Theses/Dissertations - Information Systems & Business Analytics
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Browsing Theses/Dissertations - Information Systems & Business Analytics by Author "Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)"
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Item Acceptance of anthropomorphic technology.(August 2022) Cornelius, Samia, 1988-; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)Just as the way a person looks and/or behaves affects human-to-human interaction, it may also affect the interaction of humans with avatars, digital characters, and computer interfaces. Anthropomorphic technology is technology that looks or behaves like human beings and is increasingly playing an important role in human-to-computer interactional processes. Extant research informs user responses of familiarity and acceptance to anthropomorphic technology, but also withdrawal from and rejection of anthropomorphic technology due to the presence of the uncanny valley, threat to the human distinctiveness, or the undermining of traditional expectations from machines. Integration on the topic is sparse, and with advancements in natural face technology and artificial intelligence, the extent of “human-likeness” continues to change and evolve. Moreover, with anthropomorphic technology becoming mainstream, user preferences continue to alter. To help resolve some of the ambiguity surrounding anthropomorphic design and add updated knowledge to the current body of research, this dissertation presents an organizing and assessing review to integrate extant literature studying anthropomorphic technology and present a research agenda. It then conducts three online experiments to assess user perceptions of the credibility and persuasiveness of virtual influencers. Virtual influencers are computer-generated images that project advanced levels of visual realism and are prevalent in the digital environment. In the papers presented, we test extant theoretical perspectives and challenge the increasing investments in anthropomorphic visual design. We present a case for the development of less human-like digital characters for better utility and acceptance, especially in the case of persuasion.Item Advancing research on hybrid organizations : insights from the management practices of a large firm diversified into multiple digitally enabled businesses.(2016-11-16) Zhang, Sixuan, 1985-; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)The advances in information technology have dramatically augmented the reach, flexibility, and agility of modern enterprises. In the past years, many large companies rapidly expanded their business scopes and spanned their organizational boundaries, diversifying into various digitally enabled businesses. These firms may achieve organizational innovations and business opportunities through the integration of digital products and services in different fields. We argue that this new form of organizations be the next breed of organizations and their integration efforts pose certain intraorganizational level “organizing” challenges that have not yet covered sufficiently in the literature: How to design organizational activities, structures, and processes to support such integration. This dissertation adopts the hybrid organizing perspective to explore the intraorganizational level mechanisms that explain how large firms diversified into multiple digitally enabled businesses achieve integration. To do so, a case study of LeEco, an internet and technology giant in China, is conducted. This dissertation makes two important contributions. First, this dissertation advances understanding of hybrids by demonstrating how hybrids embedded in a more complex pluralistic institutional environment achieve integration at the intraorganizational level. It also contributes to knowledge of hybrids by identifying the generative aspects of the combination of multiple elements. Second, utilizing hybrid organizing as a sensitizing device to unearth the intraorganizational level mechanisms that explain how a big firm diversified into multiple digitally enabled businesses achieve integration at the intraorganizational level, this dissertation contributes back to hybrid organizing by identifying several internal links between the four internal-oriented dimensions of hybrid organizing.Item Information Overload : detection and prevention through the usage of consumer neural devices.(2017-07-06) Milic, Nash A., 1987-; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)Information Overload is a state in which individuals have a vast amount of information that is readily available, almost instantaneously, without mechanisms to check the validity of the content and the potential risk of misinformation. The Information Age and growing excess of digitally available information amplifies the problem of Information Overload, which handicaps employees’ productivity and well-being.This dissertation employs a non invasive customer oriented EEG sensor to explore how Information Overload affects the human brain, its executive parts and its cognitive functions and develops a theoretical mechanism for understanding the Information Overload phenomena.Item Internal social media's impact on socialization and commitment.(2013-05-15) Gonzalez, Ester S.; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.); Information Systems.; Parks, Brian, USAA.; Baylor University. Dept. of Information Systems.Social media technologies present an opportunity for organizations to create value by acclimating new employees and increasing organizational commitment. Past research has indicated that many organizations have leveraged social media in innovative ways. The purpose of this study is to investigate an internal social media tool that was designed and implemented as part of a new hire program with the objective of socializing new hires in hopes of increasing employee commitment. A survey was administered to approximately 458 IT employees of a large, financial institution and 198 employees responded. This dissertation suggests that work related social media use is associated with role clarity and normative commitment. It also suggests that social related social media use is associated with knowledge of organizational culture, social acceptance, and affective commitment. In this dissertation, two types of social media use, four indicators of socialization and three indicators of commitment were analyzed. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of the findings and recommendations for future research on social media.Item Shopping for a cause : exploring the role of information systems in ethical consumption.(2017-07-24) Giddens, Laurie G., 1979-; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)There is a growing awareness and concern from consumers about the negative impacts of their consumption decisions on the environment, public health, and the global economy. Consequently, consumers are beginning to seek assurance that the products they consume are environmentally and socially conscious. One way consumers can address these concerns is by purchasing ethically sourced products, an activity referred to as ethical consumption. For consumers to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their consumer choices, they must be provided information on the ethical attributes of the products they purchase. Ethical consumption apps (ECAs) provide consumers with this information. ECAs provide real-time information to the consumer on the ethical attributes of products. These mobile apps allow the user to scan products of interest and receive information on the provenance, environmental effects, safety, and social impacts of products at the time of purchase. While ECAs have the potential to encourage ethical consumption, research investigating these applications, their functionality, and use remains scant. The goal of this research is to fill this gap by investigating the following research questions: (1) how do consumers use information provisioned through ethical consumption apps? and (2) what is the impact of ECA use on purchasing behavior? To investigate these research questions, I conduct a qualitative study using a grounded theory approach. Based on the findings of data collected from ECA users and producers, I propose a Model of IT Enabled Behavior Change. This model illuminates the role of information systems in ethical consumption. Moreover, these findings are applicable to understanding how individuals utilize information systems to support voluntary behavior change. These findings have implications for theory, practice, and society.Item The digitized infant : a field study of entangled emotions and affordances.(2020-06-30) Leestma, Peter O., 1986-; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)The digitization of one’s personal data is of growing interest in the information systems discipline. Parents digitizing their infant’s personal data in the form of infant monitoring is of particular interest. This study examines emotions and affordances within the context of remote infant monitoring. Through an affordance lens, this research conducts an exploratory field study to investigate the role of emotions in the use of an infant monitoring system (IMS). A qualitative analysis of 2,741 online reviews indicates emotional, behavioral, and physical drivers motivating the use of the IMS. Several emotional and behavioral affordances are available through the use of IMS features. Existing in tension with the affordances, constraints limit the affordances of the technology. Several positive and negative outcomes result from both the affordances and constraints. This research furthers the digitization of self literature by contributing to remote monitoring, emotions, and affordances through the development of the Affordance-Constraint-Outcome model.Item The downsides of information systems security policy compliance efforts : toward a Theory of Unintended Reversed Security Action and Productivity (TURSAP).(2016-04-26) Balozian, Puzant Y., 1983-; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)Modern organizations face significant information security violations from inside the organizations to which they respond with various managerial techniques. It is widely believed in IS security literature that enforcing IS security policy compliance on employees through various means is the solution for security effectiveness. Nevertheless, this dissertation challenges that notion and advances a stream of research that suggests increasing security measures may lead to decrease in user productivity, increased user mistrust toward the IT department, increased user frustration, increased user technology avoidance, increased non-malicious volitional security violations and overall may lead to increased security risk, instead of decreasing it. This dissertation explores the how and why of these mechanisms and suggests what to do about this phenomenon. Following a grounded theory methodology, this dissertation develops the Theory of Unintended Reversed Security Action and Productivity (TURSAP), the first of its kind in exploring the downsides of IS security measures.Item The transparency of information systems organizations.(2016-06-09) Milovich, Michael.; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)The awareness of technology by end-users is expanding. Starting with the millennials, today’s digital natives have grown up with technology awareness while earlier generations have immigrated to an understanding of technology. The constant availability of devices and digital data has made this awareness a natural or forced extension in one’s personal life. Technology awareness is necessary for keeping up with friends and family or fulfilling a job requirement. Moreover, technology use blends across personal and business activities. Technology awareness has created a heightened need for information systems (IS) organization transparency about technology. Yet, a theory of IS organization’s transparency does not exist. The need for transparency in business is not new. Transparency has been a core topic since The Great Depression. Without an academic theory, transparency in business practice has primarily been legislated through laws and declarations in countries around the world. The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical lens for understanding the perceptions of an IS organization’s transparency, an academic basis that is resolute enough to frame the communication of an IS organization in an age of ubiquitous technology consumerization and digital information for a reasonably informed and interested person. Extant research shows IS strategies and policies must be transparent to users throughout an organization, not just upper management. However, not all business departments want or need the same degree of transparency. This research is a positivist case study of data collected from thirty participants in five departments of a regional not-for-profit health care system. A cyclical analysis produces concepts that become central characteristics in an IS organization’s transparency. These concepts were tested to understand the degree of transparency valued by each department.Item A theory of information systems strategy : antecedents and performance impacts through the development of dynamic capabilities.(2012-08-08) Lo, Janice.; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.); Information Systems.; Baylor University. Dept. of Information Systems.Of central importance to the functioning of the IT department is its information systems (IS) strategy which delineates the perspective it takes toward IS and the general attitudes that reflect intentions regarding IS. While research attention has been copiously given to the arena relating to the strategic value of IS, much of it focuses on strategic IS planning, strategic alignment, and IS for competitive advantage. Fewer studies have assessed the impact of the IS strategy itself, which can be an important avenue through which firm performance may be realized. As such, we propose and test a theory of IS strategy that seeks to link IS strategy to IS’s contribution to firm performance. Drawing upon two major perspectives—the power and politics perspective and dynamic capabilities perspective—to formulate the research, we offer a model that includes antecedents and expected impacts of IS strategy. Responses from 271 CIOs were collected via an online-based survey to test the proposed model. Results suggest that the culture and power of the IT department are significantly associated with the type of IS strategy implemented. When departmental members are highly involved in the affairs of the department, the strategy is more likely to be defined, but not necessarily innovative; rather, a culture where creativity and risk taking abound is one in which innovative strategies seem to thrive. Further, departments with greater resource support and CIO expertise tend to implement more innovative strategies. Results also provide insights into the impacts of IS strategy. While innovative strategies reinforce dynamic capabilities development, undefined strategies tend to prove detrimental to capabilities development, and conservative strategies tend to neither help nor hurt capabilities development. The impact of strategy on performance is mediated through dynamic capabilities, with the IS Innovator leading in way of performance, followed by the IS Conservative, and lastly the IS Undefined, whose lack of strategy is harmful. Post-hoc analysis revealed a fourth possible IS strategy, one that strives for ambidexterity. Ambidextrous firms were associated with the most superior performance, leading to a potential extension of the existing IS strategy typology and a call for future research.Item Three essays on firm-hosted online user communities.(2017-06-07) Yan, Jie, 1979-; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)Firms have been increasingly relying on building online user communities (OUCs) to access external, distant knowledge and expertise. In OUCs, participants – i.e., external product users and internal employees of the host firm – can interact with each other to discuss questions and evaluate ideas for existing product support and new product development. In this dissertation, I try to comprehensively study OUCs with three separate yet related essays focusing on different community entities – i.e., external product users and/or internal employees – in different contexts – i.e., online support communities (OSCs) for existing product support or online user innovation communities (OUICs) for new product development. The first essay focuses on the role of internal employees and investigates the innovation outcomes of employees participating in OUICs. The second essay focuses on both product users and host firm employees and examines the antecedents and consequences of employee-generated content in OSCs. In contrast, the third essay focuses on product users and examines a self-reinforcing spiral relationship between users’ social capital and knowledge contribution under a broader OUC context.Item Transforming viscous data into liquid data : how does intermediating through platforms impact data?(2019-07-15) George, Jordana Jeanne, 1960-; Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.)This study examines how data platform intermediaries enable the evolution of viscous data into liquid data. Viscous data represents the many data usage problems that have plagued information systems since data was first used. Data may be viscous because of poor quality, lack of timeliness, size issues, unusable formats, missing metadata, poor access for users, and inability to move data between systems. Viscous data is problematic to use and difficult to incorporate into decision making. On the other hand, liquid data is easy to use. It is high quality, formatted to be machine-readable, has provenance and metadata, is easy to move in and out of different systems, is accessible by users, and lends itself well to becoming actionable information that can be used for decision making. Using a longitudinal case study that follows a data platform intermediary startup company from late 2015 to 2018, I break down elements of the platform into data users, data providers, and data intermediaries. Using a lens from the Community of Practice literature, I show how sociality is a key factor in transforming data from viscous to liquid which ultimately results in the democratization of data. The contribution of this work is a new aspect to data management; the incorporation of social features to address decades-old problems in data warehousing and analytics systems.