Dear Colleagues:

It is my pleasure to announce the publication of the 47th issue of
JITCAR (Volume 12, Number 3) -- The Journal of Information Technology
Case and Application Research (http://www.jitcar.org).  

Sincerely,
Steven R. Gordon
Editor-in-Chief, JITCAR
Professor, Information Technology Management Babson College, Babson
Park, MA  02457
Tel: 781-239-4571
Web: http://faculty.babson.edu/gordon

***************************************************

Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research
Volume 12, Number 3, 2010

Editorial Preface 
Knowledge Management Systems for Emergency Preparedness: The Way Forward
Murali Raman, Multimedia University, Malaysia
Murray Jennex, San Diego State University, USA

Research Article One
Structuring Interactions With Technology: A Social Identity Approach
Canchu Lin, Bowling Green State University, USA

Research Article Two
Discovering the Hidden Dynamics of Learning Communities
Francesca Grippa, Marco De Maggio, Angelo Corallo, and Giuseppina
Passiante 
Scuola Superiore ISUFI, University of Salento, Italy

Research Article Three
An Exploratory Study of the Contextual Factors That Influence Success of
ICT Projects in Developing Nations:  A Case Study of a
Telecommunications Company in Ghana
Millicent Yawa Atsu, MainOne Cable Company, Accra, Ghana
Francis Kofi Andoh-Baidoo, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Babajide Osatuyi, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA
Kwasi Amoako-Gyampah, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA

The Expert Opinion
An Interview with Maurice Leatherbury, Ph.D.
Vice President and Chief Information Officer, University of North Texas,
USA
Conducted and Documented by:
Daniel A. Peak, University of North Texas, USA

Book Review
Enterprise 2.0: New Collaborative Tools for Your Organization's Toughest
Challenges
By Andrew McAfee
Published in 2009 by Harvard Business Press, ISBN: 978-1-4221-2587-8;
231 pages
Reviewed by Richard G. Platt, University of West Florida, USA

*****************
 
Knowledge Management Systems for Emergency Preparedness: The Way Forward
Murali Raman, Multimedia University, Malaysia
Murray Jennex, San Diego State University, USA

INTRODUCTION
"This is your captain speaking". "We are 30,000 feet above sea level and
in flight MH009 (Malaysia Airlines) and are flying at a ground speed of
869KM//hour..." The destination is Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei..."
Several hypothetical questions are on our minds as this paper is
written. What if one or more of the passengers in this flight takes
control, as in uses the flight (or the remaining time therein) as part
of a well-coordinated attack linked to terrorism? Can any knowledge and
work in the area of information systems (and knowledge management
systems) prevent that from happening? Well, clearly evidence from
numerous man-made emergency situations (e.g. the London Subway bombings,
the 9/11, the Bali Blasts etc.) would suggest that the answer is a
resounding No. So, then why are researchers concerned with issues
surrounding the design, development, implementation, and use of
knowledge management systems in support of emergency situations?  Are we
wasting our time, efforts, and energy? Again, the answer is a resounding
No! 

***************** 

Research Article One
Structuring Interactions With Technology: A Social Identity Approach
Canchu Lin, Bowling Green State University, USA

ABSTRACT
This case study investigated social construction of technology from the
perspective of social identity theory. Four pre-existing social
categories were found to be important sources of social influence:
professional, organizational, departmental, and disciplinary identities.
Additionally, an emerging social category (cross-unit and
cross-discipline faculty and staff committees and learning groups)
influenced technology use as well. Organizational members drew on
structural elements from these five sources in their social construction
of an information communication technology system. Theoretical as well
as practical implications were addressed with respect to technology use.
The findings helped to show how social identity influenced people's
interpretations of technology and then use and non-use of technology. It
is suggested that organizations make efforts to identify all possible
social identities that may influence technology use and non-use.

***************** 

Research Article Two
Discovering the Hidden Dynamics of Learning Communities
Francesca Grippa, Marco De Maggio, Angelo Corallo, and Giuseppina
Passiante 
Scuola Superiore ISUFI, University of Salento, Italy

ABSTRACT
This paper presents a framework developed to monitor the evolution of
learning communities intended as open communities of peers, tutors, and
mentors from industry and academia. The proposed framework is described
through a case study that provides empirical evidence of the benefits of
studying learning communities by observing group dynamics and detecting
individual trends. It has been applied to observe and supervise a
learning community built around a Master's Program intended to create
e-Business Solutions Engineers.  The framework is based on two
dimensions of analysis: the individual growth and the team growth. The
first is function of personal development and satisfaction, while the
second depends on social networking dynamics and cooperative content
creation. The analysis of data, collected through ten months of
exchanged e-mails and five monthly web-surveys, has been validated
through interviews of the Program's coordinator and the Program
Director, as well as through the involvement of academic and industrial
partners in the formal assessment of the learners' performance.

*****************

Research Article Three
An Exploratory Study of the Contextual Factors That Influence Success of
ICT Projects in Developing Nations:  A Case Study of a
Telecommunications Company in Ghana
Millicent Yawa Atsu, MainOne Cable Company, Accra, Ghana
Francis Kofi Andoh-Baidoo, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Babajide Osatuyi, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA
Kwasi Amoako-Gyampah, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA

ABSTRACT
Organizations use various information and communication technologies
(ICTs) to support business operations. In the developing world, ICT has
promise for socio-economic development of the people. Successful project
implementation is necessary in order to obtain the needed benefits from
ICT endeavors. Factors that contribute to the successful implementation
of ICT projects are well known. However, the implementation of ICT
projects in developing countries is a more recent phenomenon that has
not been well researched. In this paper we use a case study of ICT
project implementation within one company in Ghana to highlight factors
that underlie the implementation of ICT projects and how these factors
collectively impact project success. The study shows that some of the
factors identified as important in developed nations were relevant in
the developing nation environment. However, the relative ranking of the
importance of the factors was different between developed and developing
nations. The study also identified additional factors that were relevant
in the developing nation context. Our study is informed by the diffusion
innovation theory, Hofstede's cultural theory and DeLone and McLean's IS
success model.   We present a framework that ties the ICT project
success factors together and can serve as a guideline in ICT
implementations in similar environments.

*****************

The Expert Opinion
An Interview with Maurice Leatherbury, Ph.D.
Vice President and Chief Information Officer, University of North Texas,
USA
Conducted and Documented by:
Daniel A. Peak, University of North Texas, USA

INTRODUCTION
Maurice Leatherbury has been an Air Force officer, a librarian, an
entrepreneur, a college professor, and an IT manager at a large
university in the course of his career. Graduating from the University
of Southwestern Louisiana in 1966, he served four years in the Air Force
then went to graduate school at Florida State University where he earned
a Master's degree in Library Science in 1970. After working at Stetson
University in DeLand, Florida for two years he went to the University of
Texas at Austin, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1979, also working at the
Houston Academy of Medicine Library for several years before finishing
his doctorate. He and a fellow Ph.D. student formed a software company
in 1970, MetaMicro Library Systems, where they developed a turnkey
library system as well as performed contract programming for thirteen
years. Maurice then went to the University of Missouri where he was an
assistant professor in the School of Informational Sciences for two
years before taking a similar position at the School of Library and
Information Science at the University of North Texas. He switched to
computer center administration two years after starting at UNT, and
progressed in his career until he became the chief information officer
of the University in 2007. He will retire on the first of October of
this year.

*****************

Book Review
Enterprise 2.0: New Collaborative Tools for Your Organization's Toughest
Challenges
By Andrew McAfee
Published in 2009 by Harvard Business Press, ISBN: 978-1-4221-2587-8;
231 pages
Reviewed by Richard G. Platt, University of West Florida, USA

INTRODUCTION

Regardless of where you get your news, whether it is print, television,
radio, internet or some other form, you have been inundated with stories
that include references to some form of what is called social media.
Politics, politicians, and elections are influenced by the blogosphere.
Celebrities tweet constantly, whether personally or using robo-tweet
software to generate the messages. Some tweeters (that's a new
definition for the dictionary) even compete to have the largest number
of "followers" on the Twitter service, and before you write this off as
a fad of the younger generations, even Larry King of CNN fame has over a
million followers. Millenials use MySpace and Facebook to stay
constantly linked with hundreds of "friends." In fact, part of the sky
rocketing increase in the number of SMS messages over cell phones occurs
when Facebook members are notified every time one of their friends posts
anything on that hugely popular social media site. Upon first
inspection, one might conclude that these technologies, labeled as Web
2.0, simply allow individuals to keep in contact, but that their use in
organizations would be relegated to employees wasting productive time
keeping in contact with their friends. However, that is not the case and
Andrew McAfee steps in to correct that misconception in Enterprise 2.0
starting with replacing the word "social" with the word "collaborative."

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