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Understanding User Adaptation toward a New IT System in Organizations: A Social Network Perspective
Abstract
Social networks can be a vital mechanism for users to adapt to changes induced by new IT systems in organizations. However, we do not adequately understand the effect of social networks on post-adoption IT use. Drawing on coping theory and the social network literature, we develop a cognitive-affective-behavioral classification of user adaptation and identify seeking-network closure and giving-network closure as key network characteristics pertinent to post-adoption IT use. Thereafter, we establish a theoretical link from seeking-network closure and giving-network closure to post-adoption IT use through the underlying mechanisms of user adaptation. We operationalize the research model using a field survey of a newly implemented electronic medical record system in a hospital in Northeast China, where we collected network data and objective system logs of 104 doctors. We found that seeking-network closure was positively associated with cognitive adaptation but negatively associated with affective adaptation and behavioral adaptation, whereas giving-network closure was negatively associated with cognitive adaptation but positively associated with affective adaptation and behavioral adaptation. Moreover, cognitive adaptation and affective adaptation were determinants of post-adoption IT use, but behavioral adaptation was not. We discuss our study’s theoretical and practical contributions. © 2017, Association for Information Systems. All rights reserved.
... In our research, we focus on the concept of employee responses to IS, which is defined as "the set of emotional and behavioral reactions manifested among users that coemerge as IT is introduced into their work environment" (Bhattacherjee et al. 2018, p. 396). Prior research has shown that how users react to such changes can be classified into three broad categories: affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses (Wu et al. 2017). ...
... Employee characteristics, like demographic factors or experience as well as technology characteristics such as complexity impact employee responses (Bala and Venkatesh 2013;Barki et al. 2007;Boudreau and Robey 2005;Lapointe and Beaudry 2014;Venkatesh et al. 2003). In addition, task characteristics, like task complexity, and context characteristics, for example, available support or social networks have also been found to influence employee responses to IS (Bruque et al. 2008;Fadel and Brown 2010;Wu et al. 2017). ...
... Regarding contingency factors, employees' understanding of software robots is widely impacted by what employees know and how the robots' tasks and capabilities are communicated. We know from research on traditional IS that social factors, like management support or social networks, play an important role in user adaptation processes (Bala and Venkatesh 2016;Bruque et al. 2008;Wu et al. 2017) and user involvement facilitates perceived usefulness and use (e.g., Franz and Robey 1986;Swanson 1974). Taken together, there is reason to believe that certain aspects of employees' responses to software robots are similar to responses to traditional IS in the past. ...
Organizations increasingly use software robots, such as robotic process automation (RPA) and chatbots, to automate tasks previously performed by human employees. While previous research has predominantly focused on technical challenges and organizational outcomes of software robot implementation, less attention has been paid to how employees respond to software robots. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review to analyze employee responses to software robots and identify related outcomes and contingency factors. Our results show that there is a wide range of affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses (both positive and negative). While some responses and contingency factors are similar to those found for traditional IS, others seem to be unique to software robots. Our study contributes to IS research by providing a comprehensive overview of employee responses to software robots and sheds light on contingency factors that may influence those responses.
... When IT use is volitional, however, users can freely decide to discontinue the use of the IT artefact if they choose to do so. Thus, these practices become even more important, as they may impede the lasting use of the IT artefact (Wu, Choi, Guo, & Chang, 2017). ...
... When a technology falls short of expectations, the user, depending on the contextual conditions, may move towards different directions seeking to overcome their disconfirmation. Generally, users may choose to discontinue using the technology (Maier, Laumer, Weinert, & Weitzel, 2015), to modify the technology in some way, to modify the task at hand and their own habits (Lee, Panteli, Bülow, & Hsu, 2018;Wu et al., 2017), or any combination of these. The literature on each of these behaviours is reviewed in the next paragraphs. ...
... Contrary to discontinuance behavioural outcomes, the breadth of adaptations, be it workarounds, revisions or other modifications at task-, technology-or user-level, indicate a willingness to make IT work Zamani, Pouloudi, Giaglis, & Wareham, 2020) and overcome the discrepancies that obstruct the user from completing their tasks; as such they signal continuance rather than discontinuance intentions (Barrett, 2018;Wu et al., 2017) and possibly indicate the user's intention to appropriate the device (Zamani et al., 2020). ...
This study investigates the observed behavioural outcomes when users experience negative disconfirmation with consumerised IT artefacts with the aim to identify the generative mechanisms of these outcomes. We analyse blogposts, authored and published by tablet users, where they narrate their experience with an IT artefact. We employ grounded theory method techniques, and through the lens of critical realism and the application of abduction and retroduction, we identify three user accommodating practices following negative disconfirmation, namely discontinuance behaviour, workarounds and reframing, and two generative mechanisms with enduring properties and causal power over them: solution identification and cost/benefits assessment. Our work contributes to the literature of volitional IT use and the consumerisation of IT, by uncovering the mechanisms that pave the way towards observed user behaviours.
... K. Barrett 2018;Clark 1987). Most importantly, appropriation leads to habitual norms and routines (Dennis et al. 2001), and as such, to the lasting use of the IT device (Wu et al. 2017), which is what makes an IT device fairly successful. ...
... Appropriation is a prerequisite for the sustained and lasting use of IT systems as it feeds into the formulation of norms and routines (Dennis et al. 2001) by supporting users In developing personal use scenarios (Mäkelä and Vellonen 2018;Wu et al. 2017). As such, appropriation is core for the success of IT artefacts. ...
... While trying to find new ways of using IT, users essentially try to innovate (Tams et al. 2018), and in doing so they make IT their own (Ahuja and Thatcher 2005). Workplace innovation with IT suggests that, users seek to incorporate IT in their processes (Wu et al. 2017) while attempting to do away with the restrictions enacted by IT itself (Schmitz et al. 2016). The difference between trying to innovate with IT and improvisation is that first places emphasis on one's goals about the outcome of the interaction (Ahuja and Thatcher 2005), while the second entails thinking and acting "simultaneously and on the spur of the moment" (Ciborra 1999, p. 78). ...
The concept of appropriation is of paramount importance for the lasting use of an Information Technology (IT) artefact following its initial adoption, and therefore its success. However, quite often, users' original expectations are negatively disconfirmed, and instead of appropriating the IT artefact, they discontinue its use. In this study we examine the use of IT artefacts following negative disconfirmation and use Grounded Theory Method techniques to analyse 136 blogposts, collected between March 2011-July 2017, to investigate how users appropriate or reject the tablet when technology falls short of users' expectations. Our findings show that users overcome negative disconfirmation through a trial and error process. In doing so, we identify that users appropriate the tablet when the attained benefits significantly outweigh the risks or sacrifices stemming out of its use. We discuss our contribution within the context of the appropriation literature, and highlight that the success of IT lies with the user's success in identifying personal use scenarios within and across diverse contexts of use.
... Appropriation is an essential prerequisite for sustained and lasting adoption of information systems and devices through the habitualization of norms and routines (Dennis, Wixom, & Vandenberg, 2001) while users develop their own use scenarios, making the technology one's own (Mäkelä & Vellonen, 2018;Wu, Choi, Guo, & Chang, 2017). Appropriation is therefore integral for the success of a particular IT artefact. ...
... It may be defined as the "situation where the user starts by recognizing the potential value of a particular IT and manages to narrow the absorption gap between the requirements of the IT and its own limited capacities" (Clark, 1987, p. 156), or as "seeking a relationship with the technology so that it provides benefit to the user through supporting practices, enabling new -and beneficial -practices or removing ineffective practices" (Carroll & Fidock, 2011, p. 4). Researchers further emphasize the impact of IT appropriation on organizational performance (e.g., Beaudry & Pinsonneault, 1998;DeSanctis & Poole, 1994) and focus on delineating the different modes of appropriation, as for example workarounds (Alter, 2014;e.g., Ferneley & Sobreperez, 2006), and adaptations (e.g., Elie-Dit-Cosaque & Pallud, 2010;Sun, 2012;Wu et al., 2017). Beaudry and Pinsonneault (1998) propose that the process of adaptation ensures a fit between technology and user, with the user changing their habits, enriching their skills, and changing the technology to fit the user's preferences. ...
... Trying to innovate with IT has been proposed as another variation of appropriation (Ahuja & Thatcher, 2005), where users seek to find new ways of using IT (Tams, Thatcher, & Craig, 2018). Workplace innovation with IT suggests that users try to integrate IT within their work processes (Wu et al., 2017) by attempting to overcome impediments and limitations imposed by it (Schmitz et al., 2016) where the actual behaviour is influenced by one's goals about the outcome of their IT interaction (Ahuja & Thatcher, 2005). Therefore, trying to innovate with IT can be seen as one's behavioural coping during which they are able to identify new uses for their existing systems and ways to support new tasks (Wu et al., 2017). ...
Consumerized IT devices, such as tablets, are widely adopted and support both personal and professional uses with a wide breadth of applications. Our study focuses on appropriation behaviour in instances of disillusionment, that is, when technology-in-use fails user goals. Building on grounded theory methods, we analyse blog entries that provide narratives on user interaction with tablets to unpack users’ efforts to appropriate the tablet through the lens of trial and error theory. In doing so, we identify the conditions for rejection, as well as appropriation. Trial and error is shown to be a variation that extends the appropriation literature. We contribute to understanding the volitional, consumerized use of IT where the use scenarios are determined by the individual and IT use transcends the boundaries between work and personal IT use.
... The existing literature has shown that users rely on various coping strategies to respond IT-induced changes and overcome stressful IT events after adoption. User adaptation thus involves cognitive, affective, and behavioral coping mechanisms (e.g., Beaudry & Pinsonneault, 2005Kane & Labianca, 2011;Maruping & Magni, 2015;Wu, Guo, Choi, & Ting-Ting, 2017). Behavioral adaptation refers to users' behavioral responses to an IT event (Wu et al., 2017). ...
... User adaptation thus involves cognitive, affective, and behavioral coping mechanisms (e.g., Beaudry & Pinsonneault, 2005Kane & Labianca, 2011;Maruping & Magni, 2015;Wu, Guo, Choi, & Ting-Ting, 2017). Behavioral adaptation refers to users' behavioral responses to an IT event (Wu et al., 2017). Through cognitive adaptation, users are able to motivate themselves to solve problems with system use and focus on positive outcomes (Maruping & Magni, 2015), whereas affective adaptation enables users to restore emotional stability after IT-induced changes (Beaudry & Pinsonneault, 2005). ...
... The existing literature on user adaptation has shown that users engage in two main IT use patterns, namely automatic and adjusting, which appear and disappear over time as different events occur (Ortiz de Guinea & Webster, 2013). Additionally, users rely on various coping strategies to respond IT-induced changes and overcome stressful IT events in organizational settings (e.g., Beaudry & Pinsonneault, 2005Wu et al., 2017). According to prior studies, the importance of an IT event and the level of users' perceived control over the situation affects their selection of coping strategies (Beaudry & Pinsonneault, 2005Elie-Dit-Cosaque & Straub, 2011;Wisniewski et al., 2014). ...
Existing research on information technology (IT) use has shown that post-adoptive technology use is not a stable but a dynamic phenomenon in which users apply various adaptation behaviors. Users reshape the technology (IT adaptation), adjust their work routines (task adaptation), and change their own behavior (user adaptation) according to the changes induced by IT. Today, people use increasingly social media and other IT for personal purposes. Facebook (FB) is a good example of personal IT that people voluntarily use for years and has become an integral part of people’s everyday lives. Despite extensive research on IT use and IT/user adaptation, we know little about the dynamics of post-adoptive use behavior, especially in volitional use contexts—that is, contexts in which the end user is the one who decides whether, how, and how much to use IT. The overall objective of this doctoral dissertation is to understand changes in individuals’ post-adoptive behaviors and the underlying mechanisms by focusing on user adaptation in the context of FB use. Uncovering the dynamics of individual-level adaptation behaviors is important because FB use is a highly social phenomenon and thus provides new insights into IT use. To further examine the dynamics of IT post-adoption, I conducted a pre-study and a longitudinal diary study on FB use. Informed by the hermeneutic phenomenological research approach, I was able to discover individuals’ experiences of their FB use and user adaptation over time. Utilizing self-regulation theory as a sensitizing device during iterative data analysis enabled identifying the underlying mechanisms of user adaptation. Furthermore, a stage theory approach provided richer understanding of the process of user adaptation. This dissertation contributes to both theory and practice. First, the main theoretical contribution constitutes the introduction of a stage theory of user adaptation. This proposed theory extends our knowledge by illustrating and explaining FB users’ adaptive behaviors and the underlying reasons for these changes. Second, the practical implications consist of important, novel insights into user adaptation processes for system designers, developers, and individual users.
... Seeking social support, Experimentation with IT features Wu et al. (2017) EMR system Usage Exchange information among peers ...
... User adaptation plays a key role in the successful implementation of enterprise IT in the organization (Wu et al., 2017). In this study, an attempt was made to gain a proper understanding of the type of users' reactions to the beginning of an enterprise IT adaptation period and work tasks in the organization. ...
Individual adaptation plays an important role in using enterprise information technology (IT). In the life cycle of enterprise IT in the organization, various factors can change IT and its related work tasks. Therefore, users have to adapt to these changes. Since the use of information technology depends on the capabilities acquired through individual adaptation behaviours, it is essential to examine these behaviours in more detail. This study presents the factors affecting individual adaptation behaviours as a model. The results of the experimental test of the model show that technology experience and IT knowledge affect an individual's perception of task difficulty, and personality traits moderate the relationship between task difficulty and individual adaptation behaviours. One of the advantages of the proposed model is separating the roles of managers and users in different periods of enterprise IT adaptation. Also, paying attention to users' personal characteristics in explaining the differences in adaptation behaviours among employees is another advantage of this model.
... The instruments of seven constructs are all adopted for previous studies. Specifically, perceived usefulness is measured by five items adopted from Hsu and Lin (2015), confirmation is measured by four items adopted from Bhattacherjee (2001b) and Hsu and Lin (2015), satisfaction is measured by four items adopted from Bhattacherjee (2001b), personal innovativeness is measured by three items adopted from Wu et al. (2017) , normative social influence is measured by five items informational social influence is measured by four items and both are adopted from Bearden et al. (1989) and Fu et al. (2020), familiarity is measured by three items adopted Y. Lee and Kwon (2011) and Gefen et al. (2003), and continuance intention is measured by three items adopted from Bhattacherjee (2001b) and Kim (2010). All items used seven-point Likert scales, where 1 indicates ''strongly disagree'' and 7 indicates ''strongly agree.'' ...
IoT device market has grown rapidly in recent years, with many researches have been done to investigate the IoT devices’ adoption factors. However, it is crucial to understand how to maintain the users’ continuance intention. This study, based on the post-acceptance model of the Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM), investigates the impact of early-stage users’ personal traits (personal innovativeness), social influence (normative and informational), and familiarity, on the social diffusion of IoT devices (in particular, smart speakers) measured by the continuation intention of smart speakers. We tested the research model and hypotheses using data from 364 smart speaker users, analyzed with partial least square technique using Smart-PLS. The data analysis results revealed that satisfaction has a very strong and positive impact on continuance intention. Perceived usefulness, confirmation, and personal innovativeness are positively associated with continuance intention via satisfaction. Social influence, represented by normative and informational social influence, showed a significant positive impact on continuance intention, a high degree of familiarity weakens the influence of normative social influence on continuance intention; however, familiarity has no impact on the relationship between informational social influence and continuance intention.
... Self-efficacy was measured using four items from Bhattacherjee et al. (2008) and Venkatesh et al. (2003). Finally, behavioral adaptation was measured using four items from Barki et al. (2007) and Wu et al. (2017). ...
This study investigates the relationship between belief structures (perceived compatibility, self-efficacy, and subjective norm), behavioral adaptation, satisfaction, and continuance intention of a platform-based ride-hailing service called “Grab” in Vietnam. After applying a questionnaire-based survey method and convenience sampling for data collection, the study collected 439 responses from the current users of Grab. A structural equation modeling procedure was used to verify the hypotheses. The results revealed that, except for the relationship between perceived compatibility and behavioral adaptation, all belief structures positively affect behavioral adaptation and satisfaction. Furthermore, both satisfaction and behavioral adaptation positively affect the continuance intention. Our study also demonstrated the partial and full mediating role of behavioral adaptation between self-efficacy and continuance intention, and between subjective norm and continuance intention, respectively. Our study broadens the current understanding of the relationship mechanism between belief structures, behavioral adaptation, and continuance intention. Theoretically, this study is the first research into the relationships between belief structure, behavioral adaptation and continuance intention, and it also identifies the mediating effects of behavioral adaptation on continuance intention in the platform-based context. Additionally, our study offers insightful implications for firm managers to retain users effectively by boosting the factors contributing to continuance intention.
... Furthermore, Wu, Choi, Guo, and Chang (2017) found that users who changed the system features and task procedures to fit their personal preferences were more likely to use the system after deployment. Moreover, Bala and Venkatesh (2016) found that adaptation behavior fostered individual performance. ...
Cognitive computing systems (CCS) are a new generation of automated IT systems that simulate human cognitive capabilities. Cognitive computing reshapes the interaction between humans and machines and challenges the way we study technology use and adaptation in the Information Systems field. The present work introduces co-adaptation theory, which occurs when both the user and the CCS adapt simultaneously to make the system fit the user. Co-adaptation involves two types of adaptation: human adaptation and machine adaptation. Human adaptation refers to the degree to which the user adapts to CCS by either changing system features or changing the way they interact with the system. Machine adaptation refers to the degree to which the user perceives that the CCS adapts itself to fit the user’s needs. Using polynomial modeling, moderated polynomial regression, mediated polynomial regression, and response surface analysis, we examine longitudinal survey data of 248 Intelligent Assistant users. The findings show that when individuals and CCS both adapt at the same rate, it has the greatest effect on individual relationships with the CCS (i.e., strong IT identity). Furthermore, IT identity fully mediates the association between co-adaptation and individual innovative performance. Lastly, anthropomorphism moderates the association between co-adaptation and IT identity. The data shows that in low anthropomorphism individuals expect CCS to adapt more to them.
... Two constructs had exaptation as the knowledge contribution. The theoretical framework developed by Wu et al. [28] focuses on post-adoption IT use. It integrates coping theory with the social network literature, classifies different types of post-adoption coping strategies, and focuses on the effects of post-adoption responses in new IT systems. ...
During the past two decades, Design Science Research (DSR) has become a central research paradigm in information systems (IS) science. It provides a possibility for researchers to contribute to their field's existing knowledge base by abstracting knowledge from constructing and using design artifacts. DSR scholars have classified their research paradigm by its potential knowledge contributions looking into dimensions such as researcher role, research activity, and knowledge type. Despite the central role of design artifacts in DSR, we know little about the role of these artifacts for DSR's knowledge contribution. We therefore extend the discussion on DSR knowledge contributions to the nature of design artifacts, asking how the nature of design artifacts clusters DSR research and its potential knowledge contributions. To answer this research question, we conducted a literature review of DSR research and selected a sample of 20 papers published during the years 2017-2021 in four major IS journals. We found that the nature of the design artifact forms clusters of knowledge contribution and research activity. Our study suggests a relationship between design artifacts, abstractions of knowledge from these artifacts and the conducted research activities. We acknowledge that this relationship stems from a relatively small sample of DSR studies and propose that further research is needed to confirm our findings.
... Several authors explained that their choice for using PLS was due to the complexity of their research model. Multiple authors specifically mentioned the advantage of using PLS to avoid problems with identification (e.g., Liang, Xue, & Zhang, 2017;Wu, Guo, Choi, & Chang, 2017). In their study employing PLS, Liang et al. (2017) state, "different from covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM), PLS is robust with fewer statistical identification issues" (p. ...
Partial least squares (PLS) offers multiple advantages as a composite-based structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. PLS enables scholars to examine the measurement model and structural model simultaneously and often requires fewer assumptions than factor-based SEM techniques. For these reasons and more, PLS offers great power for researchers who wish to use a SEM-based approach to evaluate a research model. However, with the great power of PLS also comes great responsibility. Scholars should determine if PLS is appropriate to use within their context, and scholars should explain their rationale for employing PLS for data analysis. Recognizing the power and responsibility associated with PLS is important since many scholars have called for an abandonment of PLS within the information systems discipline and beyond. We reviewed articles from four premier journals within the information systems field from 2017-2020 that use PLS as an analysis technique. Based on this review, we identify recommendations for scholars seeking to embrace the power and responsibility of using composite-based SEM to analyze research models.
... As system users, employees may utilize different resources to cope with these changes and may interpret the changes in different ways, triggering varied and complex responses (Pinsonneault and Rivard 1998). Accordingly, a significant stream of research has developed to understand how users adapt to IS-induced changes to their work (Wu et al. 2017). ...
Intelligent systems—incorporating computational tools, learning algorithms, and statistical models—can generate knowledge to empower employees in how they conduct their work and increase their job performance. How can organizations realize this potential? Our in-depth study of transformation of work with intelligent systems in a technology maintenance service company provides managerial insights to this question. Although knowledge from intelligent systems can empower employees, employees will need to adapt how they work with intelligent systems to improve their job performance. Interestingly, they can leverage the empowerment to adapt in two ways: maximize benefits, where they use the system to its full potential in conducting work, and minimize disturbances, where they reduce role conflict with the system in conducting work. Although inexperienced employees leverage the empowerment to use the system to its full potential, experienced employees leverage the empowerment to minimize role conflict with the system. How empowered employees realize job performance gains requires understanding how employees channel their empowerment: maximize benefits through use of the system or minimize disturbances through role conflict with the system. Differentiating how inexperienced and experienced employees channel empowerment to increase job performance will enable managers to effectively manage the transformation of work for these two groups.
... Thus, the best way to avoid technostress is to protect the organizational culture of the workplace and provide support in the implementation of new technologies, a culture focused on information sharing, management support, employee participation based on a system of recognition and rewards and training, which positively impacts the user's adaptation to the new technologies adopted by the organization (Rubel, Kee & Rimi, 2020). Organizations can also make use of social support networks (networks of social ties based on positive and negative emotions) and informational ones (networks for sharing information about a task to be developed (Wu et al., 2017;Bruque, Moyano & Eisenberg, 2008). ...
This quantitative descriptive study discusses the effects of technostress on work-home conflict, on quality of life and on intention to stay in organizations among the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) users’ in their daily work. It is a descriptive and quantitative research with 473 respondents from both public and private companies. The results confirm the negative effects of technostress creators and the positive effects of technostress inhibitors in work-home conflict, quality of life, and the intention to stay in organizations. Finally, quality of life partially mediates the relationship between technostress and the intention to stay in the organizations.
Keywords: technostress; work-home conflict; quality of life; intention to stay; organizations.
... This method has been used in other studies on information systems and decision-making (e.g. Warkentin, Goel, & Menard, 2017;Wu et al., 2014). In addition, PLS-SEM is suitable when the data are not normally distributed (Dijkstra & Henseler, 2015;Henseler, Ringle, & Sinkovics, 2009), as is the case in our study. ...
Employees are increasingly relying on mobile devices. In international organizations, more employees are using their personal smartphones for work purposes. Meanwhile, the number of data breaches is rising and affecting the security of customers' data. However, employees' cybersecurity compliance with cybersecurity policies is poorly understood. Researchers have called for a more holistic approach to information security. We propose an employee smartphone-security compliance (ESSC) model, which deepens understanding of employees' information-security behavior by considering influences on the national, organizational, technological (smartphone-specific), and personal levels. The research focuses on secure smartphone use in the workplace among Gen-Mobile (aged 18–35) employees in a cross-cultural context: the United Kingdom (UK), United States (US) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) where 1735 questionnaires were collected. Our findings suggest that those who wish to understand employees' smartphone-security behavior should consider national cybersecurity policies, cultural differences in different countries, and threats specific to smartphone use. In addition, our findings help companies to increase customers’ trust and maintain a positive reputation.
Purpose
Advances in material agency driven by artificial intelligence (AI) have facilitated breakthroughs in material adaptivity enabling smart objects to autonomously provide individualized smart services, which makes smart objects act as social actors embedded in the real world. However, little is known about how material adaptivity fosters the infusion use of smart objects to maximize the value of smart services in customers' lives. This study examines the underlying mechanism of material adaptivity (task and social adaptivity) on AI infusion use, drawing on the theoretical lens of social embeddedness.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), mediating tests, path comparison tests and polynomial modeling to analyze the proposed research model and hypotheses.
Findings
The results supported the proposed research model and hypotheses, except for the hypothesis of the comparative effects on infusion use. Besides, the results of mediating tests suggested the different roles of social embeddedness in the impacts of task and social adaptivity on infusion use. The post hoc analysis based on polynomial modeling provided a possible explanation for the unsupported hypothesis, suggesting the nonlinear differences in the underlying influencing mechanisms of instrumental and relational embeddedness on infusion use.
Practical implications
The formation mechanisms of AI infusion use based on material adaptivity and social embeddedness help to develop the business strategies that enable smart objects as social actors to exert a key role in users' daily lives, in turn realizing the social and economic value of AI.
Originality/value
This study advances the theoretical research on material adaptivity, updates the information system (IS) research on infusion use and identifies the bridging role of social embeddedness of smart objects as agentic social actors in the AI context.
Enterprise collaboration technologies (ECTs) are increasingly recognized for supporting effective and efficient digital collaboration, such as decision-making activities, among employees. Given the social and collaborative nature of ECT use, social network theory offers important and helpful insights into how and why employees’ social network relations facilitate their ECT use. However, existing research primarily examines the effects of a single social network relation or several social network relations separately, without applying a holistic approach to investigate the joint effect of multiple social network relations on ECT use. Drawing on a novel technique of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and social network analysis, this study explores how multiple social network relations (i.e., advice, friendship, and communication) collectively influence ECT use. Using multi-source data from 178 employees in the human resources department of a global technology company, we identify several configurations of multiple social network relations associated with high ECT use and low ECT use. Our findings indicate that a single social network relation is insufficient to explain ECT use and should be considered alongside other social network relations. Overall, this study provides an integrative framework to unpack the complex and contingent effects of multiple social network relations on ECT use.
Purpose
To cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, contact tracing mobile apps (CTMAs) have been developed to trace contact among infected individuals and alert people at risk of infection. To disrupt virus transmission until the majority of the population has been vaccinated, achieving the herd immunity threshold, CTMA continuance usage is essential in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. This study seeks to examine what motivates individuals to continue using CTMAs.
Design/methodology/approach
Following the coping theory, this study proposes a research model to examine CTMA continuance usage, conceptualizing opportunity appraisals (perceived usefulness and perceived distress relief), threat appraisals (privacy concerns) and secondary appraisals (perceived response efficacy) as the predictors of individuals' CTMA continuance usage during the pandemic. In the United States, an online survey was administered to 551 respondents.
Findings
The results revealed that perceived usefulness and response efficacy motivate CTMA continuance usage, while privacy concerns do not.
Originality/value
This study enriches the understanding of CTMA continuance usage during a public health crisis, and it offers practical recommendations for authorities.
With the rapid growth and intense competition of the mobile commerce market, mobile vendors consider retaining current users and facilitating them to continue shopping as vital to sustain profitability and development. This study investigates the influence of trust and perceived usefulness on continuance intention to use mobile shopping, mediated by user adaptation. This study was based on an extended expectation-confirmation model (ECM) by incorporating trust and user adaptation. A questionnaire-based survey was designed to gather data from 445 mobile shoppers in Vietnam using face-to-face interview. Structural equation modelling analysis was applied to validate the hypothesised model. Our results revealed that all relationships, except for the direct relationship between trust and continuance intention significantly affect continuance intention. In addition, user adaptation is verified to mediate fully the relationship between trust and continuance intention. Our work is the first study to extend ECM by integrating trust and user adaptation in an integral way to advance our understanding of how mobile shoppers continue to use mobile shopping services. Finally, our study offers insightful theoretical and practical implications for academicians and firm managers to retain users effectively by promoting the factors that motivate the continuance intention.
This paper makes a focused methodological contribution to the information systems (IS) literature by introducing a bivariate dynamic latent difference score model (BDLDSM) to simultaneously model change trajectories, dynamic relationships, and potential feedback loops between predictor and outcome variables for longitudinal data analysis. It will be most relevant for research that aims to use longitudinal data to explore longitudinal theories related to change. Commonly used longitudinal methods in IS research-linear unobserved effects panel data models, structural equation modeling (SEM), and random coefficient models-largely miss the opportunity to explore rate of change, dynamic relationships, and potential feedback loops between predictor and outcome variables while incorporating change trajectories, which are critical for longitudinal theory development. Latent growth models help address change trajectories, but still prevent researchers from using longitudinal data more thoroughly. For instance, these models cannot be used for examining dynamic relationships or feedback loops. BDLDSM allows IS researchers to analyze change trajectories, understand rate of change in variables, examine dynamic relationships between variables over time, and test for feedback loops between predictor and outcome variables. The use of this methodology has the potential to advance theoretical development by enabling researchers to exploit longitudinal data to test change-related hypotheses and predictions rigorously. We describe the key aspects of various longitudinal techniques, provide an illustration of BDLDSM on a healthcare panel dataset, discuss how BDLDSM addresses the limitations of other methods, and provide a step-by-step guide, including Mplus code, to develop and conduct BDLDSM analyses.
Co-evolutionary approaches to business-IT alignment, such as Co-evolutionary information systems alignment (COISA), have gained attention from scholars and practitioners over the last decade. COISA is an organizational capability defined as continuously exercised alignment competencies, characterized by co-evolutionary interactions between heterogeneous IS stakeholders, in pursuit of a common interpretation and implementation of what it means to apply IT in an appropriate and timely way. In spite of some conceptual and empirical work on COISA, a validated operationalization for empirical measurements for science and practice is not available in the extant literature. We developed a measurement scale through acknowledged procedures, entailing a multivariate structural model consisting of specific facilitators leading to effective alignment competencies. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to propose such a scale.
An extensive number of engineered frameworks and web assessment accessible are not good enough in the appraisal of systems' quality. Thus, the comprehension of the systems' quality in Mukalla, is basically critical. The research literature review aims at developing a successful novel theoretical approach for measuring system. The research contribution can be seen theoretically, in the methodology and practical perspectives. Theoretically, it presents a refined expansion of up-to-date DeLone and McLean's information success framework (2003), TAM and ISO 25010 posits that some factors are directly related to satisfaction. The need to answer why users dislike system after the initial experience must be known. Methodologically, the contribution of the research study will be performed using census and other data collection processes from student were instruments will be validated by 8 experts. Lastly, some factors like loyalty, security and benefits would be adapted and employed on non-commercial settings
Nowadays systems failure is the dominant of current research in the fields of information systems and software engineering. The rate of systems fails, and dissatisfying users are high with a lack of appropriate framework that can be used as a success measure in the context. With mix of the results in systems success measure. The organization is in need for a well-defined engineered framework to assist in the success measure of web-based systems. Yemeni south region's universities are facing the problem (dissatisfying users, justifying the cost of implementing systems and measuring its success). This study aims to propose the characteristics of a quality framework suitable for such a purpose and context of developing a novel systems quality framework based on adapting Delone & Maclean 2003, ISO 25010 and Tam to measure the success and quality of these web-based systems. Researchers validated the framework and instrument via 8 academic specialized lecturers in systems and software engineering from (Malaysia, Yemen and India). Researchers then confirmed the translated questionnaire (English to Arabic and back to back translation) with an authorized translation company. Before starting the pilot study, pre-test has been conducted with nine respondents to see if there is any doubts or unclear syntax, everything was OK. Pilot results showed an excellent result.
In this study, the strategic importance of olap technologies for businesses is emphasized and the methods of
using olap tools are examined. The aim of this course is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the OLAP model in the
correct and rapid management of demand in the enterprises through discussions in the literature and examples from
practice. It has been found that multidimensional analysis systems, known as olap, which process raw data into
meaningful and strategic information, provide managers with an important and useful solution in making fast and
accurate decisions. Fast access to accurate information across the entire supply chain provides great benefits to
managers. Olap provides access to data warehouses for multi-dimensional analysis and decision support. It also
provides the ability to derive new information from stored information that most businesses expect, such as identifying
trends or uncovering customer requests. In our research, as an example of the application, the reports used for the multi�dimensional analysis of data in demand and information management in a business from the retail sector are shown.
Active and widespread use of olap model was determined in the enterprises and the creation of the model and
application examples were also presented. It was found that the Olap model was used effectively by the managers and
contributed to the business. Businesses need decision support models such as the ability to achieve meaningful results
in the shortest time against data masses.
Purpose
In dynamic environments, employees should respond to changing demands carrying out actions to achieve proper knowledge of the information systems (IS) that they use (individual adaptation). However, few studies have investigated the determinants of this behaviour. This study proposes and empirically evaluates a cognitive-attitudinal model grounded in migration theory, which considers push, pull and mooring factors.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collected from ERP users were analysed using partial least squares.
Findings
Coherent with migration theory, the results show that the individual adapts influenced by push factors (dissatisfaction with their current command of the IS), pull factors (expected benefits from improving their command) and mooring factors (attitude to the adaptation process). Also, inertia and cost of adaption impact on attitude.
Research limitations/implications
This study introduces migration theory to the IS literature as a basis for comprehensively explaining adaptation in organisational settings.
Practical implications
The results suggest that management should: exhibit the instrumental benefits of a solid command of the IS; show the current gap in employee knowledge to revert it and, introduce changes to move employees out of their comfort zone to encourage ongoing learning and reduce resistance.
Originality/value
While previous studies have focused on the implementation stage and the emotional factors to explain adaptation, this study intends to bridge this gap by investigating cognitive-attitudinal factors that trigger the intention to adapt in the post-adoption stage. The findings of this study are useful to researchers in adaptation behaviour, and to managers to promote IS learning for their staff.
Provides a nontechnical introduction to the partial least squares (PLS) approach. As a logical base for comparison, the PLS approach for structural path estimation is contrasted to the covariance-based approach. In so doing, a set of considerations are then provided with the goal of helping the reader understand the conditions under which it might be reasonable or even more appropriate to employ this technique. This chapter builds up from various simple 2 latent variable models to a more complex one. The formal PLS model is provided along with a discussion of the properties of its estimates. An empirical example is provided as a basis for highlighting the various analytic considerations when using PLS and the set of tests that one can employ is assessing the validity of a PLS-based model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This paper expands, refines, and explicates media synchronicity theory, originally proposed in a conference proceeding in 1999 (Dennis and Valacich 1999). Media synchronicity theory (MST) focuses on the ability of media to support synchronicity, a shared pattern of coordinated behavior among individuals as they work together. We expand on the original propositions of MST to argue that communication is composed of two primary processes: conveyance and convergence. The familiarity of individuals with the tasks they are performing and with their coworkers will also affect the relative amounts of these two processes. Media synchronicity theory proposes that for conveyance processes, use of media supporting lower synchronicity should result in better communication performance. For convergence processes, use of media supporting higher synchronicity should result in better communication performance. We identify five capabilities of media (symbol sets, parallelism, transmission velocity, rehearsability, and reprocessability) that Influence the development of synchronicity and thus the successful performance of conveyance and convergence communication processes. The successful completion of most tasks involving more than one individual requires both conveyance and convergence processes, thus communication performance will be improved when individuals use a variety of media to perform a task, rather than just one medium.
The information systems (IS) literature has focused considerable research on IS resistance, particularly in the health-care industry. Most of this attention has focused on the impact of IS resistance on systems' initial implementation, but little research has investigated whether and how post-adoption resistance affects performance. We focus on a particular type of post-adoption resistance, which we call IS avoidance, to identify situations in which individuals avoid working with adopted IS despite the need and opportunity to do so. We examine the effects of IS avoidance on patient care delivered by health-care groups across three levels of analysis: the individual level, the shared group level, and the configural group level. We find that IS avoidance is significantly and negatively related to patient care only at the configural group level, which suggests that patient care is not degraded by the number of doctors and/or nurses in a group avoiding a system, but rather by their locations in the group's workflow network configuration. We use qualitative data collected over 16 months at the research site to help explain these results. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Digital divide initiatives in developing countries are an important avenue for the socioeconomic advancement of those countries. Yet little research has focused on understanding the success of such initiatives. We develop a model of technology use and economic outcomes of digital divide initiatives in developing countries. We use social networks as the guiding theoretical lens because it is well suited to this context, given the low literacy, high poverty, high collectivism, and an oral tradition of information dissemination in developing countries. We test our model with longitudinal data gathered from 210 families in a rural village in India in the context of a digital divide initiative. As theorized, we found that the social network constructs contributed significantly to the explanation of technology use (R-2 = 0.39). Also as we predicted, technology use partially mediated the effect of social network constructs on economic outcomes (R-2 = 0.47). We discuss implications for theory and practice.
We identify two post-acceptance information system (IS) usage behaviors related to how employees leverage implemented systems. Routine use (RTN) refers to employees' using IS in a routine and standardized manner to support their work, and innovative use (INV) describes employees' discovering new ways to use IS to support their work. We use motivation theory as the overarching perspective to explain RTN and INV and appropriate the rich intrinsic motivation (RIM) concept from social psychology to propose a conceptualization of RIM toward IS use, which includes intrinsic motivation toward accomplishment (IMap), intrinsic motivation to know (IMkw), and intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation (IMst). We also consider the influence of perceived usefulness (PU)-a representative surrogate construct of extrinsic motivation toward IS use on RTN and INV. We theorize the relative impacts of the RIM constructs and PU on RTN and INV and the role of personal innovativeness with IT (PIIT) in moderating the RIM constructs' influences on INV. Based on data from 193 employees using a business intelligence system at one of the largest telecom service companies in China, we found (1) PU had a stronger impact on RTN than the RIM constructs, (2) IMkw and IMst each had a stronger impact on INV than either PU or IMap, and (3) PIIT positively moderated the impact of each RIM construct on INV. Our findings provide insights on managing RTN and INV in the post-acceptance stage.
The implementation of enterprise systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, alters business processes and associated workflows, and introduces new software applications that employees must use. Employees frequently find such technology-enabled organizational change to be a major challenge. Although many challenges related to such changes have been discussed in prior work, little research has focused on post-implementation job outcomes of employees affected by such change. We draw from social network theory-- specifically, advice networks--to understand a key post-implementation job outcome (i.e., job performance). We conducted a study among 87 employees, with data gathered before and after the implementation of an ERP system module in a business unit of a large organization. We found support for our hypotheses that workflow advice and software advice are associated with job performance. Further, as predicted, we found that the interactions of workflow and software get-advice, workflow and software give-advice, and software get- and give-advice were associated with job performance. This nuanced treatment of advice networks advances our understanding of post-implementation success of enterprise systems.
How can firms extract value from already-implemented information technologies (IT) that support the work processes of employees? One approach is to stimulate employees to engage in post-adoptive extended use, i.e., to learn and apply more of the available functions of the implemented technologies to support their work. Such learning behavior of extending functions in use is ingrained in a process by which users make sense of the technologies in the context of their work system. This study draws on sensemaking theory to develop a model to understand the antecedents, contingencies, and consequences of customer service employees' extended use of customer relationship management (CRM) technologies. The model is tested using multisource longitudinal data collected through a field study of one of the world's largest telecommunications service providers. Our results suggest that employees engage in post-adoptive sensemaking at two levels: technology and work system. We found that sensemaking at both of these levels impacts the extended use of CRM technologies. Employees' sensemaking at the technology level is influenced by employees' assessment of technology quality, whereas employees' sensemaking at the work system level is influenced by customers' assessment of service quality. Moreover, in the case of low technology quality and low service quality, specific mechanisms for employee feedback should be conceptualized and aligned at two levels: through employee participation at the technology level and through work system coordination at the work system level. Such alignment can mitigate the undesirable effect of low technology quality and low service quality, thereby facilitating extended use. Importantly, we found that extended use amplifies employees' service capacity, leading to better objective performance. Put together, our findings highlight the critical role of employees' sensemaking about the implemented technologies in promoting their extended use of IT and improving their work performance.
Team network structure has been shown to be an important determinant of both team and individual performance outcomes, yet few studies have investigated the relationship between team network structure and technology usage behaviors. Drawing from social network and technology use literature, we examine how the structure of a team's advice-seeking network affects individual use of a newly implemented information technology. We develop cross-level hypotheses related to the effects of the structure of mutually interconnected ties within the team (i.e., internal closure) as well as the structure of nonredundant ties outside the team boundaries (i.e., external bridging). The hypotheses are tested in a field study of 265 employees working in 44 teams in a large financial services institution. Results show that internal closure has a U-shaped effect on individual use such that individual usage of the system is higher when the number of internal advice-seeking ties within the team is low or high, suggesting that medium levels of internal closure are the least desirable network configurations because in such instances teams neither realize the benefits of high closure information sharing nor are they able to avoid in-group biases associated with low closure conditions. Our results also reveal that in addition to having a direct positive effect on individual use, external bridging interacts with internal closure in a complex manner. The U-shaped effect of closure is dominant when bridging is high but assumes an inverted U-shaped pattern when bridging is low. Several implications for managers follow from these findings. First, in order to increase usage of technology, in teams characterized by low internal closure, managers should encourage the development of ties across team boundaries. Second, managers should maximize within-team interconnections in order to facilitate the circulation of external knowledge within team boundaries. Finally, managers should be aware that maximizing internal closure by facilitating interconnections among team members could be dangerous if not accompanied by mechanisms for external bridging.
With the strong ongoing push toward investment in and deployment of electronic healthcare (e-healthcare) systems, understanding the factors that drive the use of such systems and the consequences of using such systems is of scientific and practical significance. Elaborate training in new e-healthcare systems is not a luxury that is typically available to healthcare professionals—i.e., doctors, paraprofessionals (e.g., nurses) and administrative personnel—because of the 24 × 7 nature and criticality of operations of healthcare organizations, especially hospitals, thus making peer interactions and support a key driver of or barrier to such e-healthcare system use. Against this backdrop, using social networks as a theoretical lens, this paper presents a nomological network related to e-healthcare system use. A longitudinal study of an e-healthcare system implementation, with data gathered from doctors, paraprofessionals, administrative personnel, patients, and usage logs lent support to the hypotheses that: (1) ingroup and outgroup ties to doctors negatively affect use in all user groups; (2) ingroup and outgroup ties to paraprofessionals and administrative personnel positively affect use in both those groups, but have no effect on doctors' use; and (3) use contributes positively to patient satisfaction mediated by healthcare quality variables—i.e., technical quality, communication, interpersonal interactions, and time spent. This work contributes to the theory and practice related to the success of e-healthcare system use in particular, and information systems in general.
This article examines how different personality types create and benefit from social networks in organizations. Using data from a 116-member high-technology firm, we tested how self-monitoring orientation and network position related to work performance. First, chameleon-like high self-monitors were more likely than true-to-themselves low self-monitors to occupy central positions in social networks. Second, for high (but not for low) self-monitors, longer service in the organization related to the occupancy of strategically advantageous network positions. Third, self-monitoring and centrality in social networks independently predicted individuals' workplace performance. The results paint a picture of people shaping the networks that constrain and enable performance.
A general conceptual model and specific hypotheses about how the meanings attached to strategic issues by decision makers are translated into organizational responses are presented. The model integrates an interpretive view of organizational decision making with cognitive categorization theory. The hypotheses focus on how labeling an issue as either a threat or an opportunity affects both subsequent information processing and the motivations of key decision makers. It is argued that decision makers' cognitions and motivations systematically affect the processing of issues and the types of organizational actions taken in response to them. Both theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Antismoking advertising is increasingly used, but its message content is controversial. In an initial study in which adolescents coded 194 advertisements, the authors identified seven common message themes. Using protection motivation theory, the authors develop hypotheses regarding the message theme effects on cognitions and intentions and test them in an experiment involving 1667 adolescents. Three of the seven message themes increased adolescents' nonsmoking intentions compared with a control; all did so by enhancing adolescents' perceptions that smoking poses severe social disapproval risks. Other message themes increased health risk severity perceptions but were undermined by low perceived vulnerability.
There is widespread agreement among researchers that system usage, defined as the utilization of information technology (IT) by individuals, groups, or organizations, is the primary variable through which IT affects white collar performance. Despite the number of studies targeted at explaining system usage, there are crucial differences in the way the variable has been conceptualized and operationalized. This wide variation of system usage measures hinders the efforts of MIS researchers to compare findings across studies, thus impeding the accumulation of knowledge and theory in this area.
The purpose of this paper is to address conceptual as well as methodological issues related to measuring system usage. First, via LISREL measurement modeling techniques, we compare subjective and objective measures of system usage, namely, self-reported versus computer-recorded measures. Next, using a modified form of Davis' Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a nomological net, we test the nomological validity of these system usage constructs and measures.
Results of the LISREL measurement and nomological net analysis suggest that system usage should be factored into self-reported system usage and computer-recorded system usage. Contrary to expectations, these constructs do not appear to be strongly related to each other. Moreover, while self-reported measures of system usage are related to self-reported measures of TAM independent variables, objective, computer-recorded measures show distinctly weaker links.
In the face of such counter-evidence, it is tempting to argue that research that has relied on subjective measures of system usage (for example, research confirming TAM) may be artifactual. There are several alternative explanations, though, that maintain the integrity of TAM and studies that measure system usage subjectively. These alternative explanations suggest directions for further research as well as new approaches to measurement.
Several issues relating to goodness of fit in structural equations are examined. The convergence and differentiation criteria, as applied by Bagozzi, are shown not to stand up under mathematical or statistical analysis. The authors argue that the choice of interpretative statistic must be based on the research objective. They demonstrate that when this is done the Fornell-Larcker testing system is internally consistent and that it conforms to the rules of correspondence for relating data to abstract variables.
The intuitive background for measures of structural centrality in social networks is reviewed and existing measures are evaluated in terms of their consistency with intuitions and their interpretability.
For the last 25 years, organizations have invested heavily in information technology to support their work processes. In today's organizations, intra-and interorganizational work systems are increasingly IT-enabled. Available evidence, however, suggests the functional potential of these installed IT applications is underutilized. Most IT users apply a narrow band of features, operate at low levels of feature use, and rarely initiate extensions of the available features. We argue that organizations need aggressive tactics to encourage users to expand their use of installed IT-enabled work systems. This article strives to accomplish three primary research-objectives. First, we offer a comprehensive research model aimed both at coalescing existing research on Post-adoptive IT use behaviors and at directing future research on those factors that influence users to (continuously) exploit and extend the functionality built into IT applications. Second, in developing this comprehensive research model, we provide a window (for researchers across a variety of scientific disciplines interested in technology management) into the rich body of research regarding IT adoption use, and diffusion. Finally, we discuss implications and recommend guidelines for research and practice.
This paper explores factors related to user adaptation of information technology (IT). We propose a predictive model of individual-level IT adaptation by integrating adaptation-specific constructs from the technology acceptance model and adaptive structuration theory. The hypothesized model is empirically validated using data collected from a study of My Yahoo web portal usage. Our findings suggest that (1) the key determinants of adaptation behavior are adaptation usefulness, ease of adaptation, and IT adaptability, (2) the outcome of adaptation is enhanced IT usage, and (3) the effect of IT adaptation on usage is moderated by users' extent of work adaptation.
Firms are increasing their investments in collaboration technologies in order to leverage the intellectual resources embedded in their employees. Research on post-adoption use of technology suggests that the true gains from such investments are realized when users explore various system features and attempt to incorporate them into their work practices. However, the literature has been silent about how to promote such behavior when individuals are embedded in team settings, where members' actions are interdependent. This research develops a multilevel model that theorizes the cross-level influence of team empowerment on individual exploration of collaboration technology. Further, it identifies two cognitions-intention to continue exploring and expectation to continue exploring-that are oriented toward exploring ways to incorporate implemented technology into daily work routines over time. A 12-month field study of 212 employees in 48 organizational work teams was conducted to test the multilevel research model. The results provide support for the hypotheses, with team empowerment having a positive cross-level influence on intention to continue exploring and expectation to continue exploring and these, in turn, mediating the cross-level influence of team empowerment on individual exploration of collaboration technology.
Despite the impressive progress in understanding the benefits and challenges related to enterprise system (ES) implementations-such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems-little is known about how the support structures traditionally used by organizations to help employees cope with a new ES affect employee outcomes related to the system and their jobs. Likewise, little is known about how existing peer advice ties in the business unit influence these outcomes after an ES implementation. Understanding employee outcomes is critical because of their ramifications for long-term ES success. This paper examines the impacts of four traditional support structures (namely, training, online support, help desk support, and change management support), and peer advice ties on four key employee outcomes (namely, system satisfaction, job stress, job satisfaction, and job performance). This paper also seeks to show that it is peer advice ties that best fill the complex informational needs of employees after an ES implementation by providing the right information at the right time and in the right context. The proposed model was tested in a field study conducted in one business unit of a large telecommunications company and gathered data from 120 supplier liaisons over the course of a year. Both traditional support structures and peer advice ties were found to influence the various outcomes, even after controlling for pre-implementation levels of the dependent variables. In all cases, peer advice ties was the strongest predictor, thus underscoring the importance of this critical internal resource.
In this article, we provide guidance for substantive researchers on the use of structural equation modeling in practice for theory testing and development. We present a comprehensive, two-step modeling approach that employs a series of nested models and sequential chi-square difference tests. We discuss the comparative advantages of this approach over a one-step approach. Considerations in specification, assessment of fit, and respecification of measurement models using confirmatory factor analysis are reviewed. As background to the two-step approach, the distinction between exploratory and confirmatory analysis, the distinction between complementary approaches for theory testing versus predictive application, and some developments in estimation methods also are discussed.
Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.
We examine how network centrality and closure, two key aspects of network structure, affect technology adoption. In doing so, we consider the content of potential information flows within the network and argue that the impact of network structure on technology adoption can be better understood by separately examining its impact from two groups of alters-current and potential adopters. We contend that increased network centrality and closure among current adopters contribute positively to adoption, whereas the same among potential adopters has exactly the opposite impact. Accordingly, we propose a dynamic view where the fraction of current adopters in the network positively moderates the impact of network centrality and closure. We empirically test the theory by analyzing the adoption of software version control technology by open source software projects. Our results strongly support the theory.
Post-adoptive system use is often characterized by cycles of adaptation, in which people actively revise how they use information systems. This paper investigates how and why individual users revise their system use at the feature level. A new concept, adaptive system use (ASU), is conceptualized as a user's revisions of which and how system features are used. This research identifies four specific ASU behaviors that collectively describe how people revise their use of system features. A model of ASU is developed based on Louis and Sutton's (1991) research on how people switch to active thinking from automatic thinking. The model specifies three antecedents of ASU (novel situations, discrepancies, and deliberate initiatives) and two moderators (personal innovativeness in IT and facilitating conditions). An empirical study of 253 Microsoft Office users largely supported the research model. The findings suggest that triggers--including novel situations, discrepancies, and deliberate initiatives--are a significant impetus to ASU. This research also confirms moderating effects of personal innovativeness in IT. The findings also show the relationships among triggers: in addition to their direct impact on ASU, novel situations and deliberate initiatives exert their influence on ASU indirectly by giving rise to discrepancies in system use. Moreover, a cluster analysis identifies three heterogeneous triggering conditions and reveals that people engage in different ASU behaviors under different triggering conditions.
Using a framework of meaning-making derived from social psychological research on how individuals manage adverse life events and research on sensemaking, we develop and test a theory about how frontline employees overcome the challenges of implementing strategic change. We find that certain types of meaning-making (strategy worldview and benefits finding) can create the requisite psychological resources that facilitate employees engaging in change implementation behaviors. The meaning-making change adaptation model (MCAM) we develop helps explain when and how employees adapt to change, thereby opening the "black box" of how to facilitate more effective strategic change implementation. We develop and empirically test the MCAM using qualitative and quantitative data from a Fortune 500 retailer.
The implementation of enterprise systems has yielded mixed and unpredictable outcomes in organizations. Although the focus of prior research has been on training and individual self-efficacy as important enablers, we examine the roles that the social network structures of employees, and the organizational units where they work, play in influencing the postimplementation success. Data were gathered across several units within a large organization: immediately after the implementation, six months after the implementation, and one year after the implementation. Social network analysis was used to understand the effects of network structures, and hierarchical linear modeling was used to capture the multilevel effects at unit and individual levels. At the unit level of analysis, we found that centralized structures inhibit implementation success. At the individual level of analysis, employees with high in-degree and betweenness centrality reported high task impact and information quality. We also found a cross-level effect such that central employees in centralized units reported implementation success. This suggests that individual-level success can occur even within a unit structure that is detrimental to unit-level success. Our research has significant implications for the implementation of enterprise systems in large organizations.
The goal of this study is to augment explanations of how newly implemented technologies enable network change within organizations with an understanding of when such change is likely to happen. Drawing on the emerging literature on technology affordances, I suggest that informal network change within interdependent organizational groups is unlikely to occur until users converges on a shared appropriation of the new technology’s features such that the affordances the technology enables are jointly realized. In making the argument for the importance of “shared affordances,” this paper suggests that group-level network change has its most profound implications at the organization-level when individuals use the same subset of a new information technology’s features. To explore this tentative theory, I turn to a comparative, multi-method, longitudinal study of computer-based simulation technology use in automotive engineering. The findings of this explanatory case study show that engineers used the new technology for more than three months, during which time neither group experienced changes to their advice networks. Initially, divergent uses of the technology’s features by engineers in both groups precluded them from being able to coordinate their work in ways that allowed them to structure their advice networks differently. Eventually, engineers in only one of the two groups converged on the use of a common set of the technology’s features to enact a shared affordance. This convergence was necessary to turn the technology into a resource that could collectively afford group members the ability to compare their simulation outputs with one another and, in so doing, alter the content and structure of its advice network. I discuss implications of these findings for the literatures on technology feature use, affordances, social networks, and post-adoption behaviors in organizations.
This paper argues that the effect of dense social ties, or network closure, on a knowledge worker's performance depends on the predominant role this worker plays with his or her exchange partners in the relationships affected by that closure. Using data on informal exchanges among investment bankers in the equities division of a large financial services firm operating in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Americas in 2001, we find that network closure in relationships in which the banker acts as an acquirer of information increases his or her performance, whereas closure in relationships in which the banker acts as a provider of information decreases it. We also find that these effects are moderated by the bankers' ability to employ alternative means (such as formal authority) to induce the cooperation of exchange partners in their acquirer role, as well as by the extent to which the bankers can benefit from being free from the control of exchange partners in their provider role. Our findings highlight the two sides of the normative control associated with network closure: control benefits people when they need to induce exchange partners to behave according to their preferences, but it hurts them when it forces them to behave according to the preferences of those partners.
The need for a unified, cross-level (organization, work group, individual employee) model of organizational downsizing has been suggested by several authors (e.g., Kozlowski et al., 1993). The definition of downsizing, in terms applicable only at the organization level, prevents researchers from developing a more cohesive view of the interactive impact of downsizing for the organization, work groups, and individuals. In this paper, we define downsizing more broadly as a constellation of stressor events centering around pressures toward work force reductions which place demands upon the organization, work groups, and individual employees, and require a process of coping and adaptation. This stress-based view of downsizing allows researchers to develop concepts to guide research on downsizing that are more broadly applicable across levels of analysis. To show the advantages of this stress-based view of downsizing, this paper uses concepts from the stress coping literature to identify a set of critical dependent variables that should be studied in downsizing research. We argue that these variables are applicable for organization, group, and individual employee-level research.
In marketing applications of structural equation models with unobservable variables, researchers have relied almost exclusively on LISREL for parameter estimation. Apparently they have been little concerned about the frequent inability of marketing data to meet the requirements for maximum likelihood estimation or the common occurrence of improper solutions in LISREL modeling. The authors demonstrate that partial least squares (PLS) can be used to overcome these two problems. PLS is somewhat less well-grounded than LISREL in traditional statistical and psychometric theory. The authors show, however, that under certain model specifications the two methods produce the same results. In more general cases, the methods provide results which diverge in certain systematic ways. These differences are analyzed and explained in terms of the underlying objectives of each method.
The past decade has brought advanced information technologies, which include electronic messaging systems, executive information systems, collaborative systems, group decision support systems, and other technologies that use sophisticated information management to enable multiparty participation in organization activities. Developers and users of these systems hold high hopes for their potential to change organizations for the better, but actual changes often do not occur, or occur inconsistently. We propose adaptive structuration theory (AST) as a viable approach for studying the role of advanced information technologies in organization change. AST examines the change process from two vantage points: (1) the types of structures that are provided by advanced technologies, and (2) the structures that actually emerge in human action as people interact with these technologies. To illustrate the principles of AST, we consider the small group meeting and the use of a group decision support system (GDSS). A GDSS is an interesting technology for study because it can be structured in a myriad of ways, and social interaction unfolds as the GDSS is used. Both the structure of the technology and the emergent structure of social action can be studied. We begin by positioning AST among competing theoretical perspectives of technology and change. Next, we describe the theoretical roots and scope of the theory as it is applied to GDSS use and state the essential assumptions, concepts, and propositions of AST. We outline an analytic strategy for applying AST principles and provide an illustration of how our analytic approach can shed light on the impacts of advanced technologies on organizations. A major strength of AST is that it expounds the nature of social structures within advanced information technologies and the key interaction processes that figure in their use. By capturing these processes and tracing their impacts, we can reveal the complexity of technology-organization relationships. We can attain a better understanding of how to implement technologies, and we may also be able to develop improved designs or educational programs that promote productive adaptations.
Information systems must be used effectively to obtain maximum benefits from them. However, despite a great deal of research on when and why systems are used, very little research has examined what effective system use involves and what drives it. To move from use to effective use requires understanding an information system’s nature and purpose, which in turn requires a theory of information systems. We draw on representation theory, which states that an information system is made up of several structures that serve to represent some part of the world that a user and other stakeholders must understand. From this theory, we derive a high-level framework of how effective use and performance evolve, as well as specific models of the nature and drivers of effective use. The models are designed to explain the effective use of any information system and offer unique insights that would not be offered by traditional views, which tend to consider information systems to be just another tool. We explain how our theory extends existing research, provides a rich platform for research on effective use, and how it contributes back to the theory of information systems from which it was derived.
This research considers how different features of informal networks affect knowledge transfer. As a complement to previous research that has emphasized the dyadic tie strength component of informal networks, we focus on how network structure influences the knowledge transfer process. We propose that social cohesion around a relationship affects the willingness and motivation of individuals to invest time, energy, and effort in sharing knowledge with others. We further argue that the network range, ties to different knowledge pools, increases a person's ability to convey complex ideas to heterogeneous audiences. We also examine explanations for knowledge transfer based on absorptive capacity, which emphasizes the role of common knowledge, and relational embeddedness, which stresses the importance of tie strength. We investigate the network effect on knowledge transfer using data from a contract R&D firm. The results indicate that both social cohesion and network range ease knowledge transfer, over and above the effect for the strength of the tie between two people. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on effective knowledge transfer, social capital, and information diffusion.
This paper explores the hypothesis that network interaction patterns affect employee perceptions through two conceptually and empirically distinguishable mechanisms: localized social influence based on network proximity and systemic power based on network centrality. The study explores the relative contributions of individual attributes, formal organizational positions, network centrality, and network proximity in explaining individual variation in perceptions of work-related conditions in an advertising firm. Results suggest that network factors shape job-related perceptions, over and above the effects of individual attributes and formal positions. Both advice network centrality and friendship network proximity evidenced significant effects, although they were stronger for centrality than for proximity.
Analyzing data on utility patents from 1975 to 2002 in the careers of 35,400 collaborative inventors, this study examines the influence of brokered versus cohesive collaborative social structures on an individual's creativity. We test the hypothesis that brokerage—direct ties to collaborators who themselves do not have direct ties to each other—leads to greater collaborative creativity. We then test interaction hypotheses on the marginal benefits of cohesion, when collaborators have independent ties between themselves that do not include the individual. We identify the moderators of brokerage and argue for contingent benefits, based on the interaction of structure with the attributes, career experiences, and extended networks of individuals and their collaborators. Using a social definition of creative success, we also trace the development of creative ideas from their generation through future use by others. We test the hypothesis that brokered ideas are less likely to be used in future creative efforts. The results illustrate how collaborative brokerage can aid in the generation of an idea but then hamper its diffusion and use by others.
I present argument and evidence for a structural ecology of social capital that describes how the value of social capital to an individual is contingent on the number of people doing the same work. The information and control benefits of bridging the structural holes - or, disconnections between nonredundant contacts in a network -that constitute social capital are especially valuable to managers with few peers. Such managers do not have the guiding frame of reference for behavior provided by numerous competitors, and the work they do does not have the legitimacy provided by numerous people doing the same kind of work. I use network and performance data on a probability sample of senior managers to show how the value of social capital, high on average for the managers, varies as a power function of the number of people doing the same work.
Proposes a theory of cognitive adaptation to threatening events. It is argued that the adjustment process centers around 3 themes: A search for meaning in the experience, an attempt to regain mastery over the event in particular and over life more generally, and an effort to restore self-esteem through self-enhancing evaluations. These themes are discussed with reference to cancer patients' coping efforts. It is maintained that successful adjustment depends, in a large part, on the ability to sustain and modify illusions that buffer not only against present threats but also against possible future setbacks. (84 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Conservation of Resources (COR) theory predicts that resource loss is the principal ingredient in the stress process. Resource gain, in turn, is depicted as of increasing importance in the context of loss. Because resources are also used to prevent resource loss, at each stage of the stress process people are increasingly vulnerable to negative stress sequelae, that if ongoing result in rapid and impactful loss spirals. COR theory is seen as an alternative to appraisal-based stress theories because it relies more centrally on the objective and culturally construed nature of the environment in determining the stress process, rather than the individual’s personal construel. COR theory has been successfully employed in predicting a range of stress outcomes in organisational settings, health contexts, following traumatic stress, and in the face of everyday stressors. Recent advances in understanding the biological, cognitive, and social bases of stress responding are seen as consistent with the original formulation of COR theory, but call for envisioning of COR theory and the stress process within a more collectivist backdrop than was first posited. The role of both resource losses and gains in predicting positive stress outcomes is also considered. Finally, the limitations and applications of COR theory are discussed.
A comparison is undertaken between scale development and index construction procedures to trace the implications of adopting a reflective versus formative perspective when creating multi-item measures for organizational research. Focusing on export coordination as an illustrative construct of interest, the results show that the choice of measurement perspective impacts on the content, parsimony and criterion validity of the derived coordination measures. Implications for practising researchers seeking to develop multi-item measures of organizational constructs are considered.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between advice-giving, advice-receiving, and employee work attitudes. We argue that (1) both advice-receiving and advice-giving will be positively related to job involvement; (2) advice-receiving will be more strongly associated with work-unit commitment than advice-giving; and (3) job involvement will mediate the relationship between advice-receiving and work-unit commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted an empirical study of admissions department employees at a large university in southwest Pennsylvania in the United States. Respondents completed surveys which included questions related to demographics, social network ties, and attitudes.
Findings
We found that while advice-giving and advice-receiving were positively related to job involvement, only advice-receiving was positively related to work-unit commitment. Job involvement fully mediated the relationship between advice-receiving and work-unit commitment.
Implications
Our study (1) shows that advice-giving and advice-receiving are related to important work-related attitudes in organizations; (2) highlights the importance of the directionality of advice flow, as employees who received as opposed to provided advice tended to have higher levels of work-unit commitment; and (3) demonstrates that social network ties were related to work-unit attachment through job involvement.
Originality/value
We examine job involvement and work-unit commitment using a social network analysis thus providing new insights about the relationships between advice-giving, advice-receiving and these important variables.
For the purpose of better understanding the sociopsychological factors involved in an individual's coping process towards technochanges, this study examines how the social capital derived from two types of social networks - supportive and informational - influences individual adaptation to the new ICT and its related performance. Based on the social network theory and the coping theory, we establish a research model that combines social network variables with psychometric ones. A total of 85 responses are analyzed to test the proposed model and its hypotheses using PLS and UCINET. The results show that the coping effort mechanism of individuals can be explained in terms of social networks. Specifically, supportive network position significantly predicts self-efficacy that explains emotion-focused coping mechanism, while informational network position significantly influences absorptive capacity that accounts for problem-focused coping mechanism. We conclude the paper by discussing theoretical and practical implications for the research findings in terms of social networks and technochanges.
We investigate how consumers manage stressful emotional experiences in purchase-related situations. Eight coping strategies that consumers may use to deal with stressful incidents are distinguished and hypotheses are formulated about which coping strategies are linked to each of four different negative emotions (anger, disappointment, regret, and worry). The findings indicate that distinct strategies are employed by consumers to cope with different emotions, or the problem that caused these emotions, and that the emotion-coping relations are generalizable across two samples of respondents.