Robert M. Davison

Principles of canonical action research

Abstract.  Despite the growing prominence of canonical action research (CAR) in the information systems discipline, a paucity of methodological guidance continues to hamper those conducting and evaluating such studies. This article elicits a set of five principles and associated criteria to help assure both the rigor and the relevance of CAR in information systems. The first principle relates to the development of an agreement that facilitates collaboration between the action researcher and the client. The second principle is based upon a cyclical process model for action research that consists of five stages: diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation and reflection. Additional principles highlight the critical roles of theory, change through action, and the specification of learning in terms of implications for both research and practice. The five principles are illustrated through the analysis of one recently published CAR study.

The balanced scorecard: a foundation for the strategic management of information systems

Abstract The balanced scorecard (BSC) has emerged as a decision support tool at the strategic management level. Many business leaders now evaluate corporate performance by supplementing financial accounting data with goal-related measures from the following perspectives: customer, internal business process, and learning and growth. It is argued that the BSC concept can be adapted to assist those managing business functions, organizational units and individual projects. This article develops a balanced scorecard for information systems (IS) that measures and evaluates IS activities from the following perspectives: business value, user orientation, internal process, and future readiness. Case study evidence suggests that a balanced IS scorecard can be the foundation for a strategic IS management system provided that certain development guidelines are followed, appropriate metrics are identified, and key implementation obstacles are overcome.

Cultural complications of ERP

Valuable lessons learned from implementation experiences in parts of the world with different cultural heritages.

From government to e‐government: a transition model

Purpose – To develop a model that can explain the “government to e‐government” transition process.Design/methodology/approach – Reviews the literature on and practice of e‐government, as well as the related literature of strategic alignment and maturity models for technology adoption. Offers evidence for the models validity through case‐type material from the web sites of e‐governments worldwide.Findings – Six transition paths can be identified, four of which are more likely to result in effective e‐government transition.Research limitations/implications – Further work is needed to test the validity of the model. This could involve historical and longitudinal studies of the government to e‐government transition process in different governments around the world.Practical implications – The transition model should be of value to e‐government strategic planners who are seeking possible transition paths towards the effective development of e‐government.Originality/value – The paper tackles the little investi...

Strategic decision making and support systems: Comparing American, Japanese and Chinese management

Internationalization creates a need to know how managers in different parts of the world make decisions, and how computer-based information systems (IS) can support decision making. Business leaders from the United States, Japan and China were each found to have a distinctive prevailing decision style that reflects differences in cultural values and the relative needs for achievement, affiliation, power and information. This paper examines the IS issues that arise from the discovery of the distinctively American, Japanese and Chinese styles of strategic decision making. The existence of international differences in analyzing and conceptualizing strategic decisions raises doubts about the global applicability of IS such as decision support systems and executive information systems. The success of knowledge management and information systems in different countries and cultures will depend critically on how well IT applications are adapted to the decision styles of their users.

Efficacy in Technology-Mediated Distributed Teams

The concept of collective efficacy within virtual teams has yet to be studied. This study developed and rigorously validated a domain-specific measure of collective efficacy, entitled virtual team efficacy, within a comprehensive research framework. Over a two-year period we collected field study data from multiple samples of information systems project teams—in all, 52 virtual teams comprising 318 students from the United States, Great Britain, and Hong Kong. As we hypothesized, group potency and computer collective efficacy act as antecedents to virtual team efficacy, and virtual team efficacy is in turn predictive of perceptual and objective measures of performance. Further, consistent with efficacy theory, we also find that virtual team efficacy acts on performance outcomes through specific mediating processes. This paper contributes to the academic and practitioner communities by providing a comprehensive model of virtual team efficacy and performance and by providing validated instrumentation that can be immediately applied during further research in this area.

I Know I Can, But Can We? Culture and Efficacy Beliefs in Global Virtual Teams

Given the growing use of global virtual teams, one important factor to consider when examining team performance is the cultural backgrounds of the dispersed team members. Two hundred forty-three team members from universities in the United States and Hong Kong were administered three survey questionnaires during a series of virtual team projects. Results revealed that regardless of cultural background, team members reported less confidence in their ability to work in virtual team environments than traditional face-to-face environments and that team members from individualistic cultures reported higher self-efficacy beliefs (both group self-efficacy and virtual team self-efficacy) than team members from collectivist cultures. Furthermore, when the reference for efficacy beliefs changed from the individual to the group, the magnitude of change was greater for the collectivist versus individualistic team members. Implications and future research are also discussed.

GSS for presentation support

COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM September 2000/Vol. 43, No. 9 91 P resentations are an ubiquitous feature of organizational life. They are a key method for achieving a clear understanding of complex ideas among large groups of people. However, there is often little time for genuine interaction among presenters and their audiences. Imagine a presentation where the entire audience jumped into a lively debate as soon as the presentation began. Imagine the presenter continued unconcerned, that everybody heard the presentation without losing the thread of the discussion in the audience. Imagine the participants could report the discussions months later with complete accuracy. With standard methods this would be impossible, yet with Group Support Systems (GSS) this scenario can be realized fairly easily. A GSS is a suite of software tools for focusing and structuring group deliberation, while reducing the cognitive costs of communication and information access among teams making a joint cognitive effort toward a goal [3]. GSS participants simultaneously type their contributions into a network of computers. The software immediately makes all contributions available to the other participants. If the team feels it appropriate, the GSS allows for anonymous input. A GSS may have tools for collaborative idea generation and organization, electronic polling, simultaneous document authoring, and multicriteria decision-making, among others. Each tool creates a different kind of group dynamic. One may encourage participants to diverge from customary thought patterns, while another may cause them to converge quickly on key issues. One may encourage them to contribute in great depth and detail, while another may move them to a broader, big-picture view. Here, we rethink the traditional presentation-and-discussion structure, exploring means that may enhance its value for both audiences and presenters. Supercharging the audience through simultaneous discussions during presentations. ■ Robert M. Davison and Robert O. Briggs

Information technology to support informal knowledge sharing

The knowledge management (KM) literature largely focuses on the explicit and formal representation of knowledge in computer‐based KM systems. Informal KM practices are widespread, but less is known about them. This paper aims to redress this imbalance by exploring the use of interactive information technology (IT) applications for informal knowledge sharing (KS). We develop theoretical propositions to highlight the key facets of informal KS processes, and illustrate them through an interpretive case‐study analysis of KS in two public relations firms in China. We then discuss the implications of our findings for practice in both China and beyond. Finally, we recommend a research agenda to further investigate informal, relationship‐based knowledge sharing.

The impact of trust, guanxi orientation and face on the intention of Chinese employees and managers to engage in peer-to-peer tacit and explicit knowledge sharing

Knowledge sharing is recognised as one of the most critical components of knowledge management. Successful and efficient knowledge sharing could directly facilitate knowledge creation and so help a firm to maintain its competitive advantage. Consequently, identifying which factors could encourage or inhibit people to share knowledge is potentially of great value. In this study, we explore the impact of selected socio‐cultural factors, viz. trust, guanxi orientation and face, on the intention to share explicit and tacit knowledge in Chinese firms. Two hundred and four employees from Chinese organisations were surveyed on their knowledge‐sharing practices. Our findings indicate that while cognition‐based trust has no significant effect on the intention to share either tacit or explicit knowledge, affect‐based trust has a significant effect on both. Meanwhile, face‐gaining behaviours have a positive effect, while face‐saving behaviours have a negative effect on the intention to share knowledge. Finally, guanxi orientation also has a strong impact on knowledge sharing. The implications of these findings for organisations and their knowledge management initiatives are discussed.