Moshe Zviran

User satisfaction from commercial web sites: The effect of design and use

We empirically investigated the effect of user-based design and Web site usability on user satisfaction across four types of commercial Web sites: online shopping, customer self-service, trading, and publish/subscribe. To this end, a Web-based survey questionnaire was assembled, based on previously reported instruments for measuring user satisfaction, usability, and user-based design. Three hundred and fifty-nine respondents used the questionnaire to rate a collection of 20 popular commercial Web sites. Data collected were analyzed to test four hypotheses on the relationships among the attributes examined. The Web site attributes were also plotted on bi-dimensional perceptual maps in order to visualize their interactions. The two techniques yielded the same result, namely that trading sites are the lowest rated and that online shopping and customer self-service sites should serve as models for Web site developers. These findings are especially useful for designers of electronic commerce (EC) Web sites and can aid in the development and maintenance phases of Web site creation.

A contingency model for estimating success of strategic information systems planning

Strategic information system planning (SISP) has been identified as a critical management issue. It is considered by many as the best mechanism for assuring that IT activities are congruent with those of the rest of the organization and its evolving needs. Our research investigated the success of SISP as a function of its key success factors (KSFs) in different contexts and SISP approaches, in a framework that integrated all of the SISP components and provided a new perspective on how the constructs are instrumental to produce SISP success. Based on responses from 172 American CIOs, our study’s findings empirically supported our research model: the combination of SISP context and approach was found to have a moderating influence on the basic relationship between SISP KSFs and its success, the best predictor for the long-term success of the SISP process was apparently based on the three-way interactions between SISP’s KSFs, its approach and its context. In addition, specific combinations of SISP approach and SISP context were found to decrease or increase the size of the ‘‘planning paradox’’ (the inconsistency in the behavior of the ‘‘basic relationship’’ between the three).

Comparison of end-user computing characteristics in the U.S., Israel and Taiwan

Abstract This study examines the effect of national environments on end-user computing characteristics. Data were collected from American, Israeli, and Taiwanese companies. The participants were 156 U.S., 138 Israeli, and 86 end-users from Taiwan, all holding managerial positions in the financial industry. The results clearly demonstrate the existence of cultural differences among the three samples in terms of adaption and usage characteristics. Conclusions are drawn to guide management action; they emphasize the need for cross-cultural studies in the information systems field in general and in end-user computing in particular.

Building outsourcing relationships across the global community: the UPS-Motorola experience

Abstract The United Parcel Service (UPS)–Motorola case study revolves around two major areas of information technology (IT) management: IT as a competitive tool and global outsourcing of IT projects. It provides an opportunity to become familiar with the decisions and actions taken by UPS to assure their competitive advantage in the turbulent courier services industry. In the IT outsourcing area, the case addresses managerial and technical issues associated with outsourcing IT projects across the global community. The case presents the specific factors that made this outsourcing project successful and discusses the development of the outsourcing relationships between UPS and Motorola (Israel), from initial negotiations to the creation of a strategic alliance between the two companies. A major point in this case is the gradual development of trust between the two sides, trust that led the two firms from being committed to a contract to becoming strategic partners.

Commonalities in motivating environments for programmer/analysts in Austria, Israel, Singapore, and the U.S.A.

Abstract A comparison was made of perceptions of programmer/analysts on factors relating to motivation and goal setting/feedback in Austria, Israel, Singapore, and the United States of America. The JDS/DP, a modification of the Job Diagnostic Survey instrument, was used to collect data in these locations. The results indicated significant commonalities in the four populations. Not only were individual characteristics of growth need and social-need similar, but their perception of job-related variables were also quite similar. With this information, I.S. managers in the four countries can use proven universal techniques, such as job characteristics theory, for improving motivation of programmer/analysts.

Top management toolbox for managing corporate IT

process involving such activities as identifying promising application targets, deciding the application’s posture (defensive or offensive) and mode of use (internal or external), and assessing the application’s associated risk of system failure and financial loss. One practical conclusion for strategic systems is that planning for them is intertwined with an organization’s business strategy, so cooperation between IS managers and non-IS managers is critical for their implementation. In many organizations, general and functional managers—with law, finance, accounting, marketing, or even engineering backgrounds—are not familiar with the latest technology. This raises a barrier to communication that limits their ability to determine risk before deciding whether to go ahead with a project or how to control large projects during their development life cycles. Two examples illustrate how it can lead to disastrous results: Bank of America. Development of a system to support the bank’s management of trust accounts was budgeted at

Does color in email make a difference

25 million and scheduled to take two years to complete. The result was to be the MasterNet system, with online updating and automated generation of monthly statements. Instead, completion took five years at a total cost of

Context recognition using internet as a knowledge base

80 million— and was still rejected by its target users because it created accounting problems and suffered from slow response times and communication and disk drive problems. Many of the bank’s employees were laid off during development, and the bank’s reputation was severely damaged. Some major banking customers even lost confidence in the bank; the total number of institutional accounts dropped from 800 to 700, and assets under management shrank from

A System Development Methodology for ERP Systems

38 billion to

Analysis of active intrusion prevention data for predicting hostile activity in computer networks

34 billion [1, 2]. In 1995, seven years after the project’s failure, the bank’s management sold its institutional trusts and securities services division, which still needed a major technology investment to position itself to compete against the enormous institutions that dominate the field of institutional trust banking. However, because of the bank’s flawed history in implementing technology to support corporate trust businesses, the bank’s executives decided it