Markus Bick

Social Knowledge Environments

Knowledge management represents a key issue for both information systems’ academics and practitioners, including those who have become disillusioned by actual results that fail to deliver on exaggerated promises and idealistic visions. Social software, a tremendous global success story, has prompted similarly high expectations regarding the ways in which organizations can improve their knowledge handling. But can these expectations be met, whether in academic research or the real world? This article seeks to identify current research trends and gaps, with a focus on social knowledge environments. The proposed research agenda features four focal challenges: semi-permeable organizations, social software in professional work settings, crowd knowledge, and cross-border knowledge management. Three solutions emerge as likely methods to address these challenges: design-oriented solutions, analytical solutions, and interdisciplinary dialogue.

Mobile banking — insights on its increasing relevance and most common drivers of adoption

The fast advancement of mobile technologies and devices has increased the importance of mobile banking (m-banking) for financial institutions. Even though numerous studies have investigated the drivers of m-banking adoption, up to now there is no study that has critically reviewed the findings of previous efforts and evaluated the results in this field for researchers as well as practitioners. As a consequence, this article explores the most commonly used drivers to examine the adoption of m-banking through a comprehensive and up-to-date literature review of articles published between 2008 and 2011. With it, the results not only indicate that the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was mainly adapted by most m-banking studies but also reveal that the most common drivers of adoption can be categorized into four major dimensions, i.e. perceived usefulness, perceived risk, perceived compatibility and perceived cost. This article gives an introduction to the heightened relevance of m-banking, provides researchers with an overview of frequently harnessed drivers of m-banking adoption as well as future research opportunities and equips practitioners with an understanding for m-banking customers and corresponding managerial decisions.

On the Importance of National Culture for the Design of Information Systems

In this contribution a literature review is conducted to illustrate how national culture influences phases of the design of information systems. For this purpose, we review the literature in order to identify reliable and commonly approved findings as well as still open remaining questions. Fundamentally, our literature review is a comprehensive framework that sets typical dimensions of system design as well as main types of cultural research in relation to each other. The existing research results in the area of national culture are classified along the levels of system design and attributed to typical phases of the design of information systems. It thus becomes apparent that in the domain of culture and information system design it is often only the design subject or the design object that is addressed. Contributions that connect both levels rarely exist. In our review, only a limited number of publications could be identified that covered concrete phases of the development providing system design, implementation, as well as verification and validation. From a theoretical perspective, there is an obvious dominance of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions that well address single topics of the design, such as user interface and inter cultural problems in development teams. Other domains, however (e.g., technology and architecture), are inadequately explained. Further, a predominantly phenomenological focus becomes obvious. The observed cultural phenomena and the connected interpretations are usable in a limited way for concrete development initiatives. The contribution ends with the vision of a theory for the culturally sensitive design of socio-technical information systems that absorbs current scientific knowledge and unites it in a structured approach.

A novel approach towards skill-based search and services of Open Educational Resources

Ha, K.-H., Niemann, K., Schwertel, U., Holtkamp, P., Pirkkalainen, H., Borner, D. et al (2011). A novel approach towards skill-based search and services of Open Educational Resources. In E. Garcia-Barriocanal, A. Ozturk, & M. C. Okur (Eds.), Metadata and Semantics Research: 5th International Conference MTSR 2011 (pp. 312-323), Izmir, Turkey, October 12-14, 2011. Springer.

Design principle for teaching simulation with explorative learning environments

Teaching the highly complex domain of simulation requires well-elaborated strategies for efficient education. The authors present a well-structured approach to define the requirements for Web based simulation courses. Our approach is based on the Essen Learning Model (ELM) (J.M. Pawlowski, 2000), a development model supporting the development and specification of learning environments. The results of the Essen Learning Model development process describe the requirements for a learning environment being used in a computer based simulation course for graduate student of business information systems.

Technology-induced anxiety

We explore the effect of different technology-induced anxieties on user acceptance.We further explore root causes of anxieties within the national culture.Data from German and Australian hospitals is used to test the research model.Work and relational anxieties reduce acceptance.Anxieties can partially be attributed to national culture. Sensor-based systems have healthcare transformation potential but acceptance problems jeopardize their diffusion. We theorize that perceived technology threats induce anxiety and diminish usage intentions. We use data from the pre-implementation phase in German and Australian hospitals to explore the formation of three types of anxieties, their impact on usage intentions, and the relationships between them and national culture. We find negative effects of relational and work-related anxieties on usage intentions while surveillance anxieties show no association. The anxieties can be partially linked to national culture characteristics. Our findings support implementation initiatives and offer a deeper understanding of technology-induced anxieties.

Investigating Location-Based Services from a Business Model Perspective

New business models in the field of Location-Based Services (LBS) emerge as frequently as they perish. Even though the amount of existing literature addressing LBS is quite large, research attempts to approach LBS from a business model perspective are scarce. This study aims to close this gap by identifying components and characteristics of viable LBS business models from a German market perspective. The underlying research reveals seventeen core components of LBS Business Models through a qualitative approach. In addition to an improved scientific understanding of the mechanisms of LBS business models, this work equips practitioners with an LBS tailored business model framework.

Cryptocurrencies as a Disruption? Empirical Findings on User Adoption and Future Potential of Bitcoin and Co

In this paper, we examine cryptocurrencies as a potentially disruptive sort of payment method. Due to its relative importance, we focus in particular on Bitcoin. Through an inductive, exploratory interview approach with 13 individuals in three distinct groups, the determinants usability, usefulness, and subjective norm that could make Bitcoin a game-changer are explored. The results reveal that most stakeholders consider perceived ease of use still rather low, with perceived usefulness varying according to the user group. The notion of Bitcoin as having much future potential as a payment method is confirmed across all interviewees. Interestingly, the underlying concept of a blockchain is also seen as a potential revolutionary way to create a more just society based on open platforms and open data. However, the reasons of why Bitcoin is actually a disruption to existing solutions varies widely.

Customer is King? A Framework to Shift from Cost- to Value-Based Pricing in Software as a Service: The Case of Business Intelligence Software

With a shift from the purchase of a product to the delivery of a service, cloud computing has revolutionized the software industry. Its cost structure has changed with the introduction of Software as a Service (SaaS), resulting in decreasing variable costs and necessary amendments to the software vendors’ pricing models. In order to justify the gap between the software’s price and the incremental cost of adding a new customer, it is essential for the vendor to focus on the added value for the client. This shift from cost- to value-based pricing models has so far not been thoroughly studied. Through literature review and expert interviews, a conceptual model for customer-centric SaaS pricing, especially Business Intelligence & Business Analytics tools, has been developed. The model has then been initially validated by discussions with the top five software players in this realm and builds a strong basis for further theoretical inquiry and practical application.

Radio frequency identification: a case for health care

The use of RFID tags in healthcare applications has been gaining momentum over the past decade. This is partly due to recent advances in information technology and the need to reduce errors while simultaneously improving the efficiency of the system. We, at the RFID European Lab, have been studying various aspects of RFID implementations in healthcare environment over the past several years. The potential for RFID implementations in healthcare environment is enormous. We consider several such opportunities and identify possible extensions.