|
|
Papers for 2005
2005-1.
Examining the Takeoff of Digital Technologies
in Developing Countries
Balaji Rajagopalan, Derek Hillison, Roger
Calantone, and Vallabh Sambamurthy
In an increasingly global economy, information
and communication technologies (ICT) are critical for nations to
participate in trade and reap the benefits of access to world
markets. Economists call for investments that generate new
innovations to spur economic development in the country. In addition
to being the source of innovation, economic growth also depends on
the ability of nations to absorb and apply new innovations that
germinated elsewhere. Despite accumulating evidence that several
factors play an important role in the assimilation of new
technologies, the drivers of adoption of digital technologies are
not well understood and the findings remain inconsistent. Based on
theories of economic growth and innovation diffusion theory and
using the well known takeoff phenomenon as the underpinning, we
hypothesize and empirically examine the relationships between human
capital (literacy, life expectancy), cost, international trade
(foreign direct investment), communications infrastructure
(Television and Telephone) and the takeoff of digital technologies.
Our findings confirm that important differences exist among the
high, medium and low income countries with respect to the takeoff
times for digital technologies. In addition, our study reveals the
differential impact of the covariates on takeoff for the three
income groups. In sum, we find partial support for the influence of
the covariate factors we modeled. Policy implications include the
need for tailoring the adoption programs based on country income
group, technology type and adoption stage (before or after takeoff).
2005-2.
Using Volunteers for IT Work: Research
Questions
Kieran Mathieson
Voluntary organizations (VOs) offer important services the
private and public sectors cannot or will not provide.
Unfortunately, VOs tend not to use information technology (IT) to
the extent they could, and so don't receive the benefits IT offers.
One problem is that many VOs must rely on volunteers for IT support.
This paper examines the challenges using IT volunteers creates,
including limits in availability, expertise, commitment,
organizational knowledge, and equipment ownership. A framework for
discussing the effectiveness of IT volunteers is presented. Research
questions arising from the framework are identified.
2005-3.
Factors Influencing Intentions to Maintain Web
Content in Voluntary Organizations
Kieran Mathieson
Many voluntary organizations (VOs) use Web sites to help them
raise funds, recruit volunteers, and so on. Content management
systems (CMS) simplify Web site maintenance, letting IT novices
update Web sites. However, some VOs find it difficult to recruit
volunteers for this role, even though it requires little IT
expertise. This study will use the theory of planned behavior to
examine factors influencing volunteers' intentions to help maintain
Web site content. The results could help software designers make CMS
use more attractive, and VO leaders find people willing to maintain
content.
2005-4.
Competition among Virtual Communities and User
Valuation: The Case of Investor Communities
Bin Gu, Prabhudev Konana, Balaji Rajagopalan, Hsuan-Wei Michelle
Chen
Virtual communities are becoming a significant source of
information sharing for consumers and businesses. This research
examines how users value virtual communities and how virtual
communities grow and compete with each other. In particular, the
nature of trade-offs between network size and information quality,
and the sources of positive and negative externalities are examined.
We address these issues based on over 600,000 postings from three
large virtual investingrelated communities (VICs) for 14 different
stocks. We developed an algorithmic methodology to process textual
data and to categorize messages as noise or signal to evaluate
information quality. The results provide interesting insights into
competition among virtual communities. There is a trade-off between
network size and information quality. We find support for the
hypothesis that the value of VICs increases with useful postings –
demonstrating positive network externalities – but the marginal
contribution decreases with the size. On the contrary, the cost
associated with using VICs increases with size, while the marginal
cost increases with each additional posting indicating negative
externalities. The negative externality due to consumer information
processing thresholds leads to a bounded network size. Our analysis
also suggests that the community network size depends on two
important dimensions: the degree of integrated service offerings
(e.g., email services, complementary information) and
characteristics of the context (e.g., stock characteristics such as
speculative or stable stock). The contributions of the study include
extending our understanding of the virtual community evaluation by
consumers, the exposition of role of network externalities in
virtual community networks, and the development of an algorithmic
methodology to evaluate the quality of textual data. The results
provide useful guidance for practice on the design and control of
VICs.
Home
|
