Business-IT alignment as a coevolution process: An empirical study

2023 | Journal of Strategic Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Amarilli, Fabrizio; Van Den Hooff, Bart; Van Vliet, Mario

Abstract: In this paper, we provide a detailed insight into the complex coevolution dynami ... Expand

Abstract: In this paper, we provide a detailed insight into the complex coevolution dynamics that shape the alignment process by analyzing how different mechanisms and factors are mutually related in complex networks of feedback loops. We combine insights from the literature on alignment as a (coevolution) process with literature on alignment as a state to identify the different components of the organization’s socio-technical system that influence alignment, the relationships between these components, and the role that different factors play. In our empirical analysis (based multiple case studies) we then focus on the actual interplay between relevant factors. Using a causal loop diagramming approach - based on system dynamics – we analyze how these factors mutually influence each other through various feedback loops and thus shape the alignment process. We extend previous literature on the alignment process by identifying the way that the complex interplay between different factors shapes this process. By identifying the feedback loops between relevant factors, we also provide more insight into the complex bottom-up and top-down dynamics that shape the process, and that provide explanations for why this process is charac­ terized by transitions between alignment and misalignment. For practice, our paper provides a deeper understanding of the alignment process, which is a precondition for improving alignment practices in organisations. Collapse

Topics: Chief Information Officer IT alignment strategic management IT project enterprise information system

Methods: qualitative interview case study multiple case study theoretical contribution system dynamics

Theories: co-evolution theory socio technical theory complex adaptive system

Design of a Novel Information System for Semi-automated Management of Cybersecurity in Industrial Control Systems

2023 | ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Ameri, Kimia; Hempel, Michael; Sharif, Hamid; Lopez, Juan; Perumalla, Kalyan

Abstract: There is an urgent need in many critical infrastructure sectors, including the e ... Expand

Abstract: There is an urgent need in many critical infrastructure sectors, including the energy sector, for attaining detailed insights into cybersecurity features and compliance with cybersecurity requirements related to their Operational Technology (OT) deployments. Frequent feature changes of OT devices interfere with this need, posing a great risk to customers. One effective way to address this challenge is via a semi-automated cyber-physical security assurance approach, which enables verification and validation of the OT device cybersecurity claims against actual capabilities, both pre- and post-deployment. To realize this approach, this article presents new methodology and algorithms to automatically identify cybersecurity-related claims expressed in natural language form in ICS device documents. We developed an identification process that employs natural language processing (NLP) techniques with the goal of semi-automated vetting of detected claims against their device implementation. We also present our novel NLP components for verifying feature claims against relevant cybersecurity requirements. The verification pipeline includes components such as automated vendor identification, device document curation, feature claim identification utilizing sentiment analysis for conflict resolution, and reporting of features that are claimed to be supported or indicated as unsupported. Our novel matching engine represents the first automated information system available in the cybersecurity domain that directly aids the generation of ICS compliance reports. Collapse

Topics: IT security database system website Python electronic authentication

Methods: computational algorithm sentiment analysis natural language processing BERT language model

What Makes Digital Technology? A Categorization Based on Purpose

2023 | Communications of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Baier, Marie-Sophie; Berger, Stephan; Kreuzer, Thomas; Oberländer, Anna; Röglinger, Maximilian

Abstract: Digital technology (DT) is creating and shaping today's world. Building on its ... Expand

Abstract: Digital technology (DT) is creating and shaping today's world. Building on its identity and history of technology research, the Information Systems discipline is at the forefront of understanding the nature of DT and related phenomena. Understanding the nature of DT requires understanding its purposes. Because of the growing number of DTs, these purposes are diversifying, and further examination is needed. To that end, we followed an organizational systematics paradigm and present a taxonomic theory for DT that enables its classification through its diverse purposes. The taxonomic theory comprises a multi-layer taxonomy of DT and purpose-related archetypes, which we inferred from a sample of 92 real-world DTs. In our empirical evaluation, we assessed the reliability, validity, and usefulness of the taxonomy and archetypes. The taxonomic theory exceeds existing technology classifications by being the first that (1) has been rigorously developed, (2) considers the nature of DT, (3) is sufficiently concrete to reflect the diverse purposes of DT, and (4) is sufficiently abstract to be persistent. Our findings add to the descriptive knowledge on DT, advance our understanding of the diverse purposes of DT, and lay the ground for further theorizing. Our work also supports practitioners in managing and designing DTs. Collapse

Topics: knowledge base perceived usefulness competitive advantage decision making technology adoption

Methods: cluster analysis theory development longitudinal data analysis focus group computational algorithm

Theories: information systems theory sociomaterialism theory

Explainable artificial intelligence in information systems: A review of the status quo and future research directions

2023 | Electronic Markets | Citations: 4

Authors: Brasse, Julia; Broder, Hanna Rebecca; Förster, Maximilian; Klier, Mathias; Sigler, Irina

Abstract: The quest to open black box artificial intelligence (AI) systems evolved into an ... Expand

Abstract: The quest to open black box artificial intelligence (AI) systems evolved into an emerging phenomenon of global interest for academia, business, and society and brought about the rise of the research field of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI). With its pluralistic view, information systems (IS) research is predestined to contribute to this emerging field; thus, it is not surprising that the number of publications on XAI has been rising significantly in IS research. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of XAI research in IS in general and electronic markets in particular using a structured literature review. Based on a literature search resulting in 180 research papers, this work provides an overview of the most receptive outlets, the development of the academic discussion, and the most relevant underlying concepts and methodologies. Furthermore, eight research areas with varying maturity in electronic markets are carved out. Finally, directions for a research agenda of XAI in IS are presented. Collapse

Topics: explainable artificial intelligence artificial intelligence user requirement electronic market user experience

Methods: literature study literature sample cluster analysis synthesis machine learning

Theories: information systems theory activity theory agency theory attribution theory cognitive fit theory

How to react to a shock? Effects of Airbnb hosts’ choices and market segmentation at the time of Covid-19

2023 | Information & Management | Citations: 0

Authors: Buzzacchi, Luigi; Milone, Francesco Luigi; Paolucci, Emilio; Raguseo, Elisabetta

Abstract: We investigate the way service providers who operate on an online peer-to-peer ( ... Expand

Abstract: We investigate the way service providers who operate on an online peer-to-peer (P2P) platform readapted their marketing choices to face the Covid-19 pandemic. Through an empirical investigation on a large dataset of Airbnb properties in Rome, observed from January 2018 to December 2020, we provide a threefold contribution by investigating how Airbnb hosts reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic shock, in terms of marketing choices, such as price adjustments and flexible cancellation policies; the direct effects of these choices on their economic returns; and how service providers on Airbnb reacted to address the new needs of their customers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings provide useful insights for researchers and practitioners and show that the adoption of combined marketing choices led to more than proportional effects on performances as it allowed Airbnb hosts to exploit profitable market segmentation mechanisms. Collapse

Topics: pandemic Airbnb marketing management price management peer-to-peer model

Methods: econometric modeling descriptive statistic instrumental variables estimation robustness check longitudinal research

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Student Assistants in the Classroom: Designing Chatbots to Support Student Success

2023 | Information Systems Frontiers | Citations: 1

Authors: Chen, Yu; Jensen, Scott; Albert, Leslie J.; Gupta, Sambhav; Lee, Terri

Abstract: In higher education, low teacher-student ratios can make it difficult for studen ... Expand

Abstract: In higher education, low teacher-student ratios can make it difficult for students to receive immediate and interactive help. Chatbots, increasingly used in various scenarios such as customer service, work productivity, and healthcare, might be one way of helping instructors better meet student needs. However, few empirical studies in the field of Information Systems (IS) have investigated pedagogical chatbot efficacy in higher education and fewer still discuss their potential challenges and drawbacks. In this research we address this gap in the IS literature by exploring the opportunities, challenges, efficacy, and ethical concerns of using chatbots as pedagogical tools in business education. In this two study project, we conducted a chatbot-guided interview with 215 undergraduate students to understand student attitudes regarding the potential benefits and challenges of using chatbots as intelligent student assistants. Our findings revealed the potential for chatbots to help students learn basic content in a responsive, interactive, and confidential way. Findings also provided insights into student learning needs which we then used to design and develop a new, experimental chatbot assistant to teach basic AI concepts to 195 students. Results of this second study suggest chatbots can be engaging and responsive conversational learning tools for teaching basic concepts and for providing educational resources. Herein, we provide the results of both studies and discuss possible promising opportunities and ethical implications of using chatbots to support inclusive learning. Collapse

Topics: artificial intelligence IT career anonymity user experience accounting

Methods: chatbot survey qualitative interview personal interview machine learning

Evaluating a Conversational Agent for Open Government Data Quality Assessment

2023 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Chokki, Abiola Paterne; Clarinval, Antoine; Simonofski, Anthony; Vanderose, Benoît

Abstract: Governments have been publishing Open Government Data (OGD) on online portals t ... Expand

Abstract: Governments have been publishing Open Government Data (OGD) on online portals to encourage the development of value-added services. The success of these services depends heavily on the quality of OGD and its metadata. Several methods have been proposed to evaluate this quality, but some rely on manual assessments, which can be time-consuming and expensive to perform. Furthermore, these methods focus on the portal rather than the data, ignore user preferences, or do not distinguish between metadata and data quality. This makes it difficult for users to identify data quality issues. This paper proposes a list of OGD quality dimensions for assessing data and metadata quality. The dimensions were identified through a literature review and integrated into a novel conversational agent that incorporates user preferences into the quality assessment. A usability evaluation with 14 users reveals its ease of use and usefulness for obtaining overall and detailed (meta)data quality. Collapse

Topics: conversational agent ease of use data quality usability open data

Methods: design artifact survey literature study usability testing chatbot

Theories: technology acceptance model

Augmented Facilitation: Designing a multi-modal Conversational Agent for Group Ideation

2023 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Cvetkovic, Izabel; Gierlich-Joas, Maren; Tavanapour, Navid; Debowski-Weimann, Nicole; Bittner, Eva

Abstract: Human facilitators face the challenge to structure and collect relevant insight ... Expand

Abstract: Human facilitators face the challenge to structure and collect relevant insights from collaborative creative work sessions, which can suffer if they face a high workload. Hence, for effective value co-creation in organizational ideation we suggest an facilitation augmentation with a conversational agent (CA). CAs have the ability to support respective collaborative work by documenting and analyzing unstructured data. Following the design science research paradigm, and based on the literature about facilitation and human-AI collaboration, we derive design principles to develop a CA prototype that collects ideas from a group ideation session and displays them back in a structured (multi-modal) manner. We evaluate the CA by conducting four focus groups. Key findings show that the CA successfully distills and enriches information. Our study contributes to understanding the role of CA in augmenting facilitation and it provides guidance for practice on how to integrate these technologies in group meetings. Collapse

Topics: SWOT analysis artificial intelligence human AI collaboration human computer interaction participatory design

Methods: design artifact qualitative interview design principle group interview qualitative content analysis

A Reference Architecture for a Workflow Management System Front End Designed for Augmented Reality Headsets

2023 | European Conference On Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Damarowsky, Johannes; Kuehnel, Stephan; Böhmer, Martin; Sackmann, Stefan

Abstract: A well-known approach to managing and controlling workflows in organizations is ... Expand

Abstract: A well-known approach to managing and controlling workflows in organizations is the workflow management system (WFMS). Recently, approaches utilizing augmented reality headsets as WFMS front ends have been discussed, enabling higher efficiency, effectiveness, and usability for certain application scenarios. However, existing design-oriented approaches lack tangible guidance for implementation. A well-known approach to address such knowledge gaps is a reference architecture, which inter alia reduces development times and risks and facilitates collaboration between developers. Based on an existing tentative design theory for an augmented reality-based WFMS front end, we contribute a reference architecture containing an extended design theory, user interface design, and UML models for use cases, components, classes, and sequence flows. The reference architecture was successfully operationalized in a prototype and positively evaluated via a survey of respective users. Collapse

Topics: usability user interface augmented reality smart device enterprise architecture

Methods: design science design artifact unified modeling language business process model and notation modeling language

Theories: unified theory of acceptance and use of technology

Leveraging Low Code Development of Smart Personal Assistants: An Integrated Design Approach with the SPADE Method

2023 | Journal of Management Information Systems | Citations: 1

Authors: Elshan, Edona; Ebel, Philipp; Söllner, Matthias; Leimeister, Jan Marco

Abstract: Smart personal assistants (SPAs), such as Alexa for example, promise individuali ... Expand

Abstract: Smart personal assistants (SPAs), such as Alexa for example, promise individualized user interactions owing to their varying interaction possibilities, knowledgeability, and human-like behaviors. To support the widespread adoption and use of SPAs, organizations such as Google or Amazon provide low code environments that support the development of SPAs (e.g., for Google Home or Amazon's Alexa). These so-called low code platforms enable domain experts (e.g., business users without programming skills or experience) to develop SPAs for their purposes. However, using these platforms alone does not guarantee a useful and good conversation with novel SPAs due to non-intuitive design choices. Following a design science research approach, we propose the Smart Personal Assistant for Domain Experts (SPADE) method to address the missing link. This method supports domain experts in the development and contextualization of sophisticated SPAs for various application scenarios and focuses especially on conversational and anthropomorphic design steps. Our proof of concept and proof of value results show that SPADE is useful for supporting domain experts to create effective SPAs in different domains beyond private set-ups. Collapse

Topics: conversational agent low code development platform smart home end user development software developer

Methods: qualitative interview design artifact design science usability testing qualitative content analysis