Laurie McAulay

The stakeholder dimension in information systems evaluation

This study used an earlier critique of the cultural sciences for exploring the ideological basis for the evaluation of outsourcing. Questionnaire and interview responses are presented. These incorporate a range of evaluative criteria, which together represent an indicative list of the benefits and risks of outsourcing. The paper initially suggests that different stakeholders might be impacted on in different ways by benefits and risks. It is suggested that information technology outsourcing evaluation might thus be partial and not neutral in its impact on stakeholders. However, the differences and similarities between stakeholders suggest a subtle interplay of ideological concerns that does not totally deny the interests of all but the dominant stakeholders. Although the evaluation may be partial this does not deny the potential for those who might be presumed to be disadvantaged for making personal gains. However, in making personal gains, an ideology based on economic interests is furthered, thus occluding the opportunity for autonomous and responsible engagement with the process of evaluation.

Supplemental Value of MRI in Fetal Abdominal Disease Detected on Prenatal Sonography: Preliminary Experience

OBJECTIVE Our aim was to determine the supplemental value of MRI in fetal abdominal disease detected on prenatal sonography. CONCLUSION Our preliminary results suggest the primary supplemental value of MRI relative to sonography in fetal abdominal disease lies in improved tissue characterization rather than in improved anatomic characterization.

The judge, the model of the judge, and the model of the judged as judge: Analyses of the UK 1992 research assessment exercise data for business and management studies

This paper examines the judgments (part of a multi-million pound government-sponsored resource allocation exercise) made by a panel of experts about the research rating of UK business schools during 1988-1992. We use policy capture to determine, and critically evaluate, how business schools were judged. We suggest methods to improve the process of judgment-principally, using DEA as an idealized model whereby the judged institutions judge themselves, consistent with policy constraints.

Performance Measures and Short-Termism: An Exploratory Study

Abstract We examine the relationship between performance measurement systems and short‐termism. Hypotheses are tested on a sample of senior managers drawn from a major telecommunications company to determine the extent to which the diagnostic and interactive uses of financial and non‐financial measures give rise to short‐termism. We find no evidence to suggest that the use of financial measures, either diagnostically or interactively, leads to short‐term behaviour. In contrast, we find a significant association between the use of non‐financial measures and short‐termism. Results suggest that the diagnostic use of non‐financial measures leads managers to make inter‐temporal trade‐off choices that prioritise the short term to the detriment of the long term, while we find interactive use is negatively associated with short‐termism. We find an imbalance in favour of the diagnostic use over the interactive use of non‐financial performance measures is associated with short‐termism. Overall, findings highlight the importance of considering the specific use of performance measures in determining the causes of short‐termism.

Executives’ use of information technology: comparison of electronic mail and an accounting information system

The use of electronic mail and the non-use of an accounting information system (IS) by a group of executives at a major telecommunications company provided the opportunity of exploring the reasons why executives use information technology (IT). The paper draws on qualitative and quantitative research data to give a holistic and integrative explanation. This is based on the perceptions of executives and is interpreted through a wide range of prior research which incorporates media richness theory, social interaction theories and technology acceptance modelling. The case study draws particular attention to the concept of media style. Structuration theory is used to draw together the several factors which are to be found in the existing literature and in the case study. Individual action and structure interacted to create the changing conditions which typify the context for executive use of IT at the case study site. The structure comprises IT itself, task and social and technological factors.

Information technology investment evaluation: evidence and interpretations

Structures are important to the practice of information technology (IT) evaluation. Structures, as evidenced by 14 case studies and the words of six financial directors, are defined here as organizational responses, including user committees and responsibility accounting, quantitative assessments of IT projects, such as financial appraisals, and qualitative assessments. Structures in practice seem to allow for a changing world in which projects are accepted according to business needs and subsequent actions lead accepted projects to be adapted and managed as time passes. In order to manage IT technology in this way, structures alone are important but not sufficient. Active individuals have an important role to play and credibility becomes an important factor in evaluation and implementation. The credibility of IT management is created by its selling of the project in the first place and then by its ability to manage the project in a responsive way. Credible strategists are at least as important as a strategy to the evaluation of IT.

Unintended consequences of computer-mediated communications

This paper explores the unintended consequences of computer-mediated communications by adopting a typology suggested by the sociologist Robert Merton. The typology is used to present a thematic analysis drawn from the literature on computer-mediated communications and two new studies. The first study considered the impact of computer-mediated technology on communicative behaviour in general, and involved 22 managers working in locations in the UK and USA. The second study focused on electronic mail and drew upon the responses of 70 managers. The paper suggests that Mertons analysis of unintended consequences provides a framework which expands our ability to explain issues associated with the implementation of computer-mediated communications and discusses intervention and laissez-faire as two implicit responses evident in the recent literature.

Citation as effortful voting: A reply to ones, Brinn and Pendlebury

This note rehearses and develops the arguments of an earlier paper by Doyle and Arthurs [Omega, 23, 257–270 (1995)] in response to comments by Jones et al. [Omega 24, 597–602].This note rehearses and develops the arguments of an earlier paper by Doyle and Arthurs [Omega, 23, 257–270 (1995)] in response to comments by Jones et al. [Omega 24, 597–602].

Towards the formulation of a comprehensive framework for the evaluation of investments in sell-side e-commerce

Abstract In recent years, whilst considerable attention has been focussed on the Internet, and in particular its potential as a sales medium, little research has been conducted into how such investments can be objectively evaluated. Based upon a review of the literature and a series of exploratory interviews, a provisional framework for evaluating e-commerce investments is presented. It is shown that in addition to considering generic issues such as flexibility and implementabilty, an e-commerce evaluation framework should address specifics, such as customer management, marketing and logistics. “The key question is not whether to deploy Internet technology—companies have little choice if they want to remain competitive—but how to deploy it” [ Porter 2001 ]

A tragedy of understanding; accounting for ontological security

There is a scene in a play by Euripides in which Medea, the central character, persuades Jason, her husband, to be the unwitting participant in her plot for revenge. This scene illustrates a facet of finance and accounting expertise because it shows how narrative, including finance and accounting, provides ontological security; a belief in the security of reality and the predictability of outcomes. The Chorus in the play suggests that Jason is “so sure of destiny”. What makes the scene particularly interesting is that it carries a second meaning, which is absolutely clear to the audience, and which has tragic consequences, of which Jason is “so ignorant”. This possibility of a second meaning suggests dangers in accepting a superficial understanding of any narrative. In turn, this shows the need for a knowledge of the history and characters from which any single scene, or finance and accounting report or calculation, is constructed. Provides quotations from practitioners which illustrate ways in which they see finance and accountancy as narrative and the ways in which they succeed and fail to imbue any accounting scene with characters and history.