An Investigation of Equity as a Determinant of User Information Satisfaction

This paper reviews equity theory and proposes that perceived inequity in the allocation of management information systems (MIS) resources is likely to influence overall user information satisfaction (UIS). Therefore, in addition to currently identified factors such as quality of information products (QIP), user's knowledge and involvement level (KIL), and EDP staff and services (ESS), equity is also likely to be a relevant factor in determining overall UIS. The paper reports on a cross-sectional survey to obtain data for testing the relevance of equity related issues in the MIS context. Responses from 226 users showed a strong correlation (.67, p > .001) between equity and overall UIS. Further, the addition of equity to the previously identified factors that influence overall UIS (i.e., QIP, KIL, and ESS) significantly increased the explained variance (from .48 to .56). The results support the relevance of equity related issues in determining user attitudes. It is recommended that MIS researchers and professionals take into account the likely influence of equity perceptions on user attitudes and behavior, and strive to develop and implement equitable resource allocation mechanisms. Implications of the findings for future research in the areas of MIS, UIS construct, systems implementation, and management of MIS are also discussed.     

Humility: Our Current Understanding of the Construct and its Role in Organizations

Since 2000, researchers and practitioners have shown increased interest in humility. This construct has been studied in disciplines ranging from organizational behaviour to positive psychology, culminating in a wealth of information that can now be analysed and reviewed through the lens of humility in organizations. This review begins by reflecting on existing conceptualizations of humility and presenting a summary of findings that reflects a greater consensus in definitional work than some researchers may realize. It then considers the progress that has been made in measuring humility by specifying key measurement strategies. It next synthesizes existing empirical findings on humility to illuminate the uniqueness of the construct. It also shows that researchers have focused on studying dependent variables that exist at multiple organizational levels and that largely comprise pro‐social and relational variables, emotional well‐being, and learning and performance outcomes. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.     

Test-Retest Reliability of User Information Satisfaction: A Comment on Galletta and Lederer's Paper

Galletta and Lederer [10] concluded that the short-form measure of user information satisfaction (UIS) lacks sufficient test-retest reliability. We question the validity of this conclusion since the method used by the authors for assessing test-retest reliability is not grounded in classical reliability theory. Analysis of their data suggests that the UIS instrument has adequate test-retest reliability.     

Performance Measurement: Challenges for Tomorrow*

This paper demonstrates that the context within which performance measurement is used is changing. The key questions posed are: Is performance measurement ready for the emerging context? What are the gaps in our knowledge? and Which lines of enquiry do we need to pursue? A literature synthesis conducted by a team of multidisciplinary researchers charts the evolution of the performance‐measurement literature and identifies that the literature largely follows the emerging business and global trends. The ensuing discussion introduces the currently emerging and predicted future trends and explores how current knowledge on performance measurement may deal with the emerging context. This results in identification of specific challenges for performance measurement within a holistic systems‐based framework. The principle limitation of the paper is that it covers a broad literature base without in‐depth analysis of a particular aspect of performance measurement. However, this weakness is also the strength of the paper. What is perhaps most significant is that there is a need for rethinking how we research the field of performance measurement by taking a holistic systems‐based approach, recognizing the integrated and concurrent nature of challenges that the practitioners, and consequently the field, face.     

Researchers' Perspectives on Supply Chain Risk Management

Supply chain risk management (SCRM) is a nascent area emerging from a growing appreciation for supply chain risk by practitioners and by researchers. However, there is diverse perception of research in supply chain risk because these researchers have approached this area from different domains. This paper presents our study of this diversity from the perspectives of operations and supply chain management scholars: First, we reviewed the researchers' output, i.e., the recent research literature. Next, we surveyed two focus groups (members of Supply Chain Thought Leaders and International SCRM groups) with open‐ended questions. Finally, we surveyed operations and supply chain management researchers during the 2009 INFORMS meeting in San Diego. Our findings characterize the diversity in terms of three “gaps”: a definition gap in how researchers define SCRM, a process gap in terms of inadequate coverage of response to risk incidents, and a methodology gap in terms of inadequate use of empirical methods. We also list ways to close these gaps as suggested by the researchers.     

Introduction to Special Section on Sensitivity Analysis and Summary of NCSU/USDA Workshop on Sensitivity Analysis

This guest editorial is a summary of the NCSU/USDA Workshop on Sensitivity Analysis held June 11–12, 2001 at North Carolina State University and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis. The objective of the workshop was to learn across disciplines in identifying, evaluating, and recommending sensitivity analysis methods and practices for application to food‐safety process risk models. The workshop included presentations regarding the Hazard Assessment and Critical Control Points (HACCP) framework used in food‐safety risk assessment, a survey of sensitivity analysis methods, invited white papers on sensitivity analysis, and invited case studies regarding risk assessment of microbial pathogens in food. Based on the sharing of interdisciplinary information represented by the presentations, the workshop participants, divided into breakout sessions, responded to three trigger questions: What are the key criteria for sensitivity analysis methods applied to food‐safety risk assessment? What sensitivity analysis methods are most promising for application to food safety and risk assessment? and What are the key needs for implementation and demonstration of such methods? The workshop produced agreement regarding key criteria for sensitivity analysis methods and the need to use two or more methods to try to obtain robust insights. Recommendations were made regarding a guideline document to assist practitioners in selecting, applying, interpreting, and reporting the results of sensitivity analysis.     

Replication of Routines in Organizations: Existing Literature and New Perspectives

Replication of existing routines in new contexts is an important value‐creating strategy for organizations. This paper synthesizes the state of research on replication and organizes the literature around two broad themes: forward knowledge flows (i.e. from a replicator to a replicatee) and reverse knowledge flows. The authors show that the theoretical assumptions of existing research leave important questions around the replication of routines unaddressed. More specifically, they identify research gaps in regard to micro‐level processes of replication. Little is understood about the performance of routines in practice and, related to that, the processes through which routines change during replication. Drawing on recent theorizing on organizational routines, in particular the relationship between the ostensive and performative aspects, helps the authors to unpack the micro‐level processes of forward and reverse knowledge flows. This paper opens two new trajectories for research on replication: (1) a focus on the actions of individual actors in the enactment of organizational routines provides new possibilities for understanding how replication is an inherently political process; (2) conceptualizing change as endogenous within the performance of routines offers a route to a more nuanced understanding of change and deviation in the process of replication. The paper closes with a summary of major theoretical arguments, questions for further research and implications for practitioners.     

International market selection strategies selected by ‘micro’ and ‘small’ firms

Policy-makers and practitioners are seeking to promote the development of established firms. This paper suggests they may need to target customized export programmes to the specific situational demands of established ‘micro’ and ‘small’ firms. The following broad research question is explored: are there differences between ‘micro’ and ‘small’ firms with regard to the decision to sell goods or services abroad? In 1990/91, survey responses were gathered from 621 independent businesses located in Great Britain. In 1997, a follow-on telephone survey was conducted with 150 surviving firms. This survey gathered information on the propensity to export goods or services abroad and the mode of export behaviour reported by established ‘micro’ as well as ‘small’ firms. The performance of exporting and non-exporting firms was also compared. Implications for policy-makers, practitioners and researchers are highlighted.     

The syndication of venture capital investments

This paper examines competing finance, resource-based and deal flow explanations for the syndication of venture capital investments. Evidence from 60 firms (a 58.8% response rate) is analysed. Overall the finance perspective provides a strong explanation of motives for syndication, but the resource-based view is found to be much more important for those firms involved in at least some early stage transactions. The implications for researchers are that venture capital firms should not be treated as a homogeneous group and that the investment stages in which they operate may strongly influence attitudes towards syndication. In addition, there are implications for practitioners as venture capital firms may not be attributing sufficient attention to the need to augment their own resource base in order to enable them to make superior decisions when selecting deals and managing investments.     

Risk assessment for handling hazardous substances within the European industry: Available methodologies and research streams

After the Seveso disaster occurred more than 40 years ago, there has been an increasing awareness of the potential impacts that similar accident events can occur in a wide range of process establishments, where the handling and production of hazardous substances pose a real threat to society and the environment. In these industrial sites denominated “Seveso sites,” the urgent need for an effective strategy emerged markedly to handle hazardous activities and to ensure safe conditions. Since then, the main challenging research issues have focused on how to prevent such accident events and how to mitigate their consequences leading to the development of many risk assessment methodologies. In recent years, researchers and practitioners have tried to provide useful overviews of the existing risk assessment methodologies proposing several reviews. However, these reviews are not exhaustive because they are either dated or focus only on one specific topic (e.g., liquefied natural gas, domino effect, etc.). This work aims to overcome the limitations of the current reviews by providing an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the risk assessment methodologies for handling hazardous substances within the European industry. In particular, we have focused on the current techniques for hazards and accident scenarios identification, as well as probability and consequence analyses for both onshore and offshore installations. Thus, we have identified the research streams that have characterized the activities of researchers and practitioners over the years, and we have then presented and discussed the different risk assessment methodologies available concerning the research stream that they belong to.     

电子市场价格分散、信息价值与效率:多视角的分析框架

电子市场是集合买卖双方交换价格和产品信息的跨组织信息系统,已成为撮合交易的重要虚拟场所,其对有形市场的影响力日益彰显,引起理论界和实务界的密切关注.本文将电子市场价格分散、信息价值与效率问题放在同一分析框架下研究,从不同的视角审视电子市场现存文献的解释力度;指出电子市场价格分散现象是多种因素综合作用的结果,消费者的搜寻异质、买方偏好(品牌、信任与忠诚度等因素)、服务质量、市场结构特征等多变量共同决定了电子市场的价格分散度、信息价值及效率大小;最后,提出了未来电子市场的研究方向,即通过价格比较购物技术扩散模型的引入,建立集影响电子市场价格的多变量于一体的理论分析框架,探讨电子市场价格分散及与其相关联的信息价值测度和市场效率等基础理论问题.     

Making sense of loss: a content analysis of end-of-life practitioners' therapeutic approaches

Clinical professionals working in end-of-life (EOL) contexts are frequently relied upon to address questions of meaning with dying and bereaved persons. Similar to the gulf between researchers and practitioners besetting the larger healthcare community, the voices of EOL practitioners are often underrepresented in the empirical literature. This study aimed to further the dialogue in the field of thanatology by surveying and describing the therapeutic approaches that EOL practitioners most commonly report using to facilitate meaning-making. A total of 119 practitioners from a range of EOL disciplines were surveyed to write about their intervention strategies for helping clients/patients make sense of loss. Overall, participants discussed using 23 different therapeutic approaches that comprised three overarching categories: 1) presence of the helping professional; 2) elements of the process; and 3) therapeutic procedures. Importantly, the results also indicated that practitioners from the different EOL occupations are converging on many of the same strategies for promoting meaning-making. Implications for future research on evaluating the effectiveness of meaning-making interventions are also discussed.     

Emergency risk communication and sensemaking during smoke events: A survey of practitioners

Emergency risk communication (ERC) for smoke emitted from major fires continues to challenge governments. During these events, practitioners (including scientific, communication, and emergency response government staff) are tasked with quickly making sense of the public health risks and the communication options available. Practitioners’ sensemaking—the process of creating meaning from information about an unfolding emergency—is key to effective ERC. This article identifies the factors that ERC practitioners consider the most important to their sensemaking for smoke events. A survey of practitioners (n = 86) was conducted to elicit their views on the level of importance of 22 different factors (individual, organizational, and contextual) on their sensemaking. The results indicate that the majority of the factors tested are very important to practitioners. This finding likely reflects the multidimensional nature of emergency smoke events and provides evidence as to why practitioners are challenged when trying to make sense of emergency situations. Despite multiple factors being considered very important to practitioners, the time-limited nature of emergencies means that practitioners will inevitability be forced to prioritize in their sensemaking efforts. Our results also provide insight into practitioners’ prioritization of different information sources. Specifically, practitioners prioritize their own knowledge and the knowledge of other practitioners. The two most important factors were information from other incident management stakeholders and the practitioners’ past experience. Other information, including community-based and academic knowledge, appear to be of lower priority for practitioners. Based on the study results, recommendations for practice and future research are discussed.     

The Use of Computer-mediated Communication in an Interorganizational Context

The rapid growth of global telecommunication networks, and in particular the Internet, has placed emphasis on electronic mail's potential as an interorganizational communication medium allowing people from different organizations to communicate, gather information, form teams, and pass knowledge across time and place. An important area of research is to understand those factors affecting interorganizational computer-mediated communication usage decisions. This study examines how interorganizational electronic mail (email) systems are being used and what factors relate to this use. This was accomplished by electronically surveying a randomly selected sample of interorganizational email users. The 613 Internet-based respondents were located in 20 different countries and were from education, business, and government. This research examines the characteristics of interorganizational email users, their perceptions of task and channel attributes, and the relationship between these characteristics and interorganizational email use. Three empirically derived patterns of interorganizational email use emerged that showed it was regularly used for broadcast, task, and social communication. Broadcast usage, which reflects an informationgathering communication function, most likely through public bulletin boards, electronic discussion groups, and list servers, was the most frequent use of interorganizational email. Multivariate regression tests showed that the three different usage types were best predicted from different sets of independent variables. Results support past claims that there is a need to differentiate among types of use in explaining computermediated communication usage behavior. Implications and recommendations for both researchers and practitioners are drawn from the results.     

Effective eProcurement implementation process

As eProcurement is gaining popularity in business practice, researchers as well as practitioners have addressed the need of defining a proper eProcurement implementation strategy. This article aims to build an eProcurement implementation framework, which considers the main variables that have an impact on the eProcurement success and the links among them. The goal is to identify the main decisions that companies should take during the three principal phases of the eProcurement adoption (pre-implementation; implementation and post-implementation). Six case studies at different levels of eProcurement adoption have been used to identify the peculiarities of each phase of the process and to provide contingent guidelines.     

Tools and techniques of long-range planners

Long-range planning is concerned with the integration of predictions with corporate strategies. Both practitioners and scholars of management have frequently proposed approaches to planning that they believe to be helpful. The purpose of this paper is to report which techniques and tools and what approaches to planning are actually being used. It is hoped that this information will provide the executive or practitioner with a framework for evaluating his planning practices relative to other planners.This paper is divided into four parts. Part l provides information concerning the survey and data on which this article is based. Part ll deals with the planning process in approximately 400 business firms. Part lll examines the use of two planning tools—outside consultants and computers/mathematical models. The last section presents a summary and some general conclusions drawn from the analysis.     

The Conventions of Management Research and their Relevance to Management Practice

This paper recognizes the failure of management research to communicate with practitioners, and speculates over the reasons why this may be the case. It is possible that the researchers’ interests may not always coincide with management practitioners’; however, even when such interests are congruent, it seems that relatively little management research is published in practitioner journals. We suggest that this is because academic research is written in a style that tends to alienate most practitioners. This paper isolates the stylistic conventions associated with research targeted to academics (typically published in academic journals) and research targeted to practitioners (typically published in practitioner‐oriented journals). Such stylistic differences are illustrated through a study of organizational change whose findings have been published in both academic and practitioner format, namely in the Administrative Science Quarterly and the Harvard Business Review. We suggest that the gap between these two types of research could be narrowed through processes of translation (i.e. academic jargon could be translated in practitioner language). In addition we might consider greater use of Mode 2 research over Mode 1 research (academic). Mode 2 research presupposes that teams of academics and practitioners assemble to define the research problem and methodology in terms appropriate to a particular context and in a way that accounts for all existing interests so that translation processes are seamless. However, Mode 2 creates its own gap in that the knowledge is more contextual and may not reach a wide audience.     

Gapping the Relevance Bridge: Fashions Meet Fundamentals in Management Research

The much lamented 'relevance gap' is as much a product of practitioners wedded to gurus and fads as it is of academics wedded to abstractions and fundamentals. The gap persists because practitioners forget that 'the' real world is actually 'a' world that is idiosyncratic, egocentric and unique to each person complaining about relevance. Greater attention to the conceptual underpinnings of fads and egocentric perception suggest the existence of more fundamental barriers to effectiveness such as ceilings on improvement, weak situations, ambiguous signals, non-obvious adaptive forms and preoccupation with vision. Joint practitioner-academic effort devoted to questions of how events come to be seen as 'real' could re-bridge a gap whose nature has been misidentified.     

Why Rules for Risk Communication Are Not Enough: A Problem-Solving Approach to Risk Communication

Current work on risk communication offers practitioners helpful guidelines and rules such as "speak clearly" and "speak with compassion." While important, these guidelines have limitations. They offer practitioners and scholars little aid in determining why a communication encounter failed. Also, they do not help practitioners anticipate and overcome likely difficulties in future risk situations, nor can they help locate information about how to reduce these difficulties. To overcome the limitations of rule-based approaches to risk communication, this paper describes a diagnostic or problem-solving approach. This approach maintains that instead of rules, people need bases for anticipating likely obstacles to effective communication and selecting approaches that reduce these difficulties. Research on building trust, increasing awareness, deepening comprehension, gaining agreement, and motivating action is available in fields such as communication, educational psychology, science education, marketing, counseling, negotiation, and disaster response. This paper describes a framework that assists scholars and practitioners in: (a) identifying communication goals; (b) determining principal obstacles to those goals; and (c) selecting research-based methods for overcoming or minimizing these difficulties and achieving communication objectives.     

Decision model for product rollover in manufacturing operations

The purpose of this study is to investigate critical decisions when planning for product rollover at a manufacturing company, and how to organise these decisions. A literature review and a case study are used to develop a decision model. The findings indicate that product rollover can be organised in a five-phase decision model. The research quality is strengthened by a structured literature review, but it can be argued that more empirical research is needed for validation. For researchers, this paper contributes with the identification of critical decisions and a model for product rollover. For practitioners, the study highlights the need to acknowledge the importance of product rollover and its role as a competitive weapon. In earlier studies, product rollover has mainly been investigated from a market perspective, so that this study contributes by investigating the issue from a manufacturing perspective.