scholarly journals An Ethnographic Study of IS Investment Appraisal

2011 ◽  
pp. 300-318
Author(s):  
Debra Howcroft ◽  
Robert McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
International Financial Institution ◽  
Investment Appraisal ◽  
Research Site ◽  
Company Policy ◽  
Is Evaluation ◽  
Positivist Approach

Both academics and practitioners have invested considerably in the information systems evaluation arena, yet rewards remain elusive. The aim of this chapter is to provide rich insights into some particular political and social aspects of evaluation processes. An ethnographic study of a large international financial institution is used to compare the experience of observed practice with the rhetoric of company policy, and also to contrast these observations with the process of IS evaluation as portrayed within the literature. Our study shows that despite increasing acknowledgement within the IS evaluation literature of the limitations and flaws of the positivist approach, typified by quantitative, ‘objective’ assessments, this shift in focus towards understanding social and organisational issues has had little impact on organisational practice. In addition, our observations within the research site reveal that the veneer of rationality offered by formalised evaluation processes merely obscures issues of power and politics that are enmeshed within these processes.

Insider Threats in a Financial Institution: Analysis of Attack-Proneness of Information Systems Applications

MIS Quarterly ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingguo Wang ◽  
◽  
Manish Gupta ◽  
H. Raghav Rao ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Insider Threats

Information Systems Evaluation

2013 ◽  
pp. 333-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Si Chen ◽  
Nor Mardziah Osman ◽  
Guo Chao Alex Peng
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Formative Evaluation ◽  
Current System ◽  
Evaluation Research ◽  
Evaluation Methodologies ◽  
Is Implementation ◽  
Is Research ◽  
Is Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Approaches ◽  
Goals And Objectives

Due to the prevalent use of Information Systems (IS) in modern organisations, evaluation research in this field is becoming more and more important. In light of this, a set of rigorous methodologies were developed and used by IS researchers and practitioners to evaluate the increasingly complex IS implementation used. Moreover, different types of IS and different focusing perspectives of the evaluation require the selection and use of different evaluation approaches and methodologies. This chapter aims to identify, explore, investigate, and discuss the various key methodologies that can be used in IS evaluation from different perspectives, namely in nature (e.g. summative vs. formative evaluation) and in strategy (e.g. goal-based, goal-free, and criteria-based evaluation). Six case studies are also presented and discussed in this chapter to illustrate how the different IS evaluation methodologies can be applied in practices. The chapter concludes that evaluation methodologies should be selected depending on the nature of the IS and the specific goals and objectives of the evaluation. Nonetheless, it is also proposed that formative criteria-based evaluation and summative criteria-based evaluation are currently among the more widely used in IS research. The authors suggest that the combined used of one or more of these approaches can be applied at different stages of the IS life cycle in order to generate more rigorous and reliable evaluation outcomes. Moreover, results and outcomes of IS evaluation research will not just be useful in practically guiding actions to improve the current system, but can also be used to generate new knowledge and theory to be adopted by future IS research.

Information Systems for Organizational Effectiveness Model

2012 ◽  
pp. 39-61
Author(s):  
Govindan Marthandan ◽  
Chun Meng Tang
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Organizational Effectiveness ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Business Value ◽  
Business Managers ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Organisational Effectiveness ◽  
Effectiveness Model ◽  
Evaluation Models ◽  
Is Evaluation

Despite the proposal of various Information Systems (IS) evaluation models and approaches, IS evaluation has never been straightforward. There are issues and challenges in proving the business value of IS. Adding to the difficulty, a vast number of measures have been employed conveniently for evaluation purposes without going through a rigorous validation process. Recognising the complexity for IS researchers, IS specialists, and business managers to agree on a common model for the evaluation of IS business value, this chapter presents an empirically validated IS evaluation model, the IS for organisational effectiveness (ISOE) model, for planning, designing, implementing, and appraising IS. There also emerges a new theory, the Information System business value (ISBV) theory, from the ISOE model to establish that IS business value is multifaceted and are observable in the form of improvements in organisational effectiveness.

A Critical Systems View of Power-Ethics Interactions in Information Systems Evaluation

2008 ◽  
pp. 3387-3403
Author(s):  
José-Rodrigo Córdoba
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Critical Systems Thinking ◽  
Ethical Reflection ◽  
Critical Systems ◽  
Evaluation Practice ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Is Evaluation ◽  
Systems View

Current developments in information systems (IS) evaluation emphasise stakeholder participation in order to ensure adequate and beneficial IS investments. It is now common to consider evaluation as a subjective process of interpretation(s), in which people’s appreciations are taken into account to guide evaluations. However, the context of power relations in which evaluation takes place, as well as their ethical implications, has not been given full attention. In this article, ideas of critical systems thinking and Michel Foucault’s work on power and ethics are used to define a critical systems view of power to support IS evaluation. The article proposes a system of inquiry into power with two main areas: 1) Deployment of evaluation via power relations and 2) Dealing with ethics. The first element addresses how evaluation becomes possible. The second one goes in-depth into how evaluation can proceed as being informed by ethical reflection. The article suggests that inquiry into these relationships should contribute to extend current views on power in IS evaluation practice, and to reflect on the ethics of those involved in the process.

Institutional Dimensions of Information Systems Evaluation

2005 ◽  
pp. 1545-1548
Author(s):  
Vassilis Serafeimidis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Routine Data ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
It Investments ◽  
Social Decision ◽  
Business Transformation ◽  
Is Evaluation ◽  
Social Decision Making

Information systems (IS) evaluation is a complex organizational and social decision making process. IS evaluation has attracted a lot of interest from the academic community and practitioners during the last few decades. This interest in some way has been generated by the tremendous increase of IT investments and the fact that IT/IS have become an organizational “necessity” in order to, for example, support routine data processing operations, initiatives for competitive advantage, and business transformation exercises.

Evaluating health information systems: An assessment of frameworks

1997 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohan Jayasuriya
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Health Information Systems ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Finite Amount ◽  
Positivist Approach

The rapid increase in investments for computerised systems is a major concern for all health organisations. Questions about these investments arise as information technologyis only one of the areas that are competing for a finite amount of resources. There is also some concern that some of the failures of information technology would have been detected if proper evaluation of information systems were conducted. The state of the art of evaluating information systems shows changes from a very positivist approach tomore comprehensive approaches that would incorporate multiple methods. This paperpresents an assessment of the techniques and methods for information systems evaluation, followed by an application to a case study in community health to illustrate the value of the contextualist approach to evaluation. The paper argues for the use of longitudinal, contextualist approaches to information systems evaluation if decision-makers seek to improve the situation of information systems in the health industry.

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