John Leslie King

Institutional Factors in Information Technology Innovation

Innovation in information technology is well established in developed nations; newly industrializing and developing nations have been creating governmental interventions to accelerate IT innovation within their borders. The lack of coherent policy advice for creating government policy for IT innovation signals a shortfall in research understanding of the role of government institutions, and institutions more broadly, in IT innovation. This paper makes three points. First, long-established intellectual perspectives on innovation from neoclassical economics and organization theory are inadequate to explain the dynamics of actual innovative change in the IT domain. A broader view adopted from economic history and the new institutionalism in sociology provides a stronger base for understanding the role of institutions in IT innovation. Second, institutional intervention in IT innovation can be constructed at the intersection of the influence and regulatory powers of institutions and the ideologies of supply-push and demand-pull models of innovation. Examples of such analysis are provided. Third, institutional policy formation regarding IT innovation is facilitated by an understanding of the multifaceted role of institutions in the innovative process, and on the contingencies governing any given institution/innovation mix.

Computer-based systems for cooperative work and group decision making

Application of computer and communications technology to cooperative work and group decision making has grown out of three traditions: computer-based communications, computer:based information service provision, and computer-based decision support. This paper reviews the group decision support systems (GDSSs) that have been configured to meet the needs of groups at work, and evaluates the experience to date with such systems. Progress with GDSSs has proved to be slower than originally anticipated because of shortcomings with available technology, poor integration of the various components of the computing package, and incomplete understanding of the nature of group decision making. Nevertheless, the field shows considerable promise with respect to the creation of tools to aid in group decision making and the development of sophisticated means of studying the dynamics of decision making in groups.

Centralized versus decentralized computing: organizational considerations and management options

Author(s): King, John Leslie | Abstract: The long-standing debate over whether to centralize or decentralize computing is examined in terms of the fundamental organizational and economic factors at stake. The traditional debate is examined and found to focus predominantly on issues of efficiency vs. effectiveness, with solutions based on a rationalistic strategy of optimizing in this tradeoff. A more behavioralistic assessment suggests that the driving issues in the debate are the politics of organization and resources, centering on the issue of control. The economics of computing deployment decisions is presented as an important issue, but one that often serves as a field of argument that is based on more political concerns. The current situation facing managers of computing, given the advent of small and comparatively inexpensive computers, is examined in detail, and a set of management options for dealing with this persistent issue is presented.

Evolution and organizational information systems: an assessment of Nolan's stage model

Richard Nolans stage model is the best known and most widely cited model of computing evolution in organizations. The models development over a decade demonstrates its own evolution from a simple theory, based on the factoring of change states indicated by changes in computing budgets, to an elaborate account of the characteristics of six stages of computing growth. An analysis of the models logical and empirical structure reveals a number of problems in its formulation that help to account for the fact that its principal tenets have not been independently validated. The model is shown to be an “evolutionistic” theory within the theories of evolution in the social sciences, focusing on assumed directions of growth and an implied end state toward which growth proceeds, and suffering from problems inherent in such theories. Further research based on an “evolutionary” view of computing growth is suggested as a means of improving theories of computing in organizations.

Cost-Benefit Analysis in Information Systems Development and Operation

Cost-benefit analysis of computer-based mformatmn systems is a major concern of managers in pubhc and private orgamzatlons using computers. This paper introduces and reviews basic elements of cost-benefit analysis as applied to computerized informatmn systems, and provides dmcussmn of the major problems to be avoided.

Computing and public organizations

Computing and Public Organizations Kenneth L. Kraemer Jason Dedrick Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations Graduate School of Management University of California, Irvine Working Paper #URB-092 Suite 3200 Berkeley Place University of California Irvine, CA 92717-4650 Tel: (714) 824-5246 Fax: (714) 824-8091 Internet: kkraemer@uci.edu CRITO ©1996 Revision submitted to Journal of Public Administration, Research and Theory, February 1996 Acknowledgment. The research for this paper was supported by grants from the Division of Information, Robotics, and Intelligent Systems of the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Information Technology and Administrative Reform: Will E-Government Be Different?

This article examines the theoretical ideal of information technology as an instrument of administrative reform and examines the extent to which that ideal has been achieved in the United States. It takes a look at the findings from research about the use and impacts of information technology from the time of the mainframe computer through the PC revolution to the current era of the Internet and e-government. It then concludes that information technology has never been an instrument of administrative reform; rather, it has been used to reinforce existing administrative and political arrangements. It assesses why this is the case and draws conclusions about what should be expected with future applications of information technologies — in the time after e-government. It concludes with a discussion of the early evidence about newer applications for automated service delivery, 24/7 e-government, and e-democracy.

Large-Scale Requirements Analysis Revisited: The need for Understanding the Political Ecology of Requirements Engineering

This paper addresses thepolitical nature of requirements for large systems, and argues that requirements engineering theory and practice must become more engaged with these issues. It argues that large-scale system requirements is constructed through a political decision process, whereby requirements emerge as a set of mappings between consecutive solution spaces justified by a problem space of concern to a set of principals. These solution spaces are complex socio-technical ensembles that often exhibit non-linear behaviour in expansion due to domain complexity and political ambiguity. Stabilisation of solutions into agreed-on specifications occurs only through the exercise of organisational power. Effective requirements engineering in such cases is most effectively seen as a form of heterogeneous engineering in which technical, social, economic and institutional factors are brought together in a current solution space that provides the baseline for construction of proposed new solution spaces.

Standard making: a critical research frontier for information systems research

Standards have played an important role in the evolution of information and communication technology (ICT). ICTs are defined here as technologies dedicated to information processing, involving the use of digital computers and software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and retrieve information (Wikipedia 2005). These technologies, in general, establish the technological infrastructure upon which information system and applications are built.

A representational scheme for analyzing information technology and organizational dependency

This paper presents a new representation methodology, dependency network diagrams (DNDs), which enables the essential elements governing organizational relations to be captured, communicated, and evaluated under changing conditions. By depicting important features of organizational relations, information systems can be designed explicitly for control and coordination of organizational activities. The rules and construction algorithm for DNDs are presented and applied to a case study of a Canadian automobile insurance company. Analysis of the case reveals how IT was used to create strategic change within the Canadian vehicle repair market.