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Contents of Volume 19, Issue 9 (September) Journal of the
Association for Information Systems (JAIS), Official Publication
of the Association for Information Systems
Published: Monthly Electronically
ISSN: 1536-9323
Published by the Association for Information Systems, Atlanta, USA
(
http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/)
Editor-in-Chief: Professor Suprateek Sarker, University of
Virginia, USA
Paper
When Institutional Logics Meet Information and Communication
Technologies: Examining Hybrid Information Practices in Ghana’s
Agriculture
Mira Slavova, University of Warwick and University of Pretoria
Stan Karanasios, RMIT University
Abstract
In this paper, we describe how changes in the availability of
information artifacts—in particular, information and communication
technologies (ICTs)—among smallholder farmers in Ghana, led to a
process of hybridization of information practices, and how this
process could be linked to underlying institutional change. We use
the notions of institutional carriers and activity systems to
study the evolution of the prevailing “smallholder” institutional
logic of Ghanaian agriculture toward an incoming “value-chain”
institutional logic concerned with linking farmers to output
markets, improving the knowledge base in agriculture, and
increasing its information intensity. We draw on a mixed-methods
approach, including in-depth qualitative interviews, focus groups,
observations, and detailed secondary quantitative data. We
cultivate activity theory as a practice-based lens for structuring
inquiry into institutional change. We find that information
artifacts served to link the activities of farmers that were
embedded in the smallholder logic with those of
agricultural-development actors that promoted the value-chain
logic. Hybridization occurred through the use of artifacts with
different interaction modalities. In terms of conceptualizing
change, our findings suggest that hybridization of the two logics
may be an intermediary point in the long transition from the
smallholder toward the value-chain logic.
To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
Available at:
http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol19/iss9/4
Paper
How Social Media-Enabled Communication Awareness Enhances Project
Team Performance
Oliver Krancher, IT University of Copenhagen
Jens Dibbern, University of Bern
Paul Meyer, Meyer Werft, Germany
Abstract
Project teams increasingly rely on computer-mediated
communication. In this paper, we propose that communication within
these teams benefits from a communication-awareness feature that
summarizes communication in one common place. We argue that such a
feature pays off specifically during action episodes, when team
members engage in taskwork. We conducted two studies of 51 and 35
project teams to examine how the amount of communication during
action episodes relates to team performance under low- versus
high-communication awareness. In both studies, we technologically
designed communication awareness as the availability of a feed,
known from social media platforms, that displays all
team-internal, computer-mediated communication. The results show
that the communication-awareness feature makes communication
during action episodes more beneficial, both in term of
effectiveness and efficiency. Zooming into the temporal patterns
of communication during action episodes further reveals that
high-performing teams in the high-communication-awareness
condition stand out in terms of early and steady communication. We
conclude by discussing implications for current and future
research on team communication and awareness support.
To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
Available at:
http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol19/iss9/3
Paper
Concentration, Competence, Confidence, and Capture: An
Experimental Study of Age, Interruption-based Technostress, and
Task Performance
Stefan Tams, HEC Montreal
Jason B. Thatcher, University of Alabama
Varun Grover, University of Arkansas
Abstract
Recently, information systems research has devoted increasing
attention to formative measurements. However, current approaches
to modeling formative constructs have potential validity problems
and thus limited applicability. Here, we highlight two major
problems in formative measurement—interpretational confounding and
interpretational ambiguity—and propose a novel resolution.
Interpretational confounding occurs when using the traditional
free-estimation approach, because the weights of different
formative indicators vary as the dependent variable changes,
resulting in the distortion of the measurement weights of the
focal formative construct and thus jeopardizing the
generalizability of empirical tests. Another way to alleviate the
interpretational-confounding issue is to include the multiple
indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) construct in the path model
(i.e., MIMIC-path). Unfortunately, this method has led to the
second major problem of interpretational ambiguity, the existence
of more than one potential explanation of the formative model.
More specifically, reflective indicators in the MIMIC model can be
viewed as (1) indicators of the MIMIC construct, (2) dependent
variables of the formative construct, or (3) indicators of a
reflective construct affected by independent variables (formative
indicators). To resolve these issues, we propose a two-stage
fixed-weight redundancy model (FWRM) approach. We demonstrate the
applicability of the FWRM approach with a set of survey data. We
conducted a simulation study evaluating the FWRM approach by
comparing it with the commonly used free-estimation and MIMIC-path
methods. The results indicate that our FWRM approach can indeed
improve the validity of formative construct modeling by mitigating
confounding and ambiguity issues.
To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
Available at:
http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol19/iss9/2
Editorial
Learning from First-Generation Qualitative Approaches in the IS
Discipline: An Evolutionary View and Some Implications for Authors
and Evaluators (Part 2/2)
Suprateek Sarker, University of Virginia
Xiao Xiao, Copenhagen Business School
Tanya Beaulieu, Utah State University
Allen S. Lee, Virginia Commonwealth University
Abstract
Qualitative research in the information systems (IS) discipline
has come a long way, from being dismissed as “exploratory
research” or “preresearch,” not worthy of being featured in
“scientific” and authoritative journals in the discipline, to a
state where such research is seen as legitimate and even welcome
within much of the mainstream IS research community. Recent
editorials have expressed concerns regarding the research
community’s lack of awareness about the diverse nature of
qualitative research and the apparent confusion regarding how
these diverse approaches are different. In this two-part
editorial, Part 1 focused on analyzing first-generation
qualitative research approaches based on four key elements
(theory, data, analysis, and claims), and discussed how each of
these elements might vary depending on the type (i.e., genre) of
the qualitative study. In Part 2, we examine qualitative studies
published over the past 17 years in four leading journals for
evidence related to the genres identified in Part 1 of this
editorial. Specifically, our goal was to assess the recognition of
various genres in the published papers, and to determine whether
there was sufficient internal consistency for a given genre within
each paper. Based on the results of the assessment, we offer
lessons for authors, reviewers, and editors.
To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below:
Available at:
http://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol19/iss9/1
Elizabeth White Baker, PhD
Production Managing Editor, Journal of the AIS
jais@comm.virginia.edu
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