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Article
Publication date: 20 July 2020

E. Burton Swanson

This viewpoint paper calls in to question the current design approach to personal artificial intelligence (AI) assistance in support of everyday professional communications, where…

Abstract

Purpose

This viewpoint paper calls in to question the current design approach to personal artificial intelligence (AI) assistance in support of everyday professional communications, where a bot emulates a human in this role. It aims to stimulate fresh thought among designers and users of this technology. It also calls upon scholars to more widely share incidental insights that arise in their own encounters with such new AI.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs a case of an email exchange gone wrong to demonstrate the current failings of personal AI assistance in support of professional communications and to yield broader insights into bot design and use. The viewpoint is intended to provoke discussion.

Findings

From the case, it is indicated that industrial-strength personal AI assistance is not here yet. Designing a personal AI assistant to emulate a human is found to be deeply problematic, in particular. The case illuminates what might be called the problem of blinded agency, in performative contexts where human, robotic and organizational identities are at least partially masked and actions, inactions and intentions can too easily disappear in a thick fog of digital exchange. The problem arises where parties must act in contexts not known to each other, and where who is responsible for what in a mundane exchange is obscured (intentionally or not) by design or by actions (or inactions) of the parties. An insight is that while humans act with a sense of agency to affect outcomes that naturally invoke a corresponding sense of responsibility for what transpires, bots in social interaction simply act and feign responsibility as they have no sense of it beyond their code and data. A personal AI assistant is probably best designed to communicate its artificiality clearly. Missing today are distinctive social conventions for identifying machine agency in everyday interactions as well as an accepted etiquette for AI deployment in these settings.

Originality/value

As a viewpoint contribution, the paper's value is as a stimulant to discussion of alternate approaches to design and use of personal AI assistance in professional communications and where we should be going with this. The presented case of an email exchange gone wrong is simple on the face of it but reveals in its examination a number of complexities and broader insights.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 33 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2008

Ping Wang and E. Burton Swanson

The paper aims to raise the question: how can a new information technology's (IT's) early momentum toward widespread adoption and eventual institutionalization be sustained? The…

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to raise the question: how can a new information technology's (IT's) early momentum toward widespread adoption and eventual institutionalization be sustained? The purpose of the paper is to examine sustaining technological momentum as a form of institutional work and entrepreneurship not widely recognized as such.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reports a case study of Business Week's special advertising section used in 2000‐2004 to both exploit and help sustain the momentum of customer relationship management (CRM).

Findings

The study finds that the advertisement section's producers employed it over several years to recurrently produce and disseminate credible discourse advancing CRM, incorporating models for action, and providing fresh meanings to the organizing vision for this technology so as to accentuate its progress and keep it worthy of continued attention. Most significantly, acquired momentum, while problematic to sustain, can nevertheless serve as its own resource, to be continuously reinvested in the form of public discourse which must itself be kept “lively” so that momentum may be extended.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the institutional explanation of IT diffusion by theorizing the process of sustaining technological momentum as an important institution‐building task. In particular, it illuminates the contribution of entrepreneurially produced and disseminated discourse to this process and provides an illustration and analysis of specific forms of institutional work, strategies, and tactics employed in the process. Additionally, the paper suggests that institutional work for sustaining technological momentum differs in certain respects from that needed to launch a technology so as to acquire momentum in the first place.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1984

E. Burton Swanson

In their well‐known classic article, Mason and Mitroff proposed that individual psychological type be recognized as an information system (IS) variable of fundamental importance…

Abstract

In their well‐known classic article, Mason and Mitroff proposed that individual psychological type be recognized as an information system (IS) variable of fundamental importance. The authors also speculated that because designers tend to be “thinking‐sensation” types, that this psychological type may frequently be falsely projected onto managers who are in fact other types by nature. In subsequent work, a story‐telling IS was thus proposed to appeal to the “feeling side” of management, in particular.

Details

Office Technology and People, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0167-5710

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1992

Patricia L. Rees

Puts forward a framework for carrying out user evaluations ofexpert systems, which is based on user evaluations carried out in alarge British company over a period of three years…

Abstract

Puts forward a framework for carrying out user evaluations of expert systems, which is based on user evaluations carried out in a large British company over a period of three years. The aim of this framework is to ensure that the aims of the expert system designers and the users of the system are congruent. This in turn will make it more likely that the expert system will be a success. The framework covers aspects such as user type, updating knowledge, training, the value of the system and the human/computer interface.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 92 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2022

Na Lu, Wei Zhou and Zhi Wu Dou

Intelligent manufacturing has attracted extensive attention from national strategy, academic research and enterprises' practices. The purpose of this study is to investigate the…

Abstract

Purpose

Intelligent manufacturing has attracted extensive attention from national strategy, academic research and enterprises' practices. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of intelligent manufacturing on performance in manufacturing firms. Moreover, how intelligent manufacturing technology affects enterprise performance, this study provided a practice that can be replicated by other businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses text mining to collect the intelligence level of Chinese listed companies. It uses quantitative analysis to test the proposed model based on samples of 2,091 manufacturers.

Findings

Intelligent manufacturing has positive effect on short-term performance and long-term performance. Intelligent manufacturing can empower firms with ambidextrous capabilities, including exploit capability and explore capability. Exploit capability has positive effects on short-term performance and long-term performance. Explore capability has negative effects on short-term performance, but has positive effects on long-term performance.

Originality/value

On the theoretical side, it enriches the research framework between intelligent manufacturing and enterprise performance. This study explains the preconditions and results of ambidextrous capabilities. Moreover, based on the practice-based view (PBV), this study proposes that technologies can be used as strategies, filling a gap in the existing research on strategic management. On the practical side, how to quantify the intelligent manufacturing level of enterprises provides a certain reference. Also, this study provides an easy to imitate practice that can serve as a model for under-performing enterprises.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 123 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2018

Kumari Amrita, Chandra Prakash Garg and Saumya Singh

The contribution of women toward entrepreneurial activities has gained significant attention in recent years because of economic and social concerns, government support and…

1736

Abstract

Purpose

The contribution of women toward entrepreneurial activities has gained significant attention in recent years because of economic and social concerns, government support and initiatives and increased education and awareness. Women’s entrepreneurial activity has increased and women-owned businesses can today be found in every sector of the economy, irrespective of region. In India, government bodies such as the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and several other organizations (private and NGOs) have adopted considerable measures to promote women entrepreneurship (WE). To improve WE, the critical factors of WE adoption need to be identified and evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to identify, prioritize and evaluate the critical success factors of WE adoption in Indian MSMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a methodology based on fuzzy analytical hierarchal process to prioritize the critical success factors of WE adoption. A numerical analysis of Indian MSMEs is presented to demonstrate the use of the proposed method. This proposed method considered fuzzy framework, which can handle impreciseness and uncertainty. Sensitivity analysis is also performed to test the robustness of the proposed model.

Findings

Potential critical success factors are identified from relevant literature and validated by industry experts. This research finalize the critical success factors of WE adoption in Indian MSMEs under seven dimensions, so prioritization of identified critical success factors can be developed and insights relationship of factors would be explored. The results of the study found that individual, management and government dimensions take paramount importance while women aim to become entrepreneurs in Indian MSMEs.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited to identifying evaluation factors; other factors have not been identified and categorized. Evaluation is one by experts in this area so it is natural that views of decision-makers may be subjective and vary with regard to industry-type, priorities, resources, etc.

Practical implications

This study will help industry to identify, evaluate and prioritize factors for successful implementation of women entrepreneurship. MSMEs could device these factors by applying the outcome of the study in their decisions with higher priority to implement women entrepreneurship culture.

Originality/value

Potential factors are identified from relevant literature and validated by industry experts. Indian MSMEs could device these factors by applying the outcome of the study in their decisions with higher priority to adopt women entrepreneurship.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 August 2019

Brent D. Oja, Minjung Kim, Pamela L. Perrewé and Christos Anagnostopoulos

In an attempt to promote sport employees’ well-being, the purpose of this paper is to examine the more traditional constructs of psychological capital (i.e. hope, efficacy…

Abstract

Purpose

In an attempt to promote sport employees’ well-being, the purpose of this paper is to examine the more traditional constructs of psychological capital (i.e. hope, efficacy, resiliency and optimism) and to feature the inclusion of authenticity, an often overlooked construct, among sport employees.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper is designed to create an expanded sport employee psychological capital construct, labeled A-HERO, and a subsequent theoretical model to improve their well-being.

Findings

In detailing a conceptual model of A-HERO for well-being, the model includes and explains the relationships among sport employee antecedents (i.e. sport employee identification, pride and passion), an organizational contextual variable (person–organization fit), and an important employee and organizational outcome (i.e. employee well-being) in contemporary sport organizations.

Research limitations/implications

A-HERO offers a necessary first step for future theoretical research and empirical applications to improve sport employees’ well-being.

Originality/value

By elucidating the role of authenticity at work with traditional psychological capital constructs in the current sport industry, this paper stimulates sport business and management scholars to validate empirically the A-HERO construct and examine proposed relationships for an improved prediction of sport employees’ well-being.

Details

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-678X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2001

William Acar, Kenneth E. Aupperle and Ronald M. Lowy

This large‐scale exploratory research explores the manner in which various organizational types view their social obligations in terms of the tradeoffs (or potential symbioses…

Abstract

This large‐scale exploratory research explores the manner in which various organizational types view their social obligations in terms of the tradeoffs (or potential symbioses) between economic and non‐economic (social) goals. Historically, this issue has been researched only in the context of business firms. Given the increased scope and visibility of nonprofit organizations, it becomes particularly relevant to explore a broad range of organizational types. To proceed with this research, this study proposes a 5‐class typology describing the organizational spectrum from the fully for‐profit to the fully nonprofit organizations. This paper also contributes to the emerging empirical research stream in the area by undertaking a systematic assessment of the way in which all organizational types value their economic versus social orientations as gauged by several measures. Across the two top executive levels, a regular progression of statistically significant differences are found between the five organizational types with respect to their social and economic orientations. A by‐product of this research is that we reveal how the economic or social orientation of organizations can be systematically investigated by undertaking large‐scale empirical studies with appropriately designed research instruments.

Details

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1055-3185

Book part
Publication date: 16 June 2017

Hayley E. Christian, Gavin R. McCormack, Kelly R. Evenson and Clover Maitland

This chapter aims to review evidence of the relationships between dog ownership, dog walking and overall walking and the factors associated with dog walking. It reviews the…

Abstract

This chapter aims to review evidence of the relationships between dog ownership, dog walking and overall walking and the factors associated with dog walking. It reviews the evidence using a social ecological framework. The chapter finds that dog ownership and dog walking are associated with higher levels of walking. A number of social ecological factors are associated with dog walking. Motivation and social support provided by the dog to walk and a sense of responsibility to walk the dog are associated with higher levels of dog walking. Positive social pressure from family, friends, dog owners and veterinarians is also associated with higher levels of dog walking. Built and policy environmental characteristics influence dog walking, including dog-specific factors such as access to local attractive public open space with dog-supportive features (off-leash, dog waste bags, trash cans, signage), pet-friendly destinations (cafes, transit, workplaces, accommodation) and local laws that support dog walking. Large-scale intervention studies are required to determine the effect of increased dog walking on overall walking levels. Experimental study designs, such as natural and quasi-experiments, are needed to provide stronger evidence for causal associations between the built and policy environments and dog walking. Given the potential of dog walking to increase population-levels of walking, urban, park and recreational planners need to design neighbourhood environments that are supportive of dog walking and other physical activity. Advocacy for dog walking policy-relevant initiatives are needed to support dog walking friendly environments. Health promotion practitioners should make dog walking a key strategy in social marketing campaigns.

Article
Publication date: 25 May 2023

Pooria Assadi

Enterprise information systems (EISs) are intricate technological artifacts with wide user base within organizations. While much is known about the adoption and implementation of…

Abstract

Purpose

Enterprise information systems (EISs) are intricate technological artifacts with wide user base within organizations. While much is known about the adoption and implementation of EISs, little is known about what subsequently follows them, i.e. the assimilation of EISs. This article aims to examine the assimilation of the EISs which is consequential to realizing any benefits from such enterprise technology.

Design/methodology/approach

The author conceptually draws on the insights from the expectation confirmation theory, theory of reasoned action, equity theory, and prospect theory to examine the assimilation of the EISs. In doing so, the author generates competing testable hypotheses regarding the relationship between individual users' psychological and social influences through expectation (dis)confirmation and the users' intention to assimilate the EISs.

Findings

By conceptually articulating the individual users' psychological and social influences through expectation (dis)confirmation, the author offers a more complete account of the assimilation of EISs, and provide several avenues for future empirical and theoretical research on enterprise technology assimilation.

Originality/value

The extant research that there is on the assimilation of the EISs focuses more on the organizational – as opposed to individual – level determinants of EISs assimilation and largely considers the functional – rather than psychological and social – drivers. This article addresses these important, yet understudied, factors to offer a more nuanced account of EISs assimilation.

Details

Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2054-6238

Keywords

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