Information Exchange (IE) is an important area of research in Information System (IS), yet there is a lack of theory that explains it. Existing studies usually borrow different theories from other fields to explain IE, but these theories describe the aspects that are associated with IE, not the actual behavior of IE. Additionally, a framework that guides the design of an IE platform to support IE among multiple stakeholders with the purpose of improving the decision-making process does not exist. To address these literature gaps, this dissertation first proposes a theory of Information Exchange (ToIE) to explain IE behavior and its impact on the decision-making process among multi-stakeholders. A qualitative evaluation of ToIE demonstrates that it meets the virtues of a good theory. Second, this dissertation develops an Information Exchange Decision Support (IEDS) framework that can guide the design of IE platforms for multiple stakeholders. The qualitative evaluation shows that the IEDS framework is useful for identifying the stakeholders, specifying the needed information to be exchanged, and maintaining the needed system factors necessary for IE. The IEDS framework is further instantiated to an IE platform named SES-IE. The SES-IE platform is a web-based application that facilitates the information exchange among scholarship organizations, employers, and students, and supports their decision-making process. The SES-IE platform was evaluated using a mixed-methods approach to measure the usability, usefulness, and satisfaction of the system. The successful instantiation of the SES-IE platform shows that the IEDS framework is useful for building an effective IE platform. This dissertation makes theoretical and practical contributions.
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