Understanding the value of social media in organisations : a taxonomic approach

While organizations strive to leverage the vast information generated daily from social media platforms and both decision makers and consultants are keen to identify and exploit this information’s value, there has been little research into social media in the business context. Social media are diverse, varying in scope and functionality, this diversity entailing a complex of attributes and characteristics, resulting in confusion for both researchers and organizations. Taxonomies are important precursors in emerging fields and are foundational for rigorous theory building. Though aspects of social media have been studied from various discipline perspectives, this work has been largely descriptive. Thus, while the need for a rigorous taxonomy of social media is strong, previous efforts to classify social media suffer limitations – e.g. lack of a systematic taxonomic method, overreliance on intuition, disregard for the users’ perspective, and inadequate consideration of purpose. Thus, this study was mainly initiated by the overarching question “How can social media in the business context be usefully classified?” In order to address this gap, the current paper proposes a systematic method for developing a taxonomy appropriate to study social media in organizations context, combining Nickerson et al,’s (2012) IS taxonomy building guidelines and a Repertory grid (RepGrid) approach.

Firm-customer mobile digital connectedness : conceptualization, measurement and implications

Firm-customer digital connectedness for effective sensing and responding is a strategic imperative for contemporary competitive firms. This research-in-progress paper conceptualizes and operationalizes the firm-customer mobile digital connectedness of a smart-mobile customer. The empirical investigation focuses on mobile app users and the impact of mobile apps on customer expectations. Based on pilot data collected from 127 customers, we tested hypotheses pertaining to firm-customer mobile digital connectedness and customer expectations. Our test analysis using linear and non-linear postulations reveals those customers raise their expectations as they increase their digital interactions with a firm.

Antecedent factors of knowledge sharing in research supervision

Today’s economy is a knowledge-based economy in which knowledge is a crucial facilitator to individuals, as well as being an instigator of success. Due to the impact of globalisation, universities face new challenges and opportunities. Accordingly, they ought to be more innovative and have their own competitive advantages. One of the most important goals of universities is the promotion of students as professional knowledge workers. Therefore, knowledge sharing and transfer at the tertiary level between students and supervisors is vital in universities, as it decreases the budget and provides an affordable way to do research. Knowledge-sharing impact factors can be categorised in three groups, namely: organisational, individual, and technical factors. Individual barriers to knowledge sharing include: the lack of time and trust and the lack of communication skills and social networks. IT systems such as elearning, blogs and portals can increase the knowledge-sharing capability. However, it must be stated that IT systems are only tools and not solutions. Individuals are still responsible for sharing information and knowledge. This paper proposes a new research model to examine the effect of individual factors, organisational factors (learning strategy, trust culture, supervisory support) and technological factors on knowledge sharing in the research supervision process.

What I want for my Social Network privacy

Social Networks (SN) users have various privacy requirements to protect their information; to address this issue, a six-stage thematic analysis of scholarly articles related to SN user privacy concerns were synthesized. Then this research combines mixed methods research employing the strengths of quantitative and qualitative research to investigate general SN users, and thus construct a new set of ?ve primary and Twenty-?ve secondary SN user privacy requirements. Such an approach has been rarely used to examine the privacy requirements. Factor analysis results show superior agreement with theoretical predictions and signi?cant improvement over previous alternative models of SN user privacy requirements. This research presented here has the potential to provide for the development of more sophisticated privacy controls which will increase the ability of SN users to: specify their rights in SNs and to determine the protection of their own SN data.

Survey on BPM Conference impression

In May/June 2014, the Program Committee Chairs of BPM’15 conducted a survey with present and past attendees and submitters to the BPM conference to gather feedback on the general perception of the conference. The survey is available at http://survey.qut.edu.au/f/180586/6bb1/. In particular, the survey included questions about the reputation of the conference, the reasons why survey participants submitted papers, whether they plan to submit to BPM’15, and soliciting input on a number of suggested changes and additions to the conduct of the conference series.

Perturbing event logs to identify cost reduction opportunities: a genetic algorithm-based approach

Organisations are constantly seeking new ways to improve operational efficiencies. This research study investigates a novel way to identify potential efficiency gains in business operations by observing how they are carried out in the past and then exploring better ways of executing them by taking into account trade-offs between time, cost and resource utilisation. This paper demonstrates how they can be incorporated in the assessment of alternative process execution scenarios by making use of a cost environment. A genetic algorithm-based approach is proposed to explore and assess alternative process execution scenarios, where the objective function is represented by a comprehensive cost structure that captures different process dimensions. Experiments conducted with different variants of the genetic algorithm evaluate the approach's feasibility. The findings demonstrate that a genetic algorithm-based approach is able to make use of cost reduction as a way to identify improved execution scenarios in terms of reduced case durations and increased resource utilisation. The ultimate aim is to utilise cost-related insights gained from such improved scenarios to put forward recommendations for reducing process-related cost within organisations.

Conceptualising the learning organisation : creating a maturity framework to develop a shared understanding of the library's role in literacy and learning

Although they sit outside the formal education sector, libraries are intrinsically centres of learning where people can engage with knowledge and ideas and acquire the literacy skills that are essential for active participation in an increasingly digital society. In Australia, National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) has acknowledged the need to not only better understand the general concept of the library as a learning institution, but also to help the individual NSLA libraries specifically identify their capabilities in this arena. The NSLA Literacy and Learning project aimed to improve the members' organisational comprehension and practice as learning institutions and to help them conceptualise their ability to deliver literacy and learning programmes that will benefit their staff and their communities. The NSLA concept of learning institution encompassed two discrete lenses: the internal lens of the library's own organisational understanding and practice, and the external lens of the clients who engage in the literacy and learning programmes delivered by the library. The ultimate goal was to develop a matrix which could enable libraries to assess their perceived levels of maturity as learning institutions along a continuum of emerging to active capabilities. The matrix should also serve as a tool for shared understanding about the NSLA's own strategic directions in the literacy and learning space. This case study documents the evolving process of developing a learning institution maturity framework for libraries that considers individual, team and organisational learning, as well as clients' interactions with the organisation, with the goal of producing a framework that has the potential to measure the value of learning and growth in both the library's staff and the library's communities

Developing an engaging IT degree

Curriculum renewal is a constant activity in Information Technology (IT), Information Systems (IS), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Computer Science (CS). Guiding documents from curriculum authorities such as AIS, IEEE and ACM assist in this process, as do those from professional societies, but these are often out of date when the institution seeks to refresh its approaches to learning, and position its graduates for emerging roles and technologies. This paper describes and discusses a curriculum renewal project undertaken in response to changing government requirements,student interests and the adoption of a learner-centric, active learning paradigm utilizing new physical collaborative learning facilities. This paper presents the stimulus for change, describes the use of reference resources and discusses the resulting degree structure, its majors and learning approaches.

Organizational support and enterprise web 2.0 adoption : a qualitative study

The emerging growth of Web 2.0 has been observed by users in the workplace, and has therefore encouraged organisations to introduce Web 2.0 technologies in their businesses. Although its adoption is beneficial, it could meets with employees resistance due to some organisational factors. The successful implementation of Enterprise Web 2.0 is based on employee adoption of such social technology. Using a qualitative study, this research explores how organizational support can influence employees’ adoption of Enterprise Web 2.0. The findings show that organisational support encourages and facilitates a smooth adoption. Such support can be provided by management and colleagues in several forms: developing a Web 2.0 strategy, providing required resources for such training, recognising and encouraging adopters, and involving managers in the adoption.

Green IT segment analysis : an academic literature review

Research on Green Information Technology (IT) is becoming a prevalent research theme in Green Information Systems (IS) research. This article provides a review of 98 papers published on Green IT between 2007−2013 to facilitate future research and to provide a retrospective analysis of existing knowledge and gaps thereof. While some researchers have discussed phenomena such as Green IT, motivation of Green IT and the Green IT adoption lifecycle, others have researched the importance of Green IT implementation within the organisational and individual level. Throughout the literature, scholars are trying to portray a constructive relationship between IT and the environment. Through our analysis, we can provide an assessment of the status of information systems literature on Green IT and, we provide taxonomy of segments of Green IT publications. Future research opportunities are identified based on the review.

Academic librarians' varying experiences of archives : a phenomenographic study

This article reports on a study investigating academic librarians' varying experiences of archives in order to promote understanding and communication among librarians and archivists. A qualitative, phenomenographic approach was adopted for the study. Three different ways of experiencing archives were identified from analysis of interviews. Archives may be experienced by academic librarians as 1) a place which protects collections; 2) resources to be used in accomplishing tasks such as teaching, research, or outreach; or 3) manifestations of politics. The third way of experiencing archives is the most complex, incorporating both the other experiences. The results of this study may help librarians, especially academic librarians, and archivists communicate more clearly on joint projects involving archival collections thereby enabling more collaboration.

Influence and increased funding in Canadian public libraries : the case of Alberta in fiscal year 2009–10

This exploratory case study examined the role of social influence in the decision-making process to increase public library funding in the Canadian province of Alberta in the 2009–10 fiscal year. Using Robert Cialdini’s theory of factors of influence (i.e., commitment and consistency, authority, liking, social proof, scarcity, and reciprocity) as a framework for analysis, findings show that consistency and commitment and authority were relevant and that liking was also important. These findings are consistent with Cialdini’s theory, which suggests that the quality of relationships is one factor that can most strongly influence a decision maker. This study gives insight into the factors motivating those involved in public library funding allocation decisions. No prior studies have examined the construct of influence in decision making about funding for public libraries at any level of government.

The role of interpersonal influence in budget decision making: The Canadian public library experience

This study determined factors which influenced Canadian provincial (state) politicians when making funding decisions for public libraries. Using the case study methodology, Canadian provincial/state-level funding for public libraries in the 2009-2010 fiscal year was examined. The data were analyzed to determine whether Cialdini’s theory of influence and specifically any of the six tactics of influence (i.e., commitment and consistency, authority, liking, social proof, scarcity, and reciprocity) were instrumental in these budgetary decision-making processes. Findings show the principles of “authority,” “consistency and commitment,” and “liking” were relevant, and that “liking” was especially important to these decisions.