Technological innovation systems and the multi-level perspective: Towards an integrated framework

Technological innovation systems and the multi-level framework are closely related concepts for the study of far-reaching technological change. They draw on common theoretical roots and analyze similar empirical phenomena. However, they have developed rather independent research strands over the past few years. The paper reviews the state of the art of both concepts and explores commonalities as well as differences. Against this background, we outline first elements of a path towards an integrated framework that combines the strengths of the two approaches and allows providing a better understanding of radical innovation processes and socio-technical transformations.     

基于因果模型的管理变革与信息技术研究

在本文的研究框架中,信息技术对企业产出的作用有两种路径,一种是直接作用路径,即信息技术直接提高了企业总产出,一种是间接作用路径,即信息技术促进了企业管理变革,管理变革又提高了企业总产出,也就是说管理变革是信息技术投资与企业总产出的中介变量。通过本文的研究,我们可以进一步了解信息技术投资是如何作用于企业总产出的,同时也指出企业应该进行相应地管理变革以最大化企业信息技术投资的收益。     

Promoting the continuing usage of strategic information systems: The role of supervisory leadership in the successful implementation of enterprise systems

Organizations face significant challenges in capturing value from their investments in strategic information systems such as enterprise systems (ES). Managers are a powerful source of influence shaping the post-adoption attitudes and behaviors of users and the success of ES. However, the extant IS literature has focused primarily on the role of top management and theoretical explanations of the role of supervisors in fostering continuing usage of ES are lacking. Drawing on transformational leadership theory and the IS continuance (ISC) model, this paper conceptualizes a theoretical model differentiating the influence mechanisms through which different types of leadership behaviors influence the success of ES. Data collected from 192 users of ES confirms our theorization. We find that transformational leadership behaviors of supervisors influence users’ evaluations of satisfaction and perceived usefulness, while their transactional leadership behaviors influence users’ ES continuance intention by moderating the effects of user satisfaction and perceived usefulness on ES continuance intention. This study advances research on the role of leadership behaviors of supervisors in capturing value from enterprise systems. The research also contributes to practice by suggesting effective strategies for promoting continued usage of mission critical systems such as enterprise systems and delivering value from firms’ IT investments.     

How to be a responsible slave: managing the use of expert information systems

Computer ethicists have for some years been troubled by the issue of how to assign moral responsibility for disastrous events involving erroneous information generated by expert information systems. Recently, Jeroen van den Hoven has argued that agents working with expert information systems satisfy the conditions for what he calls epistemic enslavement. Epistemically enslaved agents do not, he argues, have moral responsibility for accidents for which they bear causal responsibility. In this article, I develop two objections to van den Hoven’s argument for epistemic enslavement of agents working with expert information systems.     

Information and communication technology adoption for business benefits: A case analysis of an integrated paperless system

This case study analyses the benefits of implementing a paperless software solution (Alert^®pfh–Alert Paperfree Hospital, developed by Alert Life Sciences Computing) in a Portuguese Hospital, the Espírito Santo Hospital, in the city of Évora. Alert^®pfh is a complete hospital clinical information system with real time clinical information input. It was implemented in emergency medical services, inpatient and outpatient services, and operating room services. Data were collected between 2006 and 2011 prior to, during and after the system's implementation. The case analysis demonstrates that paperless software systems have a significant potential when applied in healthcare organization services. Besides financial benefits, other important organizational features were identified, namely higher levels of patient and professional satisfaction; an increase in efficiency in hospital operations; improvement in the quality of information for management decision-making; and a reduction in medical errors. Lessons learned are noted and conclusions drawn for both theoretical and practical ICT benefits analysis.     

Management information systems and strategic performances: The role of top team composition

Organizations adopt sophisticated management information systems, which provide top managers with an ample range of information to achieve multiple strategic performances. However, organizations differ in the extent to which they improve their performance. This paper analyzes the role of top management team in the relationship between management information systems and strategic performance. Using data collected from 92 top management teams, it analyses how different team compositions interact with a sophisticated management information system, and how this interaction affects strategic performances, which are focused on cost reduction and flexibility. The findings show how the effect of management information system on strategic performance (focused on flexibility) is moderated by top management team diversity.     

Document management systems from current capabilities towards intelligent information retrieval: an overview

Documents circulating in paper form are increasingly being substituted by its electronic equivalent in the modern office today so that any stored document can be retrieved whenever needed later on. The office worker is already burdened with information overload, so effective and efficient retrieval facilities become an important factor affecting worker productivity. This paper first reviews the features of current document management systems with varying facilities to manage, store and retrieve either reference to documents or whole documents. Information retrieval databases, groupware products and workflow management systems are presented as developments to handle different needs, together with the underlying concepts of knowledge management. The two problems of worker finiteness and worker ignorance remain outstanding, as they are only partially addressed by the above-mentioned systems. The solution lies in a shift away from pull technology where the user has to actively initiate the request for information towards push technology, where available information is automatically delivered without user intervention. Intelligent information retrieval agents are presented as a solution together with a marketing scenario of how they can be introduced.     

An empirical study on the source of vendors’ relational performance in offshore information systems outsourcing

Despite keen interest in long-term strategic outsourcing and attention to factors affecting outsourcing success, the examination on relational performance, i.e., the difference between a vendor's performance with a particular client and that with its average client base, can be hardly found. This study adopts a relational view to offshore information systems (IS) outsourcing from a vendor's perspective to explore the source of relational performance. Results highlight the importance of client-specific capabilities and trust as a self-enforcing governance mechanism in a vendor's relational performance in terms of service quality. Project management and client-specific capabilities act as substitute for each other in affecting relational service quality. In addition, while trust and learning about client contribute to client-specific capabilities, trust is also positively related to learning about client. These findings enrich our understanding of the source of outsourcing relational performance and contribute to the literatures on vendors’ capabilities in IS outsourcing.     

基于信息立法视角的政府信息公开制度研究

我国正在起草制定政府信息公开条例和法律制度。许多国家和地区、国际机构和组织都以各种法律形式将信息公开制度法律化,并赋予公民以法定的获取信息的权利。本文在探讨世界信息公开立法现状和发展趋势基础上,总结了信息公开制度的基本要素,并在借鉴国外司法经验基础上对我国信息公开立法提出建议。     

Enacting silence: Residual categories as a challenge for ethics,information systems,and communication

Residual categories are those which cannot be formally represented within a given classification system. We examine the forms that residuality takes within our information systems today, and explore some silences which form around those inhabiting particular residual categories. We argue that there is significant ethical and political work to be done in exploring residuality.     

多团队系统协作机制的结构方程模型研究——以高新技术企业NPD多团队系统为例

以高新技术企业NPD多团队系统为研究对象,在对MTS理论进行梳理和对NPD团队间协作过程分析的基础上,提出了基于团队过程的NPD多团队系统协作模型。通过问卷调查与验证性因子分析对模型与数据拟合度进行了评价,分别构建了过渡过程协作和行动过程协作的结构方程模型,并考察了两个过程之间的路径影响关系。结果表明,模型拟合度良好,过渡过程协作对行动过程协作有正向影响。     

产业结构变化与中等职业教育结构调整研究

本从研究产业结构的变化趋势与中等职业教育结构调整关系入手，分析产业结构变化的趋势以及对中等职业教育的影响，从而探讨中等职业教育如何适应产业结构变化的需要，满足社会对人才的需求。     

基于工作过程的高职信息检索课学习情境设计——以信息资源类型为载体

结合信息检索课程性质与高职院校课程改革实际,以信息资源类型为载体,设计了基于工作过程的高职信息检索课学习情境,分析研究学习情境的构建、具体的学习任务及其相互之间的逻辑联系,以及理→实一体化教学组织形式的学法指导与考核评价体系。     

Information determinism: The consequences of the faith in information

We identify and examine the assumption of information determinism that is commonplace in policy arenas: that mere access to the “right information” will precipitate desired actions. Our analysis focuses on implications of information determinism in three cases: California disaster response plans in the 1980s, an Indian development project in the 1990s, and an education project directed at the Global South in the 2000s. Our analyses shows that planning based on information deterministic assumptions tends to overlook the sociomaterial circumstances of information production and circulation, including how social structures and materiality shape information in practice. Further, they imbue what we call “information” with the agency to bring about change. While we do not deny that “information” can be useful, we argue that policy needs to move away from information deterministic thinking and its singular focus on information access to address the needs of marginalized and vulnerable populations.     

我国高校学生信息素质综合水平评价指标体系研究

首先探讨了信息素质的内涵和评价要素,以及建立我国高校学生信息素质综合水平评价指标体系的思路、原则和方法,并在此基础上建立了相应的评价指标体系。然后利用该评价指标体系对我国41所高校1036名学生的调查问卷数据进行了评价和分析。评价结果表明,目前我国高校学生总体信息素质综合水平为中等,信息意识相对较好,而信息观念与信息伦理一般,信息能力相对较差。评价结果还表明,我国高校学生信息素质综合水平与学生年龄和受教育水平有明显相关性,与高中时是否学习过如何利用图书馆也有一定联系。发达地区与不发达地区高校学生的信息素质综合水平有显著差异。评价过程显示,本论文建立的高校学生信息素质综合水平评价指标体系基本适用,可操作性较强,有一定创新性。     

Reliability of information on the Internet: Some distinctions

In this contribution, we identify and clarifysome distinctions we believe are useful inestablishing the reliability of information onthe Internet. We begin by examining some of thesalient features of information that go intothe determination of reliability. In so doing,we argue that we need to distinguish contentand pedigree criteria of reliability and thatwe need to separate issues of reliability ofinformation from the issues of theaccessibility and the usability of information.We then turn to an analysis of some commonfailures to recognize reliability orunreliability.     

The era of incremental change in the technology innovation life cycle: An analysis of the automotive emission control industry

According to the life cycle model of technological evolution, after the emergence of a dominant design, technological product industries undergo an “era of incremental change.” This era of incremental change is not well understood in the existing literature. Although the period is typically characterized in terms of stability and minimal innovation, we find that the era of incremental change can be actually quite dynamic. Through our research into the period of time following the emergence of a dominant design in automotive emission control systems, we find that the overall product innovation in the industry did not decline immediately following the dominant design, and increased throughout the era of incremental change. Further, we find that firms maintain their attention on the same core components that they innovated upon before the dominant design, but that these components make up less of the overall proportion of total innovation throughout the era of incremental change. Finally, we found that the concentration of innovating firms in the industry increases immediately following the dominant design, and this concentration decreases over time throughout the era of incremental change. Findings imply a pattern of contraction and expansion in the era of incremental change that extends previous work on the technological product life cycles and helps to characterize the era of incremental change in a novel way.