Leveraging Green IS in Logistics

Logistics and especially road transportation account for a major proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, increasing eco-sustainability is particularly important in this sector. Green information systems can support the transition towards more eco-sustainable business processes in logistics. To date research in Green IS has been dominated by conceptual and empirical studies, while the community has been reluctant to do design science research developing IS artifacts. Addressing this gap, we develop and evaluate a Green IS artifact for GHG emission tracking in road transportation processes – named Carbon Tracker. The design process was guided by design principles derived from prior Green IS literature. The artifact enables more eco-sustainable practices in logistics to emerge as it provides detailed information about GHG emissions that is indispensable for advanced organizational sense- and decision-making. The evaluation shows that the use of Carbon Tracker leads to more accurate and detailed information on emissions as well as more seamless and efficient workflows than today’s best-practice approaches. Thus, the paper demonstrates how Green IS can be leveraged for more eco-sustainable and efficient business processes and paves the way for further design-oriented research in the Green IS domain.     

Managing critical success factors for IS implementation: A stakeholder engagement and control perspective

Enterprise information systems (IS) implementation is often part of an organization's strategic IT initiatives and requires a large investment of organizational resources, yet may fail due to inadequate management of critical success factors (CSF). Using a revelatory case study of a multi‐partner COTS implementation process by a large Canadian government organization, this research investigates successful management of CSF through optimal stakeholder engagement and a balancing of control configurations. This research identifies four distinct project orientations related to stakeholder engagements—strategic, responsibility, harmony, and persuasion—that can be of significant value in managing CSF and other challenges during implementation and post‐implementation phases. In addition to the identification of a need for control balancing in a multi‐partner IS implementation, three key drivers responsible for triggering control balancing are identified: (a) shared understanding, (b) negative anticipation, and (c) deviation of expectations. Copyright © 2017 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Requirements Engineering for Product Service Systems

In recent years, manufacturing companies and service providers have moved towards offering customer-specific problem solutions. These integrated bundles usually consist of hardware, software, and service components and are called product service systems (PSS) or hybrid products. Since the success of the resulting solution depends on the understanding of all requirements, requirements engineering (RE) has become a key factor. The article analyzes the state of the art of RE for PSS based on an extensive literature review in the domains of product-, software-, and service engineering. For this, criteria are derived from the characteristics of PSS and from the task area of RE in the life cycle of PSS. Based on these criteria we analyze the most established RE approaches for their suitability for PSS. An important finding is that integrated/interdisciplinary approaches for RE are missing. Moreover, the maturity of RE approaches in the three domains varies significantly. All analyzed approaches heavily rely on concepts and solution characteristics of their own domain so that a transfer to other domains is hardly possible. This literature review lays the foundation for successful RE for PSS and especially for future research aiming at combining and integrating RE approaches and models of product-, software-, and service engineering. Such requirement models could connect concepts of single domains and enable an integrated and seamless RE for PSS.     

Virtual Decoupling for IT/Business Alignment – Conceptual Foundations, Architecture Design and Implementation Example

IT/business alignment is one of the main topics of information systems research. If IT artifacts and business-related artifacts are coupled point-to-point, however, complex architectures become unmanageable over time. In computer science, concepts like the ANSI/SPARC three-level database architecture propose an architecture layer which decouples external views on data and the implementation view of data. In this paper, a similar approach for IT/business alignment is proposed. The proposed alignment architecture is populated by enterprise services as elementary artifacts. Enterprise services link software components and process activities. They are aggregated into applications and subsequently into domains for planning/design and communication purposes. Most design approaches for the construction of enterprise services, applications and domains are top-down, i. e. they decompose complex artifacts on a stepwise basis. As an alternative which takes into account coupling semantics, we propose a bottom-up approach which is demonstrated for the identification of domains. Our approach is evaluated using a telecommunications equipment case study.

Co-production and self-service: The application of Service-Dominant Logic

Abstract

Service-Dominant Logic (S-D logic) theory and related literature is reviewed to demonstrate S-D logic's potential to provide new insights for understanding an important contemporary issue in service delivery: the application of self-service technology (SST) to customer service. S-D logic considers operant resources to be the key to gaining a competitive advantage. Consequently, the most important aspect of the application of SST is the requirement for the customer to provide the operant resource at the point of transaction. It is argued that the implementation of SST could be improved by encompassing an understanding of the resources available to the customer and the value (or lack of value) experienced by the customer in using SST. Gaps in existing knowledge are identified, particularly in relation to the application of SST in business-to-business (B2B) contexts. An agenda for further research is outlined and a range of management implications are discussed.     

Fads and Trends in Business and Information Systems Engineering and Information Systems Research – A Comparative Literature Analysis

The business and information systems engineering (BISE) discipline, dominating in the German-speaking countries, where it is called“Wirtschaftsinformatik”, is currently undergoing a phase of increasing internationalization and the U.S.-based Information Systems (IS) discipline is often considered an ideal. Studies show that BISE has often dealt with fads in the past – for IS there are no findings reporting on the diffusion of fads. The objective of the paper is to close this research gap. The authors conducted a literature analysis to investigate the development of topics and terms in BISE and IS from 1994 to 2007. Titles, abstracts and keywords of 2,564 articles in three BISE journals and 5,647 articles in five IS journals were analyzed. The results show that BISE is topically more diverse and concrete than IS. In addition, the rate of fads is higher in BISE than IS. Being engaged in fads is not necessarily negative – rather, it may considerably contribute to the relevance of research. However, it has to be considered that an overly intense orientation on fads may negatively influence a cumulative research progress. Hence, the authors conclude that for BISE and IS, which both have a theoretical and pragmatic mission, a balanced ratio of short- and long-term topics seems appropriate.     

Evaluating Journal Quality: Beyond “Expert” Journal Assessments in the IS Discipline

Assessing the relative stature of journals devoted to the information systems (IS) discipline is an important issue for IS scholars and those who evaluate them. Even though journal assessment results are often dubiously applied by those making hiring, promotion, and merit decisions, the fact that they are so often a major ingredient in these decisions demands that we understand underlying journal assessment processes. Beyond processes involving the opinions of various “experts,” we here examine how IS journals can be evaluated based on overt behaviors of crowds of IS scholars. These behaviors are revealed preferences, in contrast to stated preferences found in opinions. Two classes of objective journal assessments are studied: impact measures and power measures. Among the former, we find that so-called journal impact factors are problematic, rendering their meaningfulness in evaluating journal stature highly suspect. Another kind of impact measure, the H-index, is found to be a more straightforward way to gauge journal impact. Two power measures for assessing IS journal stature are examined: publishing intensity and publishing breadth. The stature of IS journals according to each of the impact measures and power measures is determined. A comparison of the results shows that a small group of four or five IS journals are repeatedly found at the top across multiple objective assessment approaches. To account for both the consumption and production of IS research, it is suggested that a combined use of impact and power measures be employed in exercises aimed at evaluating relative statures of journals devoted to IS research.     

A Natural Resource Scarcity Typology: Theoretical Foundations and Strategic Implications for Supply Chain Management

World population growth and increased consumption stemming from economic leveling are leading to scarcity of a number of natural resources on a global scale. Scarcity of critical natural resources such as oil, water, food, and precious metals has the potential to greatly impact commercial activity as the twenty‐first century progresses. The challenge of continuing to provide needed goods and services in the face of these constraints falls to supply chain managers, who are ultimately responsible for delivering utility to customers. Unfortunately, there has been almost no research focused on supply chain strategies aimed at mitigating natural resource scarcity’s (NRS) potential effects. The current research positions NRS as a supply chain risk and proposes an NRS typology based on key resource attributes. Supply chain mitigation strategies to counter each resource status are offered, with an overall objective of improving supply chain performance. The study recommends future research aimed at further developing theory and methods for countering NRS based on resource, systems and behavioral theories. In addition, this study has critical implications for practitioners faced with the growing threat of NRS in their supply chains.     

Encouraging male participation in cancer resource centers

ABSTRACT

This research investigates reasons why male cancer patients may refrain from patronizing cancer resource centers. By drawing upon a wide range of research from the social sciences and visual design literatures, the authors put forth original propositions that suggest how cancer resource center managers can manipulate a center's servicescape, or built environment, as well as its service offerings, website design, and printed communications to attract more male cancer patients. Despite the inherent challenges of discussing gender in cancer care and limitations to its generalizability in all settings, this research reveals that differences exist regarding the way men and women respond to cancer resource center marketing initiatives. Given the profound benefits that cancer resource centers often assume in a cancer patient's life, including a decreased mortality rate, we encourage service marketing and public health researchers, as well as cancer resource center directors, to consider the propositions put forth in this paper.     

Comprehensive Support for Creativity-Intensive Processes

Creativity is an important precondition of innovation. However, the management of creativity-intensive processes (CIPs) is beyond the scope of standard methodologies for business process standardization and automation because of the contradictory properties of CIPs, which require both process structure and creative freedom. We develop an explanatory design theory based on theoretical constructs from BPM theory, creativity research, and collaboration engineering, with the core component of an integrated IS architecture that facilitates the design of systems providing comprehensive support for CIPs. Automated control of structured processes and support of idea development in groups increase process efficiency and creative performance. Evaluation of a sub-portion of an expository instantiation (CreativeFlow) of the architecture in a laboratory experiment suggests that working with CreativeFlow leads to ideas that are more specific, while working without the tool generates ideas that are more feasible. Further, idea evaluation support of CreativeFlow must be improved in order to increase ideas’ feasibility and relevance. The validity of our theory is derived from a deductive development approach. We indicate limitations and further research.     

Strategic resource decisions to enhance the performance of global engineering services

This paper extends our understanding of the internationalisation and firm performance (I-FP) relationship of service firms by considering the influence of strategic decisions on three types of slack resources. The research focusses on an important type of service operations ? global engineering services, which are a major part of the global economy and represent a distinctive business model in the contemporary business environment. In doing so, we theorise the I-FP relationship by addressing the knowledge-intensive, project-based and people-centric features of engineering service firms (ESFs); and test the relationship with a carefully assembled dataset containing 12 years’ data from 242 ESFs. We identify a negative overall I-FP relationship, i.e. ESFs’ international expansion leads to worse financial performance in general. The presence of slack resources explains why such a result exists. Our findings have significant implications, both for future research on internationalisation and performance and for firms to effectively deploy their resources to support global service operations in a strategic manner.     

Recovering service failure through resource integration

Customers and employees can co-create a resolution following a service failure through integrating their resources. Their activities and interactions during resource-integration shape the customers' service recovery experiences. Prior research overlooks resource integration between all involved actors in a co-created service recovery process. This research details the process with two empirical studies. Study 1 is a qualitative analysis of narratives of service recovery experiences; Study 2 is a quantitative assessment of scenario-based survey data. The results show that a favourable service recovery experience is resulted from integrating all involved actors' resources in a mutually beneficial manner. Three key resources are financial compensation, service skills including communication and timing. Our findings indicate that co-created service recovery fails in the absence of just one resource or mismatches in their integration. The combined studies reveal that customers use their justice perceptions to assess activities and interactions for resource integration in service recovery.     

A bricolage perspective on service innovation

Service innovation is often viewed as a process of accessing the necessary resources, (re)combining them, and converting them into new services. The current knowledge on success factors for service innovation, such as formalized new service development (NSD) processes, predominantly comes from studying large firms with a relatively stable resource base. However, this neglect situations in which organizations face severe resource constraints. This paper argues that under such constraints, a formalized new service development process could be counter-productive and a bricolage perspective might better explain service innovation in resource-constrained environments. In this conceptual paper, we propose that four critical bricolage capabilities (addressing resource scarcity actively, making do with what is available, improvising when recombining resources, and networking with external partners) influence service innovation outcomes. Empirical illustrations from five organizations substantiate our conceptual development. Our discussion leads to a framework and four testable propositions that can guide further service research.     

Research in information systems in China (1999–2005) and international comparisons1

The purpose of this study is to review the research activities in information systems (IS) in the mainland of China. We reviewed and analyzed a total of 859 research papers in information systems published in 18 leading academic journals in business and management in the mainland from 1999 to 2005. Applying the content analysis method, we first categorized the papers by their reference disciplines, research topics, research methods, and the units of analysis. The data were then compared with the results of similar Western studies. Results show that, among the published IS research papers in the mainland of China, IS research itself represents the primary theoretical reference discipline; organizational and system/software issues are the main topics of the focus; non-empirical studies were the dominant research method; and the majority of studies were conducted at the organizational and/or system level. Compared with the West, IS research in China demonstrates its own characteristics in theoretical foundations, research focuses, and research methods, and there are a number of areas that need to be improved.     

Managing for customers and employees in Hong Kong: The quality and teamwork challenges

Service marketing, total quality management, and human resource management researchers have proposed that employee teamwork is a foundation for service quality. North American research suggests that developing cooperative relationships and constructive controversy among employees can empower employees to serve customers and to strengthen their work relationships and commitment to the organization. Chinese employees in an American-style restaurant in Hong Kong were interviewed on specific incidents that affected service quality. Correlational and structural equation results support the hypotheses that cooperative goals help employees discuss their diverse views open-mindedly and that this constructive controversy results in quality customer service. Competitive and independent goals were largely negatively correlated with dynamics and outcomes. Results were interpreted as suggesting that service teams should develop strong cooperative goals and the skills and procedures of constructive controversy. Deutsch's theory of cooperation and competition, although developed largely through North American research, seems useful for understanding and developing service quality teamwork in Asia.     

The State of Research on Information Systems Success

Measuring information systems (IS) success is of great interest to both researchers and practitioners. This article examines multidimensional approaches to measuring IS success and explores the current state of IS success research through a literature review and by classifying articles published between 2003 and 2007. Based on a total of 41 academic journal and conference publications, the relevant research carried out is identified, while the research results are categorized, consolidated, and discussed. The results show that the dominant empirical research analyzes the individual impact of a certain type of information system by ascertaining users’ evaluation of it by means of surveys and then applying structural equation modeling. The DeLone and McLean information systems success model is the main theoretical basis of the reviewed empirical studies. This article provides researchers with a comprehensive review and structuring of IS success research. Furthermore, opportunities for additional development are identified and future research directions suggested.     

The ties that bind us: examining relationship marketing orientation and its impact on firm performance in the information systems outsourcing services sector

The objective of this study is to analyze the adoption of a relationship marketing orientation (RMO) by firms in the information systems (IS) outsourcing service sector. The study frames RMO as a hierarchical, reflective construct which models seven dimensions including bonding, communication, empathy, harmonious conflict resolution, shared value, trust, and reciprocity. A sample of 114 senior executives from firms in the IS outsourcing industry in Hong Kong were obtained from a survey. Empirical analysis via structural equation modeling confirms the hierarchical, seven construct reflective structure of the RMO model, and the high levels of a firms’ RMO lead to a direct positive impact on firm performance outcomes. The findings provide valuable managerial insights for measuring and managing an RMO in the IS outsourcing sector, and professional services generally. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed along with future research directions of the study.     

A resource-advantage perspective on the orchestration of ambidexterity

Strategic resources are key inputs to strategy that can form the basis of superior service performance, yet there is scarce research on the strategic resources used by managers to realise ambidexterity: the simultaneous pursuit of alignment and adaptability. In this article, we draw on a qualitative case study of a leading European airline and examine the resource bundles used by managers in their orchestration of ambidexterity. Adopting a resource-advantage perspective, the study illustrates elements of human, organisational, and informational capital that are mobilised by managers in their incorporation of alignment-oriented and adaptability-oriented activities. By moving beyond a linear association between strategic resources and ambidextrous organisations, we argue that managers' orchestration of ambidexterity is central to how service organisations manage their strategic resources and enhance competitiveness. Overall, we highlight the micro managerial level as an important point of observation to extend current thinking on the ‘how’ of ambidexterity in service organisations.     

Electronic Commerce Research: A Taxonomy and Synthesis

Electronic commerce (EC) can be defined as an online exchange of value. This article presents an analysis of 172 published research articles and synthesizes their content by theoretical perspective (organizational, economic, and technical) and dominant research methods. We use this analysis to identify specific research themes within a framework that have the potential to become cumulative streams of research. One conclusion is that EC research to date has been widely scattered in a variety of journals and is often not self-referencing. This analysis provides a step toward remedying this problem by specifically synthesizing what is known to date from EC research and by proposing directions for future efforts. A second conclusion is that the field of information systems (IS) has a window of opportunity to become a primary producer and conveyer of EC research knowledge if cumulative streams of research can be nurtured and published in top-tier journals. The analysis presents a context for examining IS opportunity and the necessary antecedents.     

From Distributed Supervisory Control to Enterprise Integration: Coordination Support for Operational Environments

Enterprise integration research focuses on the development and integration of models with the goal of analysis and improvement of an enterprise. Cognitive engineering research focuses on the problem solving requirements of humans in complex systems with the goal of designing more effective systems. This paper presents a particular approach to cognitive engineering - model-based intelligent support - and draws implications to the design and development of enterprise models and tools. Specifically, we discuss the realm of distributed supervisory control, propose a knowledge architecture and theory of human - machine interaction to support cooperative problem solving, and link this to current enterprise integration research. Examples are drawn from the spacecraft operations domain.