Firms are undertaking growing numbers of e-commerce initiatives and increasingly making significant investments required to participate in the growing online market. However, empirical support for the benefits to firms from e-commerce is weaker than glowing accounts in the popular press, based on anecdotal evidence, would lead us to believe. In this paper, we explore the following questions: What are the returns to shareholders in firms engaging in e-commerce? How do the returns to conventional, brick and mortar firms from e-commerce initiatives compare with returns to the new breed of net firms? How do returns from businessto-business e-commerce compare with returns from business-to-consumer e-commerce? How do the returns to e-commerce initiatives involving digital goods compare to initiatives involving tangible goods? We examine these issues using event study methodology and assess the cumulative abnormal returns to shareholders (CARs) for 251 e-commerce initiatives announced by firms between October and December 1998. The results suggest that e-commerce initiatives do indeed lead to significant positive CARs for firms ’ shareholders. While the CARs for conventional firms are not significantly different from those for net firms, the CARs for businessto-consumer (B2C) announcements are higher than those for business-to-business (B2B) announcements.

We have benefited from our discussions with Kristian Kreiner, Paul Hirsch and Roger Dunbar. We have also benefited from inputs that were offered by participants at the Path Dependence and Creation workshop,

Software process improvement is seen by many as a viable strategy for overcoming the software crisis. It is, however, difficult to determine the actual effect of such improvement efforts. This paper reports from an organization that is implementing a software metrics program with the expressed purpose of measuring the effects of their improvement project. The metrics program is intended to measure key indicators of all completed projects and summarize progress information in a quarterly management report. The paper describes important events during the implementation of this metrics program. The process turns out to be long and complex and the software organization finds itself confronted with dilemmas based on contradictory demands and value conflicts. The paper interprets the implementation process from two complementary perspectives. First, it is viewed as a rational, engineering process in which a metrics program is constructed and put into use. Second, it is seen as an evolutionary, cultivation process in which basic values of the software organization are confronted and transformed. This analysis leads to practical advice on how to implement metrics programs as part of software management practices.

This paper reports a study of information and communication technology (ICT) use in Norway and the United States. Forty-two depth interviews completed in both countries provide the data source. Using grounded theory as a research method, and Adaptive Structuration Theory as our conceptual base, we analyze these interviews to generate an empirical model of ICT use. The 1490 incidents identified in our analysis are first reduced to 49 categories. These categories are further reduced to four: satisficing, communication channels, communication structure, and environmental agents. These four categories comprise the major parts of the reflexive model. The findings suggest that the parts of the model are interdependent and mutually causal in that individuals consider and even reconsider the use of multiple communication channels within and between tasks. As a conclusion we address future research including, credibility and time issues in ICT use.

Abstract Despite discussions of the increasingly global character of information systems (IS), IS research remains highly “Western-centric ” both in terms of its subjects of study and the nationalities of the authors. Researchers interested in IS in non-Western settings are thus reliant on a fragmented and not easily accessible literature that presents a potentially distorted picture of IS practice in these regions. This paper explores this situation through an examination of the literature relating to IS in Egypt (both directly, but also as a Middle Eastern, Arab or Islamic country). A macro analysis of these studies indicates that they are predominantly positivistic in epistemology, quantitative in methodology and focused on economic development and national culture. Although many of the studies make comparisons with other countries in the region, the explicit, or sometimes implicit, point of reference is almost invariably with “the West”. This is repeated in a detailed analysis of individual studies. Implications of these findings for research on IS in non-Western settings are discussed.

(CCT) conducted a three year study of a large-scale data reporting system, developed by the Grow Network for New York City’s Department of Education. This paper presents a framework based on two years of research exploring the intersection of decision-support technologies, educators, and the process of transforming data into knowledge. The model looks at three dimensions: the process by which raw data becomes useable information; the effect of the data-reporting tool in shaping that process; and the role of prior knowledge of the decision-maker. The model keeps the teacher at the center of the process and supports the hypothesis that, in order, for data-driven decision-making to change teaching and learning practices, the focus of professional development should be on teaching and learning, rather than on data analysis.

Drawing on the concept of relational embeddedness and the associated mechanisms of mutual understanding, trust, and commitment, we examine how leaders ’ prior exchange experiences influence the likelihood of subsequent interorganizational exchange. We begin to develop a microlevel model of organization-level relations that accounts for nodal multiplexity. In data on baseball player trades, we found that individual leaders ’ ties affected exchanges less than did an organization’s other ties. The sharing of exchange experiences by organizations and their current leaders increased the influences of those experiences on exchange behavior. Thus, leaders have more influence within their organizational contexts than in isolation. For their helpful advice on this project, we thank

lable research findings regarding girls and computing, before I make a theoretical approach to how and why (not) research results are applied in policy making and what kind of research is perceived to be reliable and trustworthy. Finally I discuss on the interpretations of the research results on the part of the decision makers and the choices these seem to lead to. I will show what policymakers and politicians regard as their knowledge based on girls and computing, and how they more or less systematically diminish qualitative research results or narratives as not useful or scientifically reliable. Available research results on girls and co Available research results on girls and co Available research results on girls and co Available research results on girls and com mm mputing putingputing puting The numbers point in the same direction In 1990 in Norway, 44% of the students in secondary schools had access to computers at home, 56% of boys and 32% of girls (IBM in St. meld. 24). Re

Software process improvement is seen by many as a viable strategy for overcoming the software crisis. It is, however, difficult to determine the actual effect of such improvement efforts. This paper reports from an organisation that is implementing a software metrics programme with the expressed purpose of measuring the effects of their improvement project in quantitative terms. The metrics programme is intended to measure key indicators of all completed projects and summarise progress information in a quarterly management report. The paper describes important events during the implementation of this metrics programme. The process turns out to be long and complex and the software organisation finds itself confronted with dilemmas based on contradictory demands and value conflicts. The paper interprets the implementation process from two complementary perspectives. First, it is viewed as a rational, engineering process in which a metrics programme is constructed and put into use. Second, it is seen as an evolutionary, cultivation process in which basic values of the software organisation are confronted and transformed. This analysis leads to practical advice on how to implement metrics programmes as part of software management practices.

In this article, we identify, compare, and contrast theoretical constructs for the fields of information searching and information retrieval to emphasize the uniqueness of and synergy between the fields. Theoretical constructs are the foundational elements that underpin a field’s core theories, models, assumptions, methodologies, and evaluation metrics. We provide a framework to compare and contrast the theoretical constructs in the fields of information searching and information retrieval using intellectual perspective and theoretical orientation. The intellectual perspectives are information searching, information retrieval, and cross-cutting; and the theoretical orientations are information, people, and technology. Using this framework, we identify 17 significant constructs in these fields contrasting the differences and comparing the similarities. We discuss the impact of the interplay among these constructs for moving research forward within both fields. Although there is tension between the fields due to contradictory constructs, an examination shows a trend toward convergence. We discuss the implications for future research within the information searching and information retrieval fields.