T. Selwyn Ellis

Proposing the online community self-disclosure model: the case of working professionals in France and the U.K. who use online communities

The global use of online communities has exploded to involve hundreds of millions of users. Despite the tremendous social impact and business opportunities afforded by these communities, little information systems (IS) research has addressed them – especially in a cross-cultural context. Our research proposes an online community self-disclosure model, tested in a cross-cultural setting using data provided by French and British working professionals. Our model is based on social exchange theory (SET) and social penetration theory (SPT), as well as on cross-cultural theory related to individualism-collectivism. SET explains that individuals engage in relationships when the perceived costs associated with the relationship are less than the expected benefits. SPT extends SET to explain that individuals participate in self-disclosure to foster relationships – reciprocation is the primary benefit of self-disclosure, whereas risk is the foundational cost of self-disclosure. Our study established several important findings: positive social influence to use an online community increases online community self-disclosure; reciprocity increases self-disclosure; online community trust increases self-disclosure; and privacy risk beliefs decrease self-disclosure. Meanwhile, a tendency toward collectivism increases self-disclosure. We further found that French participants had higher scores on horizontal individualism than British participants. Several other findings and their implications for practice are also discussed.

A Measure of Software Development Risk

Risks to software development are present throughout the creation of information systems (IS). The ability of researchers and practitioners to consider risk within their models and project management methods has been hampered by the lack of a rigorously tested instrument to measure risk properties. An instrument to measure software development risk based on properties described in the literature is proposed. A survey of 152 IS project participants was collected to examine the reliability and validity of the instrument, both which appear strong. The instrument then was used to empirically demonstrate a strong anticipated relationship between risk and project success.

The evaluation of IT ethical scenarios using a multidimensional scale

Concerns about the increased use and abuse of information technology have evolved into more formalized evaluations of computer ethics in many organizations. While ethical situations regarding computer usage, privacy, and ownership have been previously researched by focusing on ethics as a holistic construct, recent ethics research has produced an ethics scale which measures not one but three dimensions of ethics: moral equity, relativism, and contractualism. The purpose of this research is to extend previous research in which computer users evaluated ethics using a single item. The authors utilize a multidimensional scale that identifies the ethical rule or principle that was violated. They then compare the unidimensional scale to the multidimensional scale and discuss the tradeoffs involved in adding scale items.

On the superiority of pulsing under a concave advertising market potential function

The authors study the superiority of advertising pulsing policy (turning advertising on and off in a cyclic fashion) over its uniform (constant spending) counterpart that costs the same under the assumption that sales dynamics follow a modified Vidale-Wolfe aggregate advertising model. The authors show that pulsing can be superior if the product of the concave market potential function and the linear or concave advertising response function is convex in advertising. Similar to previous studies in the literature, the average undiscounted profit over the infinite planning horizon is considered as a performance measure according to which alternative advertising pulsation policies are compared. Employing a well-known data set relating advertising to sales, the above convexity requirement is empirically supported and the superiority of pulsing is established numerically. The performance of the proposed model is found to be superior to two rival models using a one-step-ahead forecasting procedure. The analytical findings of the study are documented into six theoretical results for which proofs are relegated to a separate appendix. Managerial implications of the study and directions for future research are also discussed.

Post‐loan credit risk: an analysis of small business in southern Arkansas

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify pre‐loan factors that ultimately impact post‐loan risk ratings of small business in southern Arkansas.Design/methodology/approach – Ordinary least squares linear regression analysis is conducted on small business data to determine which factors contribute to higher post‐loan credit risk ratings.Findings – Businesses with records of loan repayment and personal financial assets at stake are more likely to be assigned better credit risk ratings. Additional analysis indicates that businesses with no past due collections or judgments, having good trade references, a profitable business, and not operating in a volatile industry are much more likely to result in loans ultimately receiving good post‐loan performance marks and lower risk ratings.Research limitations/implications – This paper has a small sample of firms in a historically economically depressed region. While the relevant factors seem intuitive they may not apply to other regions and/or larger busine...

Self-Confidence in Financial Analysis: A Study of Younger and Older Male Professional Analysts

Measures of reported self-confidence in performing financial analysis by 59 professional male analysts, 31 born between 1946 and 1964 and 28 born between 1965 and 1976, were investigated and reported. Self-confidence in ones ability is important in the securities industry because it affects recommendations and decisions to buy, sell, and hold securities. The respondents analyzed a set of multiyear corporate financial statements and reported their self-confidence in six separate financial areas. Data from the 59 male financial analysts were tallied and analyzed using both univariate and multivariate statistical tests. Rated self-confidence was not significantly different for the younger and the older men. These results are not consistent with a similar prior study of female analysts in which younger women showed significantly higher self-confidence than older women.

The effect of organizational size and program status on information systems managers' perceptions of telecommuting

This study documents responses relating to advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting from a national survey mailed to information systems (IS) managers. These managers were selected because of both the explicit and implicit roles they play in technology decisions, including those related to telecommuting. Two variables thought to be associated with IS managers beliefs about telecommuting are isolated for measurement and testing. The two variables are firm size and whether the organization currently has a telecommuting program in place. Results indicate that neither firm size nor the existence of a telecommuting program affect beliefs of IS managers concerning the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting. These results lend credence to the hypothesis that a consensus is forming regarding the benefits and drawbacks associated with this innovative and alternate work arrangement.