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This paper aims to highlight the importance of the study of emotions in the successful implementation of information systems projects in developing countries. This paper studies one emotion, namely, anger, and discusses its detrimental impact on information system interventions. This paper suggests that controls are necessary for the management of anger emotion.

This research study explores the case of an Indian agricultural marketing board that implemented an information systems project on the integration of agricultural markets. The data was collected through semistructured interviews from four stakeholder groups. This paper uses a qualitative approach and analyzes the data using thematic analysis. Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice is used to study emotions in the case.

This paper finds that anger is the prominent emotion displayed at public sector organizations in India. This paper permeates all aspects of public organizations and has a detrimental impact on successfully implementing the information systems projects. Successful implementation of the information systems (IS) projects in India will need to have a framework for managing the anger emotion.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper within the information systems discipline that focuses on anger and its detrimental impact on successful IS interventions. A unique contribution of this paper is a framework for the study of emotions. This paper also introduces the idea of controls for emotional management.

A number of researchers have drawn attention to the way in which information systems development is an inherently political activity. Using the critical social theory of Jurgen Habermas, discusses the development of an information system in mental health. Using critical ethnography, reveals otherwise hidden agendas, power and managerial assumptions to be deeply embedded in the project. Raises broader questions about the extent to which information systems can be seen as “colonizing mechanisms”.

E‐Teaching as the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education is of growing importance for educational theory and practice. Many universities and other higher education institutions use ICT to support teaching. However, there are contradicting opinions about the value and outcome of e‐teaching. This paper starts with a review of the literature on e‐teaching and uses this as a basis for distilling success factors for e‐teaching. It then discusses the case study of an e‐voting system used for giving student feedback and marking student presentations. The case study is critically discussed in the light of the success factors developed earlier. The conclusion is that e‐teaching, in order to be successful, should be embedded in the organisational and individual teaching philosophy.

The introduction of competitive tendering and contracting and a lack of transparent funding processes has seen a move towards greater contestability of services in the nongovernment organization (NGO) sector. To ameliorate this situation requires a sound understanding of knowledge management (KM) practices. However, not all NGOs have been equally successful at embracing KM principles. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to explore the KM challenges faced by New Zealand NGOs in the health and disability sector.

Using qualitative research methods, specifically interpretive case study research, the authors studied the KM practices of nine NGOs in the health and disability sector in New Zealand. Qualitative data were obtained from documents and semi‐structured interviews following a dramaturgical approach.

The findings suggest many barriers to successful implementation of KM in NGOs; some of the most important ones being related to organizational structure and culture. Specifically, tensions between local and national organizational branches, difficulty integrating volunteers and complex funding arrangements are key challenges faced by NGOs in the health and disability sector.

Existing literature suggests that volunteer turnover is a serious impediment to successful KM implementation. The authors' research suggests that volunteer integration, more so than turnover, is an issue. The research also reports on an underlying tension between commercialization and the inherent service culture of the sector. This paper makes recommendations for improved volunteer management and suggests that there is a clear opportunity for better KM systems and practices in the NGO sector.

Discusses the use of information technology to facilitate communication and collaboration. In this action research project a groupware product called Lotus Notes^TM was implemented to facilitate communication and collaboration amongst the senior management team. Although there was a real need for change, and the project received strong support from senior management on the basis that it would enable radical changes in coordination within the workgroup, these radical changes did not occur. The authors analyse the reasons for failure, and suggest that the project failed because of institutional forces which inhibited dramatic changes in work habits.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the types of research published in the Association for Information Systems (AIS) basket of top journals.

This paper uses bibliographic analysis to analyze all the articles that were published in the AIS basket of top journals over a ten‐year period, from 1998 to 2007. Articles were classified based on their paradigmatic and methodological approach.

Although there is a common perception within the information systems (IS) research community that European IS research is mostly qualitative and interpretive, the bibliographic analysis reveals that the two European IS journals are not significantly different from their US counterparts. All six journals in the AIS basket are remarkably similar in terms of the types of research published.

This article is one of the first to provide a comprehensive overview of the types of research published within the AIS basket of top journals. It provides a picture of how the two European IS journals differ from their US counterparts.

Information systems research methods need to contribute to the scholarly requirements of the field of knowledge but also need to develop the potential to contribute to the practical requirements of practitioners′ knowledge. This leads to possible conflicts in choosing research methods. Argues that the changing world of the IS practitioner is reflected in the changing world of the IS researcher and that qualitative approaches to IS research help to bridge the gap between the two domains of knowledge. Illustrates how this gap may be bridged through discussing the ethnographic research method. Concludes by assessing the contributions and limitations of this method to IS research and practice.

Considers the potential role of anthropology as a source discipline for information systems. Although anthropology has been largely neglected in the IS research literature, it is argued that important insights can be gained by adopting an anthropological perspective on information systems phenomena. Illustrates the value of an anthropological perspective by looking at the relationship between information technology and organizational culture. Shows that the concept of culture has generally been used rather narrowly in the IS literature, and argues that a more critical, anthropological view of the relationship between IT and organizational culture is required.

The research uncovers an increase in the disapproval of Congress and a drop in public trust in government associated with exposed congressional corruption in the post-Watergate era. The tools Congress holds to punish members caught up in scandal are discussed and the chapter considers five major scandals to rock Congress since the 1970s. Importantly, we uncover evidence that government institutions and actors are somewhat resilient and can bounce back after experiencing negative public sentiment for a period of time. Yet, it seems in the aftermath of exposed corruption, the corresponding drop in public support has policy implications. We determine that movement in public disapproval of Congress and overall trust in government help explain public law output and the ability of Congress to pass its contemporary legislative agenda.

The Bureau of Economics in the Federal Trade Commission has a three-part role in the Agency and the strength of its functions changed over time depending on the preferences and ideology of the FTC’s leaders, developments in the field of economics, and the tenor of the times. The over-riding current role is to provide well considered, unbiased economic advice regarding antitrust and consumer protection law enforcement cases to the legal staff and the Commission. The second role, which long ago was primary, is to provide reports on investigations of various industries to the public and public officials. This role was more recently called research or “policy R&D”. A third role is to advocate for competition and markets both domestically and internationally. As a practical matter, the provision of economic advice to the FTC and to the legal staff has required that the economists wear “two hats,” helping the legal staff investigate cases and provide evidence to support law enforcement cases while also providing advice to the legal bureaus and to the Commission on which cases to pursue (thus providing “a second set of eyes” to evaluate cases). There is sometimes a tension in those functions because building a case is not the same as evaluating a case. Economists and the Bureau of Economics have provided such services to the FTC for over 100 years proving that a sub-organization can survive while playing roles that sometimes conflict. Such a life is not, however, always easy or fun.