Tadhg Nagle

The road from community ideas to organisational innovation: a life cycle survey of idea management systems

This paper introduces a new emerging software component, the idea management system, which helps to gather, organise, select and manage the innovative ideas provided by the communities gathered around organisations or enterprises. We define the notion of the idea life cycle, which provides a framework for characterising tools and techniques that drive the evolution of community submitted data inside idea management systems. Furthermore, we show the dependencies between the community-created information and the enterprise processes that are a result of using idea management systems and point out the possible benefits.

Using mindfulness to examine ISD agility

As information systems development (ISD) organisations face increasing market demands, strategies such as agile development have been used to help address these demands. Now, as information systems (IS) research in agile development is gaining in theoretical rigour, this study explores the use of mindfulness as a theoretical framework to examine ISD agility. At its core, the mindfulness theoretical concept promotes a focus on ‘continuous attention to detail’ and ‘vigilance to minimise errors and respond effectively to unexpected events’. Incorporating a sixteen month ongoing longitudinal case study of an ISD organisation, this research provides an insight into the practice of what we term ‘doing’ agile and ‘being’ agile, while also providing a number of theoretical contributions around the value of mindfulness for ISD agility.

Understanding social media business value, a prerequisite for social media selection

While the value of technology has been one of the key areas of research within the Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) domain, the area is characterised by disagreement and a lack of consensus regarding what constitutes appropriate measures for technological value. Notwithstanding the fact that this represents a key obstacle to daily IS/IT operations, it is also a concern given the emergence of new technologies which have a significant impact on future operations. More specifically, this study highlights the lack of value understanding on social media, which is seen as a key prerequisite and part of the intelligence phase in Simon’s (1977) normative decision-making process, as applied to social media selection. Incorporating Amit and Zott’s (2001) model of value creation, this study examines the sources of value in 68 not-for-profit social media projects. Furthermore, utilising an adaptive theory approach, the study extends the model of Amit and Zott (2001) and formally defines key relationships between the sources of value creation, providing a more solid foundation for the process of social media selection. The study makes contributions to the IS/IT value, social media and not-for-profit domain and highlights that value is primarily created through efficiency and novelty, with secondary value sources being identified as lock-in and complementarities. The study also provides a refined value creation model and a number of propositions for further research.

Social media as a support for learning in universities: an empirical study of Facebook Groups

Abstract This paper explores social media use for learning in universities, through a study of the use of Facebook Groups by undergraduate students. The objective of the research is specifically to understand what motivates students to use Facebook Groups and what benefits they receive from doing so. The study is grounded in the Guo et al. (2012) Student Technology Use Hierarchical Framework (STUH), drawn from Uses and Gratifications Theory (U&G), and from Means End Chain Theory (MEC). The STUH Framework was adapted by this research, and validated and revised through survey research to create an amended STUH framework for Facebook Groups. The findings conclude that the attributes of Facebook Groups lead to interaction which in turn satisfies the higher level information and decision making needs of students. The findings have important implications for software designers and educators, as well as for researchers interested in using social networking software for learning. Overall, a better understanding of student motivations is critical to the successful implementation of such technologies in the educational arena.

The development of a Design Research Canvas for data practitioners

Abstract This paper sets out the development of a Design Research Canvas through engagements with data and decision support practitioners. This is in direct response to the lack of tools for practitioners in crossing the practice research divide. Designed, built and evaluated within the context of an Executive Education programme, version 1 of the canvas is demonstrated. Initial results depict positive utility and effectiveness in completing a Design Research project. In addition, the evaluation of version 1 guided the development of an improved version 2 of the canvas. Moreover, the canvas itself provides a useful aid for practitioners, researchers and teachers involved in Design Research. Furthermore, being itself an example of Design Research, this study highlights some key insights on the process, such as early stage evaluations.

From Tough Negotiation to Complex Integration: Implications of Adversarial and Collaborative Relationships on Electronic Procurement Systems

For many organisations e-Procurement has become a necessity. Nevertheless, while e-procurement has generated considerable hype the phenomenon is generally under-researched despite the fundamental impact that e-Procurement has on the nature of inter-organisational relationships This paper explores the effects that business-to-business relationships have on e-Procurement systems using a field study of 6 companies. The study classifies business-to-business B2B relationships as being adversarial and collaborative, where adversarial relationships include attributes such as tough negotiation, short-term contracts and multiple sourcing, while collaborative relationships include cooperation, mutual benefit and trust, strategies such as cross-functional team decision-making, supply base rationalisation, and long-term contracts. The effects of both relationships on the electronically supported transaction phases of the procurement lifecycle are examined. The research findings indicate that adversarial relationships have most effect on the sourcing phases whereas collaborative relationships most affect the, fulfilment, and consumption phases of the procurement cycle. This further highlights the need for practitioners to manage and understand the interorganisational relationships within their business.

Governing self service analytics

Abstract The governance of Data Consumers is a concept that is emerging in Self-Service Analytics environments. This paper provides a matrix that allows organisations to pre or post assess the relationship between Self-Service Analytics and the governance of Data Consumers. The authors used Grounded Theory methodology as the means of undertaking this research. In doing so, initial high-level concepts (Governance and Self-Service Analytics) were defined from the literature and further expanded upon through the course of the study. As a result, emerging sub-categories were identified and provided the basis of an assessment matrix for the governance of Self-Service Analytics (GOSSA). In addition, the framework also highlights four key types of governance: transitional, strategic, open, and sensitive. Moreover, as well as being a new tool for practitioners the study adds to a sparsely populated research domain.

A categorisation framework for a feature-level analysis of social network sites

Abstract Social media (SM) have enabled new forms of communication, interaction, and connectivity that affect individuals on a personal and professional level. But SM is a broad term that encompasses a wide range of technologies with both distinct and shared capabilities. In addition, while there is an agreed-upon definition of these systems, a comprehensive list of features and their affordances does not exist. Hence, this study sought to create a feature-level categorisation framework for analysing the use of social network sites (SNS). This categorisation was undertaken using the concept of affordances, which framed the high-level characteristics as well as distinct SNS features, to better understand the divergence in SNS capabilities and inform the study of different types of SM. The framework was created from an analysis of the literature on SNS affordances and a system investigation into three types of SNS (Facebook, YouTube and Twitter). The comprehensive review was undertaken using two families of SNS affordances (social and content affordances) identified in the literature to categorise and compare the platforms. The study reveals a diverse collection of features which afford behaviour in six areas of activity: profile building, social connectivity, social interactivity, content discovery, content sharing and content aggregation. Finally, the framework provides a basis from which the usage and management of SM within organisations can be more rigorously investigated.

Big Data: A framework for research

Big Data is not the first and most definitely not the last new term that the IT industry is going to coin in order to drive interest and investment in new technology. Moreover, with these new terms, an opportunity is afforded for the research community to objectively understand the impact (or lack thereof) on organizations and decision makers. This paper provides a high-level framework to guide researchers in the area of Big Data through a conceptualization of the Information Supply Chain. The Information Supply Chain can be used as a scoping device for researchers in positioning their work but also as a tool to enable stronger objectivity and prevent an automatic resistance or acceptance of the new term/trend.

An Examination of the Disruptive Innovation Paradox: The Application of the Innovators Dilemma to SME’s

Managing strategic contradiction and paradoxical situations has been gaining importance in technological, innovation and management domains. As a result, more and more paradoxical instances and types have been documented in literature. The innovators dilemma is such an instance that gives a detailed description of how disruptive innovations affect firms. However, the innovators dilemma has only been applied to large organisations and more specifically industry incumbents. Through a multiple case study of six eLearning SME’s, this paper investigates the applicability of the innovators dilemma as well as the disruptive effects of Web 2.0 on the organisations. Analysing the data collected over 18 months, it was found that the innovators dilemma did indeed apply to SME’s. However, inline with the original thesis the dilemma only applied to the SME’s established (pre-2002) before the development of Web 2.0 technologies began. Furthermore, the study highlights that the post-2002 firms were also partly vulnerable to the dilemma but were able to avoid any negative effects though technological visionary leadership. In contrast, the pre-2002 firms were lacking this visionary ability and were also constrained by low risk profiles.