Nigel Melville

University of Michigan | U-M · Department of Technology & Operations

How do green information technology (IT) standards and organizational strategies jointly influence firms’ environmental sustainability and financial performance? This is an important question, as many firms adopt green IT standards without considering the fit with their organizational strategies, and therefore face uncertain or mixed outcomes. We a...

The current technology epoch—sometimes called the fourth industrial revolution (4IR)—involves the innovative application of rapidly advancing digital technologies such as artificial intelligence. Societal implications of the 4IR are significant and wide ranging, from life-saving drug development to privacy loss and app addiction. A review of the sc...

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are an important component of digital infrastructure. Extensively employed in diverse industries, APIs are a boundary resource that enables new business models, enhances efficiency, and generates new sources of revenue. As little is known about how organizations deploy APIs, we conducted an exploratory exam...

It is our pleasure to welcome you to this AIS Transactions on Human Computer Interaction special issue on artificial intelligence (AI) fairness, trust, and ethics. This special issue received research papers that unpacked the potential, challenges, impacts, and theoretical implications of AI. This special issue contains four papers that integrate r...

Organizations are under increasing pressure to apply digital technologies to renew and transform their business models. A great deal of research has examined specific phenomena, such as adoption antecedents and design methods. However, it is unclear what we know in totality, including what research streams exist, how they fit together, and fruitful...

Conversational interfaces-computer interfaces that use text or voice for human-computer interaction-are one of many interaction modalities in interactive systems. Their use has expanded with the growth and range of products that are both digital and physical in nature. But users' expectations of conversational experiences are not being met. In addi...

This article focuses on systems that enable low-carbon operations within organizations. The thesis that system accuracy matters to achieving low-carbon operations is explored using two approaches. First, a generic system model is developed and three alternative technical architectures are described, thereby illustrating that accuracy varies across...

This paper reports on a panel discussion at the pre-ICIS 2015 Workshop on Green Information Systems on the current state and future perspectives of SIGGreen—the Association of Information Systems’ special interest group on green information systems—and of green information systems (green IS) research in general. Over the past years, IS scholars hav...

Digital initiatives such as big data analytics at Progressive Insurance can drive competitive advantage. However, digital initiatives often fail to meet their objectives in terms of budget, time, or performance. Why is this the case and what can be done about it? Complementing existing studies of software development methodologies, project manageme...

We conceive of information technology (IT) innovation posture-profile misalignment as a condition that exists when a firm's innovation posture (the extent to which a firm leads with IT innovation) does not match up with its innovation resource profile (the firm's stock of resources conducive to effective innovation). We theorize that firms with a p...

This article examines an important class of information system that serves as the foundation for corporate energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting: energy and carbon management systems (ECMS). Investors, regulators, customers, and employees increasingly demand that organizations provide information about their organizational energy use and GHG e...

The goal of this study is to develop a new approach to collaborative peer feedback enabled by social media, understand how it is perceived by university students, and develop insights regarding its impacts on learning. We adapted a crowd sourcing platform that enabled students to submit their own assignments, and enabled students and outside expert...

As commerce and its associated challenges become more globally interconnected, research about those phenomena increasingly crosses national borders. The event study, a widely used method in Information Systems (IS) business value research, has been increasingly deployed internationally in management disciplines, but not yet IS. As IS scholars begin...

Climate change and its associated challenges have become increasingly relevant to business enterprises worldwide. Many companies have taken steps to address their impact on the environment, including the adoption of innovative technologies. Carbon Management Systems (CMS) are such a technology and assist in the automated capture and management of c...

The shift from manual to wireless metering is changing the information landscape of electricity billing from data poverty to data richness. Simultaneously, but at a slower pace, the Internet of things is emerging. Consequently, it will be feasible in the future to have real-time energy use for many objects. Thus, their work is a critical first step...

Research at the nexus of operations management and information systems suggests that manufacturing plants may benefit from the utilization of information systems for collaborating and transacting with suppliers and customers. The objective of this study is to examine the extent to which value generated by information systems for collaborating versu...

Global organizations employ information systems (IS) to manage energy and carbon emission information. However, we know little about the factors associated with their adoption. Using primary data collected from a single organization, we first develop a simple conceptual framework for this class of information system comprising information technolog...

Effective application of theory is critical to the development of new knowledge in information systems (IS) research. However, theory foundations of IS research are understudied. Using Complex Network Analysis, we analyze theory usage in IS research published in two premier journals (MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research) from 1998 to 2006...

This article examines an important class of information system (IS) that serves as the foundation for corporate energy and greenhouse gas accounting: energy and carbon management systems (ECMS). Investors, regulators, customers, and employees increasingly demand that organizations provide information about their organizational energy use and greenh...

Despite the expectation that Information Technology (IT) is valuable in managing and leveraging multiple alliance relationships and the resultant alliance networks, a paucity in theoretical and empirical examination persists in the literature. Employing social network analysis (SNA), we examined whether IT investment moderates the effect exerted by...

Business organizations are generating growing volumes of data about their employees, customers, and suppliers. Much of these data cannot be exploited for business value due to privacy and confidentiality concerns. National statistical agencies share sensitive data collected from individuals and businesses by modifying the data so individuals and fi...

Green IS offers the promise for IS scholars to make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the effects of global climate change and other environmental problems. While significant achievements have been made in shaping Green IS as a subfield in the IS discipline, the emergence of Green IS is still by far too...

This article introduces the EDCI template for human-centered design of e-services, which we developed in five iterations over five years. The template contains two dimensions (conceptual vs. real world and problem finding vs. solution development), yielding four phases of e-service design: 1) Explore, 2) Discover, 3) Concept and design, and 4) Impl...

This article outlines the evolution of information systems (IS) for environmental sustainability. It investigates three ways in which IS might transform environmental sustainability. It discusses complexities, challenges, and business opportunities in carbon emission data management at a large university. A few examples of how researchers might con...

In this paper we conduct an event study to test the hypothesis that carbon management systems (CMS) are perceived by financial markets to be value-adding IS investments worth more than their costs. After populating a list of over 200 exchange-traded CMS adopters, we search newswires and specialty news outlets to identify 62 adoption announcements o...

Does the investment in firm-specific IT resources lead to better alliance performance? This study proposes to answer this question by empirically examining the effect of a firm's IT resources on the performance consequences of individual alliances for firms. Drawing upon previous works on organizational learning and dynamic capability, we identify...

We extend current research examining synergies between information technology, process redesign, and firm performance in three ways: analyze a firm's entire IT and BPR portfolio, examine production and market value performance implications, and conduct analysis using a unique dataset of 228 firms between 1996 and 1999. We find a contingent associat...

Prior research at the firm level finds information technology (IT) to be a net substitute for both labor and non-IT capital inputs. However, it is unclear whether these results hold, given recent IT innovations and continued price declines. In this study we extend prior research to examine whether these input relationships have evolved over time. F...

Human life is dependent upon the natural environment, which, most would agree, is rapidly degrading. Business enterprises are a dominant form of social organization and contribute to the worsening, and enhancement, of the natural environment. Scholars in the administrative sciences examine questions spanning organizations and the natural environmen...

Prior work on information technology (IT) adoption and economic impacts typically employs an instrumental logic in which firms lead with innovation when they possess characteristics that make it economically beneficial to do so and lag when they do not. However, firms may deviate from this idealized picture when they possess characteristics of an i...

Introduction Information Technology (IT) pervades every aspect of a firm's value chain as a vast electronic network of interconnected applications and data. Managers perceive the immense potential of this complex infrastructure to enhance products and processes and create altogether new ones. However, some have gone a step further and determined ho...

As filters improve, the information assets of spammers become more valuable and lead to more, not less, overall spamming activity. This is troubling to contemplate, because it means no amount of spending on better filters will be enough. The next levels of escalation might then involve sender-receiver prearrangement, a new accounting infrastructure...

A growing number of theories in information systems (IS) research are developed and tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Use of statistical techniques for measurement and structural model assessment, reliability, and validity are facilitated by such programs as LISREL and widely reported in the literature. In contrast, identification an...

The Windows Vista personal firewall provides its diverse users with a basic interface that hides many operational details. However, concealing the impact of network context on the security state of the firewall may result in users developing an incorrect ...

Though use of theory is critical in Information Systems (IS) research, the theoretical foundations of IS research have been understudied. Using Social Network Analysis, we analyze theory usage in IS research published in MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research from 1998 to 2006. We find Technology Acceptance Model, Resource-Based View and Ga...

We empirically examine IT value co-creation in supply chains, incorporating key contingencies of the competitive environment. Prior research suggests that IT used for strategic informationbased partnerships may benefit supply chains facing higher volatility, enabling tightly coupled integration and enhanced strategic response to changing consumer p...

The phenomenon of unwanted commercial messages (UCM), including e-mail spam and emerging forms that target other Internet communications facilities, is analyzed from an information-economics perspective. UCM traffic pays off for its senders when it is noticed and consumed by Internet users; the industry is, therefore, dependent on a common-pool res...

We develop a system dynamics model of message-based communication, where the information-processing capacity of message recipients is limited. Profit-seeking broadcasters send messages, but only some of these messages are valuable to recipients. Recipients cannot determine whether or not a message is valuable until it is processed. Information over...

Information technology (IT) innovation research examines the organizational and technological factors that determine IT adoption and diffusion, including firm size and scope, technological competency and expected benefits. We extend the literature by focusing on information requirements as a driver of IT innovation adoption and diffusion. Our frame...

Email marketing is a legitimate, lucrative, and widely used business tool, but it is in danger of being overrun by unwanted commercial email (also known as spam). Conventional approaches to maintaining the robustness of legitimate email attack pieces of the problem. In contrast, this article asserts that the email marketing infrastructure is a comp...

The Internet has accelerated the capability of firms to coordinate processes and personnel across organizational and geographic boundaries, which has in turn facilitated a dramatic increase in globalization. This globalization includes the development of new multinationals from emerging economies that are challenging developed-economy firms. This p...

Unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) is a significant problem of the digital commons, but there has been little empirical analysis of proposed solutions and underly- ing mechanisms. This study, based on an analysis of 47 million inbound e-mail messages drawn from a cross-section of e-mail inbox owners over a one-year period, characterizes resource o...

In recent years globalization has become the subject of fervent debate, intensified by the spread of low-cost information and communications technologies (ICTs), particularly the Internet. On the one hand, crossborder flows of capital, labor, and information may be leading to convergence in how economic activities are organized, reducing the role o...

Are the Internet and e-commerce truly revolutionizing business practice? This book, first published in 2006, explodes the transformation myth by demonstrating that the Internet and e-commerce are in fact being adapted by firms to reinforce their existing relationships with customers, suppliers, and business partners. Detailed case studies of eight...

Empirical research has revealed differences in the economic impact of information technology (IT) across industries. However, the source of these differences is unclear. In this study we analyze the role of the competitive environment in moderating the productive impact of information technology and regular capital. We focus on two important featur...

The growth of unsolicited commercial email imposes increasing costs on organizations and causes considerable aggravation on the part of email recipients. A thriving anti-spam industry addresses some of the frustration. Regulation and various economic and technical means are in the works – all aimed at bringing down the flood of unwanted commercia...

The growth of unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE) imposes increasing costs on organizations and causes considerable aggravation on the part of e-mail recipients. A thriving anti-spam industry addresses some of the frustration. Regulation and various economic and technical means are in the works. All anti-spam measures aim at bringing down the flood...

Prior empirical research indicates differences in IT business value across industries, but the source of these differences is unclear. In this study we examine the role of the competitive environment in moderating IT business value. We identify two dimensions of the competitive environment that are likely to shape IT business value, have a strong b...

The growth of unsolicited commercial email (UCE) imposes increasing costs on organizations and causes considerable aggravation on the part of email recipients. A thriving anti-spam industry addresses some of the frustration. This paper contributes to our understanding of the UCE phenomenon by drawing on scholarly work in areas of marketing and reso...

This article evaluates the effect of the Internet on international financial transactions, particularly foreign exchange trading. The Internet, together with deregulation and globalization, has engendered a wave of hyper competition and coming of new exchanges, markets, and distribution channels providing opportunities for cost reduction and strate...

Despite the importance to researchers, managers, and policy makers of how information technology (IT) contributes to organizational performance, there is uncertainty and debate about what we know and don’t know. A review of the literature reveals that studies examining the association between information technology and organizational performance ar...

revious research has demonstrated that the production of information services can be characterized at the aggregate economy-wide level by the Cobb-Douglas production func- tion. However, the underlying production process at the firm level has not yet been ascer- tained. The objective of this paper is to determine the form of the production process...

Several firm-level empirical studies have found positive and excess returns to investments in information technology (IT) capital. Using a production function framework that typically includes such inputs as IT capital, non-IT capital, and labor, these studies estimate the return on investment in IT. Taken together, this body of research provides e...

This paper extends the dominant paradigm of IS innovation research by analyzing the extent to which organizations adopt electronic networking technologies (ENT) sub-optimally and measuring the implications on organizational performance. We advance the concept of innovation misfit by drawing on extant economic and organizational theories to develop...