Martin D. Crossland

Spatial decision support systems: an overview of technology and a test of efficacy

Abstract A laboratory experiment was used to investigate the effects on decision-maker performance of using geographic information system (GIS) technology as a spatial decision support system (SDSS). GIS are increasingly being used for decision-making, yet research about their contributions to the performance of decision-makers has been lacking. This study makes a contribution to that apparent void. Volunteer subjects completed a site location task that required decisions to be made based upon spatially referenced information. Performance was operationalized as elapsed time and accuracy. The task environment was manipulated in two dimensions. In one dimension, task complexity was varied on two levels. In the other dimension, some subjects were provided a geographic information system as a decision aid; the rest were not. Significant differences were found between task solutions developed by SDSS users and those developed by non-SDSS users. SDSS users experienced shorter solution times and fewer errors for both levels of task complexity. The study builds upon and extends image theory as a basis for explaining efficiency differences resulting from different graphical displays of spatial information.

Privacy Policy Statements and Consumer Willingness to Provide Personal Information

Consumers’ concerns about information privacy are a primary obstacle to the success of e-commerce. The adoption of privacy policy statements is a direct response to this concern. This exploratory study examined the willingness of graduate students (who, by virtue of age, education, and income, are representative of typical Internet consumers) to provide various types of personal information given varying degrees of protection offered by privacy policy statements. The results demonstrated that the willingness to provide information to Web merchants increased as the level of privacy guaranteed by the statements increased. More importantly, the level of privacy promised by the statements interacted with respondents’ prior familiarity with policy statements in terms of their willingness to provide personal information. The results also demonstrated that while most individuals were aware of privacy policy statements, less than half of the respondents had ever read a privacy statement.

Seeding the survey and analysis of research literature with text mining

Text mining is a semi-automated process of extracting knowledge from a large amount of unstructured data. Given that the amount of unstructured data being generated and stored is increasing rapidly, the need for automated means to process it is also increasing. In this study, we present, discuss and evaluate the techniques used to perform text mining on collections of textual information. A case study is presented using text mining to identify clusters and trends of related research topics from three major journals in the management information systems field. Based on the findings of this case study, it is proposed that this type of analysis could potentially be valuable for researchers in any field.

Is a map more than a picture? the role of SDSS technology, subject characteristics, and problem complexity on map reading and problem solving 1

This research investigated how the use of a spatial decision support system (SDSS)-a type of geographic information system (GIS)-influenced the accuracy and efficiency of different types of problem solvers (i.e., professionals versus students) completing problems of varied complexity. This research-first to simultaneously study these variables-examined subjects who completed a problem involving spatially-referenced information. The experiment was guided by a research model synthesized from various perspectives, including the theory of cognitive fit, prior research on map reading and interpretation, and research examining subject expertise and experience. The results are largely supportive of the research model and demonstrate that SDSS, an increasingly important class of management decision-making technology, increased the efficiency of users working on more complex problems. Professionals were found to be more accurate but less efficient than students; however, professionals who used the SDSS were no more accurate than professionals using paper maps. Need for cognition, a construct that focuses on an individuals willingness to engage in problem solving tasks, was found to be marginally related to accuracy. The implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are presented and discussed.

Geographic information systems: applications and research opportunities for information systems researchers

The purpose of the paper is to provide an introduction to geographic information systems (GIS) and a research framework for information systems researchers. The paper summarizes the main GIS features, functions, and capabilities, including a research framework for GIS. In addition, several opportunities for research are suggested including those related to GIS management, organizational impacts, collaborative issues, evaluations of decision-making effectiveness, and societal impacts in both developed and developing countries.

Consumer trust: privacy policies and third‐party seals

Purpose – This study aims to compare the effectiveness of third‐party seals with self‐reported privacy policy statements with regard to the willingness of potential e‐commerce customers to provide web sites with various types of personal information.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was administered to 374 graduate business students at two Midwestern universities in the USA.Findings – The results indicated that third‐party seals were not as effective as self‐reported privacy statements with a strong guarantee of security.Research limitations/implications – This study did not provide any evidence to support the necessity for small enterprises to incur the added costs in terms of money and time required to obtain a third‐party seal. Rather the results suggest small enterprises may increase consumer trust more effectively through strong privacy policy statements.Originality/value – This study provides useful information on the effectiveness of third‐party seals with self‐reported privacy policy statemen...

The impact of task and cognitive style on decision-making effectiveness using a geographic information system

A laboratory experiment is conducted to investigate how two individual cognitive style factors, field dependence and need-for-cognition, relate to decision-making performance for a spatial task. The intent of the investigation is to establish a methodology for measuring cognitive fit for spatial tasks. The experiment assesses the performance of 142 subjects on a site location task where the problem complexity and availability of a geographic information system are manipulated on two levels. Significant relationships are found for both field dependence and need-forcognition with the two dependent performance variables, solution time and percent error.

Test of a Model Linking Cognitive Motivation, Assessment of Alternatives, Decision Quality, and Group Process Satisfaction

The proposed model links cognitive motivation to the assessment of alternatives, decision quality, and group satisfaction in Ventana Corporations GroupSystemsm environment. The proposed model hypothesized a direct link between cognitive motivation, as operationalized by Petty and Cacioppos (1986) Need for Cognition (NFC) construct, and assessment of alternatives. This link was confirmed. Group assessment of alternatives was hypothesized to have a direct effect upon the quality of decision and satisfaction with group process. These links were confirmed. The hypothesized link between quality of decision and satisfaction with group process was, however, not supported. The finding that higher quality decisions result from greater member input concerning the value of alternative choices bolsters the importance of establishing a comprehensive survey of the options. Group composition issues are discussed.

Would Regulation of Web Site Privacy Policy Statements Increase Consumer Trust

Proponents of e-commerce have known for some time that limited participation by consumers partially reflects their concern over the privacy of personal information. To address consumer concerns, web site operators have employed security mechanisms, including privacy policy statements to increase their perceived trustworthiness. While empirical evidence is limited, there is some question regarding the ability of privacy policy statements to engender significantly greater levels of trust. The limited effectiveness of such statements may reflect their voluntary implementation, self-enforcement, and\or significant variance (protection and enforcement) from one web site to another. One possible remedy would be the imposition of legally mandated statements. This study examined the efficacy of legally mandated privacy policies vis-a-vis both voluntary statements of varying degrees of protection and the absence of any such statement. The results were mixed, as legally mandated privacy policy statements were found to be comparable to strong voluntary statements, but superior to none, weak or moderate policies. Perhaps more important, the nature of the privacy policy statement interacted with type of information requested.