Friend or Foe?

While many organizations and individuals use social media and information technologies (IT) to overcome the limitations of time and space, they often experience unintended consequences from increased immediacy and access. How can they achieve the desirable changes and address the negative effects that can result? This article presents a systematic framework that managers can use to proactively identify ways to either leverage or mitigate the increased immediacy and access. Specific examples are used as illustrations to demonstrate how these issues can be anticipated and used for competitive advantage. They are not offered as specific “prescriptions” for any one organization. Rather, they show how the framework can inform managers as they evaluate proposals for, and implementation plans of, new information systems in their organizations.

Analysis of User Involvement and Participation on the Quality of IS Planning Projects

The process of information systems planning is critically dependent on the users of the system. The involvement and participation of these users and its impact on the effectiveness of IS planning has not been studied in the literature. In this article we address the effect of user involvement and participation on the quality of IS planning projects. This was done through an exploratory quasi-experiment study conducted in an academic setting. We studied the effects of user involvement using two sets of teams doing IS planning exercises, one in which the user was involved as part of the project team and the other where the user was outside the project team, but was involved in interviews and reviews of project artifacts. We also measured the extent of user participation through a survey of participants engaged in the IS planning projects. Results indicate that user involvement has significant positive effect on user participation, as well as on the quality of IS planning projects. However the effect of user participation on the quality of projects is mixed and needs further research.

Errors in Operational Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are used in almost all businesses, for applications ranging from the mundane to the mission-critical. Errors in the data, formulas, or manipulation of spreadsheets could be costly, even devastating. The received wisdom is that about 5% of all formulas in spreadsheets contain errors, and this rate is consistent across spreadsheets. However, this estimate is based on five studies, some of which are quite informal, and a total of only 43 spreadsheets. Our research was designed to deepen our understanding of spreadsheet errors. Specifically, we address three questions about errors in operational spreadsheets: what is the average cell error rate, how does it differ among spreadsheets, and what types of errors are most prevalent? We created a spreadsheet auditing protocol and applied it to 50 diverse operational spreadsheets. We found errors in 0.9% to 1.8% of all formula cells, depending on how errors are defined. We also found that the error rate differed widely from spreadsheet to spreadsheet.

An End-User’s Journey of System Use

Using a new information system is a journey that end-users follow, sometimes by choice and at other times by obligation. This journey changes their attitudes and behavior as they explore the system and discover its workings. In this chapter we map such a journey using Morgan’s (1986, 1997) metaphors by tracking a change in end–user attitudes and behavior. We use a longitudinal case study approach to follow this journey, report the direction and any shifts in end-users’ conceptual position. Our results show that within a space of eighteen months the organization’s overall metaphorical stance shifted from the organism to the machine metaphor. This reflects the end-user’s initial optimism for the change to enable ease of working to that of efficiency dictated by the senior management towards the end. This shift was due to organizational conditional factors, such as the ISD methodology.

Swift Trust in Web Vendors

With the growth of product search engines such as pricegrabber.com, web vendors have many more casual visitors. This research examines how web vendors may foster “swift trust” as a means to convert casual visitors to paying customers. We examine whether perceptions of website’s appearance features (normality, social presence and third-party links) and functionality features (security, privacy, effort expectancy and performance expectancy) positively relate to swift trust in a web vendor. Using a quasi-experimental research design, we empirically test the proposed relationships. Based on an analysis of 224 respondents, we found appearance and functionality features explained 61% of the variance in swift trust. The paper concludes with a discussion of findings and implications.

An Empirical Study of Computer Self-Efficacy and the Technology Acceptance Model in the Military

The U.S. Navy continues to be a major developer and procurer of information systems (ISs), yet very limited research has been done to determine the factors that influence technology acceptance by naval personnel. Literature suggests that efforts to embrace information technology in improving decision making and reducing workload depend heavily on the use of such systems. Moreover, previous research has shown the validity of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and computer self-efficacy (CSE) to model technology acceptance in numerous environments. However, very little research was done specifically addressing such technology acceptance with military combat ISs. Thus, this study examines the applicability of the extended TAM with a CSE construct model to the U.S. Navy’s combat ISs. A survey sample of 237 sailors from five different U.S. Navy aircraft carriers was used to assess such an extended model on a U.S. Navy’s combat IS. Results indicate that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and CSE were valid antecedents of technology acceptance (as indicated by intention to use). Moreover, high Cronbach’s alpha was observed on all measures, indicating reliability of the measures in the context of military organizations.

End User Authentication (EUA) Model and Password for Security

Authentication is one among a set of services that constitute a security subsystem in a modern computing or communications infrastructure. End User Authentication flexibility model proposed in this article will allow the user to have multiple authentications with varying levels of guarantee, and for suppliers to request and rely on mechanisms appropriate to the service requested. We describe the ticket used by clients, servers, model and algorithm to achieve authentication toward prevention of unauthorized access to in sourced data on applications level. An authentication to end-user proposed in this article is a simple three level ticket request model solution in an open distributed environment. We also develop an analytical password for the proposed mechanism and validate this approach through experiment. Furthermore, we explore this approach to end user authentication and demonstrate the conception of a textual password which in many cases improves the security. We analyze Deffie-Hellman exchange weakness and present how it can be made robust against attacks. Our approach is based on the use of the Kerberos authentication technique and the Diffie-Hellman Key exchange.

Delivery and Payment Options as Antecedents to Enhanced Online Retailing

We first measure attitudes toward a product and attitudes toward product quality when an unknown brand is associated with a well-known and trusted co-brand in the form of payment and delivery options; employing a classic co-branding strategy. Theory suggests that association with a trusted brand should lead to improved positive assessment of an unknown brand. Results suggest the popular belief that trusted brands improve respondents’ assessments of unknown brands through a co-branding strategy may not be supported when there is a restriction on choice of payment and delivery options. That is, when including only a limited number of co-brands, brand associations may give the perception of restricted choice, leading to a lessened level of trust in the co-brand. We then repeat the study using a known branded product and known branded delivery and payment methods. Results show no difference in consumer perceptions between no cobrand and a full complement of cobrands. However, a restricted set of payment and delivery options leads to a more negative attitude toward the product and product quality.

The Impacts of Brand Equity, Security, and Personalization on Trust Processes in an E-Commerce Environment

This research broadens the study of trust as it applies to developing stable relationships in electronic environments. Prior studies have investigated many aspects of trust, but few have looked at its incremental development. Previous empirical research identifies antecedents to initial perceptions of trust that may influence the progression of trust to deeper levels. More conceptual work identifies antecedents that swiftly cultivate trust, allowing for stable relationships to develop more quickly. The antecedents investigated in this study, using regression and structural equation modeling, are the use of security symbols, trustworthy brand names, and personalization techniques. The results of the study indicate that the use of security symbols and trustworthy brand names have a positive and lasting effect on trusting beliefs and that personalization has a decreasing and lasting effect on trusting beliefs. There was no support for the hypothesis that trust develops over time in electronic environments.

Support and Facilitating Conditions to Computer Workers Who Dislike Working with Computers

While the number of employees who primarily use computers to complete their work increases, a significant subset of those employees simply do not enjoy computer work. This dislike has an influence on work-related outcomes like perceived technology overload and job satisfaction. It is important to examine how work-related support from either supervisors or coworkers can minimize/buffer the negative outcomes related to an individual’s disliking computer work. Using a sample of 225 workers from a range of businesses and industries, we investigated the influence of facilitating conditions on liking computer work. The results show that liking computer work is positively related to job satisfaction, and supervisor support helps moderate the relationships between liking computer work and the outcomes of job satisfaction and technology work overload. Implications for research and practice and directions for future research are offered.