Robert Heckman

A Content Analytic Comparison of Learning Processes in Online and Face-to-Face Case Study Discussions

While much research has shown that asynchronous learning networks (ALNs) can produce learning equivalent to face-to-face (FTF) classrooms, there has been little research that explicitly explores similarities and differences between the learning processes that occur in ALN and FTF activities. This study used a content analytic framework (derived primarily from previous work of Anderson, Archer, Garrison, and Rourke) to analyze transcripts from eight case study discussions, four FTF and four ALN. While previous authors developed a model that studies cognitive, social, and teaching processes in ALN discussions, the current scheme also considers characteristics of the discourse process. The findings provide evidence that ALNs generate high levels of cognitive activity, at least equal to, and in some cases superior to, the cognitive processes in the FTF classroom. The findings also suggest that students assume some aspects of the teachers role in ALNs, and that student-to-student interactions contain a greater proportion of high-level cognitive indicators than do student-to-teacher interactions.

Customer Satisfaction with Electronic Service Encounters

Customer relationship management is an integral component of business strategy for on-line service providers. This paper investigates the aspects of on-line transactions in electronic retailing that are most likely to satisfy or dissatisfy customers, thereby increasing or decreasing the likelihood of building and maintaining relationships with them. For this study, 513 respondents reported behaviors, perceptions, beliefs, events, features, characteristics, attributes, and situations that expressed their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with electronic service encounters. Content analysis of these encounters yielded three meta-categories, six categories, and 33 subcategories of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with on-line service providers. The findings suggested that three major categories are robust even in the electronic context of the Internet. The antecedents identified were relevant both to product-related services (e.g., books, apparel) and to pure services (e.g., on-line banking, on-line stock trading). The study found that the characteristics and behaviors of customer-contact employees play an important role in on-line service encounters. It also revealed a percentage decrease in satisfactory incidents, a percentage increase in unsatisfactory incidents, and a percentage increase in unsatisfactory incidents involving employee characteristics and behaviors as service encounters move from a bricks-and-mortar environment to an electronic context. This suggests that customer-contact employees may not be well equipped to deal with on-line customers.

The Relationship between Alumni and University: Toward a Theory of Discretionary Collaborative Behavior

This paper explores the long term relationship between alumni and universities. While alumni are not usually thought of as customers, the university’s continued dependence on them for financial and other resources makes them a useful relationship marketing example. This study examines discretionary collaborative behavior (DCB) performed by alumni and factors that lead to that behavior. DCBs are behaviors performed by a customer to help a vendor, company, or institution, which contribute to the effective functioning of the relationship, which are outside formal contractual obligations, and are performed. without expectation of direct reward. Findings show antecedents of DCBs are: satisfaction with performance, relational bonds, and individual attributes.

Patterns of Emergent Leadership in Virtual Teams

This study observed naturally occurring emergent leadership behavior in distributed virtual teams. The goal of the study was to understand how leadership behaviors emerge and are distributed in these kinds of teams. Archived team interaction captured during the course of a virtual collaboration exercise was analyzed using an a priori content analytic scheme derived from behaviorally-based leadership theory to capture behavior associated with leadership in virtual environments. The findings lend support to the notion that behaviorally-based leadership theory can provide insights into emergent leadership in virtual environments. This study also provides additional insights into the patterns of leadership that emerge in virtual environments and relationship to leadership behaviors.

Organizing and managing supplier relationships in information technology procurement

This paper begins exploration of the broad question: how should the relationship between IT suppliers and customers be organized and managed? It reports the results of an empirical, exploratory study which investigates the organization and management of IT supplier relationships in large North American firms. A sample of 518 large corporations was surveyed to determine the degree of formalization of IT supplier-management practices, the extent of discretionary collaborative behavior (DCB) on the part of information technology customers, and the relationship between formalization, DCB and perceived effectiveness in influencing supplier performance. Findings indicate that most companies surveyed continue to manage their supplier relationships in a relatively informal way. Formalization of the supplier management function appears, unsurprisingly, to be a function of the size of the organization and the number of suppliers it utilizes. Relatively high levels of reported discretionary collaboration indicate that IT buyers find value in taking positive, relationship-building action toward their suppliers. Discretionary collaboration appears unrelated to supplier management formalization, company size, or number of suppliers. Thus these results suggest that companies may employ two independent strategies for managing supplier relationships, formal and informal, which both lead to perceived influence over suppliers.

Using natural language processing technology for qualitative data analysis

Social researchers often apply qualitative research methods to study groups and their communications artifacts. The use of computer-mediated communications has dramatically increased the volume of text available, but coding such text requires considerable manual effort. We discuss how systems that process text in human languages (i.e. natural language processing [NLP]) might partially automate content analysis by extracting theoretical evidence. We present a case study of the use of NLP for qualitative analysis in which the NLP rules showed good performance on a number of codes. With the current level of performance, use of an NLP system could reduce the amount of text to be examined by a human coder by an order of magnitude or more, potentially increasing the speed of coding by a comparable degree. The paper is significant as it is one of the first to demonstrate the use of high-level NLP techniques for qualitative data analysis.

The distribution of computing: the knowledge markets of distributed technical support specialists

Distributed computing environments place more computer power in the hands of the end‐user, and often demand increased technical support. In response, organizations may choose to move technical support personnel close to end‐users. This can isolate them from each other, and may limit their ability to share knowledge. Thus, the growth of distributed computing calls for increased ability to share knowledge across organizational boundaries. This paper presents the results of a case study investigating how distributed technologists share knowledge through knowledge markets. We argue that knowledge markets are cultural entities shaped by the underlying work culture of their participants, and that the cultural forces that define knowledge markets are powerful, deeply held and difficult to change. Thus, improving the effectiveness of any given knowledge market will have less to do with the installation of information technology than with the ability to create a facilitating work culture. This study’s identification of clique knowledge markets, operating efficiently in parallel to the public knowledge market, may provide a hint of the type of culture that will create fewer knowledge trade barriers.

A content analytic comparison of FTF and ALN case-study discussions

While much research has shown that ALNs can produce learning equivalent to FTF classrooms, there has been little empirical research that explicitly and rigorously explores similarities and differences between the learning processes that occur in ALN and FTF activities. Transcripts from eight case study discussions, 4 FTF, 4 ALN, were content analyzed. The study used a content analytic framework derived primarily from previous work of Anderson, Archer, Garrison and Rourke. These authors developed a model that studies cognitive, social, and teaching processes in ALN discussions. Based on the work of Aviv (2000), the current scheme also considers characteristics of the discourse process. The findings provide evidence that ALNs generate high levels of cognitive activity, at least equal to, and in some cases superior to, the cognitive processes in the FTF classroom.

A Structurational Perspective on Leadership in Virtual Teams

Building on behavioural leadership theory and structuration theory, we present a two-order theory of leadership. It describes four classes of first-order leadership behaviours (task coordination, substantive task contribution, group maintenance and boundary spanning) and defines second-order leadership as behaviour that influences changes in the structure that guides group action. We argue that second-order leadership is enabled by first-order leadership and is therefore action embedded and grounded in processes that define the social identity of the group. We propose that effective virtual teams will exhibit a paradoxical combination of shared, distributed first-order leadership complemented by strong, concentrated, and centralized second-order leadership. We conclude by suggesting future research that might be conducted to test and further elaborate our theory.

Managing the it Procurement Process

Abstract This article presents a process model of IT procurement, which was developed by a group of senior managers who make up the Society for Information Management (SIM) Working Group on IT Procurement. the model systematically describes the processes involved in IT procurement and is a useful tool for bringing managerial discipline to the increasingly important activity of IT procurement.