Robert J. McQueen

Can action research be made more rigorous in a positivist sense? The contribution of an iterative approach

How can action research be made more rigorous? We discuss in this paper action research, positivism and some major criticisms of action research by positivists. We then examine issues relating the conduct of IS research in organisations through multiple iterations in the action research cycle proposed by Susman and Evered. We argue that the progress through iterations allows the researcher to gradually broaden the research scope and in consequence add generality to the research findings. A brief illustrative case is provided with a study on groupware introduction in a large civil engineering company. In the light of this illustrative case we contend that effective application of the iterative approach to action research has the potential to bring research rigour up closer to standards acceptable by positivists and yet preserve the elements that characterise action research as such.

The impact of national cultures on structured knowledge transfer

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of national culture on the structured knowledge transfer from a US‐based (onshore) technical support center to an offshore support center in China.Design/methodology/approach – The research was conducted as an interpretive case study. Three techniques (i.e. document review, participant observation, and semi‐structured interviews) were employed for data collection in the field.Findings – The findings identify that knowledge tacitness, knowledge gaps, cultural and communication difficulties and weak relationships were the critical barriers to successful knowledge transfer in a cross‐cultural knowledge transfer context. It was found that, when a provider and a recipient are located in different individualism/collectivism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance cultural dimensions, there will be a reduced likelihood of successful knowledge transfer in a structured knowledge transfer process. However, peer‐to‐peer help, close relationships and pro...

The nature of data, information and knowledge exchanges in business processes: implications for process improvement and organizational learning

Suggests that a number of assumptions in the past have been made about how business process improvement, re‐engineering and organizational learning should take place in organizations. Points out that, although a number of these assumptions have been framed on theoretical models, few have been based on the empirical analysis of the nature of actual business processes. Tries to fill this gap with an analysis of data, information and knowledge exchanges in 22 business processes from three organizations. Points to a number of characteristics that appear to be contradictory to some current organizational practices, and that can be helpful to inform future developments in the fields of business process improvement, re‐engineering and organizational learning. Two relevant characteristics are a much higher proportion of data over material exchanges in business processes, and a higher proportion of knowledge exchanges in improvement over core and support processes.

Applying machine learning to agricultural data

Abstract Many techniques have been developed for learning rules and relationships automatically from diverse data sets, to simplify the often tedious and error-prone process of acquiring knowledge from empirical data. While these techniques are plausible, theoretically well-founded, and perform well on more or less artificial test data sets, they depend on their ability to make sense of real-world data. This paper describes a project that is applying a range of machine learning strategies to problems in agriculture and horticulture. We briefly survey some of the techniques emerging from machine learning research, describe a software workbench for experimenting with a variety of techniques on real-world data sets, and describe a case study of dairy herd management in which culling rules were inferred from a medium-sized database of herd information.

Product flow, breadth and complexity of business processes

Describes an empirical study of 15 business processes in three organizations. Business process data were collected in the context of action research projects where the researcher was involved in organizational development activities. Suggests that business processes tend to cut across different departments owing to a contemporary phenomenon ‐ the specialization of knowledge. This leads to the specialization of work with the multiplication of functions and departments in organizations. Also suggests that 70 per cent or more of the product flow through business processes in organizations is made up of information. Discusses organizational implications of these results as regards organizational design and business process redesign focus.

Knowledge transfer processes for different experience levels of knowledge recipients at an offshore technical support center

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on the relationships between the levels of knowledge and the type of knowledge transfer approaches, and the relationships between the types of knowledge and the knowledge transfer approaches which were adopted in a study of knowledge transfer from a US‐based technical support center to an offshore support center in China.Design/methodology/approach – The research was conducted as an interpretive case study. Three techniques (i.e. document review, participant observation, and semi‐structured interviews) were employed for data collection in the field.Findings – The findings indicate that the lower the level of recipient absorptive and retentive capacity, the more difficulty the recipient will have in acquiring tacit and complex types of knowledge, and the more formal structured knowledge transfer approach the recipient will need to adopt. The results identify that “structured transfer stages” was used by novices to transfer embrained and encoded knowledge, while “unstructu...

Factors Affecting E-Commerce Stages of Growth in Small Chinese Firms in New Zealand: An Analysis of Adoption Motivators and Inhibitors

We investigate an e-commerce stages of growth model in a cross-cultural business context for small Chinese firms in New Zealand. Research findings from 14 case studies show that the Chinese owners/managers of these small firms have a high power distance, and their attitude toward e-commerce technology directly influences their firms’ e-commerce growth process. It was found that the higher the stage of e-commerce adoption, the greater the need for owners having a more positive attitude toward e-commerce, more innovativeness and enthusiasm, and more technology literacy. The higher the tolerance for ambiguity and the higher the risk-taking propensity, the higher the stage of e-commerce adoption achieved. In addition, firms at lower growth stages of e-commerce adoption are highly rated on individualism, while those firms at higher growth stages of commerce adoption are highly rated on collectivism. The research has implications for small business managers operating in a cross-cultural business context as they move through the different stage of e-commerce adoption.

A Cognitive Three-Process Model of Computer-Mediated Group Interaction

Current theories imply text-based computer networks are socially barren, but computer-mediated interaction (CMI) research contradicts this. A cognitive perspective suggests individuals in groups construct cognitions regarding the task (purpose), other people (relationships), and the group (identity), and these drive the interaction. Three core psychological process follow: resolving task information, relating to others and representing the group. This gives three types of influence: informational, personal and normative, and three group purposes: task resolution, interpersonal relationships and group unity. Group unity occurs when group members represent a common identity. The traditional communication threads of message content and sender context therefore require a third - behavioural position. Many-to-many exchange of member positions allows the group position to be transmitted to the group. A picture emerges of three parallel processes overlapping in behaviour, although CMI allows them to be isolated and investigated. This model extends most theories of computer-mediated group interaction. It implies there is no “best” type of group interaction support, because there is no best process. The groupware challenge is to offer the flexibility to support all three processes in combination.

Barriers to mobile commerce adoption: an analysis framework for a country-level perspective

This research examines and categorises the country-level adoption barriers of mobile commerce services, and tests those barriers in a case study of one country. The outcomes of the research presented in this paper are a broad framework of mobile commerce barriers that might be applicable when undertaking a country-level analysis, and a case study which tests the value of this framework in helping to uncover the specific barriers of mobile commerce adoption in one example country, New Zealand.

Learning and process improvement in knowledge organizations: a critical analysis of four contemporary myths

Discusses the concepts of knowledge, information and data. Analyses the concept of knowledge organizations with the focus on its reliance on knowledge workers and intense information flow. Based on the previous discussion, critically analyses four contemporary myths: (1) process improvement should focus on activities; (2) process improvement should itself be a top‐down process; (3) organizations should be learning systems; and (4) fragmentation should be avoided. Argues that these myths are particularly deceiving and potentially dangerous owing to their incompatibility with the concept of knowledge organizations and the way these organizations operate.