Chapter 4 Learning Objectives Information Systems and The ...barney.gonzaga.edu/~chen/mbus626/chapters_pres/CUP/chapter4.pdfIT to Facilitate Collaboration • Thomas Friedman (the

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Chapter 4

Information Systems and The

Design of Work

Jason C. H. Chen, Ph.D.

Professor of MIS

School of Business Administration

Gonzaga University

Spokane, WA 99258

[email protected] 1 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

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Learning Objectives • Understand how IT has changed the nature of work.

• Define virtual organizations and how they work.

• List the technologies that are used to support communication and collaboration.

• Explain telecommuting and the technologies that support telecommuting.

• Discuss how managers need to manage virtual teams, and the challenges this creates.

• Understand how attitudes impact technology acceptance in organizations.

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Real World Example

• Best Buy, the leading U.S. retailer in electronics, completely

transformed its view of the ordinary workday.

• Known for killer hours and herd-riding bosses, it ushered in a

new approach to work: Results-Only Work Environment

(ROWE).

• Brainchild of two passionate employees who thought that Best

Buy managers were mired in analog-age inertia and did not

recognize that employees could use technology to perform work

from a variety of places.

• ROWE is a program that allows limitless flexibility when it

comes to work hours. – Employees can choose where and when they will do their work ---

as long as project goals are satisfied.

– Employee decisions about working hours and location are framed

by 13 guideposts --- the most surprising of which is “Every

meeting is optional.” 3 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Real World Example

• Best Buy claims that productivity soared 41%

between 2005 and 2007 on ROWE teams, and

voluntary turnover plummeted 90%.

• This helped Best Buy save $16 million each year.

• Other companies (IBM, AT&T) have adopted similar

strategies.

• The nature of work is changing before our eyes ---

and information technology is supporting, if not

propelling, the changes.

4


Approach to Work

• Technology has now brought the approach to

work full circle.

– Time and place of work are increasingly blended with

other aspects of living.

• People now can do their work in their own homes

at times that accommodate home-life and leisure

activities.

• They are able to enter cyberspace --- a virtually

unlimited space full of opportunities.

5 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

INTRODUCTION

• Chapter 3 explored how IT influences the design

of both physical and virtual organizations.

• Chapter 4 looks at the impact of IS on the way

work is done by individual workers.

• It explores:

– the changing nature or work,

– IT’s impact on different types of workers, and

– the rise of new work environments.

N 6

2


Impact of IT on Work Processes

• New IT systems, if not implemented properly, can

create confusion and alienate workers from the

work process

• Automation may increase productivity and reduce

costs, but can also lower morale and job

satisfaction, with employees feeling they are just

“pushing buttons”.

• This chapter should help managers understand the

challenges in designing work systems that

overcome resistance to IT

N 7 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

MEASURES OF IS SUCCESS

1. HIGH LEVELS OF USE

2. USER ______________

3. FAVORABLE ____________

4. ACHIEVED ______________

5. __________ PAYOFF

SATISFACTION

ATTITUDES

OBJECTIVES

FINANCIAL

8


Two Important Models

• Framework for work design impact (Figure

4.1)

• TAM

– Technology Acceptance Model

– CUSTOMER PERCEIVED VALUE

– Gaining acceptance for IT-induced Change


WORK DESIGN FRAMEWORK

• A simple framework can be used to assess how emerging

technologies may affect work.

• Increasingly, places are being constructed in cyberspace using

Web 2.0 tools that encourage ____________.

• Employees can work at home via cyberspace and at times that

accommodate home-life and leisure activities

• This framework is useful in designing key characteristics of work

by asking key questions (see figure 4.1). Such as:

– What work will be performed?

– Who is going to do the work?

– Where will the work be performed?

– When will the work be performed?

– How can IS increase the effectiveness of the workers doing the

work ? (How can IT support collaboration?)

collaboration

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IS Effect on How the Work is Done

• What work will be performed?

– An assessment of specific desired outcomes, inputs, and the

transformation needed to turn inputs into outcomes.

• Who is going to do the work? – Work can be automated.

– If a person is going to do the work, what skills are needed?

• Where will the work be performed?

– Does the work need to be performed locally at a company office?

• When will the work be performed?

• How can IT increase the effectiveness of the workers

doing the work?

– How can IT support collaboration?


Figure 4.1 Framework for work design.

12

3


Figure 4.1 (Revised) Framework for work design impact

What work need to be performed?

Operations (service, manufacturing) KM

What is the best way to have these tasks done?

Automate the tasks Who is going to do the work?

Where is that person,

Where is the work performed

(Office, Home, On the Road),

When doing the work?

How can IT enhance the

efficiency and satisfaction of the

worker doing these tasks?

Done by person Done by computer

Individuals Groups

Where is the group doing

the work? (together or

Geographically dispersed)

When doing the work?

How can IT enhance the

Effectiveness of the group

Doing the work?

When will the

work be perform?

9-5, 24/7 or

Flexible scheduling 13 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

HOW INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY CHANGES

THE NATURE OF WORK

14


IT to Facilitate Communication

• E-mail

• Intranet

• Instant Messaging

(IM)

• Voice over IP (VoIP)

• Video Teleconferencing

• File Transfer

• Unified communications – an

"evolving communications technology

architecture which automates and

unifies all forms of human and device

communications in context, and with a

common experience

• RSS - refers to a structured file format

for porting data from one platform or

information system to another.

• VPN (Virtual Private Network) -

private data network that leverages the

public telecommunication

infrastructure. It maintains privacy

through the use of a tunneling protocol

and security procedures. Very useful

for telecommuters.


IT to Facilitate Collaboration

• Thomas Friedman (the author of “The World is Flat”) argues that collaboration is the way that small companies can “act big” and flourish in today’s flat world.

• Social networking - a web-based service that allows its members to create a public profile with their interests and expertise, post text and pictures and all manner of data, list other users with whom they share a connection, and view and communicate openly or privately with their list of connections and those made by others within the system (MySpace, Face Book, etc.).

• Virtual worlds - computer-based simulated environments intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars (like Second Life).

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IT to Facilitate Collaboration

• Web logs (Blogs) - 0nline journals that link together into a very large network of information sharing. – Companies use for a variety of communication purposes.

• Wikis - software that allows users to work collaboratively to create, edit and link webpages easily.

• Groupware - software that enables group members to work together on a project, from anywhere, by allowing them to simultaneously access the same files.


IT Alters Employee Life

• The three ways in which new IT alters employee life:

– Creating _________________.

– Enabling new ways __________________.

– Supporting new ways _______________.

• IT often leads to the creation of new jobs or redefines

existing ones.

• Positions in IT include:

– Programmers, analysts, IT managers, hardware

assemblers, website designers, software sales personnel,

social media specialists, and IT consultants.

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics places the number of

IT workers at 4.1 million.

new types of work

to do traditional work,

to manage talent

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4


Creating New Types of Work

• IT has created many new jobs and redefined existing ones.

• New types of jobs:

– ___________ managers - manage the firm’s knowledge systems

(Chapter 11).

– __________ managers - manage the firm’s online communities.

– _____________ managers - manage the use of communication

technologies for the business.

• IS departments also employ:

– Systems analysts, database administrators, network

administrators, and network security advisors.

• Every department in every business has someone who “knows

the computer” as part of his or her job.

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Knowledge

Community

Communications


New Ways to Do Traditional Work

• Many traditional jobs are now done by computers (i.e.,

using spell check instead of an editor).

• The introduction of IT into an organization can greatly

change the day-to-day tasks performed by the employees.

• Data entry workflow is faster.

– Data is captured directly when it is entered by the user

via:

• web-based entry; GPS signal; RFID code.

• The Internet enables changes in many types of work.

• The cost and time required to access information has

plummeted, increasing personal productivity and giving

workers new tools. 20


Changing Communication Patterns

• Cell phones and other portable communication devices

have changed our communication environment.

– Talking on the cell phone, texting, and using apps to

search for information.

• Applications (apps) such as Skype, Twitter, and Sina

Weibo (Chinese Twitter) have changed how people

communicate.

• IT is changing the communication patterns of workers.

• Some workers do not need to communicate with their co-

workers for the bulk of the workday.

• Some workers need access to up-to-date information and

communications between co-workers, customers, and

suppliers. 21 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Changing Collaboration

• Teams work more fluidly despite an increasing

workload.

• Teams have learned to collaborate by continually

structuring and re-structuring their work.

• IT helps make work more team-oriented and

collaborative via:

– Blogs, virtual worlds, wikis, social networking, and

video teleconferencing.

• Workers can more easily share information with their

teammates.

• The Internet greatly enhances collaboration—especially

through e-mail, instant messaging, and Web 2.0

technologies.

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Real World Example

• VeriFone, a leading manufacturer of credit verification

systems, is well-known for its virtual organization.

• Founded in 1981 by an entrepreneur who hated

bureaucracy.

• By 1990, it was the leading company for transaction

automation with products and services used in more than

80 countries.

• Limited presence at corporate headquarters, and

employees are placed close to their customers, limiting

travel.

• At the heart of the company culture is constant and

reliable sharing of information.


Changing the Ways to Connect

• New technologies enable people to be always connected.

• The boundaries between work and play are being ______,

and people often struggle with work-life balance.

• Technology at home differs from that at work:

– Home: People use social media tools on tablets, laptops,

and smart-phones.

– Work: Computers have limited Internet connectivity.

• CIOs have the ability to drastically improve productivity

by making directories of knowledge-holders available

through newer social media tools.

• IS can greatly change day-to-day tasks, which in turn

change the skills needed by workers.

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blurred

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New Challenges in Managing People

• New challenges in how workers are supervised,

evaluated, compensated, and ______.

• Managing a global workforce (Figure 4.3):

– Working in isolation from direct supervision.

– Increasingly working in _______.

• One solution is to use electronic employee

monitoring systems, automating supervision.

– Tracks activities such as the number of calls processed,

e-mail messages sent, or time spent surfing the web.

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teams

hired


Traditional Approach: Subjective Observation

Newer Approach: Objective Assessment

Supervision

Personal and informal. Manager is

usually present or relies on others to

ensure that employee is present and

productive.

Electronic or assessed by deliverable.

As long as the employee is producing

value, he does not need formal

supervisions.

Evaluation Focus is on process through direct

observation. Manager sees how

employee performed at work.

Subjective (personal) factors are

very important.

Focus is on output by deliverable (e.g.,

produce a report by a certain date) or by

target (e.g., meet a sales quota). As long

as deliverables are produced and/or

targets are achieved, the employee is

meeting performance expectations

adequately. Subjective factors may be

less important and harder to gauge.

Compensation

and Rewards

Often individually-based. Often team-based or contractually

spelled out.

Hiring Personal with little reliance on

computers. Often more reliance on

clerical skills.

Often electronic with recruiting

websites and electronic testing. More

information-based work that requires

a higher level of IT skills.

Figure 4.3 Changes to supervision, evaluation, compensation, and hiring.

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IT Has Changed Hiring

1. Workers must know how to use the technology for their job or

be trainable.

– Hiring procedures incorporate activities that determine the

skills of applicants.

2. IT utilization affects the array of non-technical skills needed in

an organization.

– IT-savvy companies can eliminate clerical capabilities from

their hiring practices and focus resources on more targeted

skills.

3. IT has become an ________ part of the hiring process (online

job postings, online applications, etc.).

– Social networking also involves informal introductions and

casual conversations in cyberspace.

– Virtual interviews can be arranged to reduce recruiting costs.

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essential


IT Has Changed Hiring (Cont.)

4. Companies increasingly realize that hiring is changing.

– Recruiting efforts reflect the new approaches people are using

to look for jobs.

– Tech-savvy job applicants are now using business-oriented

social networks, jobs, online job search engines, and a new

Facebook app.

• The design of the work needed by an organization is a

function of:

– the skill mix required for the firm’s work processes.

– the flow of those processes themselves.

• Employees who cannot keep pace are increasingly

_____________.

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unemployable


Groupware and Electronic

Collaboration

• Groupware tools such as Lotus Notes, and

technologies, such as video conferencing have

made it cost-effective for distant workers to create,

edit and share electronic documents and processes.

• Collaboration adds value to many types of tasks,

particularly those that benefit from an exchange of

ideas and criticism.


HOW INFORMATON

TECHNOLOGY CHANGES

WHERE AND WHEN WORK IS

DONE AND WHO DOES IT?

30

6


Telecommuting and Mobile Work

• The terms telecommuting and mobile worker are often used

to describe flexible work arrangements.

• Telecommuting (or teleworking) - work arrangements with

employers that allow employees to work from home, at a

customer site, or from other convenient locations instead of

the corporate office.

• Telecommuting is derived from combining

“telecommunications” with “commuting.”

– Workers use telecommunications instead of commuting to the

office.

• Mobile workers:

– work from wherever they are.

– utilize technology necessary to access coworkers, company

computers, intranets, and other information sources. 31 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Factors Driving Telecommuting and

Mobile Work

• Telecommuting has been around since the 1970s

but has gained popularity since the late 1990s.

• In 2008, according to World at Work, more than

17.2 million Americans and 33.7 million people

worldwide telecommute.

• American telecommuters are expected to increase

by 29 million telecommuters, or 43% of the

workforce, by 2016 as more work is performed

from remote locations.

• Figure 4.4 describes the factors driving

telecommuting and virtual teams.

32



Mobile Work 1. Work is increasingly knowledge-based. Employees

can create, assimilate, and distribute knowledge at

home as effectively as they can at an office.

2. Telecommuting enables workers to shift their work to

accommodate their lifestyles (e.g., parents, disability). – Telecommuting enables geographic flexibility.

3. New technologies used by telecommuters are

becoming better and cheaper (e.g., price of PC and

“back office” applications).

4. The increasing reliance on __________ technologies

by all generations (particularly Generation Y and

Millennials).

33

web-based



Mobile Work (Cont.)

5. A mounting emphasis on conserving energy.

– As the cost of gasoline continues to skyrocket, employees are looking for ways to save money.

– Companies can also experience lower energy costs from telecommuting.

• Energy is no longer needed to heat or cool these office spaces.

– Companies seek to comply with the Clean Air Act and to be praised for their “green computing” practices. At the same time, they are reaping considerable cost savings.

34


Driver Effect

Shift to knowledge-based work Eliminates requirement that certain

work be performed in a specific

place.

Changing demographics and

lifestyle preferences

Provides workers with geographic- and

time-shifting flexibility.

New technologies with enhanced

bandwidth

Makes remotely performed work

practical and cost-effective.

Reliance on web Provides workers with the ability to

stay connected to co-workers and

customers, even on a 24/7 basis.

Energy concerns Reduces the cost of commuting for

telecommuters and reduces energy costs

associated with real estate for

companies.

Figure 4.4 Driving factors of telecommuting and virtual teams.


Disadvantages of Telecommuting –

Managers Position

• More difficult for managers to evaluate and compensate

performance. – Many telecommuting tasks do not produce well-defined

deliverables or results, or managerial controls typically

prove inadequate.

– Managers must rely heavily on the telecommuter’s self-

discipline.

• Managers may feel they are losing control over their

employees.

• Some telecommuting employees abuse their privileges.

• Managers accustomed to traditional work models may

strongly resist telecommuting.

36

7


Disadvantages of Telecommuting –

Telecommuters Position • Telecommuters must:

– Exert a high level of self-discipline to ensure they get the work

done.

– Avoid distractions (e.g., personal phone calls, visitors, and

inconvenient family disruptions).

• A flexible work situation makes it difficult to separate work

from personal life.

• May end up working more hours than the standard nine-to-

five worker.

• Working remotely can disconnect telecommuters from their

company’s culture and make them feel isolated.

• Another risk is offshoring and outsourcing of software

development and computer services enabled by the same

technologies.


Employee Advantages of

Telecommuting

Potential Problems

Reduced stress due to increased

ability to meet schedules, heightened

morale, and lower absenteeism

Geographic flexibility

Higher personal productivity

Housebound individuals can join the

workforce

Harder to evaluate performance,

increased stress from inability to

separate work from home life

Employee may become disconnected

from company culture

Telecommuters are more easily

replaced by electronic immigrants

Not suitable for all jobs or employees

Figure 4.5 Advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting.

38


Managerial Issues in Remote Work

• Planning, business, and support tasks must be redesigned

to support remote workers.

• Training should be offered so all workers can understand

the new work environment.

• Managers must find new ways to evaluate and supervise

those employees without seeing them every day in the

office. – Work to coordinate schedules and ensure adequate

communication among all workers.

– Establish policies about using different technologies to

support communications.

– Help the organization adapt by building business processes

to support remote workers.


Security Issues in Remote Work

• “BYOD” (Bring Your Own Device) - remote workers have

their own computers in the location where they work.

• Remote workers pose a threat to office workers:

– Once an infected computer is connected to the network,

perimeter security technology is unable protect all the other

workers on the network.

• It is impossible for organizations to make remote workers

totally secure.

• Managers need to get more involved:

– Assessing the areas and severity of risk.

– Taking appropriate steps via policies, education, and

technology.

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VIRTUAL TEAMS


Virtual Teams

• Virtual Teams are

– geographically and/or organizationally dispersed coworkers

assembled using telecommunications and IT to accomplish an

organizational task.

– Two or more people who:

• Work together interdependently with mutual accountability for

achieving common goals.

• Do not work in the same place and/or at the same time.

• Use electronic communication technology to communicate,

coordinate their activities, and complete their team’s tasks.

• Virtual team members may be in different locations,

organizations, time zones, or time shifts.

• Virtual teams are thought to have a life cycle (Figure 4.6).

42

8


Figure 4.6 Key activities in the life cycle of virtual teams.


Factors Driving Use of Virtual Teams

• The same drivers for telecommuting can be applied

to virtual teams.

• Virtual teams offer advantages in terms of expanding

the knowledge base through team membership.

• Managers can draw team members with needed skills

or expertise from around the globe without large

travel expenses.

• Virtual teams can benefit from following the sun.

– Teams in different parts of the world can cooperate to get

work done faster due to time zone differences.

44


Disadvantages and Challenges of

Virtual Teams

• Different _____________.

• Security is harder to ensure.

• Considerable number of challenges that could turn

into disadvantages (Figure 4.7).

• Electronic communications may not allow the

person to convey nuances that are possible with

face-to-face conversation.

• Trust may be slower to form.

• Diversity of team members (languages, nations,

cultures, etc.).

time zones


Challenges Virtual Teams Traditional Teams

Communications Multiple zones can lead to greater

efficiency and communication

difficulties.

Teams are located in same time zone.

Scheduling is less difficult.

Communication dynamics (e.g., non-

verbal) are altered.

Teams may use richer

communication media.

Technology Team members must have

proficiency across a wide range of

technologies.

Technology is not critical, and tools

are not essential for communications.

Technology offers an electronic

repository.

Electronic repositories are not

typically used.

Work group effectiveness may be

more dependent on alignment of the

group and technologies used.

Task technology fit may not be as

critical.

Team Diversity Members typically come from

different organizations and/or

cultures which makes it:

Because members are more

homogeneous, group identity is

easier to form.

-Harder to establish a group identity.

-Necessary to have better communication

skills.

-More difficult to build trust, norms, etc.

Because of commonalities,

communications are easier to

complete successfully.

Figure 4.7 Comparison of challenges facing virtual and traditional teams.

46


Managerial Issues in Virtual Teams

• Require different styles and types of management,

particularly with management control activities.

• Observation is less likely to occur.

• Performance is more likely to be based on output/outcome.

• Providing feedback is important.

• Compensation should be based heavily on the team’s

performance.

• Align reward systems with the accomplishment of desired

team goals.

• Policies about the selection, evaluation, and compensation

of virtual team members may need to be enacted.


Communication Challenges

• Managers must learn to keep the lines of

communication open to allow team members to get

their work done.

• Frequent communication is essential to success.

• Need appropriate technological support (i.e., video

teleconferencing, interactive groupware, etc.).

• Face-to-face meetings are the heartbeat of successful

global virtual teams.

• Well-managed synchronous meetings using video

teleconferencing - or possibly in a virtual world -

can activate the heartbeat. 48

9


Technology Challenges

• All team members must have the same or compatible

technologies at their locations.

• Managers must ensure that remote workers have

seamless telephone transfers to the home office,

desktop support, network connectivity, and security

support.

• Policies and norms (unwritten rules) must be

established.

• Diversity challenges – different cultures have

different perceptions of time and task importance.

• Providing the appropriate technologies for each

culture is key. 49 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

• Communication challenges - managers must learn to

keep the lines of communication open.

Frequent communication is essential to success.

Need appropriate technological support (video

teleconferencing, interactive groupware, etc.)

• Technology challenges - all team members must have

the same or similar technologies at their locations.

– Policies and norms for use must be provided.

• Diversity Challenges - different cultures have different

perceptions on time and task importance.

Providing the appropriate technologies for each culture is key.

Summary on Challenges of Virtual Teams

50


VIRTUAL ORGANIZATIONS


Virtual Organizations

• A structure that makes it possible for individuals to

work for an organization and live anywhere.

• The Internet and corporate intranets create the

opportunity for individuals to work from anyplace

they can access a computer.

• The structure of a virtual organization is networked.

• Forms are electronic, tech. support through a web interface

• Business processes are also usually through the Web

• Success in a virtual organization is the amount of

collaboration that takes place between individuals 52


Virtual Companies (Portable Computing)

A Virtual Company is an Organization composed of several Business Partners that Uses

Information Technology to Link/Share People, Assets, Ideas, Costs, and Resources

for the purpose of producing a product or service.

Virtual Companies are Adaptable and Opportunity- Exploiting Organizations Providing World-Class

Excellence in Their Competencies and Technologies.


SALES & MARKETING

COMPANY

FINANCE COMPANY

LOGISTICS

COMPANY

DESIGN

COMPANY

MANUFACTURING

COMPANY

VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION

CORE

COMPANY

Dr. Chen, The Challenge of the Information Systems Technology

N

54

10


Characteristics of Virtual Companies

Borderless

Opportunism

Adaptability

Trust-Based

Excellence

Technology

Six Characteristics

of Virtual Companies


GAINING ACCEPTANCE

FOR IT-INDUCED CHANGE

56


Gaining Acceptance for IT-Induced Change

• Employees may ______ the changes if they view them

as negatively affecting them.

– If they do not fully understand or are not prepared, they may

resist in several ways:

• denying that the system is up and running.

• sabotaging the system by distorting or altering inputs.

• convincing themselves and others that the new system will not

change the status quo.

• refusing to use the new system when its usage is voluntary.

• To avoid resistance to change, system implementers and

managers must actively manage the change process.

• Employee participation in the system’s design and

implementation also helps.

57

resist


Managing Change

• To avoid resistance behavior, John Kotter builds upon

Lewin’s change model of unfreezing, changing, and

refreezing.

• Kotter recommends eight specific steps in bringing

about change (Figure 4.8).

• Managers should:

– keep the eight steps in mind as they introduce change into

their workplaces.

– inform workers why the change is being made prior to the

change happening.

– follow the change with reinforcement behaviors.

– reward employees who have successfully adopted new

desired behaviors. 58


Figure 4.8 Stages and steps in change management.


Technology Acceptance Model

(TAM)

60

11


Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Its

Variants: Gaining acceptance for IT-induced Change

• To avoid resistance to change, system implementers

and managers must actively manage the change process • The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was developed

by Fred Davis and his colleagues (Figure 4.9).

• TAM suggests that managers cannot get employees to use a

system until they _____ to use it.

• Managers may need to employ unfreezing tactics to change

employee attitudes about the system.

• Employee attitudes may change if: – they believe the system will allow them to do ____ or _____

work for the same amount of effort (perceived usefulness).

– they believe the system is _____ to use (perceived ease of

use). 61

want

easy

more better


Customer

Perceived Value

of Products or

Services

Customer

perceived

__________

(tangible &

intangible)

Customer

perceived

________

(tangible &

intangible)

CUSTOMER

experiences

in consuming

the product/

service

CUSTOMER PERCEIVED VALUE

benefits

costs

Customer value could be defined by the benefits and costs that

customer experiences in consuming the product. 62


Figure 4.9 Simplified technology acceptance model 3 (TAM3).

Source: Viswanath Venkatest and Hilol Bala, “Technology Acceptance Model 3 and a Research Agenda on Interventions,” Decision Sciences (2008),

39(2), 276. 63 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices

Figure 4.9 (Revised) Technology Acceptance

Model (TAM)

Perceived

Usefulness

Perceived

Ease of Use

External

Variables

Attitude

Toward

Using

Actual

System

Use (Use

Behavior)

Behavioral

(Belief)

Intention to

Use

N

training,

documentation, and

user support

consultants

Individual Difference,

System Characteristics,

Social Influence,

Facilitating Conditions

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

64


The new technology adoption curve

Level of

Activity

Time

Readiness Intensification Impact/Mature

65

Which stage is the

current e-Business?


IT

Vision/

IT

Strategy

Strategic

Vectors

Business

Strategy

Business

Vision

Technology

Concepts

• Standards

• Protocols

• Performance

• Compatibility

• Guidelines

Key Issues

• Operating System

• Data Bases

• Applications

• Communications

• Processors

General

Management

IT

Management

IT

Technologists

Technology Selection

• Hardware

• Software

Fig. 3 (Extra): IT Architecture and Strategic Business Vision 66

12


Summary

• Technology has played a major role in transforming the way work is done.

• Virtual organizations permit workers to work from anywhere.

• Communication and collaboration is becoming increasingly important in today’s work .

• IT affects work by creating new work, and more.

• Hiring and supervising employees is being driven more and more by technology.

• Companies must support and encourage telecommuting to attract and retain employees.

• Virtual teams are becoming more common. 67

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. & Dr. Chen, Information Systems – Theory and Practices 68

Break

• Read Chapter Discussion Questions #7 (pp. 132)

• Does this mean the end of doing business the ‘old

fashioned way?” Will this put a burden on the

elderly or the poor when corporations begin

charging for face-to-face services?


• #7 Ans: This is an opinion question.

• One perspective would say “yes, this is the end of doing business the old-fashioned way” but that is a good thing. Evolution always means survival of the fittest, and self-service must be the preferred way to do business or else more businesses would abandon it for other alternatives, maybe even the old-fashioned way.

• Another perspective would say “no, there is room in the business community for both. Companies will pick the best alternative for their customers. It’s not the end of the ‘old fashioned way.”

• There may be a burden placed on elderly and poor if corporations begin charging for face-to-face service.


• #7 Ans: This is an opinion question (cont.)

• Elderly who have not grown up in a self-service environment may not be comfortable with the lack of personal assurances that the business transaction has occurred. They might not be able to do the service their self (my father can’t read a computer screen so he can’t do the internet-based self service options offered by many).

• Poor also might be burdened, if they do not have access to the self-service outlets (for example, if they require a computer and the individuals can’t afford one). It’s up to the businesses to insure that their customers have access to their business.

• The alternative is that they will lose that business to some other company who does pay attention to these issues.


Mini case 4-1: Trash and Waste

Pickup Services, Inc. (pp. 132-133)

• This is an interesting case about using IT to monitor

employees. In this case, it’s a GPS system used to monitor

the location of trucks and company cars. Ultimately,

however, it plays out as a system to monitor drivers and

salesmen.

• Management must walk a fine line as they build a process

to implement such a system in an organization. As an

extension to this discussion, the instructor might ask,

“Would it be easier for management to implement a GPS

system in an existing company (which previously didn’t

have one) or in a new company (where all employees are

just learning the processes and systems)?

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Discussion Questions

• 1. What are the positive and negative aspects of Andersen’s use of the GPS-based system to monitor his drivers and salespeople?

• Positive aspects might include the ability of Andersen to know where his trucks are at any given time. If someone has to go into an ‘unsafe’ area and/or is not where they are supposed to be at a given time, Andersen can help them by knowing where they are. The case also mentions the money savings that accrued due to the reduction in overtime, presumably because the drivers knew they were not only ‘on the clock’ but being watched.

• The negative aspects might include the cultural impacts: his drivers feel big brother is watching, which may make them resent the system or in the worst case, sabotage it. It might drive unintended consequences such as drivers speeding or taking unsafe risks because they know their management is watching and they have certain time restrictions and milestones to make.

13



• 2. What advice do you have for Andersen about the use of the system for supervising, evaluating and compensating his drivers and salesmen?

• It’s one thing to use the system to monitor behavior and correct it. It’s another thing entirely to use it as part of the evaluation and compensation system. Andersen must be very careful how he introduces that to the workers. If they are unionized, he must make sure to have buy-in from the union. But in any case, he should start by letting the drivers get used to the system without fear of it impacting their compensation.

• After they are used to it and have changed their behavior, he can slowly introduce a plan to use the information for evaluation and compensation. Should he not do it slowly, he can expect some employees to not only complain, but possibly sabotage the systems, breaking them (and claim it was an accident or something they know nothing about). Astute students will use the TAM model to structure their response to this question.


• 3. As more and more companies turn to IS to help

them monitor their employees, what do you anticipate

the impact will be on employee privacy? Can

anything be done to ensure employee privacy?

• Ans: The impact on employee privacy is clearly an

issue when IT is introduced to monitor behavior and

activities. We’ve seen lots of legal action regarding

monitoring of e-mail, but usually the courts come

down on the side that company e-mail systems are the

property of the company, and therefore monitoring the

emails is not an invasion of individual privacy.

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• 3. (cont.)

• On the other hand, monitoring individuals such as the drivers

in this case study can uncover some information that may be

deemed private (like visiting their girlfriends, their local bar,

or other private activity). What the company does with that

information is the key here.

• To ensure employee privacy, companies need very clear

guidelines on what information they plan to collect, what

they will do with that information, and what consequences

result if the guidelines are not followed. These guidelines

must be clearly communicated to both management and

monitored employees, so that all is out in the open and the

monitoring is not seen as a spying operation or subversive

management activity.

75



End of Chapter 4

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Documents

Chapter 4 Learning Objectives Information Systems and The ...barney.gonzaga.edu/~chen/mbus626/chapters_pres/CUP/chapter4.pdfIT to Facilitate Collaboration • Thomas Friedman (the