IS

Straub, Detmar W.

Research Interests (63)

List of Topics (63)

Topic Weight Topic Terms
1.292 research studies issues researchers scientific methodological article conducting conduct advanced rigor researcher methodology practitioner issue
1.003 editorial article systems journal information issue introduction research presents editors quarterly author mis isr editor
0.603 research information systems science field discipline researchers principles practice core methods area reference relevance conclude
0.574 research journals journal information systems articles academic published business mis faculty discipline analysis publication management
0.544 perceived usefulness acceptance use technology ease model usage tam study beliefs intention user intentions users
0.534 model research data results study using theoretical influence findings theory support implications test collected tested
0.513 collaborative groups feedback group work collective individuals higher effects efficacy perceived tasks members environment writing
0.401 structural pls measurement modeling equation research formative squares partial using indicators constructs construct statistical models
0.382 trust trusting study online perceived beliefs e-commerce intention trustworthiness relationships benevolence initial importance trust-building examines
0.381 model use theory technology intention information attitude acceptance behavioral behavior intentions research understanding systems continuance
0.369 cultural culture differences cross-cultural states united status national cultures japanese studies japan influence comparison versus
0.357 adoption diffusion technology adopters innovation adopt process information potential innovations influence new characteristics early adopting
0.356 time use size second appears form larger benefits combined studies reasons selected underlying appear various
0.354 executive information article systems presents eis executives overview computer-based scanning discusses investigation support empirical robert
0.349 performance firm measures metrics value relationship firms results objective relationships firm's organizational traffic measure market
0.334 perceived results study field individual support effects microcomputer pressure external usefulness test psychological obligations characteristics
0.325 customer customers crm relationship study loyalty marketing management profitability service offer retention it-enabled web-based interactions
0.307 alignment strategic business strategy performance technology value organizational orientation relationship information misalignment matched goals perspective
0.306 theory theories theoretical paper new understanding work practical explain empirical contribution phenomenon literature second implications
0.306 field work changes new years time change major period year end use past early century
0.297 instrument measurement factor analysis measuring measures dimensions validity based instruments construct measure conceptualization sample reliability
0.291 research researchers framework future information systems important present agenda identify areas provide understanding contributions using
0.284 article information author discusses comments technology paper presents states explains editor's authors issue focuses topics
0.280 integration present offer processes integrating current discuss perspectives related quality literature integrated benefits measures potential
0.275 information proximity message seeking perceived distance communication overload context geographic dispersed higher geographically task contexts
0.273 technology organizational information organizations organization new work perspective innovation processes used technological understanding technologies transformation
0.271 online consumers consumer product purchase shopping e-commerce products commerce website electronic results study behavior experience
0.271 validity reliability measure constructs construct study research measures used scale development nomological scales instrument measurement
0.270 commitment need practitioners studies potential role consider difficult models result importance influence researchers established conduct
0.246 business large organizations using work changing rapidly make today's available designed need increasingly recent manage
0.238 role roles gender differences women significant play age men plays sample differ played vary understand
0.234 effect impact affect results positive effects direct findings influence important positively model data suggest test
0.234 business digital strategy value transformation economy technologies paper creation digitization strategies environment focus net-enabled services
0.234 effects effect research data studies empirical information literature different interaction analysis implications findings results important
0.224 performance results study impact research influence effects data higher efficiency effect significantly findings impacts empirical
0.211 communication media computer-mediated e-mail richness electronic cmc mail medium message performance convergence used communications messages
0.211 results study research information studies relationship size variables previous variable examining dependent increases empirical variance
0.204 security threat information users detection coping configuration avoidance response firm malicious attack intrusion appraisal countermeasures
0.185 decision support systems making design models group makers integrated article delivery representation portfolio include selection
0.184 response responses different survey questions results research activities respond benefits certain leads two-stage interactions study
0.183 costs cost switching reduce transaction increase benefits time economic production transactions savings reduction impact services
0.181 outsourcing transaction cost partnership information economics relationships outsource large-scale contracts specificity perspective decisions long-term develop
0.177 organizational organizations effectiveness factors managers model associated context characteristics variables paper relationships level attention environmental
0.177 governance relational mechanisms bpo rights process coordination outsourcing contractual arrangements technology benefits view informal business
0.160 innovation innovations innovative organizing technological vision disruptive crowdsourcing path implemented explain base opportunities study diversity
0.156 institutional pressures logic theory normative embedded context incumbent contexts forces inertia institutionalized environment pressure identify
0.145 design artifacts alternative method artifact generation approaches alternatives tool science generate set promising requirements evaluation
0.143 errors error construction testing spreadsheet recovery phase spreadsheets number failures inspection better studies modules rate
0.139 data used develop multiple approaches collection based research classes aspect single literature profiles means crowd
0.137 supply chain information suppliers supplier partners relationships integration use chains technology interorganizational sharing systems procurement
0.137 managers managerial manager decisions study middle use important manager's appropriate importance context organizations indicate field
0.132 outsourcing vendor client sourcing vendors clients relationship firms production mechanisms duration mode outsourced vendor's effort
0.131 systems information research theory implications practice discussed findings field paper practitioners role general important key
0.129 banking bank multilevel banks level individual implementation analysis resistance financial suggests modeling group large bank's
0.129 users user new resistance likely benefits potential perspective status actual behavior recognition propose user's social
0.119 security information compliance policy organizations breach disclosure policies deterrence breaches incidents results study abuse managed
0.115 users end use professionals user organizations applications needs packages findings perform specialists technical computing direct
0.115 technology research information individual context acceptance use technologies suggests need better personality factors new traits
0.113 planning strategic process management plan operational implementation critical used tactical effectiveness number identified activities years
0.112 success model failure information impact variables failures delone suggested dimensions mclean reasons variable finally categories
0.107 structural modeling scale equation implications economies large future framework perspective propose broad scope resulting identified
0.104 web site sites content usability page status pages metrics browsing design use web-based guidelines results
0.101 management practices technology information organizations organizational steering role fashion effective survey companies firms set planning

Coauthor Network

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List of Coauthors (24)

Ang, Soon 4 Gefen, David 3 Hoffman, Donna L. 2 Karahanna, Elena 2
Steinfield, Charles 2 Weber, Bruce W. 2 Bellenger, Danny N. 1 Boudreau, Marie-Claude 1
Cummings, Larry L. 1 Chervany, Norman L. 1 Earley, P. Christopher 1 Elie-Dit-Cosaque, Christophe 1
Hsu, Carol 1 Johnston, Wesley J. 1 Koh, Christine 1 Lee, Jae-Nam 1
Liang, Ting-peng 1 Ringle, Christian M. 1 Sarstedt, Marko 1 Vance, Anthony 1
Watson, Richard T. 1 Welke, Richard J. 1 Wu, Shelly Ping-Ju 1 Zablah, Alex R. 1

Article Keywords (100)

Measurement 3 construct validity 2 content validity 2 information technology 2
Metrics 2 reliability 2 administrative innovation 1 adoption and assimilation 1
adoption 1 contracts 1 CRM 1 CRM technology 1
customer relationship management 1 cross-cultural IT research 1 cognition-based trust 1 culture impacts 1
Digital Business 1 degree-symmetric measures 1 electronic communication 1 e-Business Developments 1
economic 1 empirical measurement 1 e-mail. 1 E-Commerce 1
feedback seeking 1 feedback systems 1 Forecasts 1 Future IS Research Issues 1
financial slack 1 familarity 1 gender differences 1 guidelines. 1
German 1 hierarchical regression 1 information richness 1 IT cross-cultural studies 1
IT diffusion 1 IT outsourcing success 1 information security management 1 institutional theories 1
IT capability factors 1 internal validity 1 IT adoption and diffusion 1 IS outsourcing 1
IS use 1 innovation diffusion 1 innovativeness 1 IS research methods 1
institution-based trust 1 IT governance mechanisms 1 Japanese business 1 Language of Keywords: English 1
mood 1 mixed methods approach 1 multilevel modeling 1 MIS research methodology 1
MIS implementation 1 manipulation validity 1 m-commerce 1 m-commerce portals 1
Net-Enabled Organizations (NEOs) 1 Net-Enablement 1 Net-Enhancement 1 Net-enhanced B2C systems 1
navigational structure 1 outsourcing relationship management 1 organizational 1 outsourcing measures. 1
organizational performance 1 perceived usefulness 1 productivity 1 postcontractual issues 1
psychological contracting theory 1 production cost economics 1 psychometrics 1 positivist research 1
quantitative research 1 Research Constructs 1 relationship investment 1 relationship marketing and management 1
social presence 1 system use 1 systems integration 1 system quality 1
systems use 1 strategic alignment 1 Trends 1 theory construction and development 1
Technology acceptance model 1 transaction cost theory 1 theory of Reasoned Action 1 TAM 1
trust 1 trust building processes 1 trust in the IT artifact 1 uncertainty avoidance 1
user attitudes 1 User behavior 1 validation 1 visual appeal 1

Articles (22)

How Information Technology Governance Mechanisms and Strategic Alignment Influence Organizational Performance: Insights from a Matched Survey of Business and IT Managers (MIS Quarterly, 2015)
Authors: Abstract:
    Previous research has proposed different types for and contingency factors affecting information technology governance. Yet, in spite of this valuable work, it is still unclear through what mechanisms IT governance affects organizational performance. We make a detailed argument for the mediation of strategic alignment in this process. Strategic alignment remains a top priority for business and IT executives, but theory-based empirical research on the relative importance of the factors affecting strategic alignment is still lagging. By consolidating strategic alignment and IT governance models, this research proposes a nomological model showing how organizational value is created through IT governance mechanisms. Our research model draws upon the resource-based view of the firm and provides guidance on how strategic alignment can mediate the effectiveness of IT governance on organizational performance. As such, it contributes to the knowledge bases of both alignment and IT governance literatures. Using dyadic data collected from 131 Taiwanese companies (cross-validated with archival data from 72 firms), we uncover a positive, significant, and impactful linkage between IT governance mechanisms and strategic alignment and, further, between strategic alignment and organizational performance. We also show that the effect of IT governance mechanisms on organizational performance is fully mediated by strategic alignment. Besides making contributions to construct and measure items in this domain, this research contributes to the theory base by integrating and extending the literature on IT governance and strategic alignment, both of which have long been recognized as critical for achieving organizational goals.
Performance Implications of CRM Technology Use: A Multilevel Field Study of Business Customers and Their Providers in the Telecommunications Industry. (Information Systems Research, 2012)
Authors: Abstract:
    Extant research is equivocal about the organizational performance effects of customer relationship management (CRM) technology use, with some studies reporting positive effects and other studies reporting no effects at all. The present research effort posits that these mixed findings may potentially be explained by two factors: (1) CRM technology use may have different effects on different customers, and (2) different CRM tools may have different performance consequences. This study investigates this possibility by building on relationship marketing and management theory to propose and test a model of the customer- and firm-level consequences of the organizational use of CRM interaction support and customer prioritization tools. The results of data analysis of 295 customer firms nested within 10 provider firms reveal that firm use of CRM interaction support tools is positively related to customers' relationship perceptions, regardless of customer account size. In contrast, the data indicate that use of CRM prioritization tools appears to have positive effects on a firm's larger customers and negative effects on smaller customers. The results also suggest that when considered at an aggregate level, customer perceptions of the exchange relationship are predictive of organizational performance and that the association between these two variables is significant for larger customer accounts but insignificant for smaller accounts. Overall, the study's results help explain some of the inconsistent findings reported in the literature regarding the performance implications of CRM technology use and suggest that use of the technology may serve to enhance organizational performance, at least over the short term.
Institutional Influences on Information Systems Security Innovations. (Information Systems Research, 2012)
Authors: Abstract:
    This research investigates information security management as an administrative innovation. Although a number of institutional theories deal with information systems (IS) innovation in organizations, most of these institutional-centered frameworks overlook external economic efficiency and internal organizational capability in the presence of pressures of institutional conformity. Using Korea as the institutional setting, our research model posits that economic-based consideration will moderate the institutional conformity pressure on information security adoption while organization capability will influence the institutional confirmation of information security assimilation. The model is empirically tested using two-stage survey data from a field study of 140 organizations in Korea. The results indicate that in addition to institutional influences, our six proposed economic-based and organizational capability moderating variables all have significant influences on the degree of the adoption and assimilation of information security management. We conclude with implications for research in the area of organizational theory and the information security management literature, and for practices regarding how managers can factor into their information security planning the key implementation variables discovered in this study. The robust setting of the study in Korean firms allows us to generalize the theory to a new context and across cultures.
A Critical Look at the Use of PLS-SEM in MIS Quarterly. (MIS Quarterly, 2012)
Authors: Abstract:
    The article reviews the use of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in management information systems (MIS) research published in this journal with a focus on the years 1992-2011. Data from an analysis of 65 empirical studies using the PLS-SEM technique in estimation models is discussed. The review found an increase in the use of PLS-SEM over time. Sample size, non-normal data, and formatively measured latent variables are given as reasons why PLS-SEM was selected as a research subject.
Diamond Mining or Coal Mining? Which Reviewing Industry Are We In? (MIS Quarterly, 2009)
Authors: Abstract:
    This article discusses the state of the management and information science field. The predispositions that editors bring to the review of manuscripts written for publication in this journal are analyzed to provide some information on the state of the field. The tendency of information science editors to focus on the methodology of papers submitted for review while ignoring the ideas that the authors put forward is criticized.
Creating Blue Oceans of Thought Via Highly Citable Articles. (MIS Quarterly, 2009)
Authors: Abstract:
    The article discusses research papers in top journals that introduce innovative, breakthrough ideas. Although not all papers can achieve such heights, they can exhibit clear progress in that direction by manifesting certain traits. The author cites as examples one paper on Web site design that argues hedonic factors play a role in the process, and another on the impact of common method variance that identifies the problem with common methods bias, and presents a way to test for it. Over the long term, innovative papers tend to garner large numbers of citations.
Examining Trust in Information Technology Artifacts: The Effects of System Quality and Culture. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2008)
Authors: Abstract:
    The topic of trust in information technology (IT) artifacts has piqued interest among researchers, but studies of this form of trust are not definitive regarding which factors contribute to it the most. Our study empirically tests a model of trust in IT artifacts that increases our understanding in two ways. First, it sets forth two previously unexamined system quality constructs--navigational structure and visual appeal. We found that both of these system quality constructs significantly predict the extent to which users place trust in mobile commerce technologies. Second, our study considers the effect of culture by comparing the trust of French and American potential users in m-commerce technologies. We found that not only does culture directly affect user trust in IT artifacts but it also moderates the extent to which navigational structure affects this form of trust. These findings show that system quality and culture significantly affect trust in the IT artifact and point to rich possibilities for future research in these areas.
Type II Reviewing Errors and the Search for Exciting Papers. (MIS Quarterly, 2008)
Authors: Abstract:
    The author offers opinions on why the publication has what is deemed an overly high rejection rate for submitted manuscripts. He categorizes rejected papers in two types, those found too weak to meet the publications' standards, or those thought worthy in terms of quality by the review board, but were deemed as not making enough of an advance in scholarship to justify publication. Recommendations are made to improve both the review process and the quality of submitted work.
Readability and the Relevance Versus Rigor Debate. (MIS Quarterly, 2008)
Authors: Abstract:
    The authors offer opinions on scholarly periodicals in the field of information science, specifically this publication. They address the question of comprehensibility of written research versus its academic rigor. It is noted that information science has become an important part of businesses and other organizations, and that therefore research is of intense interest to persons without an academic background. The authors conclude, however, that scholarly periodicals are by and for scholars. They list other ways in which researchers can present their work to a more general audience.
IT Outsourcing Success: A Psychological Contract Perspective. (Information Systems Research, 2004)
Authors: Abstract:
    Information technology (IT) outsourcing success requires careful management of customer-supplier relationships. However, there are few published studies on the ongoing relationships, and most of these adopt a customer perspective, de-emphasizing suppliers. In this study, we look at both customer and supplier perspectives, by means of the psychological contract of customer and supplier project managers. We apply the concept of psychological contract to perceived mutual obligations, and to how such fulfillment of obligations can predict success. Our research questions are (1) What are the critical customer-supplier obligations in an IT outsourcing relationship? and (2) What is the impact of fulfilling these obligations on success? We use a sequential, qualitative-quantitative approach to develop and test our model. In the qualitative study, we probe the nature of customer-supplier obligations using in-depth interviews. Content analysis of interview transcripts show that both customers and suppliers identify six obligations that are critical to success. Customers perceive supplier obligations to be accurate project scoping, clear authority structures, taking charge, effective human capital management, effective knowledge transfer, and effective interorganizational teams. Suppliers perceive customer obligations as clear specifications, prompt payment, close project monitoring, dedicated project staffing, knowledge sharing, and project ownership. In the second quantitative study, we assess the impact of fulfilling these obligations on success through a field study of 370 managers. Results show that fulfilled obligations predict success over and above the effects of contract type, duration, and size.
TRUST AND TAM IN ONLINE SHOPPING: AN INTEGRATED MODEL. (MIS Quarterly, 2003)
Authors: Abstract:
    A separate and distinct interaction with both the actual e-vendor and with its IT Web site interface is at the heart of online shopping. Previous research has established, accordingly, that online purchase intentions are the product of both consumer assessments of the IT itself--specifically its perceived usefulness and ease-of-use (TAM)--and trust in the e-vendor. But these perspectives have been examined independently by IS researchers. Integrating these two perspectives and examining the factors that build online trust in an environment that lacks the typical human interaction that often leads to trust in other circumstances advances our understanding of these constructs and their linkages to behavior. Our research on experienced repeat online shoppers shows that consumer trust is as important to online commerce as the widely accepted TAM use-antecedents, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Together these variable sets explain a considerable proportion of variance in intended behavior. The study also provides evidence that online trust is built through (1) a belief that the vendor has nothing to gain by cheating, (2) a belief that there are safety mechanisms built into the Web site, and (3) by having a typical interface, (4) one that is, moreover, easy to use.
Measuring e-Commerce in Net-Enabled Organizations: An Introduction to the Special Issue. (Information Systems Research, 2002)
Authors: Abstract:
    Clear and precise metrics are essential for evaluating phenomena such as e-commerce ('Net'-enablement) and the organizational use of networks and the Internet for commercial activities. Researchers require them for theory building and testing; practitioners require them for improving organizational processes. But for IS professionals to engage in serious creation of metrics, it is critical to recognize: (1) that the phenomenon of net-enablement is an enduring change, probably led in the future by 'brick-cum-click' firms, (2) that some new and old measures need to be differentially applied, and (3) that the papers in this special issue are not the end of metrics creation, but just the beginning.
Toward New Metrics for Net-Enhanced Organizations. (Information Systems Research, 2002)
Authors: Abstract:
    Metrics are sine qua non for solid research, and scientific metrics have now been advanced with new approaches in the arena of Net-enablement (NE), otherwise known as e-commerce. Questions that likely require additional attention include: (1) Where/what is the real value in substituting information for physical processes?, (2) which NE systems effectively support end-to-end fulfillment?, and (3) when should a Net-enabled organization share information? With respect to extant studies in Net-enhancement, the field has been advanced in three methodological dimensions. Multiple methods have been used to validate measures. Approaches to metrics using archival/secondary data have also been initiated. Finally, strong external validity has been established through large scale data gathering.
Research Commentary: Transformational Issues in Researching IS and Net-Enabled Organizations. (Information Systems Research, 2001)
Authors: Abstract:
    The conduct of net-enabled business, known variously as electronic commerce (EC) or e-Business, has changed the landscape and opportunities for IS research by shifting the focus from internal to customer/partnering systems. The article examines the two primary dyadic net-enabled relationships in the marketplace: B2C and B2B. It also considers issues that extend beyond these two relationships. B2C practice and research are analyzed from: (1) consumer, (2) service, and (3) risk perspectives. Three central issues of B2B or supply chain practice and research are next considered: (1) beyond simple efficiencies, (2) innovations in B2B technology, and (3) information visibility. Finally, four overarching research issues are examined: (1) strategy, (2) organizational design, (3) metrics, and (4) managing IS. Not all research on the net-enabled organization (NEO) is IS research, and it is critical that IS journals maintain their distinctive focus. Within the bounds of the net-enabled revolution, though, the IS field has an opportunity to shape the phenomenon with timely, theory-based work that will disseminate beyond the IS academic and practitioner communities.
VALIDATION IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH: A STATE-OF-THE-ART ASSESSMENT. (MIS Quarterly, 2001)
Authors: Abstract:
    As a retrospective on the Straub article, this research seeks to determine if and how the field has advanced in instrument validation. As evidence of the change, we coded positivist, quantitative research articles in five major journals over a recent three year period for use of validation techniques. Findings suggest that the field has advanced in many areas, but, overall, it appears that a majority of published studies are still not sufficiently validating their instruments. Based on these findings, approaches are suggested for reinvigorating the quest for validation in IS research via content/construct validity, reliability, and manipulation validity.Over 10 years ago, the issue of whether IS researchers were rigorously validating their quantitative, positivist instruments was raised (Straub 1989). In the years that have passed since that time, the profession has undergone many changes. Novel technologies and management trends have come and gone. New professional societies have been formed and grown in prominence and new demands have been placed on the field's research and teaching obligations. But the issue of rigor in IS research has persisted throughout all such changes. Without solid validation of the instruments that are used to gather data upon which findings and interpretations are based, the very scientific basis of positivist, quantitative research is threatened. As a retrospective on the Straub article, this research seeks to determine if and how the field has advanced in instrument validation. As evidence of the change, we coded positivist, quantitative research articles in five major journals over a recent three year period for use of validation techniques. Findings suggest that the field has advanced in many areas, but, overall, it appears that a majority of published studies are still not sufficiently validating their instruments. Based on these findings, approaches are suggested for reinvigorating the quest for validation in IS research via content
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION ACROSS TIME: A CROSS-SECTIONAL COMPARISON OF PRE-ADOPTION AND POST-ADOPTION BELIEFS. (MIS Quarterly, 1999)
Authors: Abstract:
    The process of information technology adoption and use is critical to deriving the benefits of information technology. Yet from a conceptual standpoint, few empirical studies have made a distinction between individuals' pre-adoption and post-adoption (continued use) beliefs and attitudes. This distinction is crucial in understanding and managing this process over time. The current study combines innovation diffusion and attitude theories in a theoretical framework to examine differences in pre-adoption and post-adoption beliefs and attitudes. The examination of Windows technology in a single organization indicates that users and potential adopters of information technology differ on their determinants of behavioral intention, attitude, and subjective norm. Potential adopter intention to adopt is solely determined by normative pressures, whereas user intention is solely determined by attitude. In addition, potential adopters base their attitude on a richer set of innovation characteristics than users. Whereas pre-adoption attitude is based on perceptions of usefulness, ease-of-use, result demonstrability, visibility, and trialability, post-adoption attitude is only based on instrumentality beliefs of usefulness and perceptions of image enhancements.
Production and Transaction Economies and IS Outsourcing: A Study of the U.S. Banking Industry. (MIS Quarterly, 1998)
Authors: Abstract:
    This paper studies economic determinants of IS outsourcing. It argues that a focus on comparative economic theories and models can improve our ability to explain outsourcing within the larger context of organizational strategy and environment. Specifically, the research constructs of production cost, transaction cost, and financial slack are examined simultaneously to understand what influences the outsourcing decision. To empirically test these relationships, information was gathered from senior IT managers in 243 U.S. banks. Financial indices from the archives of the Federal Reserve Bank were a second important source of data. Results of the study show that IS outsourcing in banks was strongly influenced by production cost advantages offered by vendors. Transaction costs played a role in the outsourcing decision, but they were much smaller than production costs. Finally, financial slack was not found to be a significant explanator, although firm size was a significant control factor. The paper has important implications for research and practice. For researchers, the findings provide evidence that financial criteria can be key factors in outsourcing decisions and compare the relative effects of production and transaction costs. For practitioners, the findings suggest that managerial sourcing strategies need to weigh both costs when hiring systems integrators.
Coping With Systems Risk: Security Planning Models for Management Decision Making. (MIS Quarterly, 1998)
Authors: Abstract:
    This article presents an executive overview of the article "Coping With Systems Risk: Security Planning Models for Management Decision Making," by Detmar W. Straub and Richard J. Welke.
Gender Differences in the Perception and Use of E-Mail: An Extension to the Technology Acceptance Model. (MIS Quarterly, 1997)
Authors: Abstract:
    This study extends the TAM model (Davis 1989) and the SPIR addendum (Straub 1994) by adding gender to an IT diffusion model. The technology acceptance model (TAM) has been widely studied in IS research as an explanation of the use of information systems across IS types and nationalities. While this line of research has found significant cross-cultural differences, it has ignored the effects of gender, even though in socio-linguistic research, gender is a fundamental aspect of culture. Indeed, socio-linguistic research has shown that men tend to focus discourse on hierarchy and independence, while women focus on intimacy and solidarity. This literature provides a solid grounding for conceptual extensions to the IT diffusion research and the technology acceptance model. Testing gender differences that might relate to beliefs and use of computer-based media, this study sampled 392 female and male responses via a cross-sectional survey instrument. The sample drew from comparable groups of knowledge workers using e-mail systems in the airline industry in North America, Asia, and Europe. Study findings indicate that women and men differ in their perceptions but not use of e-mail. These findings suggest that researchers should include gender in IT diffusion models along with other cultural effects. Managers and co-workers, moreover, need to realize that the same mode of communication may be perceived differently by the sexes, suggesting that more favorable communications environments might be created, environments that take into account not only organizational contextual factors, but also the gender of users. The creation of these environments involves not only the actual deployment of communication media, but also organizational training on communications media.
The Effect of Culture on IT Diffusion: E-Mail and FAX in Japan and the U.S. (Information Systems Research, 1994)
Authors: Abstract:
    Few cross-cultural studies have investigated how firms diffuse new information technologies (IT). Still fewer have advanced a theoretical perspective on possible cultural effects. In a world moving rapidly toward corporate multinationalism, this oversight seems notable. As foreign managers locate plants and offices in the U.S. and as American managers establish foreign subsidiaries and offices abroad, it is important for these managers to know in advance as much as possible about the impact of culture on technological innovation. Japan and the U.S. are cases in point. Both have subsidiaries and actively market goods and services in the other country, far flung enterprises for which IT seems to be a natural coordinating mechanism. Yet while U.S. companies exploit the advantages of IT such as E-mail, Japanese firms do not. The Japanese, however, do utilize FAX extensively. Culture is one fruitful explanation for these differences. To examine these two markedly different cultures and the effect of these differences on technological innovation, a large Japanese airline and financial institution were chosen as representative Asian sites. The IT experiences of 209 Japanese knowledge workers are contrasted with those of 711 knowledge workers in comparable firms in the United States on certain dimensions. Using Hofstede's work on culture and social presence/information richness theory as grounding, it was hypothesized that high uncertainty avoidance in Japan and structural features of the Japanese written language could explain Japanese perceptions about new work technologies such as E-Mail and FAX. Furthermore, the theoretical conceptualization in the paper attempts to account for Japanese departures from the U.S. experience. Results from empirical tests verified many, but not all of the predicted differences between Japanese and American knowledge workers. In general, cultural effects seem to play an important role in the predisposition toward and selection of electronic communications media. Surprisingly, responses to traditional media such as face-to-face and telephone were remarkably similar between cultures.
The Effects of Information Technology and the Perceived Mood of the Feedback Giver on Feedback Seeking. (Information Systems Research, 1993)
Authors: Abstract:
    A major tenet in organizational behavior literature is that feedback improves performance. If feedback is thought to improve performance, then individuals should actively seek feedback in their work. Yet. surprisingly, individuals seldom seek feedback perhaps because of face-loss costs of obtaining feedback face-to-face. Furthermore, in cases where the giver is perceived to be in a bad mood, individuals may be even more reluctant to seek feedback if they believe seeking feedback risks the giver's wrath and a negative evaluation. In this paper, we explain how information technology can be designed to mediate feedback communication and deliver feedback that promotes feedback seeking. In a laboratory experiment, the effects of information technology and the perceived mood of the feedback giver on the behavior of feedback seekers are examined. The results showed that individuals in both the computer-mediated feedback environment and the computer-generated feedback environment sought feedback more frequently than individuals in the face-to-face feedback environment. In addition, individuals sought feedback more frequently from a giver who was perceived to be in a good mood than from a giver who was perceived to be in a bad mood.
Validating Instruments in MIS Research. (MIS Quarterly, 1989)
Authors: Abstract:
    Calls for new directions in MIS research bring with them a call for renewed methodological rigor. This article offers an operating paradigm for renewal along dimensions previously unstressed. The basic contention is that confirmatory empirical findings will be strengthened when instrument validation precedes both internal and statistical conclusion validity and that, in many situations, MIS researchers need to validate their research instruments. This contention is supported by a survey of instrumentation as reported in sample IS journals over the last several years. A demonstration exercise of instrument validation follows as an illustration of some of the basic principles of validation. The validated instrument was designed to gather data on the impact of computer security administration on the incidence of computer abuse in the U.S.A.