Search results

This paper seeks to propose the examination of the importance of firms' intention to e‐collaborate in facilitating e‐collaboration for an informal alliance.

A rigorous review of the existing literature is undertaken for the purpose of developing a contingency framework that determines firm boundaries.

The conceptual framework posits that three decision contexts (the threat of opportunism, the threat of commercial failure, and the opportunity for sustainable advantage) are predictors of selecting the governance mode between e‐collaboration and arm's‐length relationship, and that an intention to e‐collaborate moderates the governance mode choice.

Testable propositions are offered to examine the proposed relationships in the framework. The paper concludes by suggesting that firms which would like to implement e‐collaboration in a group of companies must initiate and strengthen their intention to form the desired governance mode.

This paper seeks to develop insights into control, power, consent and commitment with virtual knowledge workers who are removed from the immediate sphere of influence of management and co‐workers.

This research is a detailed case study of a highly successful Scandinavian engineering company. A post‐structuralist approach is used to understand how the modes of influence on knowledge worker productivity within the organisation come into being and operate across boundaries of time, space and organisational structure. The notion of the panopticon is used to identify and characterise forms of control and undertake interpretive and critical analysis of interview data and staff behaviour.

It was found that the totality of the modes of power relations operating upon virtual knowledge workers in this case study comprises a complex and sophisticated ensemble of control and constraint. Whilst initial observations indicate that control is restricted to a small set of direct controls, the research led one to observe a complex, pervasive web of integrated and overlapping constraints emanating from the external and internal panopticon.

The critical approach leads one to a pragmatic understanding of the range of influences which keep virtual knowledge workers “on task”. Also a better understanding of the “network effect” of these constraints and their co‐reinforcement is reached, which may well further understanding of managing the performance of virtual knowledge workers.

Stockbroking firms have openly adopted information and communication technology to improve their competitiveness and responsiveness in market conditions. Changes in business practices have resulted from the widespread adoption and diffusion of information and communication technology. Changes experienced by a firm can be viewed as a process of individual adaptations running parallel to the evolution of the business environment. To examine the diffusion of information and communication technology an ecological approach is used. This paper therefore develops a conceptual framework to explore the ICT diffusion in the stockbroking industry in the context of environmental evolution and selection. It is argued that the acceptance of an innovation is affected as much by the complexity of the interactions between the stockbroking firms and technology. The proposed framework can be used to provide an ameliorated understanding about the way in which ICT‐enabled innovation is diffused within a technology‐oriented industry.

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of organisational transformation in light of major perturbatory change agents such as the internet. This is carried out through analysing the dynamics of change in the Australian tourist industry and travel agents in particular.

Population ecology posits that the macro environmental conditions that operate in an industry determine the limits within which industry members can operate. Institutionalism posits that management can make strategic choices. These two theories together suggest that while a major change event like the advent of the internet sets the conditions within which organisations operate, management still had “room to play” and make strategic choices. This paper views the advent of the internet through the filters of population ecology and institutionalism.

Change becomes a combination of setting macro boundaries influencing the overall direction of change and evolution follows by a micro‐level strategic differentiation amongst individual travel agents. Therefore, the dynamics of change is far more complex than mere determinism and/or strategic choice.

This paper has two distinct values. Firstly, its focus on the Australian travel agents brings a unique situation into perspective, where, the internet‐enabled change is analysed comprehensively and the complexities of an evolutionary change are discussed. Secondly, it proposes a novel approach to viewing change in the industry by combining two theoretical lenses thus addressing the dynamics of change comprehensively.

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the development of critical research in information systems and give an overview of the papers chosen for this special issue.

To set the scene by discussing the origins and the developing field of critical research in information systems and to analyse each paper, suggesting ways in which it relates to the chosen themes.

The papers chosen address theoretical foundations, paradigmatic and methodological issues, empirical studies and praxis and reflexivity in critical information systems research.

Highlights the growing interest in critical research in the information systems discipline and enables reflection on the difficulties, barriers and opportunities for development.