Hee-Woong Kim

Investigating user resistance to information systems implementation: a status quo bias perspective

User resistance to information systems implementation has been identified as a salient reason for the failure of new systems and hence needs to be understood and managed. While previous research has explored the reasons for user resistance, there are gaps in our understanding of how users evaluate change related to a new information system and decide to resist it. In particular, missing in the explanation of user decision making is the concept of status quo bias, that is, that user resistance can be due to the bias or preference to stay with the current situation. Motivated thus, this study develops a model to explain user resistance prior to a new IS implementation by integrating the technology acceptance and resistance literatures with the status quo bias perspective. The results of testing the model in the context of a new enterprise system implementation indicate the central role of switching costs in increasing user resistance. Further, switching costs also mediate the relationship between other antecedents (colleague opinion and self-efficacy for change) and user resistance. Additionally, perceived value and organizational support for change are found to reduce user resistance. This research advances the theoretical understanding of user acceptance and resistance prior to a new IS implementation and offers organizations suggestions for managing such resistance.

Investigating the intention to purchase digital items in social networking communities: A customer value perspective

Some social networking community service providers have earned revenue by selling digital items to their community members. We examined SNC member decisions to purchase digital items based on customer value theory. Six factors were extracted from three dimensions of customer value: functional, social, and emotional value. Our findings indicated that the effects of value on member purchase intentions were significant in terms of the emotional and social dimensions. Our results should help SNC providers by improving their sales of digital items.

A balanced thinking-feelings model of information systems continuance

Most studies on technology adoption and usage continuance examine cognitive factors, leaving affective factors or the feelings of users relatively unexplored. In contrast, researchers in the diverse fields of human-computer interaction, medicine, psychology and marketing have begun to note the importance of feelings in understanding and predicting human behavior. Feelings are anticipated to be essential particularly in the context of modern applications, such as mobile Internet (M-Internet) services. Users of modern technology are not simply technology users but also service consumers and may consider both cognitive and emotional benefits. Drawing upon multidisciplinary findings, this study proposes a balanced thinking-feelings model of IS continuance. In the process of developing this model, the concepts of attitude, thinking and feelings are further articulated, defined and distinguished. The balanced thinking-feelings model is validated in a survey of M-Internet service users. To encourage continuance, companies should consider ways to enhance both cognitive and emotional benefits for users. The model could be also useful for balanced understanding of other behaviors.

Which is more important in Internet shopping, perceived price or trust?

Price and trust are considered to be two important factors that influence customer purchasing decisions in Internet shopping. This paper examines the relative influence they have on online purchasing decisions for both potential and repeat customers. The knowledge of their relative impacts and changes in their relative roles over customer transaction experience is useful in developing customized sales strategies to target different groups of customers. The results of this study revealed that perceived trust exerted a stronger effect than perceived price on purchase intentions for both potential and repeat customers of an online store. The results also revealed that perceived price exerted a stronger influence on purchase decisions of repeat customers as compared to that of potential customers. Perceived trust exerted a stronger influence on purchase decisions of potential customers as compared to that of repeat customers.

Knowledge based decision making on higher level strategic concerns: system dynamics approach

In recognizing knowledge as a new resource in gaining organizational competitiveness, knowledge management suggests a method in managing and applying knowledge for improving organizational performance. Much knowledge management research has focused on identifying, storing, and disseminating process related knowledge in an organized manner. Applying knowledge to decision making has a significant impact on organizational performance than solely processing transactions for knowledge management. In this research, we suggest a method of knowledge-based decision-making using system dynamics, with an emphasis to strategic concerns. The proposed method transforms individual mental models into explicit knowledge by translating partial and implicit knowledge into an integrated knowledge model. The scenario-based test of the organized knowledge model enables decision-makers to understand the structure of the target problem and identify its basic cause, which facilitates effective decision-making. This method facilitates the linkage between knowledge management initiatives and achieving strategic goals and objectives of an organization.

What Motivates People to Purchase Digital Items on Virtual Community Websites? The Desire for Online Self-Presentation

The sale of digital items, such as avatars and decorative objects, is becoming an important source of revenue for virtual community (VC) websites. However, some websites are unable to leverage this source of revenue, and there is a corresponding lack of understanding about what motivates people to purchase digital items in VCs. To explain the phenomenon, we develop a model based on the theory of self-presentation. The model proposes that the desire for online self-presentation is a key driver for such purchases. We also hypothesize that the social influence factors of online self-presentation norms and VC involvement as well as personal control in the form of online presentation self-efficacy are antecedents of the desire for online self-presentation. The model was validated by using survey data collected from Cyworld (N=217) and Habbo (N=197), two online social network communities that have been pioneers in the sale of digital items. This work contributes to our understanding of the purchase of digital items by extending the theory of self-presentation and adds to the broader line of research on online identity. It also lends insights into how VC providers can tap this source of revenue.

Towards a process model of information systems implementation: the case of customer relationship management (CRM)

The failure rate of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) implementations is estimated to be greater than 65%. Lowering the failure rate and supporting the success of information systems (IS) are the ultimate goals of IS practitioners and researchers. However, most previous research in the area has focused on identifying factors such as critical success factors (CSFs) that are correlated with IS success. There has been little research on how IS implementation may lead to successful results. The state of knowledge in IS implementation may be likened to cooking with a list of ingredients but not the recipe. Drawing on process theory, this study examines the process of IS implementation by explaining how factors of IS implementation influence each other and how interactions among them produce results. Based on one successful case and two unsuccessful cases, we develop the process model of IS implementation, by which the process of IS implementation and the dynamics of IS success can be explained. The proposed model facilitates an understanding of how repeating patterns of IS failure can be reversed, and could serve to guide new IS implementation projects.

Examining knowledge contribution from the perspective of an online identity in blogging communities

Knowledge contribution is one of the essential factors behind the success of blogging communities (BCs). This research studies knowledge contribution behavior in a BC from the perspective of knowledge contributors and their characteristics using the lens of social identity theory. Social identity theory asserts that individuals are fundamentally motivated to present or communicate their identities in everyday social life through behavior. A similar line of reasoning can be used to argue that members of a BC would also be motivated to communicate their online identities through their behavior, that is, through knowledge contribution in the BC. Specifically, this study conceptualized the online identity and examined the effects of its personal (online kindness, online social skills, and online creativity) and social aspects (BC involvement) on knowledge contribution. The data was collected using an online survey from the members of Cyworld, a popular BC in South Korea and a few other countries (members from South Korea were included in this study). The results indicate that both the personal and social aspects of online identity and their interactions significantly influenced knowledge contribution. Based on the findings, this study offers suggestions to organizers of BCs to enhance the knowledge contribution from their members.

A comparison of purchase decision calculus between potential and repeat customers of an online store

Potential and repeat customers of an online store possess different amount of information and use different criteria for making purchase decisions. Internet vendors should therefore adopt different sales strategies for creating initial sales and generating repeat sales. Yet little is known about the differences in online purchase decision making between the two customer groups. This study examines the differences between potential and repeat customers based on mental accounting theory and information processing theory. We found that value perception (of transactions made with the online vendor) as an overall judgment for decision making is more strongly influenced by the non-monetary (perceived risk) factor than by the monetary factor (perceived price) for potential customers, whereas it is more strongly influenced by the monetary factor than by the non-monetary factor for repeat customers. The findings of our study would help Internet vendors develop customized strategies for creating initial sales and repeat sales.

Task and Social Information Seeking: Whom Do We Prefer and Whom Do We Approach?

Employee information-seeking behavior shapes the formation of organizational communication networks and affects performance. However, it is not easy to facilitate, particularly through information technology, and its motivations are not well understood. Recognizing two broad categories of information—that is, task and social information—this study investigates and compares the antecedents of task and social information seeking. Deriving from the relational communication perspective, informational and relational motivations are modeled as the two main antecedents of source preference and sourcing frequency in dyadic information seeking. Through a survey of employee dyads, our findings indicate that perceived information relevance is a significant antecedent of source preference for both task and social information seeking, whereas perceived relational benefit is significant in the context of task information. The results also show that perceived relational benefit has a stronger effect on source preference in task information seeking than in social information seeking. Furthermore, preference for a source is a significant antecedent of the frequency of sourcing in both contexts. This study provides an explanation of the formation of organizational communication networks. It suggests that organizational information and communication technologies not only need to support information delivery but must also facilitate relationship management for the seeker.