Tensions in transfer, translation, and transformation of information: A sociomaterial perspective on heterogeneous work arrangements

2023 | Journal of Information Technology | Citations: 0

Authors: Mathiassen, Lars; Jonsson, Katrin; Holmstrom, Jonny

Abstract: Although sociomaterial theorizing has provided important insights into how digit ... Expand

Abstract: Although sociomaterial theorizing has provided important insights into how digital technologies enable or constrain behavior in organizational contexts, there is a need to advance theory to better account for how digital technologies shape heterogeneous work practices in which distributed organizational actors use diverse technology portfolios to collaboratively produce and consume information. Against that backdrop, we draw on the distinction between digital mediation and digital representation to investigate tensions in how actors transfer information across organizational and technological boundaries, how they translate information into meaning, and how they eventually transform information into action in digitalized work. We illustrate and develop this framing through detailed analyses of digitally enabled, condition-based maintenance of equipment in a mining context. Drawing on these analyses and extant literature, we advance theory on tensions in how digital technologies are implicated in producing and consuming information in today’s increasingly heterogeneous work practices. Collapse

Topics: virtual teamwork information system use virtualization technology electronic mail organizational value

Methods: qualitative interview design artifact theory development case study field study

Theories: sociomaterialism theory

For Better and Worse: How Proactive Personality Alters the Strain Responses to Challenge and Hindrance Stressors

2023 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Nielsen, Jordan; Firth, Brady; Crawford, Eean

Abstract: Employees with a proactive personality tend to show exceptional initiative and p ... Expand

Abstract: Employees with a proactive personality tend to show exceptional initiative and perseverance, suggesting that they are relatively impervious to stressors. Yet some evidence suggests that proactive personality may exacerbate the effect of stressors on strain. In this study, we clarify these conflicting ideas by systematically distinguishing between different types of chronic work stressors. Integrating the conservation-of-resources model and the challenge–hindrance stressor framework, we suggest that employees with more proactive personalities are especially sensitive to the extent to which chronic work stressors are amenable to their resource investments. Specifically, we hypothesize that, for more proactive employees, challenge stressors (opportunities more amenable to resource investment) lead to less strain (i.e., emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions) but also that hindrance stressors (demands less amenable to proactive expectations of achievement) lead to relatively more strain. We further propose perceived organizational support as a mediator of these interactive effects wherein challenging opportunities are interpreted by proactive employees as particularly indicative of high support and hindering demands as particularly indicative of low support, ultimately leading to lower and higher perceptions of strain, respectively. A three-wave survey of 256 architects generally supports these hypotheses: the effects of challenge stressors on emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions were significantly attenuated and the effects of hindrance stressors on these outcomes were significantly exacerbated for more proactive people. These effects were mediated (partially for exhaustion, fully for turnover intentions) by perceived support. Follow-up analysis demonstrates that this interactive effect extends to turnover behavior 2.5 years later, fully mediated by perceived support. Collapse

Topics: personality IT personell turnover LinkedIn pandemic types of work

Methods: survey theory development statistical hypothesis test descriptive statistic regression analysis method

Theories: conservation of resources theory equity theory

Conducting Online Focus Groups - Practical Advice for Information Systems Researchers

2023 | Communications of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 1

Authors: Schulze, Laura; Trenz, Manuel; Cai, Zhao; Tan, Chee-Wee

Abstract: Video-based online focus groups (OFGs) present an emerging opportunity for Info ... Expand

Abstract: Video-based online focus groups (OFGs) present an emerging opportunity for Information Systems (IS) researchers to circumvent spatial and temporal constraints in collecting rich data. They enable researchers to overcome interpersonal and operational challenges arising from face-to-face (F2F) focus groups (FGs) by allowing participants, who are located anywhere in the world, to share their personal experiences from behind their screens. However, the realization of the full potential of OFGs for IS research is currently hampered by challenges and uncertainty over best practices when conducting such FGs. Consequently, we offer a detailed account of our own experiences with seven OFGs in the context of digital platforms. In supplementing our own experiences with those of others reported in extant literature on (online) FGs in and beyond the IS discipline, we (a) arrive at hurdles inherent to the OFG method, (b) derive lessons learned from our own experience with OFGs, and (c) prescribe actionable advice to researchers who are interested in conducting OFGs in the future. Collapse

Topics: IS discipline video conference social media electronic mail online chat

Methods: focus group literature study survey group interview qualitative interview

Algorithmic Interactions in Open Source Work

2023 | Information Systems Research | Citations: 0

Authors: Shaikh, Maha; Vaast, Emmanuelle

Abstract: This study focuses on algorithmic interactions in open source work. Algorithms a ... Expand

Abstract: This study focuses on algorithmic interactions in open source work. Algorithms are essential in open source because they remedy concerns incompletely addressed by parallel development or modularity. Following algorithmic interactions in open source allows us to map the performance of algorithms to understand the nature of work conducted by multiple algorithms functioning together. We zoom to the level of algorithmic interactions to show how residual interdependencies of modularity are worked around by algorithms. Moreover, the dependence on parallel development does not suffice to resolve all concerns related to the distributed work of open source. We examine the Linux Kernel case that reveals how algorithmic interactions facilitate open source work through the three processes of managing, organizing, and supervising development work. Our qualitative study theorizes how algorithmic interactions intensify through these processes that work together to facilitate development. We make a theoretical contribution to open source scholarship by explaining how algorithmic interactions navigate across module rigidity and enhance parallel development. Our work also reveals how, in open source, developers work to automate most tasks and augmentation is a bidirectional relationship of algorithms augmenting the work of developers and of developers augmenting the work of algorithms.History: Hemant Jain, Balaji Padmanabhan, Paul Pavlou, and Raghu Santanam, Senior Editors; Likoebe Maruping, Associate Editor.Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.1153. Collapse

Topics: open source Linux platform work electronic mail robotic

Methods: computational algorithm theory development qualitative interview literature study theoretical contribution

Exploring the effects of relationship quality and c-commerce behavior on firms' dynamic capability and c-commerce performance in the supply chain management context

2023 | Decision Support Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Wang, Wei-Tsong; Lin, Ying-Lien; Chen, Ting-Jun

Abstract: Although previous studies indicate the critical role of collaborative commerce ( ... Expand

Abstract: Although previous studies indicate the critical role of collaborative commerce (c-commerce) adoption and dy­ namic capability in the supply chain process, they have not addressed the relationship between c-commerce behavior and dynamic capability. By adopting the commitment-trust theory and the dynamic capability view, this study empirically examines the effects of relationship quality, c-commerce behavior, and dynamic capability on c-commerce performance. Survey data collected from 257 professionals in various manufacturing industries were analyzed using the partial least squares technique. The findings suggest that c-commerce behavior and dynamic capability are positively associated with c-commerce performance. However, negative calculative commitment does not positively affect c-commerce behavior. Moreover, institution-based trust does not nega­ tively affect negative calculative commitment. This study is one of few studies investigating the relationships among the variables that contribute to c-commerce performance. The findings can serve as references for practitioners in supply chain practices. Collapse

Topics: supply chain management interorganizational relationship marketing management innovation management digital innovation

Methods: survey statistical hypothesis test descriptive statistic data transformation factor analysis

Theories: dynamic capabilities theory commitment-trust theory

How technostressors influence job and family satisfaction: Exploring the role of work–family conflict

2023 | Information Systems Journal | Citations: 0

Authors: Shi, Si; Chen, Yang; Cheung, Christy M. K.

Abstract: Recent developments in information and communication technology have blurred the ... Expand

Abstract: Recent developments in information and communication technology have blurred the line between the workplace and the home. This can have a negative influence on employees' well-being and thus has gained increasing attention from academics and practitioners. In this study, we developed a research model based on the transactional perspective of stress and the challenge–hindrance stressor framework. We defined the two dimensions of work–family conflict as the perceptual stress resulting from a chronic challenge and hindrance technostressors, which ultimately affect employees' satisfaction in both the work and family domains. We tested our model using a three-wave time-lagged survey study with data collected from 268 employees. Challenge and hindrance technostressors had different effects on these two main forms of work–family conflict (time-based and strain-based) but further induced negative effects on both job and family satisfaction. Overall, we make both scientific and practical contributions to the fields of work-related technology use and work–family conflict. Collapse

Topics: job satisfaction technostress information system use system support remote work

Methods: survey statistical hypothesis test structural equation modeling descriptive statistic chi squared test

Theories: organizational behavior theory

Performance-Driven X-Architecture Routing Algorithm for Artificial Intelligence Chip Design in Smart Manufacturing

2022 | ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Liu, Genggeng; Zhu, Yuhan; Xu, Saijuan; Tang, Hao; Chen, Yeh-Cheng

Abstract: The new 7-nm Artificial Intelligence (AI) chip is an important milestone recentl ... Expand

Abstract: The new 7-nm Artificial Intelligence (AI) chip is an important milestone recently announced by the IBM research team, with a very important optimization goal of performance. This chip technology can be extended to various business scenarios in the Internet of Things. As the basic model for very large scale integration routing, the Steiner minimal tree can be used in various practical problems, such as wirelength optimization and timing closure. Further considering the X-architecture and the routing resources within obstacles, an effective performance-driven X-architecture routing algorithm for AI chip design in smart manufacturing is proposed to improve the delay performance of the chip. First, a special particle swarm optimization algorithm is presented to solve the discrete length-restricted X-architecture Steiner minimum tree problem in combination with genetic operations, and a particle encoding scheme is presented to encode each particle into an initial routing tree. Second, two lookup tables based on pins and obstacles are established to provide a fast information query for the whole algorithm flow. Third, a strategy of candidate point selection is designed to make the particles satisfy the constraints. Finally, a refinement strategy is implemented to further improve the quality of the final routing tree. Compared with other state-of-the-art algorithms, the proposed algorithm achieves a better total wirelength, which is an important index of performance, thus better satisfying the demand for delay performance of AI chip design in smart manufacturing. Collapse

Topics: artificial intelligence production management smart manufacturing internet of things mobile system

Methods: computational algorithm experiment scale validation literature study optimization model

Online, On Call, On Your Mind? Coping with Extensive Connectivity to Work

2022 | Communications of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Mattern, Jana; Klein, Stefan

Abstract: Connectivity has become the hallmark of modern work and has shaped the social l ... Expand

Abstract: Connectivity has become the hallmark of modern work and has shaped the social life of many. Originating from a technical discourse, connectivity to work is reflected in numerous disciplinary discourses. While previous studies have identified negative effects on employees, the specific mechanisms which cause these effects are still poorly understood. The broadening of the term "connectivity" and the profound changes in the technical connectivity infrastructure require an adjusted conceptualization of connectivity, its structural causes and dimensions, how these dimensions interact, and how they explain different outcomes of connectivity. Based on a review of extant literature on connectivity and interviews with consultants, we develop a framework of connectivity that conceptualizes individual connectivity to work (social and technical) and its psychological impact (emotional, cognitive, behavioral). We derive extensive connectivity to work as a cause of strain. We develop two strategies, which allow employees to control extensive connectivity to work and cope with its effects. Preventive detachment aims to control the extent of connectivity and the psychological responses that lead to extensive connectivity if not controlled. Therapeutic detachment aims to reduce the strain resulting from extensive connectivity to work. Collapse

Topics: information system use anonymity types of work social norm organizational culture

Methods: qualitative interview literature study qualitative coding personal interview design artifact

Conducting Online Focus Groups - Practical Advice for Information Systems Researchers

2022 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Schulze, Laura; Trenz, Manuel; Cai, Zhao; Tan, Chee-Wee

Abstract: Video-based online focus groups present an emerging opportunity for IS researche ... Expand

Abstract: Video-based online focus groups present an emerging opportunity for IS researchers to collect rich data. They allow researchers to assemble participants from all over the world who collectively discuss contemporary IS phenomena. In order to realize the full potential of online focus groups for IS research, we need to understand the challenges and uncover possible solutions for designing and conducting online focus groups. We review prior (online) focus group literature in and beyond the IS discipline. Additionally, we provide a detailed account of our own experiences with seven online focus groups in the context of digital platforms. In supplementing our own experiences with those of others in prior literature, we present the conditions under which online focus groups are especially appropriate, summarize the challenges inherent in the online focus group method and provide practical advice on its application. Collapse

Topics: video conference electronic mail social media online chat algorithmic management

Methods: focus group survey qualitative interview literature study literature sample

Dealing with the Social Media Polycontextuality of Work

2022 | Information Systems Research | Citations: 17

Authors: Vaast, Emmanuelle; Pinsonneault, Alain

Abstract: Existing scholarship on social media provides us with important but incomplete i ... Expand

Abstract: Existing scholarship on social media provides us with important but incomplete insights regarding how people rely upon social media as they work. Scholarship so far focuses on social media as technologies that enable and constrain people to do certain things. This study proposes a perspective on social media for work that views them not only as technologies that enable people to do certain things, but also as contexts with emerging norms and roles in which people participated. As they do so, people are confronted with opportunities and challenges that are inherent to social media polycontextuality. This study investigates the case of data scientists and how they dealt with the social media polycontextuality of their work. The study reveals that data scientists relied on strategies of enhancing, differentiating, or occasionally reducing their engagement with social media contexts. The study brings novel insights for scholarship on social media and work by unpacking the social media polycontextuality of work and the interconnections in the engagement with multiple social media contexts. It explains how these interconnections manifest in people’s deliberate participation in or temporary withdrawal from diverse and changing social media contexts. This study also contributes to scholarship by highlighting how people deal with an ensemble of social media applications rather than with a single, isolated information technology. History: Manju Ahuja, Senior Editor; Walter Fernandez, Associate Editor. Funding: This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [Grant 435-2015-0241]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.1103. Collapse

Topics: social media IT career Slack affordance LinkedIn

Methods: qualitative interview theory development constant comparative analysis grounded theory qualitative coding

Theories: sociomaterialism theory theory of affordance