Mayur S. Desai

Computer attitude as a moderator in the relationship between computer anxiety, satisfaction, and stress

The present study empirically examines the relationship between computer anxiety, job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and stress. Based on self-efficacy theory and self-worth theory of achievement-motivation, it is hypothesized that the relationship between computer anxiety and job satisfaction is curvilinear and attitude towards computer moderates such relationship. The relationship between computer anxiety and career satisfaction and job stress were empirically examined in this study. Two hundred and thirty undergraduate students (125 female and 105 male students) at a university in south-western part of Louisiana completed computer anxiety, computer attitude, job satisfaction, career satisfaction and stress surveys. Hierarchical moderated regression results support that the attitude towards computer acts as a moderator in the relationship between (i) computer anxiety and stress, (ii) computer anxiety and job satisfaction, and (iii) computer anxiety and career satisfaction. Implications for management are discussed.

Conceptualizing strategic issues in information technology outsourcing

Purpose – It is posited that information technology (IT) outsourcing unfolds a complex relationship that has the propensity to start with a bang and end in a whimper unless the strategic parameters are identified at the outset. The paper is intended to beacon flash areas open to scholarly research in this relatively nascent area.Design/methodology/approach – The key to long‐term success is the mutually beneficial partnership of the client and the provider. This paper identifies such relationships based on a framework that can lead to strategic success of the outsourcing engagements. The paper develops a set of propositions to build a deeper understanding of the processes that underlie IT outsourcing as a strategic and sustainable enterprise‐wide initiative to further an organizations performance in the competitive market place.Findings – Outsourcing of IT is emerging as a potent business strategy. The statistics compiled by the IT industry watch‐dogs point only to one direction – outsourcing will grow un...

E‐commerce policies and customer privacy

The rapid growth of the Internet and the number of online consumers have resulted in increased fears from privacy advocates, legislators and consumer groups regarding the guarantees of privacy when using e‐commerce and the Internet. Some companies collect marketing information on consumers’ Internet habits without their knowledge or consent. This study looks at stated policies appearing on the Web sites of a number of major e‐commerce companies regarding Internet privacy. This was accomplished by the examination of information related to current Internet policies posted on these firms’ Web sites. Also examined was whether these policies have been changed over a three‐year time period. Five policy categories were examined over this three‐year period using a consistent rating scale. These categories were privacy, returns, shipping, warranty, and security.

How well are corporate ethics codes and policies applied in the trenches?: Key factors and conditions

Assesses the extent to which organizational ethics codes, credos and policies are implemented by managers and supervisors in their work. Further identifies and assesses the principal factors that determined the level of consonance between stated ethical policies and values, and their actual practice. Supports and extends previous observations that simply having ethical codes and policies does not guarantee ethical practices throughout the organization. To become a genuinely ethical organization – an important success factor in todays environment – a comprehensive approach and investment in ethical safeguards is needed and should be regarded as a dimension of decision making alongside quality standards, performance, profitability and other strategic considerations.

Information technology project failures: Applying the bandit problem to evaluate managerial decision making

Purpose – This paper seeks to apply results from the study of bandit processes to cases of information technology (IT) project failures.Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines three published case studies, and discusses whether managerial actions are in accordance with the predictions of bandit process studies.Findings – Bandits are a class of decision‐making problems that involve choosing one action from a set. In terms of project management, the firm selects from several alternative IT projects, each with its own distribution of risks and rewards. The firm investigates technologies one by one, and keeps only the best‐performing technology. The bandit perspective implies that managers choosing a risky IT project with high potential reward before safer ones are behaving optimally. It is in the firms interest to resolve the uncertainty about the innovative project first. In case of failure, the firm can later choose safer technology. A high proportion of risky projects adopted leads to a high nu...

Escalation and premature termination in MIS projects: the role of real options

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the real option theory is applicable to evaluation of cases of escalation and premature termination of Management Information Systems (MIS) projects.Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares the implications of psychological and economic escalation theories with lessons from the real option theory as applied to MIS projects. Then, it examines published case studies, and discuss when project continuation enhances and reduces value for the manager and the firm.Findings – Escalation of commitment is continuation of an investment project after receiving negative signals. Escalation was identified as a significant problem in MIS projects often explained by the desire of the manager to avoid recognizing mistakes and to protect reputation. The opposite problem of premature termination of certain investment projects was also identified. This study argues that accurate application of real option theory is critical to distinguish between escalation and pr...

System insecurity – firewalls

The firewall is normally an intermediate system between the secure internal networks and the less secure external networks. It is intended to keep corporate systems safe from intruders, hackers, and accidental entry into the corporate system. The primary types of firewalls are screening routers, proxy servers, and stateful inspectors. Before choosing a firewall architecture, a company must have the right mind set regarding the threat. The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to firewall concepts and help develop this mind set.

Managing electronic information: an ethics perspective

Purpose – The paper addresses the contemporary and very important area of electronic information (EI) management – the ethical dimension and implications. Specifically, this paper aims to analyze EI activities and management practices, the ethical dilemmas and implications; to relate effectiveness in EI ethics activities in the context of organizational ethics policy and practice, and to suggest a framework for handling ethical dilemmas in managing the major EI activities.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of mid‐ and first‐level managers in six industries was conducted. Subjects were asked to describe organization practices in 11 areas of ethics policy application. Respondent firms were compared according to high and low numbers of ethical safeguards: an ethics code, a credo or values statement, written ethics policies – general and specific, ethics training and development, ready access to ethics guidelines at all levels, and a cohesive, supportive ethical culture.Findings – EI ethics need to be add...

E‐commerce policies and customer privacy: a longitudinal study (2000‐2010)

Purpose – The present research is an updated and expanded continuation of an article by Parayitam et al. from 2008. The purpose of this study is to examine several internet policies and whether the communication of these policies to the customer has significantly changed during a ten year period.Design/methodology/approach – The study defines published policies of how a company operates with respect to different factors. The policies examined are privacy, security, shipping, returns, and warranty. Each of the policies described above were then rated as per the rating scale defined by the authors. The 525 e‐commerce sites studied were divided into service and product sites, respectively. The e‐commerce sites were also separated into 28 industry groups. The data were also collected on some of the other factors that were important in this study.Findings – E‐commerce companies do not fully inform their customers. The results showed no significant relationships between the policy ratings and any of the other f...

A global information technology model: business applications in developing economies (case studies)

This paper develops a global information technology model that captures the main drivers of a firms IT applications in multiple markets with two illustrative company cases. The paper develops a global information technology model by drawing from consulting experience and the relevant literature. The bases for the model are – a firms environment, level of technological diffusion within a firm, and prospective technology applications based on the existing inventory of IT applications that support the firms operations. The paper provides a description of the model dimensions and furnishes an illustrative mapping on an Indian firm and an American firms operations.