ITRCs: Integrating Organization Processes Through Information Systems
Information technology supports improved integration of business processes both within and between organizations. With the benefits of integration come significant challenges. For example while ERP systems allow for seamless sharing of transaction data among all functional departments, they are costly to implement and require significant organizational change. There are similar challenges associated with inter-organizational systems designed to support both horizontal partnerships between organizations cooperating to deliver a package of goods and services, and vertical partnerships along a supply chain. These challenges have been or are being addressed by faculty members in the Department of Management.
ERP Systems and Organizational Change
Diane Strong, Olga Volkoff and Michael Elmes have embarked on a three-year project funded by NSF to study the relationship of ERP implementation to organizational changes in control, task structure, and workarounds. This research project complements and builds on Olga Volkoff's studies of ERP implementation teams.
Faculty Research Activities
"The Relationship of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Implementation to Organizational Changes in Control, Task Structure, and Workarounds", Strong, D. M., Elmes, M. B., and Volkoff, O., Grant from the National Science Foundation, Innovation and Organizational Change Program, $299, 987, July 2001-June 2004.
"Developing a Process Model of IT-Driven Second-Order Change: Three Case Studies of ERP Implementation in a Large Engineering Organization", Strong D. M. and Elmes, M. B., Grant from the WPI Research Development Council, July 2000, $5,860.
"ERP Systems, Task Structure, and Workarounds in Organizations", Strong, D. M., Volkoff, O. and Elmes, M. B., Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Boston, MA, pp. 1049-1051, August 2-5, 2001.
"ERP Systems and Changes in Power: A Foucaultian Perspective", Strong, D. M., Volkoff, O. and Elmes, M. B., Presented at the Organizations and Society in Information Systems (OASIS) 2000 Workshop, Brisbane, Australia, December 2000.
"ERP Implementation Teams, Consultants, and Information Sharing", Volkoff, O. and Sawyer, S., Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), Boston, MA, 2001.
"Using the Structurational Model of Technology to Analyze an ERP Implementation", Volkoff, O. Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), Milwaukee, WI, 1999.
"Critical Dimensions of Enterprise System Implementation", Volkoff, O. Joint Conference of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada and the International Federation of Scholarly Associations of Management, Montreal, Canada, July, 2000.
"Enterprise System Implementation: A Process of Individual Metamorphosis", Volkoff, O., Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 1999.
"A Grounded Theory of Enterprise Application Software Implementation", Volkoff, O., Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) Doctoral Consortium, Baltimore, Maryland, August 1998.
"Getting Your Money's Worth From an Enterprise System", Volkoff, O., Sterling, B. and Newson, E. F. P., Ivey Business Journal, September/October, 1999, pp. 1-5.
Supporting Organizational Tasks with Information Technologies
Understanding the fit or lack thereof between information technologies and the organizational tasks and processes they support is critical to our ability to improve organization processes and their integration through information technologies. Department of Management faculty members, including Michael Elmes, Huong Higgins, Sharon Johnson, Chickery Kasouf, Eleanor Loiacono and Diane Strong, have investigated various aspects of the fit between information technologies and the tasks they support.
Faculty Research Activities
"Extending the Technology Acceptance Model with Task-Technology Fit Constructs", Dishaw, M. T. and Strong, D. M., Information & Management, Vol. 36, No. 1, July 1999, pp. 9-21.
"Extending the Technology Acceptance Model", Dishaw, M. T. and Strong, D. M., Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Indianapolis, IN, pp. 1-3, August 15-17, 1997.
"Perceived Critical Mass Effect on Groupware Acceptance: A Revised Technology Acceptance Model", Lou, H., Luo, W. and Strong, D., European Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2000, pp. 91-103.
"Critical Mass Effect on Groupware Acceptance: A Revised Technology Acceptance Model", Lou, H., Luo, W. and Strong, D., Proceedings of the 29th Decision Sciences Institute Conference, Las Vegas, NV, November 1998.
"Individual Antecedents of Information Use: A Study of Metal Processing Suppliers", Kasouf, C. J. and Kevin G. Celuch, Presented at the 1998 CBIM/ISBM Conference, Atlanta, GA, January 19, 1998.
"The Market Driven Organization: Individual Factors that Affect Information Use", Kasouf, C. J., Presented at the 1997 Meeting of the Medical Surgical Marketing Research Group, Chicago, IL, October 12, 1997.
"Technology Choice in the Design of Flexible Networks of Manufacturing Facilities", Johnson, S. A., Tjandra, L. and Maddox, M. J., Proceedings of the 6th Industrial Engineering Research Conference, Miami, FL, May 1997.
"Supporting Software Maintenance with Software Engineering Tools: A Computed Task-Technology Fit Analysis", Dishaw, M. T. and Strong, D. M., Journal of Systems and Software, Vol. 44, No. 2, December 1998, pp. 107-120.
"Assessing Software Maintenance Tool Utilization Using Task-Technology Fit and Fitness-for-Use Models", Dishaw, M. T. and Strong, D. M., Journal of Software Maintenance, Vol. 10, No. 3, May-June 1998, pp. 151-179.
"Developing a General Method to Assess Task-Technology Fit", Dishaw, M. T., Strong, D. M. and D. B, Bandy, Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Milwaukee, WI, pp. 609-611, August 13-15, 1999.
"Experience as a Moderating Variable in a Task-Technology Fit Model", Dishaw, M. T. and Strong, D. M., Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Baltimore, MD, pp. 722-724, August 14-16, 1998.
"Extending a Model of Task Technology Fit to CASE Tool Utilization in Design Maintenance Tasks", Dishaw, M. T. and Strong, D. M., Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Baltimore, MD, pp. 769-771, August 14-16, 1998.
"Explaining Information Technology Utilization with the Task-Technology Fit Construct", Dishaw, M. T. and Strong, D. M., Proceedings of the first INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology, Washington, DC, pp. 236-239, May 5-8, 1996.
"Using a General Task-Technology Fit Model to Assess Software Maintenance Tool Utilization", Dishaw, M. T. and Strong, D. M., Proceedings of the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Phoenix, AZ, pp. 66-68, August 16-18, 1996.
"Applying the Axiomatic Approach to Business Process Redesign", Cotoia, M. and Johnson, S. A., Business Process Management Journal, Volume 7, Issue 4, 2001.
"Auditing Health Claim Payment Systems", Higgins, H. N. and Wentworth G., Information Systems Audit and Control Journal, Vol. 1, January/February 1998, 33-37.
"Wiring the 'new organization': Integrating collaborative technologies and team-based work", Ruhleder, K., Jordan B. and Elmes M., Organizational Communication and Information Systems Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH, August 1996. Winner of Best Paper Award, OCIS Division. Published in the conference computer proceedings.
"Integrating Organizational Systems Development Efforts: an Architectural Perspective and Framework for Transformation", Segars, A. and Loiacono, E., Journal of Information Technology Management, Volume IX, Number 2, 1998.
Integrating the Supply Chain through Electronic Commerce
Integrating processes within an organization through information technology provides a foundation for integration across organizations, especially those along a supply chain. ITRCs research activities have examined integration external to a single organization, including studies of supply chain integration, global logistics, and interorganizational systems. For example, Amy Zeng has studied information flow and the role of electronic commerce on the effectiveness of supply chain integration. Chickery Kasouf has explored interfirm relationships in the supply chain, focusing on the perspective of small suppliers. With Eleanor Loiacono he is now examining business-to-business e-commerce in the metal processing industry. Olga Volkoff has investigated the integration of medical suppliers and customers via interorganizational systems. These studies seek to understand and design information flows among organizations and to design and study information technology support for these flows. Electronic commerce systems are one key technology used to integrate information flow of an organization with its buyers and suppliers.
Faculty Research Activities
"Managing Global Supply Chains: A Bilateral Study", Zeng, A., Funded by APICS-the E&R Foundation and Supply Chain Council, May 2000, $9,200.
"Electronic Commerce in the Supply Chain: A Risk Based Contingency Model", Hunter, L. M., Kasouf, C. J. and Curry, K., Presented at the 2001 UIC/AMA Symposium on Entrepreneurship Research, Washington, DC, August 9, 2001.
"Experiences Developing E-Commerce Courses for the Marketing Curriculim: A Panel Discussion," Kleindl, B. A., Sautter, E. P.and Kasouf, C. J., Presented at the 2001 American Marketing Association Summer Educator's Conference, Washington, DC, August 13, 2001.
"Buyer-Seller Relationships in the Supply Chain: Factors Affecting Customer and Seller Commitment", Kasouf, C. J., Celuch, K. G. and Warty, S., Presented at the 1999 Portland International Conference on the Management of Engineering and Technology, July 26, 1999.
"Optimizing Supply Shortage Decisions in Base-Stock Distribution Operations", Geunes, J. and Zeng, A. Z., Forthcoming in Journal of Global Optimization, 2001.
"A Synthetic Study of Sourcing Strategies", Zeng, A. Z., Industrial Management and Data Systems, Vol. 100, No. 5, 2000, 219-226.
"Sourcing Strategies for Supply Chain Management", Zeng, A. Z., Proceedings of the 34th Annual Meeting of Southeast INFORMS, Myrtle Beach, SC, October 1-2, 1998, pp. 346-348.
"Integrating On-line Feedback Quality Control into Serial Production Lines: A Simulation Study", Zeng, A. Z., Proceedings of the 28th Annual Meeting of Southeast DSI, February 25-27, 1998, Roanoke, VA, pp. 221-223.
"Streamlining the Quoting Process in Supply Chain Management" Zeng, A. Z. and Gerstenfeld, A., Presented at the Annual Meeting of Decision Sciences Institute, November 28-21, 2000, Orlando, FL.
"How Does Carrier Transit Time Affect Logistics Cost and Service in a Supply Chain?", Zeng, A. Z. and Tyworth, J. E., Bulletin of the 8th Annual Meeting of the Production and Operations Management Society, Miami, FL, April 12-15, 1997.
"Small Suppliers' Opportunity Assessment in the Supply Chain", Kasouf, C. J. and Celuch, K. G., Presented at the 1999 UIC/AMA Symposium on Entrepreneurship Research, San Francisco, CA, August 6, 1999.
"Maintaining the Customer Focused Organization: Managing Information Flow", Kasouf, C. J., Presented at Marketing and Manufacturing: Challenges in Powder Metallurgy, Boston, MA, November 4, 1998.
"Marketing and Electronic Commerce", Kasouf, C. J., Invited presentation, Universidad Empresarial Siglo 21, Cordoba, Argentina, March 30, 2000.
"E-commerce", Banks M. C., Presented to the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce, Sutton, MA, March 2000.
"Electronic Commerce in the P/M Industry", Kasouf, C. J., Panelist at the 2000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Industry Centers Meeting, 2000.
"Leading the Development and Implementation of Collaborative Interorganizational Systems", Volkoff, O., Chan, Y. E., and Newson, E. F. P., Information and Management, 35(2), 1999, 63-75.
"Exploring the World of Community Health Information Networks: Discoveries Prompted by the Application of Coordination Theory", Volkoff, O. and Newson, E. F. P., Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Conference (ASAC), St. John's, Newfoundland, 1997.
"Leading with Your CHIN: A Look at Community Health Information Networks", Volkoff, O. and Newson, E. F. P., Business Quarterly, Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, Winter 1996, pp. 1-7.
Building an Interorganizational System: The Case of LARG*net, Volkoff, O. and Newson, E. F. P., London, Canada: Ivey Case and Publication Services, No. 996E003, 1996.
Performance Analysis of Information Technology Investments
As we increasingly integrate information technology into organizations, we need to understand how technology affects the performance of the organization. Department of Management faculty members, Jimmy Mistry, Joe Zhu, and Huong Higgins, have studied various measures of the performance of information technology in organizations.
Faculty Research Activities
"Cost and Revenue Driver Analysis in Banking", Grant from the WPI Research Development Council, April 2000, $5,280.
"Differential Impact of Information Technology on Cost Driver Relationships in Banking", Mistry, J., Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Management & International Accounting Issues, Bangalore, India, March 9-12, 2000.
"Differential Impacts of Information Technology on Cost and Revenue Driver Relationships in Selected Banking Functions", Mistry, J. Paper presented at 2000 American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, August 13-16, 2000.
"Data Envelopment Analysis in Measuring the Impact of Information Technology in Banking", Mistry, J. and Zhu, J., Proceedings of the Sixth Asia Pacific Decision Sciences Institute Conference, Singapore, July 18-21, 2001.
"Information Technology in the Financial Services Industry", Mistry, J., In Careers and the MBA, Crimson and Brown Associates, Washington Post Company, March 2000.
"SQL Language for Accounting Auditors", Higgins, H. N., Information Systems Audit and Control Journal 5: 22-24, 1997.
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