Understanding User Dissatisfaction

This paper examines the role of fairness and how it shapes a user’s view in IT-enabled change. Drawing from several fairness theories, components of fairness are identified and examined in two studies. The first study examines the role of fairness through user interviews and finds that all five components of fairness are considered by users in enterprise system implementations. The second study operationalizes and analyzes the components of fairness through a questionnaire distributed to users. This second study finds that fairness is comprised of all five components that were proposed and a significant relationship exists with user dissatisfaction. The two studies lead to a new theoretical perspective and provide practical implications regarding the role of fairness in IT-enabled change and their strategic implications.

Gender Differences in E-Learning

Although previous research has suggested that women may be at a learning disadvantage in e-learning environments, this study examines communication differences between women and men, arguing that women’s communication patterns may provide them with a learning advantage. Using data from 303 males and 252 females, this paper discusses gender differences in course communication processes and course outcomes in a web-based introductory information systems course. Results indicate that women communicated more, perceived the environment to have greater social presence, were more satisfied with the course, found the course to be of greater value, and had marginally better performance than men. Despite the challenges facing women in e-learning environments, the results of this study suggest that e-learning environments that allow for peer to peer communication and connectedness can help females overcome some of these disadvantages. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.

Participation in ICT-Enabled Meetings

Meetings are a common occurrence in contemporary organizations. The authors’ exploratory study at Intel, an innovative global technology company, suggests that meetings are evolving beyond their familiar definition as the pervasive use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) changes work practices associated with meetings. Drawing on data gathered from interviews prompted by entries in the employees’ electronic calendar system, the authors examine the multiple ways in which meetings build and reflect work in the organization and derive propositions to guide future research. Specifically, the authors identify four aspects of meetings that reflect work in the 21st century: meetings are integral to work in team-centered organizations, tension between group and personal objectives, discontinuities, and ICT support for fragmented work environment.

Preparing IS Students for Real-World Interaction with End Users Through Service Learning

Although teaching the technical skills required of Information Systems (IS) graduates is a straightforward process, it is far more difficult to prepare students in the classroom environment for the challenges they will face interacting with end users in the real world. The ability to establish a successful relationship with end users is a critical success factor for any IS project. One way to prepare students for interaction with end users is through the implementation of service learning projects. Service learning projects provide a rich environment for students to experience real world interactions with users. This paper presents an organizational model to guide the implementation of service learning projects in IS curriculums. Service learning projects better prepare students to assume important management positions by giving them experience in applying the system development life cycle to an IS project and working with people. This organizational model uses the system development life cycle approach to integrate typical curriculum and service learning models. The organizational model is grounded in anecdotal evidence from prior experiences with IS students in service learning environments.

Characterizing Data Discovery and End-User Computing Needs in Clinical Translational Science

In this paper, the authors present the results of a qualitative case-study seeking to characterize data discovery needs and barriers of principal investigators and research support staff in clinical translational science. Several implications for designing and implementing translational research systems have emerged through the authors’ analysis. The results also illustrate the benefits of forming early partnerships with scientists to better understand their workflow processes and end-user computing practices in accessing data for research. The authors use this user-centered, iterative development approach to guide the implementation and extension of i2b2, a system they have adapted to support cross-institutional aggregate anonymized clinical data querying. With ongoing evaluation, the goal is to maximize the utility and extension of this system and develop an interface that appropriately fits the swiftly evolving needs of clinical translational scientists.

An Analysis of Process Characteristics for Developing Scientific Software

The development of scientific software is usually carried out by a scientist who has little professional training as a software developer. Concerns exist that such development produces low-quality products, leading to low-quality science. These concerns have led to recommendations and the imposition of software engineering development processes and standards on the scientists. This paper utilizes different frameworks to investigate and map characteristics of the scientific software development environment to the assumptions made in plan-driven software development methods and agile software development methods. This mapping exposes a mismatch between the needs and goals of scientific software development and the assumptions and goals of well-known software engineering development processes.

Scientific End-User Developers and Barriers to User/Customer Engagement

When software supports the complex and poorly understood application domain of cutting-edge science, effective engagement between its users/customers and developers is crucial. Drawing on recent literature, the authors examine barriers to such engagement. Significant among these barriers is the effects of the experience that many research scientists have of local scientific end-user development. Through a case study, the authors demonstrate that involving such scientists in a team developing software for a widely distributed group of scientists can have a positive impact on establishing requirements and promoting adoption of the software. However, barriers to effective engagement exist, which scientific end-user developers can do little to address. Such barriers stem from the essential nature of scientific practice.

Development of a Mesh Generation Code with a Graphical Front-End

Scientists and engineers are increasingly developing software to enable them to do their work. A number of characteristics differentiate the software development environment in which a scientist or engineer works from the development environment in which a more traditional business/IT software developer works. This paper describes a case study, specifically about the development of a mesh-generation code. The goal of this case study was to understand the process for developing the code and identify some lessons learned that can be of use to other similar teams. Specifically, the paper reports on lessons learned concerning: requirements evolution, programming language choice, methods of communication among teammates, and code structure.

The Role of Computer Attitudes in Enhancing Computer Competence in Training

Computer competence is poorly conceptualized and inconsistently measured. This study clarifies computer competence and examines its relationship with anxiety, affect, and pessimism, along with self-efficacy and previous experience. Using a survey of 610 end users, the strengths of anxiety, affect (positive), pessimism, self-efficacy, and previous experience were compared for nine different competency measures in seven different domains, including word processing, email applications, spreadsheets, graphic programs, databases, web design, and overall computing. Results suggest that for most domains, affect and anxiety are significant predictors, as are self-efficacy and previous experience, but pessimism is not. In addition, competence in a domain was found to mediate the relationship between competence and its antecedents. These results suggest that organizations focus not only on skills training, but on ways to enhance computing attitudes during the training process.

Antecedents of Improvisation in IT-Enabled Engineering Work

The success of engineering work depends on the ability of individuals to improvise in response to emerging challenges and opportunities (Kappel & Rubenstein, 1999). Building on experiential learning theory (Eisenhardt & Tabrizi 1995; Kolb, 1984) and improvisation theory (Miner, Bassoff, & Moorman, 2001), this authors argue that information systems facilitate the generation of new product and process design ideas by providing richer feedback, creating shorter learning cycles, and enabling engineers to try a variety of new ideas more easily. An empirical research model of the antecedents of improvisation in IT-enabled engineering work is proposed. This model is examined using a sample of 208 individuals engaged in computer-intensive engineering design work. The multiple regression results suggest that software capability, autonomy, problem solving/decision support usage, system use for work planning, and length of use explain the extent of new product and process ideas that are generated. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.