One result of the increasing sophistication and complexity of MIS theory and research is the number of studies hypothesizing and testing for moderation effects. A review of the MIS and broader management literatures suggests researchers investigating moderated relationships often commit one or more errors falling into three broad categories: inappropriate use or interpretation of statistics, misalignment of research design with phenomena of interest, and measurement or scaling issues. Examples of nine common errors are presented. Commission of these errors is expected to yield literatures characterized by mixed results at best, and thoroughly erroneous results at worse. Procedures representing examples of best practice and reporting guidelines are provided to help MIS investigators avoid or minimize these errors.
This study uses a metatriangulation approach to explore the relationships between power and information technology impacts, development or deployment, and management or use in a sample of 82 articles from 12 management and MIS journals published between 1980 and 1999. We explore the multiple paradigms underlying this research by applying two sets of lenses to examine the major findings from our sample. The technological imperative, organizational imperative, and emergent perspectives (Markus and Robey 1988) are used as one set of lenses to better understand researchers' views regarding the causal structure between IT and organizational power. A second set of lenses, which includes the rational, pluralist, interpretive, and radical perspectives (Bradshaw-Camball and Murray 1991), is used to focus on researchers' views of the role of power and different IT outcomes. We apply each lens separately to describe patterns emerging from the previous power and IT studies. In addition, we discuss the similarities and differences that occur when the two sets of lenses are simultaneously applied. We draw from this discussion to develop metaconjectures, (i.e., propositions that can be interpreted from multiple perspectives), and to suggest guidelines for studying power in future research.
As the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) by business becomes more common, we need to better understand when these systems are and are not useful. This research uses a laboratory experiment to extend cognitive fit theory (Vessey 1991) to geographic tasks performed using either map-based presentations or tabular presentations. The experiment found that decision makers using a map-based presentation made faster and more accurate decisions when working on a geographic task in which there were adjacency relationships among the geographic areas. Decision makers using a map-based presentation made faster but less accurate decisions when working on a geographic task in which there were no relationships among the geographic areas.
Members of brainstorming groups often pursue the same set of ideas rather than considering a wide and diverse range of ideas, which may reduce the number of ideas they produce. One way to reduce this cognitive inertia may be to encourage groups to engage in several simultaneous discussions or dialogues. This experiment, which studied groups brainstorming electronically, found that groups generated more ideas, more high-quality ideas, and more novel ideas when using multiple dialogues than when using single dialogues.