can be flexibly conducted in direct buyer-seller interactions on the Internet? Traditional travel agencies are struggling to develop new value propositions which differentiate them against the Internet competition, largely based on expanding their reach through online subsidiaries. We present a reintermediation approach based on a novel way of IT-enabled travel advisory which integrates the advantages of interactive technologies and Internet channels with the advantages of direct customer interaction in the physical agency setting. In particular, we propose a reintermediation framework based on the integration of kernel theories from information seeking behavior, interactive value creation, relationship marketing and the design of hedonic information systems. We argue that physically collocated travel advisory services can create a significant added value, if they succeed in uncovering customers’ hidden needs, heightening trust and relationship building in the advisory process and creating a better user experience. Following the design science methodology we validate the proposed framework through the design, implementation and evaluation of a proof-of-concept prototype in a field experiment in a real-world travel agency.

On expanding the scope of design science in IS research

Design Science Research (DSR) has sparked a renaissance of contributions to IS, but its rigor and value of DSR could be increased by expanding its scope beyond its engineering roots to bring all modes of scientific inquiry to bear - exploratory, theoretical, experimental, and applied science / engineering (AS/E). All DSR Cycle activities can be realized as instances of one or more of the four modes. The rigor of DSR can therefore be defended in terms of the goals, research products, and standards of rigor already established for each mode. There is, moreover, a synergy among the modes that can only be realized when all four are brought to bear, because each informs the other three. To exclude any mode of inquiry from DSR, therefore, is to impoverish knowledge about its objects of inquiry. Based on these insights, we propose a modified Cycles Model for DSR realized under the disciplines of the four modes of scientific inquiry.

User, Use & Utility Research The Digital User as New Design Perspective in Business and Information Systems Engineering

Business and Information Systems Engineering (BISE) is at a turning point. Planning, designing, developing and operating IT used to be a management task of a few elites in public ad-ministrations and corporations. But the continuous digitization of nearly all areas of life changes the IT landscape fundamentally. Success in this new era requires putting the human perspective – the digital user – at the very heart of the new digitized service-led economy.BISE faces not just a temporary trend but a complex socio-technical phenomenon with far-reaching implications. The challenges are manifold and have major consequences for all stakeholders, both in information systems and management research as well as in practice. Corporate processes have to be re-designed from the ground up, starting with the user’s perspective, thus putting usage experience and utility of the individual center stage.The digital service economy leads to highly personalized application systems while organizational functions are being fragmented. Entirely new ways of interacting with information systems, in particular beyond desktop IT, are being invented and established. These fundamental challenges require novel approaches with regards to innovation and development methods as well as adequate concepts for enterprise or service system architectures. Gigantic amounts of data are being generated at an accelerating rate by an increasing number of devices – data that need to be managed.In order to tackle these extraordinary challenges we introduce ‘user, use & utility’ as a new field of BISE that focuses primarily on the digital user, his or her usage behavior and the utility associated with system usage in the digitized service-led economy.The research objectives encompass the development of theories, methods and tools for systematic requirement elicitation, systems design, and business development for successful Business and Information Systems Engineering in a digitized economy – information systems that digital users enjoy using. This challenge calls for leveraging insights from various scientific disciplines such as Design, Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology and Sociology. BISE can provide an integrated perspective, thereby assuming a pivotal role within the digitized service led economy.

“Enforced” vs. “Casual” Transparency -- Findings from IT-Supported Financial Advisory Encounters

In sales-oriented service encounters like financial advice, the client may perceive information and interest asymmetries as a lack of transparency regarding the advisor’s activities. In this article, we will discuss two design iterations of a supportive tabletop application that we built to increase process and information transparency as compared to the traditional pen and paper encounters. While the first iteration’s design was “enforcing” transparency and therefore proved to be a failure [Nussbaumer et al. 2011], we built the second iteration on design rationales enabling more “casual” transparency. Experimental evaluations show that the redesigned system significantly increases the client’s perceived transparency, her perceived control of the encounter and improves her perceived trustworthiness of and satisfaction with the encounter. With these findings, we contribute to (1) insight into the role of transparency advisory encounter design; (2) design solutions for establishing particular facets of transparency and their potential instantiations in tabletop systems; and (3) insight into the process of designing for transparency with socio-technical artifacts that are emergent as a result of design activities.

Enabling relationship building in tabletop-supported advisory settings

Recent research has shown that financial advisory encounters can successfully be supported with IT-artifacts. Tabletop scenarios, for example, can increase the transparency of the advisory process for customers. However, we have also had the experience that the relationship quality as experienced by customers can suffer severely when IT-artifacts are introduced. Based on these experiences, we developed guidelines for both, the artifact- design itself as well as for the environment in order to avoid this effect, and implemented them in one of our prototypes. The evaluation reveals that these measures proved to be effective. With the reported study, we seek to enhance our design knowledge of IT-supported advisory scenarios with a special focus on relationship building. In a larger context, we argue that the use of IT during sensitive face-to-face encounters will be of growing significance in the future but, as yet, is hardly understood. We make a contribution in this area with our generic requirements, design principles and evaluation.

Der Needs Driven Approach - Eine Methode zur bedarfsgerechten Gestaltung von Telekooperation

Der Needs Driven Approach (NDA) ist eine Methode zur Gestaltung der Telekooperation. Der NDA geht von einer Wechselwirkung zwischen Technologie und Anwender aus und ermoglicht eine umfassende Gestaltung und Berucksichtigung von organisatorischen, technischen und sozialen Aspekten der Telekooperation. In diesem Artikel wird zuerst auf die Grundideen des Needs Driven Approach eingegangen. Sodann wird ausfuhrlich die Analysephase und uberblicksartig die darauf folgende Designphase behandelt. Zum Abschlus wird auf den Nutzen des Ansatzes fur Wissenschaft und Praxis eingegangen.

Designing for mobile value co-creation—the case of travel counselling

This paper focuses on the development of a mobile service as extension of travel agencies’ sales channels, fundamentally driven by the notion of value co-creation. Design goals are directly linked to the understanding of travel counselling as practical value co-creation and to the concern to progress this understanding throughout the travel customer cycle. Customers as well as travel agencies benefit from a mobile service rooted in value co-creation. Mobile service applications which target a service provision which furthermore is in line with the core competency of a travel agency (advice-giving and continuously accompany the customer) are scarce. Taking this as a starting point, we propose a mobile service and system design which provides a travel customer with continuing support on the trip, suitable to complement a lively, ongoing customer-firm interaction which enables the co-creation of value, ultimately targeting increased customer retention and loyalty.

Audio vs. Chat: The Effects of Group Size on Media Choice

The increasing usage of audio and chat communication in private and commercial cooperative settings requires new insight into choosing the appropriate media for collaborative tasks. The paper presents the results of two series of experiments comparing audio and chat communication with varying group sizes. The experimental data indicates that chat scales up better to an increase in group size than audio. We propose that the media richness theory appropriately predicts the productivity of small groups, while the media characteristics proposed by the theory of media synchronicity as well as media speed can be used to predict larger group productivity

User, Use & Utility Research

ZusammenfassungDie Wirtschaftsinformatik steht heute am Wendepunkt. Ist die Planung, Entwicklung und der Betrieb von Informations- und Telekommunikationssystemen (ITK) bisher eine Managementaufgabe einiger „Eliten“ in Verwaltung und Wirtschaft gewesen, so führt die zunehmende Durchdringung aller Lebensbereiche mit ITK zu einer Veränderung der gesamten ITK-Landschaft, die den Menschen in der digitalen Welt – den digitalen Nutzer – in den Mittelpunkt der zukünftigen Betrachtung stellt.Aus dem Blickwinkel der Wirtschaftsinformatik stellt sich diese Entwicklung nicht nur als vorübergehende Modeerscheinung dar, sondern hat als komplexes soziotechnisches Phänomen weitreichende Bedeutung. Die sich ergebenden Herausforderungen sind vielfältig und betreffen die gesamte Wirtschaftsinformatik sowohl in Forschung als auch in Praxis. Prozessmodelle von Unternehmen sind vollkommen neu aus der Nutzungsperspektive einzelner Individuen zu betrachten und zu entwerfen.Die Individualisierung von Anwendungssystemen bei gleichzeitiger Desintegration von Funktionen und die Unterstützung völlig neuer Bedienkonzepte werfen die Frage nach neuen Entwicklungs- und Innovationsmethoden wie auch Architekturkonzepten auf. Der Umgang mit Datenmassen in einer weiter rasant zunehmenden Digitalisierung von Lebenswelten und Unternehmungen stellt die Wissenschaft und Praxis vor Herausforderungen.Um diese Herausforderungen zu lösen, wird ein neues Forschungsfeld „User, Use & Utility“ skizziert, welches den digitalen Nutzer und dessen Nutzungsverhalten in der digitalen Welt als primäres Untersuchungsobjekt beschreibt.Ziel ist die zukünftige systematische Ableitung von Anforderungen, die digitale Nutzer an Informationssysteme stellen. Für diese Aufgabenstellung ist die Kombination und Integration diverser wissenschaftlicher Disziplinen wie Design, Ingenieurswesen, Informatik, Psychologie, Soziologie und anderen notwendig. Die Wirtschaftsinformatik hat die Chance, eine Schlüsselrolle zu spielen.AbstractBusiness and Information Systems Engineering (BISE) is at a turning point. Planning, designing, developing and operating IT used to be a management task of a few elites in public administrations and corporations. But the continuous digitization of nearly all areas of life changes the IT landscape fundamentally. Success in this new era requires putting the human perspective – the digital user – at the very heart of the new digitized service-led economy.BISE faces not just a temporary trend but a complex socio-technical phenomenon with far-reaching implications. The challenges are manifold and have major consequences for all stakeholders, both in information systems and management research as well as in practice. Corporate processes have to be re-designed from the ground up, starting with the user’s perspective, thus putting usage experience and utility of the individual center stage.The digital service economy leads to highly personalized application systems while organizational functions are being fragmented. Entirely new ways of interacting with information systems, in particular beyond desktop IT, are being invented and established. These fundamental challenges require novel approaches with regards to innovation and development methods as well as adequate concepts for enterprise or service system architectures. Gigantic amounts of data are being generated at an accelerating rate by an increasing number of devices – data that need to be managed.In order to tackle these extraordinary challenges we introduce ‘user, use & utility’ as a new field of BISE that focuses primarily on the digital user, his or her usage behavior and the utility associated with system usage in the digitized service-led economy.The research objectives encompass the development of theories, methods and tools for systematic requirement elicitation, systems design, and business development for successful Business and Information Systems Engineering in a digitized economy – information systems that digital users enjoy using. This challenge calls for leveraging insights from various scientific disciplines such as Design, Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology and Sociology. BISE can provide an integrated perspective, thereby assuming a pivotal role within the digitized service led economy.