Editorial

Abstract

Our first paper in this issue of the ISJ investigates the possibilities and constraints of ubiquitous computing technology on an organization, and explains these impacts using the value chain model and the value constellation model. As a form of newly emerging technology, ubiquitous computing has raised a new research direction for information systems (IS) researchers, and social scientists more generally, to explain organization forms and the business models enabled by ubiquitous computing. The study of Katrin Jonsson, Ulrika Westergren and Jonny Holmström (Jonsson et al., 2008) uses semi-structured interviews as the primary means of data collection, and open, axial and selective coding techniques are used to code the interview data. This relates to remote diagnostics systems in a manufacturing company that proved to be an early adopter of this technology. The value chain model is focused on the internal activities of the firm, while the value constellation model is focused on empowering customers to create value for themselves. The discussion provides valuable insights for this company as well as showing how the ubiquitous information environment can have an impact that stretches beyond single organizations. The topic is new, interesting and important, and the empirical study data provided in this paper is especially valuable. Whereas information technology (IT) innovation research has examined the organizational and technological factors that determine IT adoption and diffusion, including firm size and scope, technological competency and expected benefits, the paper of Nigel Melville and Ronald Ramirez (Melville & Ramirez, 2008) extends the literature by focusing on information requirements as a driver of IT innovation adoption and diffusion. In their study, two industries (wood products and beverage manufacturing) provide empirical background, and the paper focuses on how supply chain characteristics (process complexity, clock speed and supply chain complexity) determine information processing requirements. The authors show that these, in turn, influence the development of IT capabilities and the rate and scale of IT innovation adoption. The comparison across the two industries illustrates the usefulness of the developed model. The authors conclude that the model shows that information processing requirements are a major influence on whether companies choose to be early and deep adopters of new technology. Teresa Shaft, Leslie Albert and Jon Jasperson (Shaft et al., 2008) help us understand the complicated cognitive transition of IS developers as they change from a structured to an object-oriented development environment in order to take advantage of the ease of development and maintenance and support for software reuse claimed by object-oriented development. Four hypotheses are developed in the research, and these are tested through a longitudinal study of a team of eight software developers going through this transition at an international petroleum company engaged in the firm's pilot object-oriented development project. The researchers utilize a multi-method approach that incorporates in-person group interviews, email logs and responses to a survey instrument. This field-based study of an IS development project provides many insights. Interestingly, one conclusion is that knowledge of structured development is positively related to knowledge of object-oriented development. This contradicts the often-cited notion that structured development needs to be unlearned in order to learn object-oriented concepts. Our last paper, by Ernst Kesseler (Kesseler, 2008), explores the issue of how to deploy commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software in safety-critical domains. The deployment of COTS software should bring with it low costs and shorter time-to-market, but an organization within the safety-critical domain is targeted in this study as this domain is known for its rigid regulations and slow introduction of new technology. In his paper, the author argues for the technical feasibility of COTS software and its general relevance for safety-critical domains, yet in exploring the development and implementation of a COTS-based prototype in the civil air transport industry, the expected benefits did not occur; indeed, in comparison with custom-made software, the COTS-based software took both a longer time to develop and was more expensive in terms of resources. The author discusses management style and team communication to explain this result, at least in part.