Management Information Systems Field Research Articles

Does Usability Matter? An Analysis of the Impact of Usability on Technology Acceptance in ERP Settings

Though the field of management information systems, as a sector and a discipline, is the inventor of many guidelines and models, it appears to be a slow runner on practical implications of interface usability. This usability can influence end users’ attitude and behavior to use IT. The purpose of this paper was to examine the interface usability of a popular Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system, SAP, and to identify related issues and implications to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). A survey was conducted of 112 SAP ERP users from an organization in the heavy metal industry in Bangladesh. The partial least squares technique was used to analyze the survey data. The survey findings empirically confirmed that interface usability has a significant impact on users’ perceptions of usefulness and ease of use which ultimately affects attitudes and intention to use the ERP software. The research model extends the TAM by incorporating three criteria of interface usability. It is the first known study to investigate usability criteria as an extension of TAM.

Flipped Instructional Technology

Most recently, the Flipped Classroom concept has drawn attention by educators as a means of organizational and individual competencies. The goal in the university setting is to improve cognitive practice and increase learning in the value creation process and the zone of proximal development (ZPD) environment. Seeing one experiences this newest pedagogy in “flipped classroom” design, it has changed various educational disciplines in business education due to the increase in the success in learner motivation and comprehension - based on the objectives required for course work. Educational technology has played a key role providing a catalyst in this achievement. For example: The ZPD and experiential learning are applied in the growth of specialist in the field of management information systems (MIS).

The Pilot Test Study of Relationship between Management Information System Success Factors and Organization Performance at Sabafon Company in Yemen

The use of the management information systems has become necessary for any organization to improve efficiency, productivity , and improve performance in general. The field of management information systems in Yemeni companies still dealing with issues in adopting the technologies and success factors. This study attempts to focus deeply on the factors that lead to successful adoption of management information systems (MIS) in Yemeni organizations. This paper investigates the relationship between technological factors (system quality, information quality, and service quality), organizational factors (top management support, and user training), and people factors (computer self-efficacy, and user experience) with organizational performance, focusing on people who are always associated with MIS in their work. This study found that there are positive correlated relationship between system quality, information quality, service quality, top management support, user training, computer self-efficacy, and user experience with organizational performance at Sabafon Company in Yemen.

Integrating Business Intelligence And Decision Focused Database Methods: A Prescriptive Principles Approach

Inasmuch as the field of Management Information Systems has seen significant changes, business school curriculums have not kept pace with the growing demands in the market. This approach closes that gap between the needs of the market and the products, or students, universities are supplying. Using Prescriptive Principles, this module gives students a business question to be answered, has the instructor demonstrate SQL functions and querying techniques, sets the scene for the students to reflect on the application of this business intelligence project, encourages students to use their previous experience to develop a business strategy to utilize the insight gained from their developed SQL functions, and finally sets up a frame work whereby their findings can be presented to their peers, as business stakeholders, and demonstrate their new understanding. Such a method will create students capable of understanding code, but more so, it will create students who will understand how that code can help sustain a businesss growth strategy and its bottom-line.

How do MIS researchers handle missing data in survey-based research: A content analysis approach

Missing data is a common occurrence in survey-based research studies. However, the issue of missing data in Management Information Systems (MIS) literature has been overlooked, unlike the case in other disciplines such as Psychology, Marketing, Statistics, and Operations Management. The aim of this paper is to narrow this gap in the MIS field by investigating how MIS researchers address issues of missing data. This paper briefly outlines the causes of missing data in survey-based research as well as the common remedial techniques available to researchers. The paper also reviews how the common statistical software programs namely PASW (SPSS), SAS, LISREL, AMOS, EQS, and PLS handle missing data. It summarizes the common missing data remedial techniques and procedures and outlines how the presence of missing data affect sample size, statistical power, parameter estimates, ability to cope with different missing data patterns, and ease of implementation. Following that is a review of 749 survey-based research articles published between 1990 and 2010 in nine mainstream MIS Journals. The results reveal that researchers rarely report, explicitly, the presence or treatment of missing data and that when they do – they tend to use the least accurate techniques of listwise and pairwise deletion. The research concludes with recommendations that include a call for editorial policies that encourage the reporting of missing data, the reporting of the chosen missing data treatment techniques as well as the justifications for the techniques adopted by the researchers. The authors assert, based on the research, that following these recommendations will affect the rigor and quality of MIS survey-based research.

콜센터 고객정보시스템의 이용자 만족도 제고를 위한 실증 연구

Those studies in the field of Management Information Systems and the Success Model of the DeLone and McLean`s Information Systems suggest that some factors related to information systems should be developed and operated to affect the performance of the user`s personal and companies through the introduction and use of corporate information systems. The purpose of this study is put on searching for some factors which impact on user satisfaction about the customer information management systems of call center. We did conduct on a survey of 539 people who are working as a call center counseling employees as setting up a structural equation model which reflects previous research on working environment and job satisfaction, and modified DeLone and McLean`s information system success model. The results of this study are as follows. First, seven of the eleven hypotheses that three quality of the information systems might be affecting working environment, job satisfaction, user satisfaction were adopted Second, we confirmed that the working environment works as a the partial mediation and the quality of services works as a fully mediation between system/information quality and users` satisfaction. The implications of this study are that it is necessary not only to make a good working environment but also to keep improving it in order to boost the operational performance of information systems in the future.

Exploring the management information systems discipline: a scientometric study of ICIS, PACIS and ASAC

This study examines the identity and development of the management information systems (MIS) field through a scientometric lens applied to three major global, regional and national conferences: International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS) and Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Conference (ASAC). It adapts the conference stakeholder approach to the construction of the identity of the MIS discipline and analyzes the proceedings of these three conferences. The findings suggest that the MIS field has been evolving in terms of collaborative research and scholarly output and has been gradually moving towards academic maturity. The leading MIS conference contributors tend to establish loyalty to a limited number of academic meetings. At the same time, relatively low levels of repeat publication in the proceedings of ICIS, PACIS and ASAC were observed. It was suggested that Lotka's and Yule-Simon's bibliometric laws may be applied to measure and predict the degree of conference delegate loyalty.

Using Latent Growth Modeling to Understand Longitudinal Effects in MIS Theory: A Primer

The use of structural equation modeling (SEM) has grown dramatically in the field of management information systems (MIS) in the past twenty years, but SEM’s focus has been primarily on cross-sectional data sets. Functionally, SEM has been used to test measurement and path models, but the SEM approach has not been applied to repeated measures designs. In this article, we describe latent growth models (LGMs), an extension of SEM, which focuses on how observed and/or latent variables change over time. The purpose of this paper is to provide a primer on the use of LGMs, as well as to advocate for its use to extend MIS theory. We illustrate several flexible applications of LGMs using longitudinal data, including conditional, unconditional, and dual growth models. We discuss the advantages of using LGMs over other more traditional longitudinal approaches, and highlight areas in MIS where researchers can use this technique effectively.

Interdisciplinary research of options theory and management information systems

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review research on options theory (OT) in the management information systems (MIS) field.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews OT and suggests further ways it may be useful for MIS.FindingsThe paper explores current global trends and past uses of OT by MIS researchers within a framework. The objective is to broaden discussion of OT in the MIS field, facilitate theory development, close gaps in existing knowledge, and uncover areas where research is needed. It is believed that MIS researchers will benefit from this study.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of OT in MIS is still young. The discussions, issues, and ideas set forth in this paper should stimulate interest in incorporating OT in the field of MIS.Practical implicationsThe paper identifies proper application of OT, thus enabling effective development. It seeks to build awareness and understanding of significant works in the field, providing a diversity of perspectives and approaches to MIS and more specific research of OT.Social implicationsThe paper helps future theorizing and makes research suggestions regarding OT and the MIS field based on past research, thereby forming a potential basis for future research.Originality/valueThere has been no systematic literature review of real options in the management field. This paper is the pioneer one to do this.

O contexto da criação de escritórios de projetos nas áreas de TI: dois estudos de caso

Completing strategic Information Technology (IT) projects as planned is certainly an important objective for large firms. One of the measures adopted to reach this goal systematically is to create a Project Management Office in the IT area (PMO-IT). However, many firms consider the possibility of creating a PMO-IT, but decide not to do it. This paper presents the results of an exploratory research about the contextual drivers that determine the decision to create PMO-Its. Through two case studies of large Brazilian firms - one that created the entity and another which believes does not need it -, the drivers of the decision to create or not to create a PMO-IT were identified, and it was possible to confirm some of the drivers mentioned in the literature. This paper increases the undertstanding about this topic, which is important in the Management Information Systems field, as well as indicates paths for future research.

Towards an Understanding of Accounting Information Systems as a Discipline: A Comparative Analysis of Topical Coverage in AIS and MIS Courses

Abstract The accounting information systems (AIS) discipline lacks a sense of identity relative to the closely related field of management information systems (MIS). By identifying how AIS is evolving and what makes AIS unique from MIS, the field can gain a better understanding of its importance. We analyze a sample of syllabi for the introductory AIS and MIS courses, focusing on similarities and differences between the AIS and MIS fields as reflected in the topical coverage choices made by AIS and MIS educators. We also investigate the effects of the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on topical coverage in the introductory AIS course. The findings reveal that while AIS courses have a unique focus on transaction processing and internal controls relative to MIS courses, more technical topics such as hardware and software issues and IS solutions are covered more commonly in MIS courses rather than AIS courses. We also find that AIS topical coverage has changed since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, with a more pronounced focus on internal control and security compared to the pre-Sarbanes Oxley era. The key contribution of this paper is in providing empirical evidence in support of the “intersection view” of AIS, which asserts that while AIS and MIS have some topics in common there are also many issues unique to each field.

Seeding the survey and analysis of research literature with text mining

Text mining is a semi-automated process of extracting knowledge from a large amount of unstructured data. Given that the amount of unstructured data being generated and stored is increasing rapidly, the need for automated means to process it is also increasing. In this study, we present, discuss and evaluate the techniques used to perform text mining on collections of textual information. A case study is presented using text mining to identify clusters and trends of related research topics from three major journals in the management information systems field. Based on the findings of this case study, it is proposed that this type of analysis could potentially be valuable for researchers in any field.

Rigor in MIS Survey Research: In Search of Ideal Survey Methodological Attributes

A researcher in the Management Information Systems (MIS) field entertains a hope that his or her research will contribute significantly to the field. Although arguably no study can be perfect in research design, and every study is susceptible to random error and foreseen or unforeseen bias, nonetheless, the more rigorous, or ideal, a study's methodology has been, the more likely meaningful results will be achieved. Accordingly, a set of nine attributes, called survey methodological attributes (SMA), have been developed for use in assessing published surveys, essentially serving as criteria to identify methodologically sound survey research. This article reports on the results of meta-analysis, using SMA criteria, of three publications - the Management Information Systems Quarterly (MISQ), the Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS), and Information Systems Research (ISR) – from the time of their inauguration through 2004, so as to provide insights into the rigor of MIS survey research. We discovered that, although all three journals publish studies that are methodologically sound, two frequently reoccurring problems were 1) failure to perform statistical tests to evaluate the effects of non-response errors; and 2) not using multiple collection methods. These findings indicate a need for greater attention to survey design methods among empirical studies in the MIS field.

Searching for management information systems: coherence and change in the discipline

Abstract. The now familiar and longstanding discussion on the status of the field of management information systems (MIS) consists of at least two themes – the lack of coherence in MIS and the question of rigour vs. relevance (academic vs. practical concerns). The research questions we pose here ask: what themes or ideas represent the centre of MIS or its zones of coherence – or is diversity and fragmentation the rule? and will the centre or zones change over time? Within MIS research, is there evidence of theory building that contributes to a cumulative research tradition? Using a co‐word analysis approach – to analyse the patterns in discourse by measuring the association strengths of terms representative of relevant publications – the researchers found 62 specific centres of coherence. The data documented a high degree of change in centres of coherence over time. Evidence of theory building was extremely weak. A cumulative research tradition remains elusive. MIS centres of coherence change over time – we think, partly in response to practical pressures. We suggest that MIS opens a richer and more difficult debate on its theory, practice, and identity as a discipline in the 21st century university.

A Comparative Analysis Of Student Job Placement In Management Information Systems: An Exploratory Study

A Comparative Analysis Of Student Job Placement In Management Information Systems: An Exploratory Study

An assessment of human–computer interaction research in management information systems: topics and methods

As an emerging subfield of Management Information Systems (MIS), Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) or Human Factors studies in MIS are concerned with the ways humans interact with information, technologies, and tasks, especially in business, managerial, organizational, and cultural contexts. To date, few studies have either synthesized existing studies or drawn an overview picture of the HCI subfield in MIS. This paper first provides a framework of broad HCI issues and concerns. It then reports an assessment of a sample of published HCI articles in two top MIS journals, MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research, over a period of thirteen years (1990–2002). It identifies the main topics studied, the main research approaches utilized, the research publication patterns, and the needs for future research efforts in this subfield. The results should be of interest to researchers in this subfield, in the MIS field, and in other related disciplines for future research, collaboration, and publication.

Two MIS Analysis Methods: An Experimental Comparison

Abstract The data flow diagrams method (DFD) is still the most popular technique taught and used in the management information systems field. However, the object-oriented analysis method (OOA) is being given attention in information systems development. An experiment was conducted to compare the two methods in terms of effectiveness in systems analysis. The DFD method seemed to be easier to learn than the OOA method for inexperienced participants. However, after a certain period of training, participants who used the OOA method for systems analysis made fewer errors than those who used the DFD method. On the basis of this study, it is recommended that OOA be taught in business schools.

Survey Research Methodology in Management Information Systems: An Assessment

Survey research is believed to be well understood and applied by management information systems (MIS) scholars. It has been applied for several years and it has precise procedures which, when followed closely, yield valid and easily interpretable data. Our assessment of the use of survey research in the MIS field between 1980 and 1990 indicates that this perception is at odds with reality. Our analysis indicates that survey methodology is often misapplied and is plagued by five important weaknesses: (1) single-method designs where multiple methods are needed, (2) unsystematic and often inadequate sampling procedures, (3) low response rates, (4) weak linkages between units of analysis and respondents, and (5) overreliance on cross-sectional surveys where longitudinal surveys are really needed. Our assessment also shows that the quality of survey research varies considerably among studies of different purposes: explanatory studies are of good quality overall, exploratory and descriptive studies are of moderate to poor quality. This article presents a general framework for classifying and examining survey research and uses this framework to analyze the usage of survey research conducted in the past decade in the MIS field. In an effort to improve the quality of survey research, this article makes specific recommenoations that directly address the major problems highlighted in the review.

Academic Issues in MIS: Journals and Books

The range of journals in which to publish scholarly papers in the management information systems (MIS) field has expanded over the years. The perceived ranking of the journals by those in the field is an important issue to academics. Another question of importance to academic personnel in the MIS field is whether the writing of books counts toward tenure and promotion. This article presents the results of a survey relative to these two questions. It was conducted in late 1989 and early 1990 among MIS professors in AACSB accredited business schools, with about half of all such schools participating. The survey found that the most highly regarded journals for IS research include an assortment of IS-specific, computer science, and management science journals. This continues a long-standing tradition, despite the introduction of several new IS journals. IT also showed that books are generally counted toward tenure and promotion.

Diffusion of geographic information innovations

Abstract Appropriate diffusion of geographic information technologies is hampered by lack of systematic research on factors and processes affecting diffusion, utilization and impact assessment of the technologies and by a variety of conceptual and methodological problems. Diffusion of innovation principles developed in other fields, in combination with methods developed within the field of management information systems, provide an important beginning for improved understanding. This paper focuses on gaps in knowledge which might be addressed within the geographic information field by analysis techniques and research methodologies used in the diffusion of innovations.