Nava Pliskin

The effects of information systems integration and organizational culture on a firm's effectiveness

Abstract Though the relationship between the investment in information systems (IS) and a firms performance continues to be important; conclusive evidence that information technology (IT) contributes to a firms effectiveness is rare. This study tests the relationship between the integration of IS during mergers and acquisitions and their effectiveness. The findings point to a positive relationship between IS integration and effectiveness only when controlling for (a) IT intensity, and (b) organizational culture differences between the joining firms. Thus, managers are advised to take into account IT intensity and cultural differences during the pre-merger negotiations and during the post-merger integration process.

Presumed Versus Actual Organizational Culture: Managerial Implications for Implementation of Information Systems

This paper builds on Markus and Roheys four-level framework of analyzing resistance to implementation of information systems. The four levels of analysis pertain to the user, the organizational structure, the political power and the environment. We suggest adding a complementary fifth level pertaining to the organizational culture. The paper proceeds from a definition of culture to an explanation of its dimensions, in line with the management and control approach to culture. A case study of an attempt to implement an information system is presented and the five levels of analysis are used to explain the implementation failure

Identifying organizational culture clash in MIS implementation: When is it worth the effort?

Abstract A prerequisite to succeeding in MIS implementation is analysis of both technical and organizational validity prior to implementation. In this paper we show that of the various organizational validity aspects, organizational culture presents a particularly difficult challenge. On the one hand, without a match between the culture of an organization and the cultural assumptions embedded within the MIS, a costly implementation failure is likely. On the other hand, a significant effort to detect a cultural clash prior to implementation might not be worthwhile for each and every MIS. This paper identifies two characteristics of the MIS, culture content and predictability of outcome , as relevant to the question of when is an early detection of a culture clash worth the effort. The following general guidelines are offered: for MISs characterized by high culture content and low predictability of outcome, an effort to detect contrasting orientations of culture prior to implementation is justified; for MISs characterized by low culture content and high predictability of outcome, it is relatively safe to avoid early detection. The guidelines are accompanied by a series of mini-cases. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.

Integrating system analysis and project management tools

Abstract Currently, computer-aided tools for system analysis are distinct from project management tools. This study proposes and prototypes a model that integrates these two aspects of the Information System Life Cycle (ISLC) by automatically mapping system analysis objects into project management objects. To validate the feasibility of our model and without loss of generality, the conversion of Data Flow Diagrams (DFD) objects into Gantt and Pert diagrams is demonstrated in this study. Experiments with the prototype confirm that integrating common tools for system analysis and standard tools for project management, during system development, helps improve system building tasks and their management. In addition, project managers using the proposed mapping approach can better assess project duration and system performance parameters such as response time and data traffic. We address implications of our work to both academics and practitioners, discussing directions future research might take as well as opportunities and prospects for commercialization of the proposed approach.

Electronic mail as a coalition-building information technology

One of the most intriguing lines of research within the literature on diffusion of information technologies (IT) is the study of the power and politics of this process. The major objective of this article is to build on the work of Kling and Markus on power and IT, by extending their perspective to email. To demonstrate how email can be used for political purposes within an organizational context, a case study is presented. The case study describes a series of events which took place in a university. In the case, email was used by a group of employees to stage a rebellion against the university president. The discussion demonstrates that email features make it amenable to a range of political uses. The article is concluded with a discussion of the implications from this case to email research and practice.

Accounting for information technology in corporate acquisitions

Abstract Corporate acquisitions have become key elements in strategic planning for many companies. Historically, analysts of corporate acquisitions have emphasized strategic and organizational factors in evaluating candidates for friendly takeovers. Since company data and information technology (IT) are as much a management resource as are the financial and human resources for the combined firm, the authors propose that IT fit should be explicitly considered in analysis of corporate acquisitions. An assessment of IT fit will refer to the IT environments of the two joining firms, the IT contribution each firm can bring to the combined firm, and the role that IT should play both in negotiating the acquisition price and in integrating the joining firms.

Mining relational patterns from multiple relational tables

Abstract In this paper, we present the concept of relational patterns and our approach to extract them from multiple relational tables. Relational patterns are analogous to frequent itemsets extracted by the Apriori algorithm [R. Agrawal, H. Mannila, R. Srikant, H. Toivonen, A.I. Verkamo, Advances in Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, AAAI Press, 1995.] in the case of a single table. However, for the multiple relational tables, relational patterns capture co-occurrences of attributes as well as the relationships between these attributes, which are essential to avoid information loss. We describe our experiences from a test-bed implementation of our approach on a real hospitals discharge abstract database. This process raised issues, which were then implemented in order to enhance an analysts ability to explore patterns while preventing high diversity and abundance of available data from blurring subtle patterns of interest. Finally, we evaluate the usefulness of relational patterns in the context of the discharge abstract data as well in other possible domains.

E‐mail as a Weapon in an Industrial Dispute

The case study on which this article is based describes a two-and-a-half month long strike of Israeli academic staff members. During the strike, e-mail was used as the major means of communication between the strikers. Analysis of the e-mail messages demonstrates that e-mail served as a secret weapon, enabling the strikers to succeed in what was presumed to be a hopeless battle.

The office tyrant ‐ social control through e‐mail

The changing role of technology in the virtual workplace has been accompanied by a proliferation of research activity focusing initially on the technical aspects and, more recently, on the social and political aspects of the diffusion process, including power and politics. This paper builds on the work of Kling and Markus on power and politics in IT, extending it to e‐mail and more specifically, to the use of e‐mail for petty tyranny. Reviews the literature on petty tyranny and its implications to IT and e‐mail. Presents a case study in which e‐mail was used by a department chair to manipulate, control, and coerce employees. The discussion links the events in the case with the literature on petty tyranny. In conclusion, demonstrates that e‐mail features make it amenable to political abuse and elaborates on the more general, theoretical, practical and ethical implications from this research.

Interacting with electronic mail can be a dream or a night: a user's point of view

Abstract Diffusion of electronic mail (e-mail) is not yet universal. So far, e-mail has been implemented successfully within organisations, but its implementation for communications between organisations has been rather limited. This situation is surprising, given the great potential of e-mail for interorganisational communication. E-mail encounters from a users point of view, reviewed in this paper, suggest that users of BITNET, one of the predominant e-mail networks in the academic world, face difficulties while interacting with e-mail. These include addressing difficulties, unreliability issues, medium limitations, and interface problems. BITNET is just one of many interorganisational networks and may not be representative. Still, e-mail technology is unlikely to survive if human engineering and reliability are not uniformly satisfactory across all e-mail systems. Poorly engineered e-mail systems frustrate not only their users, but also users of other networks because of gateways between the networks. Therefore, e-mail users might resort to other communication media like facsimile or the telephone, and abandon e-mail altogether. For e-mail to be competitive in the communication arena, an interdisciplinary effort should be directed toward standardisation of features like better addressing conventions, international user directories, uniform user interfaces, and sophisticated management of e-mail messages.