Jaana Porra

Internet-based EDI strategy

Abstract The Internet appears to be a cheap, efficient, and ubiquitous channel for transmitting Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transactions. This paper contrasts two strategies for implementing Internet-EDI systems. McKesson treated its Internet-EDI system as a traditional information systems development project while Bank of America built its Internet-EDI system with a prototyping approach. The paper discusses the conditions in which either approach may be appropriate in terms of project goals, time constraints, environmental uncertainty; and organizational structures employed. It also suggests that emerging Internet-EDI applications could transform trading partners relationships by reducing the import of EDI-capability as a competitive asset.

The history of texaco's corporate information technology function: a general systems theoretical interpretation

We attempt to use general systems theory (GST) to understand why the resources of Texacos corporate information technology function consistently did not match its task during its 40-year lifetime. Our interpretation uses mechanistic, organic, and colonial systems metaphors, each with three components. The first is an analysis of a management action system made up of organizational indicators such as Texacos revenues, profits, employee numbers, IT budgets, and IT personnel numbers. The second is a narrative of performance versus resource needs, which shows a gap between the resources and expanding responsibilities of Texacos IT function. The third is a management perception system, which offers reasons why top management continually misinterpreted ITs performance as inferior. Our results show that the mechanistic, organic, and colonial interpretations converge. In addition, our GST-based interpretations show how top management might have remedied the situation.

The evolution of the corporate IT function and the role of the CIO at Texaco: how do perceptions of IT's performance get formed?

While senior managements confidence in the IT function and the CIO appears to be at an all time low, the fields understanding of why this condition exists is still confused. This paper suggests that the problem lies in how perceptions about IT are formed. To this end, the paper briefly looks at the growth and evolution of the corporate IT department at the oil giant Texaco, Inc. The analysis paints a somewhat disturbing picture of a top performing IT organization, intimately responsible for the success of the corporation, yet being perceived by much of senior management as an overhead that was costly and ineffective. The paper suggests some reasons as to why such perceptions might have come about, and what lessons the field can learn from what happened at Texaco. It is our belief that through such historical analyses, like the one performed at Texaco, a richer and broader understanding of the nature of organizational IT units is possible. These analyses shed light on the root causes for why IT is often perceived negatively. We suggest that IT organizations might change these perceptions by partnering with business units to share the credit for successful implementations and managing the perceptions about ITs contribution.

Internet security and the case of Bank of America

Until recently, most firms trusted their critical electronic business transactions to external value-added network (VAN) providers. Today, however, the Internet is often proposed as an alternative to VANs as the transport medium based on the perceived low cost of the Internet, and the rapidly developing Internet security infrastructure (for example, encryption and public key management). In fact, these two obvious advantages may not be the most critical determinants in choosing how to perform electronic business transaction processing. This article addresses some of the organizational and technical issues facing companies considering the Internet for critical business transactions. The case presented here shows how these organizational issues emerged in a two-year project study conducted at the Bank of America (BofA) [3–5]. The purpose of this project was to demonstrate the feasibility of exchanging secure payment transactions over the Internet with BofA’s customer—the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Based on the lessons from this study, we suggest that an organization’s Internet components must be an integral part of corporatewide information system security management, and may require a reorganization of the Arie Segev, Jaana Porra, and Malu Roldan

Sustainable virtual communities: suggestions from the colonial model

While virtual community research has contributed to the understanding of the virtual community sustainability, a need for a systematic model exists. In this paper, we propose a model of sustainable virtual communities based on the sustainability properties of animal colonies in nature. The premise of our model is that if we manage to replicate the sustainability properties of colonial systems in virtual communities, they can become longer lasting. We also present the results of an exploratory case study. The study shows that colonial properties form a construct that predicts member perceptions of their community being sustainable. While our primary objective is the conceptual introduction of the colonial principles of sustainability, the case study provides some early indications that these principles may help design systems that can bind virtual communities more permanently.

Electronic Commerce Internet Strategies and Business Models-A Survey

Today, any doubts about possibilities of significant profits over the Internet are a distant memory. Such has been the proliferation of Internet-based business on the public network. But electronic commerce has turned out to be more difficult to master than previously assumed. For many, ventures have been less lucrative than expected. The problem is that integrating business models with technology is a multifaceted and largely open question (Shaw, et al. 1997). How do businesses of various sizes and industries actually start their Internet activity and how do their business models change over time? More specifically, how do their different Internet strategies play out? This article is the result of a survey of the Internet strategies and business models of 280 companies that sell products and services on the public network. The results show that electronic commerce has penetrated companies of all sizes. Based on this survey it is apparent that while many companies have participated in electronic commerce for years, their business models are still in their infancy stages.

Forty years of the corporate information technology function at Texaco Inc. - A history

This paper is a history of Texacos Corporate IT Function (IT) from its inception until Chevron acquired Texaco in 2001. The four decades of Texaco IT are best characterized by a contrast between the functions performance and its resources. According to third party measures, Texaco IT was a top performer amongst oil-industry IT functions and third party service providers. Yet starting soon after its inception, the department endured a resource squeeze. As the workload increased, ITs relative resources shrank. Throughout its history, user dissatisfaction with the unit was prevalent. We believe that the Texaco IT story is a typical account of the experiences of many large corporate IT organizations. The unit was a success by the measures of the profession, but failed in the eyes of top management and business units.

Information Systems history: What is history? What is IS history? What IS history? … and why even bother with history?

Prologue and preamble The views of Collingwood can be summarized as follows. The philosophy of history is concerned neither with ‘the past by itself’ nor with ‘the historians thought about it by itself’, but with ‘the two things in their mutual relations’. (This dictum reflects the two current meanings of the word ‘history’ – the inquiry conducted by the historian and the series of past events into which he inquires.) Carr (1961: 1l)

A Lifetime of Theory and Action on the Ethical Use of Computers: A Dialogue with Enid Mumford *

Enid Mumford devoted her career to promoting the ethical use of computers. She founded her work on ethics, socio-technical and general systems theory, and action research. These foundations translated into four principles underlying all her work: (1) Information systems should be designed to improve the quality of life for all. (2) Individuals should be able to participate in designing their own working circumstances and information systems. (3) Solutions to local problems have global consequences. (4) All research should include action to improve the situation being studied. Enid Mumford’s legacy extends from ethical information system design to complex problem solving in the global era. This paper is an interview of Enid Mumford at her home in the United Kingdom in the summer of 2003 with a brief introduction to the theoretical foundations of her thinking, her research and her legacy to the information systems research field.

A Dialogue with C. West Churchman

In 1996, the author attended a seminar on ethics given by C. West Churchman at the University of California, Berkeley. During that year, the author also interviewed Churchman several times regarding the future direction of information sciences in general and the information systems research field in particular. This article is a compilation of the seminar and the interviews. It is set in the context of both Churchmans earlier and his current views of a global “god,” “good,” “kindness,” and “caring.” C. West Churchman holds that global ethics should lead to the study and design of information systems to solve large and difficult problems of the humankind such as poverty, crime and disease. His Global Ethical Management (GEM) of information sciences translates into abandoning the current goals and boundaries of the information sciences fields and changing what constitutes valid research to globally ethical endeavors.