Mary R. Lind

An Attribute Space for Organizational Communication Channels

The primary objective of this study was to identify the perceptual dimensions used by 158 managers and their professional staff at a single large manufacturing firm in differentiating fourteen distinct communication channels available in the firm. Six candidate criteria for differentiating these channels were examined (channel accessibility, information quality, immediate feedback, cue variety, personalization, and receiver accessibility) using multidimensional scaling. A secondary objective involved assessing whether communication direction influenced perceptions. Responses were obtained for two intraorganizational communication directions: lateral and downward. Results indicated that these individuals applied a perceptual framework involving three dimensions: information feedback, accessibility, and quality. Further, a perspective shift from the “message sender” to the “message receiver” was observed in moving from lateral to downward communication. The observations of directional differences demonstrat...

The gender impact of temporary virtual work groups

Much knowledge work involves temporary work teams. Increasingly, these teams are not face-to-face but virtual teams. The paper explores the gender impact of virtual collaboration as compared to face-to-face teams. Descriptive statistics are used to show the different perceptions of the group experience based on gender and on face-to-face versus virtual team experiences. Women in the virtual groups perceived that the group stuck together more and helped each other more than did the men. Also, the women were more satisfied with the virtual group than men and felt that group conflict was readily resolved. In comparing the experience of women in the virtual groups to women in the face-to-face groups, the face-to-face women were less satisfied with the group experience than their virtual counterparts and perceived that conflict was smoothed over.

Microcomputer adoption—the impact of organizational size and structure

Abstract Data collected from twenty-one firms were used to study the impact of organizational size and structure on the adoption of microcomputers in those firms. The results show that both size and structure had a significant impact on the adoption of microcomputers. Organizational size was measured as the organizations annual sales. The structural characteristics were measured as organizational links (lateral relations) between the information systems area and users of microcomputer technology.

A methodology for forecasting knowledge work projects

Abstract Forecasting project duration for knowledge workers is particularly difficult due to the complexity and variability of their work. This study examines prediction of software development completion times which has traditionally involved either software engineering techniques or purely judgmental forecasts by lead analysts or project managers. In practice, neither approach has achieved much success in forecasting software project duration. This paper proposes a neural network model to modeling software project overruns. Actual software project management data, obtained for a regional grocery chain, were used to develop and test the neural network model as well as a traditional regression model for forecasting project overruns. Comparisons between the forecasts and the actual project overruns revealed that the neural network model outperformed the regression model in terms of forecast accuracy, degree of forecast bias and model fit. The results suggest that neural network modelling can be used to integrate managerial judgments and actual operating data to accurately forecast software project completion times. Scope and purpose This study examines the difficult managerial issue of estimating knowledge work project completion time. Many knowledge worker projects are late and over-budget due to the complexity of knowledge work contexts and the pressures on the project managers to underestimate project duration.This paper compares the project duration estimates of project managers to quantitative prediction techniques that use project history data to predict project overruns. The two techniques used are neural network modeling and regression.

An exploration of communication channel usage by gender

This paper investigates the proposition that communication channel usage differs by gender. First the results of a communication channel exploratory analysis are reported which examined perceptions of communication channel usage in a group of office workers. These results are then examined in light of existing information processing theory. While these findings are limited in generalizability, this study shows the lack of gender specific information processing research. Researchers may find it useful when examining information processing and communication channel usage, in particular, to control for gender differences.

A Systems Model for Evaluating Transit Performance

The purpose of this study was to develop a systems model of public transit performance which integrates the issues of service quality, efficiency and revenue generation. The mathematical formulation of the systems model was used to construct a single overall relative performance metric for transit systems. The metric can be used by government agencies and transit system managers to identify inefficiencies in resource use by individual public transit systems. The model was used to evaluate the relative performance of a set of small transit systems operating in the Southeastern United States. Results revealed that only half of these systems were efficiently using their labor, technology, and systems resources to generate fare revenue and to provide quality transit service.

Fail-Safe Methods for Paratransit Safety

The purpose of this study was to illustrate that a systems approach to transit safety can be used to develop a methodology to fail-safe or mistake-proof paratransit operations. The fail-safe methodology illustrated in this article was implemented in a small rural transit system in the southeast U.S. Results demonstrated that safety problems often stem from an interaction of service errors and system components. Results also revealed that fail-safe methods that target specific user groups are more effective than more general methods.

An E-Business Audit Service Model in the B2B Context

This research studies E-business audit as a specialized service rendered in an information technology intensive environment. A service model is used to research the E-business audit context. Here auditing is viewed as a specialized technical service conducted in the context of E-business technologies, business processes, and people involved in E-business transactions. The specialized audit service is provided to the E-Business transacting firms that in most cases involve transactions between customers and suppliers. A field study of information technology auditors showed that both knowledge of the business processes and of the technologies were critical for them to render reliable and accurate E-business audit findings. The results showed the need for higher training levels in advanced IT methods and tools for technology auditors in rendering IT audit judgments for the business-to-business (B2B) context. Thus, these results provided support for the service model that calls for the appropriate knowledge and use of technologies, business processes, and people in providing service.

Audit Risk, Complex Technology, and Auditing Processes

Abstract While growing organizations often embrace risk, these risks should not be taken blindly. These entities should have a clear understanding of the potential consequences of increased risk and how to insure positive outcomes. As firms are increasingly experiencing “virtualization” in their relationships with suppliers, partners, and consumers, there is an increasing need for trust and assurance in these relationships. There is greater pressure on independent auditors to attest to this trust and assurance. Ronen and Cherny1 indicated that independent auditors are expected to be trust providers to the level of being “insurers.” Auditors have talked of “reasonable assurance “and “true and fair presentation” but now their stakeholders expect these auditors to be insurers of their investment! While bizarre, this is a reality for auditors.2 In this outsourced scenario, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) promulgated a statement of auditing standards (SAS) No. 94, replacing the SAS 55; however, it keeps the definition of “internal controls” unchanged. The purpose of this article is to discuss the SAS 94 audit standards for organizations making extensive use of IT. It is divided into two major parts: (1) an examination of complex information technologies in terms of audit risk, and (2) the effect of SAS 94 on the audit processes.

Student case groups: electronic groups versus face‐to‐face groups

Examines the effectiveness of teaching business cases using collaborative groups of students. A quasi‐experiment was conducted in which a class of students was randomly placed in face‐to‐face groups and given a case with questions to answer collectively. Then for a different case, these same students were randomly assigned to electronic case groups. The electronic groups conducted all their group interactions with their fellow group members in universities in the USA, Canada and Mexico via e‐mail over the Internet. The groups rated both their group experiences, face‐to‐face and electronic. Also each student completed the Myers Briggs personality typing instrument. The four dimensions of personality type were then correlated with the case ratings; and significance tests across the two subgroups, electronic and face‐to‐face, were assessed. While there were few significant differences across the electronic and face‐to‐face groups, the extroverts found the electronic groups to be a novel experience. This may be explained by the technical frustrations encountered by the students and the lack of richness of the electronic group exchange.