Helana Scheepers

Contextual influences on user satisfaction with mobile computing: findings from two healthcare organizations

Mobile information technologies (IT) are transforming individual work practices and organizations. These devices are extending not only the boundaries of the ‘office’ in space and time, but also the social context within which use occurs. In this paper, we investigate how extra-organizational influences can impact user satisfaction with mobile systems. The findings from our longitudinal study highlight the interrelatedness of different use contexts and their importance in perceptions of user satisfaction. The data indicate that varying social contexts of individual use (individual as employee, as professional, as private user, and as member of society) result in different social influences that affect the individuals perceptions of user satisfaction with the mobile technology. While existing theories explain user satisfaction with IT within the organizational context, our findings suggest that future studies of mobile IT in organizations should accommodate such extra-organizational contextual influences.

A process-focused decision framework for analyzing the business value potential of IT investments

A key consideration during investment decision making is the overall business value potential of an information technology (IT) solution. The complexity of the contemporary IT landscape is increasing. As information systems and technologies become more advanced and interconnected, they often impact multiple business processes in the organization. This in turn increases the complexity of IT investment decisions. This paper describes a decision framework for considering investments in information technologies that impact multiple business processes in the organization. The decision framework is illustrated via a case study of a small business that invested in mobile and wireless computing. The microcosm of the small business serves to illustrate some aspects of the business value derived from information technology investments that are often challenging to isolate in more complex organizational environments. The decision framework can support managers to analyze the overall business value returns arising from the ‘ripple effect’ of an IT investment on core and ancillary business processes. In the decision framework, the business value ripple effect is analyzed via a vertical dimension that emanates from core business processes to ancillary processes, and a horizontal dimension that extends over time.

The Dependent Variable in Social Media Use

What is the dependent variable in social media use? From a research perspective, this is a pertinent question to help explain and understand the behaviors that underpin the widespread adoption and use of social media throughout society. From a practical perspective, the question is relevant for social media technology providers, for businesses that use social media, and community organizations that turn towards social media to reach out to their constituents. We propose the construct ‘sense of community’ as the dependent variable, which is reflected in four sub-constructs related to the behaviors of social media users. These behaviors are information seeking, hedonic activities, sustaining of strong ties and extending weak ties. Empirical evidence for these constructs comes from a survey of social media use by 18-25 year-olds in Indonesia, a country with exceptionally high utilization of social media. We outline practical implications of the findings and areas for further theoretical development.

Emerging trends in mobile technology development: from healthcare professional to system developer

Previous attempts to involve doctors and nurses with healthcare organisation information technology initiatives have often proved futile. Often this has been because healthcare professionals do not perceive any direct benefit for them at the point of care. Traditional, static implementations of clinical information systems have been driven by hospital administration in an attempt to reduce costs. Mobile clinical applications on the other hand have been driven by the early adopters, the healthcare professionals themselves in an attempt to streamline their own individual work practices. Not only are they researching and purchasing the mobile clinical applications, several have begun developing the applications themselves. This paper explores the emerging trend of healthcare professionals developing mobile applications themselves and harnessing their profession to market these applications. Using diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) the trend is analysed to see how this diffusion differs from the earlier attempts to implement static clinical information systems and explores further research in the use of mobile applications by healthcare professionals.

Understanding organizational barriers influencing local electronic government adoption and implementation: the electronic government implementation framework

Researches in electronic government have indicated a number of organizational barriers that hinder the adoption and implementation of electronic government. This paper proposes a research framework for analysing how organizational barriers influence the adoption and implementation of e-government at local levels. The framework is constructed based on four organizational dimensions; adaptability, involvement, mission, and bureaucracy drawn from organizational theories and e-government literature. We found that organizational barriers which are identified in major e-government literature link to the dimensions of organizational culture and effectiveness. Our conclusion is that the framework is relevant to understand organizational barriers influencing adoption and implementation of local e-government. The limitation of this study is that the framework has been developed based on the application of a theoretical lens on the e-government literature. It is now necessary to test this model in different contexts.

The Influence of External Institutional Pressures on Local E-Government Adoption and Implementation: A Coercive Perspective within an Indonesian Local E-Government Context

Adoption and implementation of e-government within local government organizations are influenced by many external factors. These factors are often perceived as forces or pressures that influence local government decisions to adopt and implement the initiatives. This study uses the concept of coercive force from institutional theory to explain those external pressures influencing e-government adoption and implementation within a local government in Bali province in Indonesia. An interpretive case study approach is adopted to empirically understand the external pressures on local government adoption and implementation of e-government. Our findings show that four institutional external forces, central government, regulations, local citizens and limitation in financial resources, have strongly influenced the regency to adopt and implement e-government systems to improve their administration and services performance.

Examining the Role of the Culture of Local Government on Adoption and Use of E-Government Services

This paper describes research in progress to explore the role of culture in adoption of e-government at local government levels. The majority of research in electronic government highlighted cultural issues but they do not identify specific cultural traits influencing e-government adoption and use. From our literature review we identified four major cultural traits; adaptability, involvement, mission, and bureaucratic, that is explored in this research. Based on these cultural traits and other cultural issues surrounding the adoption of e-government, we develop a framework to explore the role of culture in adopting and using e-government systems at local government organizations. Evidences suggest that the adoption of e-government at local levels is either mandatory or voluntary which is followed by supportive policies from central governments. Our conclusion is that during the adoption process, the cultural traits contribute to the adoption and use of e-government systems.

Social Media Use in Local Government: An Australian Perspective

Social media offers governments extensive opportunities to engage with citizens, particularly at the local level. This study investigates the issues that local governments face in implementing social media initiatives. It builds on existing literature by using an interpretive approach to examine the perceptions of public employees and elected officials of local councils in an Australian context. The article reports on the issues that inhibit a move to a more interactive use of social media and examines how these may be addressed. Implications for research and practice are given.

A framework for partner selection criteria in virtual enterprises for SMEs

Virtual enterprises that exist on the Internet are increasingly gaining attention from organisations due to global competition and accelerating changes in the business environment. In virtual enterprises, two or more organisations merge to collaborate for a short period in exploiting market opportunities in response to ever-changing customer demand. Finding the right partners to form a partnership is one of the primary problems in virtual enterprises. Numerous criteria for partner selection are given by researchers and each seems to be critical in its own setting. However, these criteria do not help organisations that wish to apply these criteria to their business collaborations as there are too many to be considered. As market opportunities move rapidly, organisations could lose their chances to pursue those opportunities due to the amount of time that is needed to consider all the criteria. There are two categories of criteria for partner selection - task-related and partner-related criteria. Nevertheless, the focus of this paper is on partner-related criteria. In order to help virtual enterprises particularly small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the partner selection process, the main partner-related criteria will be identified. Ultimately, these criteria will be used to identify critical success factors (CSFs) that can be employed at the early stage of partner selection to ensure secure and future business collaboration.

Integrating online communities within business-to-business marketing communications: an exploratory study

Abstract The article provides a conceptual contribution by developing a framework for business-to-business (B2B) marketers seeking to implement online communities (OLCs). Furthermore, the conceptual contribution is augmented by a small-scale exploratory study comprising in-depth interviews with B2B chief marketing officers (CMOs). The findings challenge existing thinking that B2B marketers can follow generic marketing communication frameworks. This is due to the differences in B2B OLCs in terms of multiple stakeholders and two-way information flows and differences in buyer behaviour. For researchers, the contribution is an embryonic model that will facilitate future conceptual development as well as empirical testing through a series of research propositions. A sequential decision-making framework, which identifies key implementation challenges, is provided for B2B managers.