Ubiquitous computing results in access to vast amounts of data, which is changing the way humans interact with each other, with computers, and with their environments. Information is literally at our fingertips with touchscreen technology, but it is not valuable until it is understood. As a result, selecting which information to use in a decision process is a challenge in the current information environment (Lu & Yuan, 2011). The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate how individual decision makers, in different decision contexts, determine when to stop collecting information given the availability of virtually unlimited information. Decision makers must make an ultimate decision, but also must make a decision that he or she has enough information to make the final decision (Browne, Pitts, & Wetherbe, 2007). In determining how much information to collect, researchers found that people engage in ‘satisficing' in order to make decisions, particularly when there is more information than it is possible to manage (Simon, 1957). A more recent elucidation of information use relies on the idea of stopping rules, identifying five common stopping rules information seekers use: mental list, representational stability, difference threshold, magnitude threshold, and single criterion (Browne et al., 2007). Prior research indicates …

The purpose of this research was to determine if presentation format, given a particular task to be performed, would affect the decision-making process of financial decision makers. The problem motivating this study is the potential for managers to make inefficient decisions when they use reports which are presented inappropriately for a given task.

This study investigates the impact of multimedia on the effectiveness of information scanning. Information scanning is the act of seeking and receiving a wide variety of special information to develop a thorough understanding of the organization and the environment. The application domain of this study is Executive Support Systems. The experimental task is to identify potential threats and opportunities, a strategic information-scanning activity, based on the information stored in three ESS prototypes. Forty subjects from four organizations participated in the experiment. A random assignment process allocated them into three groups. The control group used the text-based ESS. The first experimental group used the visual multimedia ESS. The second experimental group used the audiovisual multimedia ESS. The experiment was carried out on the sites of the participating organizations. The investigator measured the effectiveness of information scanning based on the number of threats and opportunities each subject identifies. A close-ended questionnaire measured subjects' retention of information. The results of this study support the cognitive-fit theory. The findings indicate that multimedia is not an appropriate presentation format for analytical tasks. Subjects who use text-based ESS identify significantly more threats and opportunities than subjects who use audiovisual multimedia ESS. The cognitive style of subjects …

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between selected end-user training programs corporations provide to their employees and subsequent employee performance based on these opportunities.

This research sought to shed light on information systems security (ISS) by conceptualizing an organization's use of countermeasures using general deterrence theory, positing a non-recursive relationship between threats and countermeasures, and by extending the ISS construct developed in prior research. Industry affiliation and organizational size are considered in terms of differences in threats that firms face, the different countermeasures in use by various firms, and ultimately, how a firm's ISS effectiveness is affected. Six information systems professionals were interviewed in order to develop the appropriate instruments necessary to assess the research model put forth; the final instrument was further refined by pilot testing with the intent of further clarifying the wording and layout of the instrument. Finally, the Association of Information Technology Professionals was surveyed using an online survey. The model was assessed using SmartPLS and a two-stage least squares analysis. Results indicate that a non-recursive relationship does indeed exist between threats and countermeasures and that countermeasures can be used to effectively frame an organization's use of countermeasures. Implications for practitioners include the ability to target the use of certain countermeasures to have desired effects on both ISS effectiveness and future threats. Additionally, the model put forth in this research …

Companies have invested large amounts of money on information systems development. Unfortunately, not all information systems developments are successful. Software project failure is frequent and lamentable. Surveys and statistical analysis results underscore the severity and scope of software project failure. Limited research relates software structure to information systems failures. Systematic study of failure provides insights into the causes of IS failure. More importantly, it contributes to better monitoring and control of projects and enhancing the likelihood of the success of management information systems. The underlining theories and literature that contribute to the construction of theoretical framework come from general systems theory, complexity theory, and failure studies. One hundred COBOL programs from a single company are used in the analysis. The program log clearly documents the date, time, and the reasons for changes to the programs. In this study the relationships among the variables of business requirements change, software complexity, program size and the error rate in each phase of software development life cycle are tested. Interpretations of the hypotheses testing are provided as well. The data shows that analysis error and design error occur more often than programming error. Measurement criteria need to be developed at each stage of the …

Information systems research tends to ignore individual differences in users. This laboratory experiment sought to illuminate contributions of decision-makers' cognitive processes to decision outcome as reflected in four hypothesis sets: the impact of imagery preference and presentation format upon (HI) recall accuracy and upon hemispheric activation during (H2) encoding and (H3) recall, and (H4) to examine the relationship between hemispheric activation differences and accuracy differences. Point-value (specific values) and intraset-pattern (relationships between values) recall were considered. Thirty MBA students, grouped by imagery preference (cognitive style) as favoring verbal (textual) or visual (graphical) information presentation, performed computer-based recall tasks using tabular and graphical formats in a repeated measures design. Hemispheric activation (cognitive process) was assessed using ratios of EEG activity in six frequency bands captured from six pairs of homologous electrode sites during encoding and recall.

Information systems professionals now face the automation of their own work in integrated computer aided software engineering. Organizations need to achieve all the leverage possible from costly IT implementations to enhance competitiveness, profitability, and survival in a rapidly changing environment. ICASE technology is a part of the infrastructure necessary to meet this challenge but appears to present significant difficulties in implementation.

Utilization of World Wide Web style Web-Based Intranet Systems (W-BIS) is a rapidly expanding information delivery technique in many organizations. Published reports concerning these systems have cited return on investment values exceeding 1300% and direct payback time periods as low as six to twelve weeks. While these systems have been widely implemented, little theoretically grounded research has been conducted in relation to users' acceptance, utilization or the perceived quality of these systems. The study employed a two-site investigation of corporate Web-Based Intranet Systems, with surveys distributed via the traditional mail system. The complete survey instrument distributed to employees included the ServQual/ServPerf, User Information Satisfaction, Ease of Use/Usefulness, and Computer Playfulness instruments. In addition to these previously developed instruments, the survey instrument for this study included measures of Web-Based Intranet Systems utilization and usefulness along with respondent demographics and subordinate-reported managerial commitment. This study investigated the reliability and validity of the ServQual/ServPerf instrument in an information systems service environment. The same analysis was conducted of the more generally accepted User Information Satisfaction instrument.

In recent years, social media has experienced tremendous growth in the number of users. Facebook alone has more than 1.3 billion active users and Twitter has attracted over 600 million active users. Social media has significantly changed the way humans communicate. Many people use social media to keep in touch with family and friends and receive up-to-date information about what happens around the world. Politicians are using social media to support their campaigns. Use of social media is not restricted to individuals and politicians. Businesses are now using social media to promote their products and services. Many companies maintain Facebook and Twitter accounts to keep in touch with their customers. Consumers also use social media to receive information about products/services. Online product reviews are now an important source of information for consumers. This dissertation aims to address one fundamental research question: how do individual differences among users lead to different levels of performance on social media? More specifically, this dissertation investigates the motivations of use and the predictors of performance in the context of social media. We utilize sentiment mining to predict performance in different types of social media including information diffusion in Twitter and helpfulness and readership of online …