Online search has become a significant activity in the daily lives of individuals throughout much of the world. The almost instantaneous availability of billions of web pages has caused a revolution in the way people seek information. Despite the increasing importance of online search behavior in decision. making and problem solving, very little is known about why people stop searching for information online. In this paper, we review the literature concerning online search and cognitive stopping rules, and then describe specific types of information search tasks. Based on this theoretical development, we generated hypotheses and conducted an experiment with 115 participants each performing three search tasks on the web. Our findings show that people utilize a number of stopping rules to terminate search, and that the stopping rule used depends on the type of task performed. Implications for online information search theory and practice are discussed.
Increases in employee autonomy and the formation of teams often result from reengineering and process innovation efforts, as do moves to "downsize" or "flatten" organizations. Information systems departments have not been insulated from these trends. In spite of the rising interest in these initiatives, little is known about their impact on the systems development process. Past research in blue-collar contexts suggests that teams produce improvements in performance, while anecdotal evidence in the IS industry suggests that such improvements may never materialize. This paper reports on research conducted with 231 IS professionals from 27 systems development teams across 13 organizations. The results indicate that, while autonomy may lead to increased levels of satisfaction and motivation, the level of team development and an organization's learning capacity may be more important in achieving improved work outcomes.
Over the past 15 years, the Society for Information Management (SIM) has periodically surveyed its members to determine the most critical issues in IS management. Again in 1994-95, SIM institutional and board members were asked to consider what they felt were the most critical issues facing IS executives over the next three to five years. Signaling an evolutionary shift in IS management, this study shows that business relationship issues have declined in importance compared to technology infrastructure issues. For IS executives and general managers, the key issue framework suggests some general directions for emphasis and provides a coarse measure for benchmarking their own concerns against those of their peers. The results of this study also impact educational missions in teaching and research to the extent that they need to be sensitive to the views of practicing IS executives.
User participation has been widely touted by the MIS community as a means to improve user satisfaction within systems development. This claim, however, has not been consistently substantiated in the empirical literature. In seeking to explain such equivocal results, the effects of four contingency factors-task complexity, system complexity, user influence, and user- developer communication-on the relationship between user participation and user satisfaction were investigated. As suggested in the literature, this research tests hypotheses that these specific contingency factors should aid in identifying situations where user participation would have a strong relationship with satisfaction. Analysis of 151 independent systems development projects in eight different organizations indicated that user participation has a direct relationship with user satisfaction. In addition, the four contingency factors were found to play key roles on this relationship. Task complexity and system complexity proved to be pure moderators. That is, the strength of the participation-satisfaction relationship depended on the level of these factors. In projects where there was a high level of task complexity or system complexity, the relationship between user participation and user satisfaction was significantly stronger than in projects where task complexity or system complexity was low. User influence and user-developer communication were shown to be independent predictors of user satisfaction. That is, user influence, or user-developer communication, was positively related to user satisfaction regardless of the level of participation. The results help explain the relationship between user participation and user satisfaction by suggesting the nature of the relationship under different sets of conditions. The implications are relevant to systems developers and to academicians seeking to explain how, when, why, and where user participation is needed.
Most managers spend half their time trying to get the information they need, whether it be informally through meetings, phone conversations, or reading, or formally through organizational computer-based information. During this process they have to sift through a great deal of useless information, a situation commonly referred to as "information overload." With the proliferating capabilities and plummeting cost of computers, it seems relief should be in sight for weary executives. Unfortunately, most information systems--formal or informal--do not meet executive needs. Indeed, most new systems require extensive revision (after they are supposedly completed) to even partially fulfill needs. This is a terrible loss. Most systems are expensive enough to develop. They are even more expensive to revise. As the pace of business accelerates, decisions that could wait for weeks must now be made in days, hours, or even minutes. Failure to get executives the information they need in a timely manner can result in lost opportunities or in a problem not being solved in time. Increasingly, executives have little reaction time to make decisions on pricing, product introduction, resource allocation, media inquiries, response to competition, and mergers. They need access to information without waiting several weeks or months for a computer project. Why can't executives and system designers work together to more correctly anticipate and determine information requirements? In this article, four reasons in formation requirements are not met are discussed, and four straightforward solutions executives can use to solve this problem are offered.
This three-round delphi survey of senior IS executives is the third in a series designed to determine the most critical issues in IS management. Analysis focuses on respondents' assessments of specific issues as well as emerging trends. Key findings include: (1) Continued concern for traditional issues such as strategic planning and organizational alignment; (2) only six of the top issues from 1986 remained in the top 10; (3) one new issue, technology infrastructure, made the top 10; (4) three issues from previous studies rejoined the top 10IS human resources, software development, and telecommunication systems; and (5) data-related issues now occupy the top two slots. This study reveals two important trends as the field enters the 1990s. First is the rising importance of technology infrastructure issues. Technology infrastructure issues now occupy three of the top 10 slots including the highest position. Second, it appears that internal effectiveness issues have made a strong comeback after being virtually ignored in 1986. IS human resources, software development, and the applications portfolio--issues that make up the core of the IS function--all increased in importance.
Judging by the wealth of problems reported in the literature, information systems (IS) and general managers are not sure bow to manage the introduction of new information technology. One step toward providing sound management guidelines is to improve understanding of the social forces which affect the introduction and diffusion process within organizations. This research takes a step toward that goal by examining the validity of innovation diffusion theory within the context of end-user computing. The research involved a field study and historical analysis of the diffusion of spreadsheet software in organizations. To assist in controlling exogenous factors, only finance and accounting departments were studied. Over 500 professionals in 24 business units from 18 large businesses in manufacturing and services participated in the research. Findings supported hypotheses that earlier adopters of spreadsheet software were younger, more highly educated, more attuned to mass media, more involved in interpersonal communication, and more likely to be opinion leaders. Also supported was the hypothesized sigmoidal distribution of adoption over time. Application of the theory was not supported in all areas, however, suggesting that information technology diffusion is different from other diffusion phenomena. Contrary to theory, interpersonal channels of communication were dominant in all phases of adoption decision making. And contrary to their hypothesized role as change agent, IS departments played a minor role in the diffusion process. This was consistent with the observed user-led nature of the phenomenon. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
The results from a five-part Delphi survey of chief IS executives and corporate general managers indicate the most critical information systems management issues and consensus on their importance. The research project is the second in a series of such studies conducted by the Society for Information Management and the MIS Research Center at the University of Minnesota. The research confirmed the expected in some areas and revealed surprises in other areas. While strategic planning continued to top all issues in importance, many changes have occurred since 1983. Three new issues have joined the top ten issues in importance. Also, the rank order of several issues in the top ten has shifted. Survey results are discussed in terms of the differing views of IS executives and corporate general managers. A review of how these views have changed over time is also presented. A number of conclusions are drawn about managing information systems and about the changing nature of the IS executive's job.
The rapid growth of end-user computing is a double-edged sword: it offers new opportunities for improving the effectiveness of organizations, but it also creates new risks for a firm's information resources. This paper describes an organized approach for effectively managing end-user computing. It is based on the definition of "service support levels" which link support services to responsibilities. These levels form the basis of a cooperative effort between the MIS department and the end user.
Knowledge of the most important issues in the information systems held would help focus research and educational efforts. A Delphi study, using leading information systems (IS) professionals, was used to identify and rank ten key IS management issues for the 1980's. Measures were also taken of the amount of agreement achieved on these issues and rankings. The number one issue identified was improved IS planning, followed by facilitation and management of end user computing. This article describes the research approach involved and discusses the results. This research was funded by the Society for Information Management and the MIS Research Center, School of Management, University of Minnesota.
A comprehensive framework for Management Information Systems (MIS) that attempts to define the domain of MIS research is proposed. The framework draws extensively from existing MIS frameworks and organizational theory concepts and definitions. Validation of the framework is accomplished by categorizing a cross-section of MIS literature within the framework.