Rebecca Grant

Determinants of new product designers' satisfaction with suppliers' contributions

Abstract A recent trend in product development is the move to outsource more of the design and development work. Specifically, manufacturing firms are looking to component suppliers to increase their roles from that of supplying specified components to that of sharing in or taking major responsibility for component design and development. Effective teaming of product designers and the allied suppliers is likely to become an increasingly important element in the product innovation process. However, this role may be unfamiliar to both product development staff and component supplier staff. This study examines perceptions of new product designers about the component suppliers they used for the design of critical technology in recent new product development projects. The study focuses on how the suppliers were viewed in terms of their technical capability and how it contributed to the project, as well as their capability to work effectively with the product design team. Results indicate that the cooperativeness of the supplier was probably more influential than its technical competence in influencing the willingness of the product designer to bring the component supplier into future development projects.

Computerized performance monitors: factors affecting acceptance

The authors attempt to identify some of the reasons why certain applications or designs of electronic monitors are acceptable, while others are not. The authors focus on how monitor designs affect acceptance of monitoring and how employees distinguish among types of monitors, from two perspectives. First, how do service workers feel about the practice of monitoring (as opposed to using a specific type of monitor). Second, how do design factors affect the acceptance of monitors and how changing the system design changes its acceptability and effectiveness. Quantitative and qualitative data from a survey of 1500 service workers demonstrated that four factors (tasks measured, frequency of measurement, object of measurement, and recipient of data) can be altered to significantly affect the acceptability of a monitor design. A fifth significant factor was the perception that computers are appropriate evaluation devices a given job. >

Computerized performance monitors as multidimensional systems: derivation and application

An increasing number of companies are introducing computer technology into more aspects of work. Effective use of information systems to support office and service work can improve staff productivity, broaden a companys market, or dramatically change its business. It can also increase the extent to which work is computer mediated and thus within the reach of software known as Computerized Performance Monitoring and Control Systems (CPMCSs). Virtually all research has studied CPMCSs as unidimensional systems. Employees are described as “monitored” or “unmonitored” or as subject to “high,” “moderate,” or “low” levels of monitoring. Research that does not clearly distinguish among possible monitor design cannot explain how designs may differ in effect. Nor can it suggest how to design better monitors. A multidimensional view of CPMCSs describes monitor designs in terms of object of measurements, tasks measured, recipient of data, reporting period, and message content. This view is derived from literature in control systems, organizational behavior, and management information systems. The multidimensional view can then be incorporated into causal models to explain contradictory results of earlier CPMCS research.

Information systems and power: structural versus personal views

Power issues impact information systems design, development, and implementation. Our understanding of the sources of power affects how we interpret its potential impacts. This study examines the foundations of both personal and structural power sources. The outcomes of two well-known IS case studies are re-interpreted using the two perspectives. This study shows that IS researchers should employ a structural view of power when exploring its impact on IS design and implementation.

Silicon supervisors and stress: Merging new evidence from the field

Using computer software to track and evaluate employee performance (“monitoring” or “silicon supervision”) continues to be a controversial issue. One area of particular concern is the potential linnk between monitoring and workplace stress. Much of the evidence supporting the link is anecdotal. There are, however, a few empirical studies that seem to indicate a positive correlatin and which subsequently extrapolate a causal relationship from that correlation. At the same time, research results are far from conclusive: for every study demonstrating a link, one can find another that fails to demonstrate such a correlation. Evidence from two studies supported the argument that the link between stress and monitoring is weak, and that it is difficult to infer a significant causal relationship. A lab experiment failed to show increased stress in a monitored environment. A field survey with very high power established only a weak relationship between monitoring and stress. It also provided evidence that the correlation may be predictive, but not explanatory.

E-commerce organizational structure (extended abstract): an integration of four cases

In expanding into e-commerce, clicks and mortar companies have many options. They can outsource all of the e-commerce related activities to firms specializing in those tasks. They can bring in new employees with the required skills — either integrating them into work units with current employees or setting up new e-commerce units. They can retrain or redirect existing employees. Or they can combine these approaches.nThis paper reports on the first phase of a three-phase project that studies how contemporary businesses structure their IS areas to take advantage of the Internet and the World Wide Web. The research studies established businesses in order to understand how they implement their business-to-business e-commerce.n A preliminary set of interviews looked at four firms (all company names have been disguised) in Canada and the United States that actively conduct business-to-business e-commerce and that had well-established IS groups prior to the move to e-commerce. The first firm, Technology and Software (T/S), was a Canadian plant automation design firm that employs 400 individuals, 40 of them in IS. Its first e-commerce application involved a Y2K compliance database which began as a client-defined project and evolved into a commercial product. The second company examined was Commercial Insurers (C/I), an international commercial and personal insurance company based in the U.S. With 9500 employees worldwide (approximately 1000 in IS), the company conducts web-based business with its independent agents and brokers at multiple levels. U.S. Office Supplier (UOS) is a major office products supplier with 12,000 employees and an IS group of 270. Its e-commerce systems provide online ordering, catalogue searching, and order tracking for its customers. The fourth company studied was Canadian Office Supplier (COS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Office Supplier. With 2,100 employees (50 in IS), the companys systems are similar to those of its parent but were developed independently and, in some cases, first.n Each of the firms used a different organization structure to develop and build its e-commerce systems. T/S began with an internal project team, but ultimately moved to a product team staffed from existing IS personnel. C/I created a business applications group drawn from outside the IS group (responsible for developing applications) and an internal technical group for the technical infrastructure needed to deliver e-commerce. UOS, which hired new IS staff and contract programmers, created a new e-commerce unit reporting to the marketing area. COS, on the other hand, used a team of COS managers for ideas and oversight, but outsourced all programming and implementation.nThis paper proposes a model for future research that distinguishes the structural options according to two dimensions. It goes on to describe the possible normative and predictive uses of the model, as well as the mechanisms for validating those uses.