RELIABILITY, MINDFULNESS, AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS.

Author List: Butler, Brian S.; Gray, Peter H.;
MIS Quarterly, 2006, Volume 30, Issue 2, Page 211-224.
In a world where information technology is both important and imperfect, organizations and individuals are faced with the ongoing challenge of determining how to use complex, fragile systems in dynamic contexts to achieve reliable outcomes. While reliability is a central concern of information systems practitioners at many levels, there has been limited consideration in information systems scholarship of how firms and individuals create, manage, and use technology to attain reliability. We propose that examining how individuals and organizations use information systems to reliably perform work will increase both the richness and relevance of IS research. Drawing from studies of individual and organizational cognition, we examine the concept of mindfulness as a theoretical foundation for explaining efforts to achieve individual and organizational reliability in the face of complex technologies and surprising environments. We then consider a variety of implications of mindfulness theories of reliability in the form of alternative interpretations of existing knowledge and new directions for inquiry in the areas of IS operations, design, and management.
Keywords: IS management; IS operations; Mindfulness; reliability; resilience
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#153 0.156 usage use self-efficacy social factors individual findings influence organizations beliefs individuals support anxiety technology workplace key outcome behavior contextual longitudinal
#26 0.142 business large organizations using work changing rapidly make today's available designed need increasingly recent manage years activity important allow achieve
#80 0.129 organizations new information technology develop environment challenges core competencies management environmental technologies development emerging opportunities levels based change business technical
#124 0.095 validity reliability measure constructs construct study research measures used scale development nomological scales instrument measurement researchers developed validation discriminant results
#111 0.084 e-government collective sociomaterial material institutions actors practice particular organizational routines practices relations mindfulness different analysis ways draw agencies drawing ideas
#175 0.072 taxonomy systems different concept isd alternative generalization mechanistic distinction types generalizability theoretical speech richer induction original form inductive empirical organic
#21 0.067 research information systems science field discipline researchers principles practice core methods area reference relevance conclude set focus propose perspective inquiry
#240 0.059 systems information management development presented function article discussed model personnel general organization described presents finally computer-based role examined functional components
#227 0.050 commitment need practitioners studies potential role consider difficult models result importance influence researchers established conduct investigated establishing appear clearly determining