William Lewis

Sources of influence on beliefs about information technology use: an empirical study of knowledge workers

Individual beliefs about technology use have been shown to have a profound impact on subsequent behaviors toward information technology (IT). This research note builds upon and extends prior research examining factors that influence key individual beliefs about technology use. It is argued that individuals form beliefs about their use of information technologies within a broad milieu of influences emanating from the individual, institutional, and social contexts in which they interact with IT. We examine the simultaneous effects of these three sets of influences on beliefs about usefulness and ease of use in the context of a contemporary technology targeted at autonomous knowledge workers. Our findings suggest that beliefs about technology use can be influenced by top management commitment to new technology and the individual factors of personal innovativeness and self-efficacy. Surprisingly, social influences from multiple sources exhibited no significant effects. Theoretical and practical implications are offered.

An empirical assessment of IT disaster risk

Disasters have historically been associated with catastrophic events such as floods,fires, hurricanes, or earthquakes, but recent computer failures, such as the air trafficsystem failure at Washington Center, have broadened the definition of disaster—asany event causing significant disruption to operations, thereby threatening businesssurvival [9] With the incentives of cost-efficiency and competition driving businessto place more critical information assets into automated systems and networks [4],the loss or denial of assets required for normal operations can have a catastrophicimpact on a firm’s bottom line [2]. Such disasters may involve the loss of integrity orreliability in a critical dataset or in the means by which data are transported, manip-ulated, or presented. As firms grow more dependent on uninterrupted information system function-ing, disaster recovery (DR) is receiving increasing attention, and a growing numberof organizations are beginning to engage in DR planning. In addition to cold sites,reciprocal agreements, and other services, DR vendors market a service known as “hotsites,” designed to provide standby computer resources in the event that one or moresubscribers require an alternative computer center to process critical applications.Companies pay steep monthly subscription fees for hot-site facilities, into whichcompany departments can move, literally overnight, if required [6]. This requirementis usually prompted by an actual or perceived event that could render the subscriber’scomputer systems inoperable. The activation of hot site service is initiated throughthe formal declaration of a disaster. The definition of disaster varies by client, withhot site providers generally allowing a broad interpretation of the term. For example,some vendor clients declare disasters in order to provide backup data processing capa-bility during a planned relocation of their data center.Despite the vital necessity of uninterrupted IT capability for most of today’sorganizations, few empirical studies provide practitioners and academicians with a

Changes in gut microbiota of migratory passerines during stopover after crossing an ecological barrier

ABSTRACT The gut microbiota is a large and diverse community of microorganisms that provides many beneficial functions to the animal host; however, any change in the hosts external or internal environment can affect microbiota composition. Migratory passerines arriving at stopover sites show highly variable microbiotas, which is likely reflective of the widely different habitats and foods utilized by migrants prior to arrival. If the previous environmental conditions led to the observed initial variability, then the microbiotas of birds should become more similar through stopover when migrants are in the same habitat and able to utilize similar resources. During spring 2014, migratory Swainsons Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), and Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) were captured at a site in southwest Louisiana, USA, (1) upon arrival after crossing the Gulf of Mexico and (2) ≥1 day later during stopover. Fecal samples were collected and the microbial communities in them were analyzed using next-generation sequencing. The microbiotas of the majority of birds showed distinct shifts in community composition and became more similar during stopover, with birds stopping at the site for longer periods showing more pronounced changes in their microbiotas. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that local food-resource availability heavily influences the microbiotas of passerines; however, it is likely that gut remodulation during stopover after having crossed an ecological barrier also played a role.

An Empirical Assessment of IT Disaster Probabilities

Driven by the incentives of cost-efficiency and competition, business has placed more of its critical information asset into automated systems and networks (Hughes, 1997). As a result, business has become more dependent upon the uninterrupted function of information systems. The interruption of business due to the loss or denial of the information assets required for normal operations can have a catastrophic impact on a firm’s bottom line (Glennen, 1997). Such disasters may involve the loss of integrity or reliability in a critical dataset or in the means by which data is transported, manipulated, or presented for use.