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Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research
Guest Editor, Luca Iandoli, University of Naples Federico II
Volume 11, Number 4, 2009
Editorial
Preface
Internet-Based Decision Support
Systems: Leveraging Mass Collaboration to Address Complex Problems
Luca Iandoli, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Research
Article One
24-Hour Knowledge Factory
Paradigm and Its Role In IT Collaborations In Organizations
Satwiksai Seshasai, IBM and Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, USA
Amar Gupta, Univ. of Arizona and Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
USA
Research
Article Two
Improvisation in Information
Systems Development Practice
Karlheinz Kautz,
Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Research
Article Three
Impact of Global Sourcing of Talent
on Graduate IS Curricula: A Case Study of One Approach to Redesign
James B. Pick and
Hindupur Ramakrishna
University of Redlands, USA
The Expert
Opinion
An Interview
with Joseph Faust
Regional
Director of Public Affairs, BNSF Railway
Conducted and
Documented by Mahesh S. Raisinghani
Texas Woman’s University, TX, USA
Book Review
Collaboration 2.0: Technology and
Best Practices For Successful Collaboration In A Web 2.0 World
By Coleman and
Richard Levine
Published in 2008 by
Happy About Publishing
ISBN:
978-1-60005-071-8; 320 pages
Reviewed by Luca
Iandoli, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Editorial
Preface
Internet-Based Decision Support
Systems: Leveraging Mass Collaboration to Address Complex Problems
Luca Iandoli, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
ABSTRACT
INTERNET-ENABLED
COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE: Within the last decade, many experts have
acknowledged mass-collaboration, enabled by Internet-based
collaborative platforms (e.g. open standards development, forums, wiki,
and social networks), to be one of the most interesting novelties in
the IT world. Thousands of anonymous users create and update daily the
largest encyclopedia of the world (Wikipedia); distributed teams formed
by thousands of open-source programmers collaborate to develop software
products able to compete with large multinationals; millions of users
exchange massive amounts of digital content through social networking
platforms like Flickr and YouTube; hundreds of thousands of activists
contributed to Barack Obama’s electoral campaign playing a significant
role in influencing the electoral outcome and now pursuing
open-lobbying on the Presidential agenda through the Internet. ...
Research
Article One
24-Hour Knowledge Factory
Paradigm and Its Role In IT Collaborations In Organizations
Satwiksai Seshasai, IBM and Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, USA
Amar Gupta, Univ. of Arizona and Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
USA
ABSTRACT
A new paradigm based
on the 24-Hour Knowledge Factory is emerging in software development,
where groups spanning the globe collaborate on the same work product
over the entire 24 hour day, as a means to reduce development time and
costs. This paradigm supports a gain in productivity but requires
smooth transfer of knowledge -- such as the rationale behind key
architectural decisions -- among distant development teams. Distant
collaboration is seen in conventional wisdom as a barrier to overcome
because of the challenges in coordinating work amongst remote sites. In
this paper, we report a case study comparing a co-located team and a
distributed team to provide empirical evidence of the utility of
Internet-based collaborative platforms.
Our evidence show that context-driven knowledge transfer via
Internet can provide an effective mechanism for transcending geographic
barriers through the use of intuitive interfaces and visualizations.
When applied in conjunction with existing versioning systems and code
repositories, these interfaces and visualizations can allow developers
to gain several benefits: rapid contextual understanding of the
previous teams' contributions; and more effective handling of
management tasks such as task assignment and planning.
Research
Article Two
Improvisation in Information
Systems Development Practice
Karlheinz Kautz,
Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
ABSTRACT
Recently, the concept and the role of improvisation in
information systems development (ISD) have gained some interest. There
are however not many studies that investigate how and when and with
what effects improvisation occurs in ISD practice. We provide such a study. For this purpose we develop an
analytical framework, which combines a feature-based view of the phenomenon
in terms of its triggers, conditions, influencing factors and outcomes
with a reflexive perspective, which emphasizes the course of an
improvisation in terms of the improvisers’ past experience, their
motives, and their expectations of the future. The two perspectives
complement each other and explain how improvisation contributes to the
progress and completion of ISD projects. In particular, the framework
allows an analysis of both the positive, but even more importantly, the
negative outcomes and their consequences for improvisations and puts an
emphasis on the hidden – because-of – motives for improvisation.
Following the research approach of engaged scholarship we apply the
framework to a case study of an ISD project in a large Danish software
company. We use Actor Network Theory (ANT) to create a case narrative
with detailed empirical evidence that shows that improvisation is an
important driver in ISD practice. We analyze the project in terms of
the improvisations which we identify and discuss 6 significant
improvisations and their impact on the course of the project and its
outcome. We also examine some implications of our findings for practice
and research. In doing so we
demonstrate the usefulness of our framework and increase the
understanding of the role and effect of improvisation on ISD practice.
Research Article
Three
Impact of Global Sourcing of
Talent on Graduate IS Curricula: A Case Study of One Approach to
Redesign
James B. Pick and
Hindupur Ramakrishna
University of Redlands, USA
ABSTRACT
With the extensive
availability and rapidly decreasing cost of the Internet bandwidth
around the world, the share of the outsourced service work from
developed countries that is offshored is increasing. The global impact of this phenomenon
has implications for properly preparing information systems (IS)
students for this reality, whether to survive in this harsh reality or
to seek potential opportunities.
We present an exploratory case study of a successful curricular
response to this reality. First,
we examine background literature on outsourcing/offshoring phenomenon
and on IS curricular redesign. A
conceptual model is presented of team collaboration and outsourcing as
they relate to IS graduate curriculum.
A case study of one approach to an IS graduate curriculum
redesign incorporating outsourcing is then introduced. The paper examines whether or not the
case supports the usefulness of the model. We found that improved curricular
coverage of interpersonal communications, cultural diversity, teamwork,
and risk assessment contribute to success for graduates involved in
outsourcing who participate in international collaborative teams. Consultation with industry is
recommended for incorporating outsourcing in Master in IS/IT curricula.
The Expert
Opinion
An Interview
with Joseph Faust
Regional
Director of Public Affairs, BNSF Railway
Conducted and
Documented by Mahesh S. Raisinghani
Texas Woman’s University, TX, USA
INTRODUCTION
Today's BNSF Railway is the product of some 390
different railroad lines that merged or were acquired during more than
150 years. A subsidiary of
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI), BNSF Railway
Company operates one of the largest North American rail networks, with
about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF
is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more
grain than any other American railroad, carries the components of many
of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough low-sulfur coal to
generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United
States. BNSF is an industry
leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at http://www.bnsf.com.
Book Review
Collaboration 2.0: Technology and
Best Practices For Successful Collaboration In A Web 2.0 World
By Coleman and
Richard Levine
Published in 2008 by
Happy About Publishing
ISBN:
978-1-60005-071-8; 320 pages
Reviewed by Luca
Iandoli, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
INTRODUCTION
Though according to an IBM recent survey reported by Tom
Davenport, 76% of CEOs consider collaboration of great importance for
their organizations, companies usually do not make particular efforts
to assess and improve their collaboration capability or to develop
tools to support effective collaboration patterns. It seems this time
is over and that an increasing number of organizations are
experimenting with big changes about the way collaboration practices in
the workplace will evolve in the near future. This point is made very
clear by David Coleman and Richard Levine in their recent book
Collaboration 2.0: Technology and Best Practices for Successful
Collaboration in a Web 2.0 World.
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