MIS Distinguished Speaker Series

Temple University

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Sunil Wattal

Sept 16: Anandhi Bharadwaj to speak on “Does Software Process Ambidexterity Lead To Better Software Project Performance?”

By

Anandhi Bharadwaj,

Associate Professor of Information Systems,

Goizueta Business School, Emory University

September 16, 2011

Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am

Seminar Title : Does Software Process Ambidexterity Lead To Better Software Project Performance?

Abstract

Plan-based and agile software development processes seem diametrically opposed in their approaches, with the former emphasizing discipline and control and the latter promoting flexibility and improvisation. Similar tensions in organizational contexts where efficiency versus flexibility considerations simultaneously jostle for management attention has led to the recognition that ambidexterity or the ability to manage seemingly conflicting demands is an important precursor to organizational success. In this study, we extend the idea of ambidexterity to software development processes and empirically examine the performance implications of the ability of software project teams to pursue process designs that simultaneously facilitate both control and flexibility. Utilizing data from a quasi-experiment involving 424 large commercial software projects of a multinational software services firm, we employ a potential outcomes empirical methodology to examine the causal linkage between software process ambidexterity and project performance. Our results show that projects that encountered frequent requirement changes, larger and complex code-bases, new technologies, higher levels of end-user engagements, and smaller, inexperienced teams tend to choose ambidextrous software process designs over a pure plan-based approach. We find that ambidextrous process design positively contributes to better project performance, including on the average about 9% higher productivity, 50% reduction in delivered defects, 12% reduction in internal defects, and 3% improvement in overall profitability. Complementing the archival data analysis with an in-depth qualitative study of the projects pursuing ambidextrous process designs, we enumerate the different mechanisms employed by the project teams to balance control requirements with needs for realizing flexibility. We discuss the implications of our results and elucidate potential pathways to achieve and sustain ambidextrous process designs in software firms.

Click here for a copy of the full paper.

May 4: Ola Henfridsson to speak on Architectural Frames in Digital Innovation: Appreciating the Role of Generative Capability

By

Ola Henfridsson,

Professor of Applied Information Technology,

Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

May 04, 2011

Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am

Seminar Title :  Architectural Frames in Digital Innovation: Appreciating the Role of Generative Capability

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a new theoretical model of complex product architecture in the digital age. Herbert Simon’s work has earned a dominant position in extant research, emphasizing decomposition with subsequent aggregation as the core principle for managing complexity. However, the ongoing digitization of tangible products suggests Christopher Alexander’s principle of generalization with subsequent specialization as a complementary approach. While previous research has pointed to the similarities between Simonian and Alexandrian thinking, we argue drawing on their differences can help us understand the complexity of architecting digitized products. In particular, such differentiation addresses the mismatch between the generative capacity of digital technology and the extant literature’s temporal sequencing of design and production in the product lifecycle.

The proposed theoretical model introduces the notion of architectural frames and provides two idealized representations of a complex product’s architecture: a Simonian hierarchy-of parts frame and an Alexandrian network-of-patterns frame. We explicate the nature of and interactions between the two frames in architecting digitized products. The model provides a new perspective for understanding how the generative capability of digital technology ignites fluid binding of functionality and distributed governance structures. We apply the proposed model to an empirical analysis of an automaker’s attempts to architect their car navigation system in response to technological change. Our research extends current views on product design and contributes to the emerging literature on innovation in the digital age.

Please click here for a copy of the full paper.

April 29: Joe Valacich to speak on What Signal are you Spending? How Website Quality Influences Perception of Product Quality and Purchase Intentions

By

Joe Valacich,

George and Carolyn Hubman Distinguished Professor of MIS,

Washington State University

April 29, 2011

Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am

Seminar Title : What Signal are you Spending? How Website Quality Influences Perception of Product Quality and Purchase Intentions

Abstract

An electronic commerce marketing channel is fully mediated by information technology, stripping away much of a product’s physical informational cues, and creating information asymmetries (i.e., limited information). These asymmetries may impede consumers’ ability to effectively assess certain types of products, thus creating challenges for online sellers. Signaling theory provides a framework for understanding how extrinsic cues— signals—can be used by sellers to convey product quality information to consumers, reducing uncertainty and facilitating a purchase or exchange. This research proposes a model to investigate website quality as a potential signal of product quality and consider the moderating effects of product information asymmetries and signal credibility. Three experiments are reported that examine the efficacy of signaling theory as a basis for predicting online consumer behavior with an experience good. The results indicate that website quality influences consumers’ perceptions of product quality, which subsequently affects online purchase intentions. Additionally, website quality was found to have a greater influence on perceived product quality when consumers had higher information asymmetries. Likewise, signal credibility was found to strengthen the relationship between website quality and product quality perceptions for a high quality website. Implications for future research and website design are examined.

Please click here for a copy of the full paper.

April 1: Brian Butler to speak on Handling Flammable Materials: Wikipedia Biographies of Living Persons as Contentious Objects

By

Brian Butler

Associate Professor, Managenment Information Systems,

Katz School of Businss, University of Pittsburgh

April 1, 2011

Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am

Seminar Title :  Handling Flammable Materials: Wikipedia Biographies of Living Persons as Contentious Objects

Abstract

Common ground. Shared interests. Collective goals. Much has been said about the power of technology to bring people together around commonalities to form groups, teams, and communities. Yet, the same technologies can also be used to bring together individuals with fundamentally irreconcilable differences. In these cases, the question is not how to construct systems that build on commonality, but rather how to manage artifacts that by their very nature provide affordances for conflict. In this paper we examine how Biographies of Living Persons (BLP) in Wikipedia exemplify contentious objects, both in terms of their features and their consequences. We draw from discussions of risk management and resilience to outline four approaches that groups can use to manage contentious objects (risk avoidance, risk minimization, threat reduction, and conflict management). Description of the policies, structures, and systems surrounding Biographies of Living Persons in Wikipedia illustrate how application of these approaches enable the creation and existence of large collection of contentions objects, without undermining the viability of the larger socio-technical system.

For a copy of the paper, click here.

March 16: Max Boisot to speak on Mapping Strategic Knowledge Assets: The Case of the ATLAS Experiment at the LHC

By

Max Boisot

Professor of Strategic Managenment,

Burmingham Business School,

March 16, 2011

Alter Hall 505, 200pm – 330pm

Seminar Title :  Mapping Strategic Knowledge Assets: The Case of the ATLAS Experiment at the LHC

Abstract

Can conventional strategy tools be applied in knowledge-based businesses? Using a framework, the Information-Space or I-Space, designed to analyse knowledge flows, we present research currently under way at CERN to map part of the knowledge assets used by the ATLAS Experiment, today the world’s largest single scientific experiment. Although this research is being carried out in a non-commercial context, we believe that it has implications for the development and conduct of knowledge-based strategy.

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March 4: Bin Gu to speak on IT Infrastructure Governance and IT Investment Performance: An Empirical Analysis

By

Bin Gu

Assistant Professor of Information Management,
McCombs School of Business, 
University of Texas at Austin

March 4, 2011

Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am

Seminar Title : IT Infrastructure Governance and IT Investment Performance: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

The value of information technology (IT) investment comes increasingly from its ability to complement and enable business strategies and organizational capabilities. As a general purpose technology, however, IT could either a complement or a constraint. Making the right IT investment, particularly the right IT infrastructure investment could thus have far-reaching impact on a firm‟s IT investment performance. A necessary condition to make the right IT infrastructure investment is to ensure that a firm‟s IT infrastructure governance (ITIG) configuration is aligned with the firm‟s organizational structure and business strategies. In this study, we use a two-step approach to provide an empirical assessment of the impact of the ITIG alignment on IT investment performance. We first recognize that a key challenge is that the appropriate IT governance mode varies across both firms and business units within. We address the challenge by extending the multiple contingency theory for IT governance from the firm level to the business unit level. We use the business unit level multiple contingency theory to develop an empirical model to predict the appropriate ITIG configuration for each business unit and use the difference between the predicted and observed ITIG configurations to derive a multiple contingency theory based measure of ITIG misalignment. We then assess the relationship between ITIG misalignment and IT investment performance across a Fortune 1000 firm samples. We find that firms with high ITIG misalignment receive limited benefits from IT investments; whereas firms with low ITIG misalignment obtain about twice the value from their IT investments compared to firms with average ITIG misalignment.

Click here for a copy of the paper.

Feb 25: Steven Johnson to speak on How do power law distributions arise in online communities?

By

Steven Johnson

Assistant Professor,
Fox School of Business,
Temple University

February 25, 2011

Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am

Seminar Title : How do power law distributions arise in online communities?

Abstract

Power law rank/frequency distributions appear ubiquitous in online communities but the mechanisms of their formation are not well understood. This study models online communities and multiple network formation mechanisms that can lead to the emergence of power distributions. First, we establish the presence of power law distributions in twenty-eight online communities. Next, we develop a simulation model of the formation of thread-based asynchronous online communities and provide results based on over 4,500 runs of the model simulating a total of over 3,200,000 messages generated by over 340,000 participants. Finally, we evaluate if these network formation models generate simulated networks with power law distributions. To validate that these models are consistent with the observed networks we use multiple measures of network structure: the power law distribution degree, network density, mutuality index and clustering coefficient. This study contributes to our understanding of online communities and other social communication networks by illuminating the relationships between specific behavioral tendencies of participants and emergent structural network characteristics.

We find no evidence that preferential attachment explains the presence of power laws in online communities but instead that a generalized social exchange mechanism is the participant behavior most consistent with observed power laws.

Please email me for a copy of the full paper (swattal@temple.edu).


Feb 18: Ramayya Krishnan to speak on Dynamics of Network Structure and Content in Social Media

By

Ramayya Krishnan

Dean of Heinz College
H. John Heinz III Dean and W. W. Cooper and Ruth F. Cooper Professor of Management Science and Information Systems
Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University

February 18, 2011

Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am

Krishnan will present two papers related to social media . In addition, he will discuss the open problem of how one should think about privacy protection of network data using a decision-theoretic approach of trading off data utility with disclosure risk

Title 1: Dynamics of Network Structure and Content in Social Media

Abstract 1

Organizations use social media to leverage knowledge contributions by individual employees, which also foster social interactions { activity in blogs, forums, wikis etc. is critical to ensuring a thriving online community. Prior studies have examined contributions to such media at the level of the individual, focusing on drivers of participation, whereas we investigate three different dimensions of dyadic interactions. Our setting is an online forum in an enterprise, where employees both exchange knowledge by query-response and interact socially.
Using a networks approach to query-response behavior, we characterize each interaction as a directed tie, and view the entire set of online forum interactions as a social network. We evaluate network constructs including Simmelian embeddedness and content of relationships (expressive or instrumental), to understand the mechanisms underlying online social interactions.
We find that content and embedded nature of the relationship strongly influence responses: Simmelian ties formed in an expressive setting have the highest positive impact on response propensity, i.e. both content and embeddedness are impactful and reinforce each other. Our results have implications for designing online social communities, specifically that practitioners ought to consider the benefits of purely social interactions through the forum that may serve to lubricate future instrumental interactions.

Title 2:  Homophily or Influence? An Empirical Analysis of Purchase within a Social Network

Abstract 2

Consumers that are close to one another in a social network are known to have similar behaviors. The focus of this study is the extent to which such observed similarity is driven by homophily or social influence. Homophily refers to the similarity in product preferences between individuals who are connected. Social influence is the dependence of consumers’ purchase decisions on their communication with others. We construct a hierarchical Bayesian model to study both the timing and choice of consumer purchases within a social network. Our model is estimated using a unique social network dataset obtained from a large Indian telecom operator for the purchase of caller ringer-back tones. We find strong social influence effects in both the purchase-timing and product-choice decisions of consumers. In the purchase-timing decision, we find that consumers are three times more likely to be influenced by network neighbors than by other people. In the product-choice decision we find a strong homophily effect. We show that ignoring either homophily or social influence will result in overestimated effects of the other factor. Furthermore, we show that detailed communication data is crucial for measuring influence effect, and influence effect can be either over- or underestimated when such data is not available. Finally, we conduct policy simulations on a variety of target marketing schemes to show that promotions targeted using network information is superior. For example, we find a 4-21% improvement on purchase probability, and an 11-35% improvement for promoting a specific product.

For a copy of the paper1, click here.

For a copy of the paper2, click here.

Feb 16: Anjana Susarla to speak on Social Capital, Reputation and Contract Design in Buyer-Supplier Networks

By

Anjana Susarla

Assistant Professor,
Tepper School of Business,
Carnegie Mellon University

February 16, 2011

Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am

Seminar Title : Social Capital, Reputation and Contract Design in Buyer-Supplier Networks

Abstract

Prior research on inter-firm contracting has identified the ideal governance mode to be either Formal‟ or „Relational‟ governance modes. However, both streams of literature rely on stringent assumptions about the cost of breaching contractual obligations and the mechanism of enforcement. We propose an embeddedness-based governance logic by examining an inter-organizational network of exchange partners. The buyer-seller network acts as a conduit for market actors to exchange information about exchange opportunities as well as the actual services traded, providing a mechanism for community enforcement. A firm‟s social capital in the network could assuage concerns about opportunism whereby a firm can maintain a reputation for performance. A firm‟s position in the network also acts as a signal of its ability and quality to agents beyond the dyad. We analyze a large dataset of public information technology (IT) outsourcing announcements using multi-way cluster-robust and network auto-regression techniques. We examine the impact of firms‟ position in the inter-organizational network on an important contract design element, the duration of contracts. We find that a network position whereby a firm is associated with central trading partners is likely to predict longer contract duration. We find that this relationship holds even after controlling for a number of alternate causal explanations. Implications for practitioners and research are discussed.

For a copy of the paper, click here.

Feb 11: Joey George to speak on Culture, Media & Deception

By

Joey George

Professor of Information Systems and the Thomas L. Williams Jr. Eminent Scholar in Information Systems
College of Business at Florida State University

February 11, 2011

Speakman Hall 200, 1000am – 1130am

Abstract

Deceptive communication has been studied for decades, but within that vast body of work, relatively little research has been done regarding the roles of cultural or media differences and their effects on deception and its detection. Even less research has been done where culture, media and deception intersect. This presentation introduces two studies conducted at this intersection. The first is an investigation of media selection for deceptive communication, involving Chinese and Americans. The second is a study of deception detection, using Spanish and American participants and judges. Both studies show that culture informs deception and its detection, although media plays less of a role than might be thought.

For a copy of the presentation slides, click here.