<p> Many IT projects fail despite the best efforts to keep these projects within budget, schedule, and scope. Few studies have looked at the effect of project risk management tools and techniques on project success. The primary focus of this study was to examine the extent to which utilization of project risk management processes influence project success. A secondary focus of the study was to determine if utilization of project risk management processes correlates with project success more than project manager experience, certification, level of education, and project size, type, or duration. To meet the objectives of the study, a survey instrument was developed and piloted. The final instrument was administered to a group of IT project management practitioners to assess the utilization of specific project risk management tools and techniques on a recently completed project. The answers were combined with the participants' self-reported project success as measured by end-of-project budget, schedule, and scope success metrics. While the results of the study did not point to a specific project risk management tool or technique to predict an IT project's success, valuable insight was gained when stepping back and looking at overall factors that influence project success. When looking at these factors, the researcher found there was a statistical correlation that indicated the use of project risk management processes as a whole are a better predictor of IT project success than a project manager's experience, certification, level of education, and project size, type, or duration in the majority of success areas measured.</p>

<p> The advances in information technologies and the Internet significantly promote the prosperous growth of electronic commerce in recent years. Simply surfing the Internet allows consumers to conveniently explore endless product choices and a flood of related product information. As one of the most important sources of product information, Word-of-Mouth (WOM) helps consumers assess product quality, reduces decision risk without physical trials, and thus facilitates locating their best matches. WOM volume on the Internet has been rising fast while the Internet also unprecedentedly enhances the reach of WOM. As a result, online WOM could significantly influence consumer decision-making. More and more firms are embracing and applying online WOM marketing as a complementary strategy for advertising to increase sales. Even so, not much has been known regarding the mechanism underlying the WOM effect on online consumer behavior. A deeper understanding of the economic impact of online WOM is needed to provide practitioners insightful guidance on information systems design and the allocation of firm resources to more effectively develop online WOM marketing strategies. </p><p> This dissertation seeks to shed light on online WOM effect from three angles using a three-essay structure. The first essay of this dissertation investigates how a demand side factor (online user-generated WOM) interplays with a supply side factor (product variety) to affect a product's popularity in the online market where product choices are abundant and consumers can easily access product information. Extant research primarily looks into either demand side or supply side justifications for the heterogeneity of consumption pattern. Alternatively, this study highlights that consumers' reliance on online user reviews to choose products is significantly influenced by the quantity of products available. </p><p> In addition, this dissertation also explores the differential impact of online WOM created by different types of reviewers on online user choices. While consumers are widely exposed to both online user reviews and professional reviews, those two sources of WOM information are generally believed to influence user choices independently. However, an in-depth mediation analysis conducted in the Bayesian framework shows that professional reviews influence online user choices not only directly but also indirectly through the volume of online user reviews. This study also proposes a more robust hierarchical structure to model the interaction effect between online user reviews and product variety, refining the first essay. </p><p> Following this line of inquiry, this dissertation further studies the impact of the distribution of online WOM across retailing and third-party websites on consumers' purchasing decisions. In parallel with the flocking WOM available on the Internet, nowadays consumers are able to reach almost every piece of online WOM information relevant to their interested products. The distribution of WOM information across the Internet may accordingly influence consumers' search costs for product information and affect their final decisions. This research has found empirical evidence that both the dispersion of WOM volume and variation of WOM valence across the Internet significantly influence online retail sales.</p>

<p> Online reviews have become a popular method for consumers to express personal evaluation about products. Ecommerce firms have invested heavily into review systems because of the impact of product reviews on product sales and shopping behavior. However, the usage of product reviews is undermined by the increasing appearance of shill or fake reviews. As initial steps to deter and detect shill reviews, this study attempts to understand characteristics of shill reviews and influences of shill reviews on product quality and shopping behavior. To reveal the linguistic characteristics of shill reviews, this study compares shill reviews and normal reviews on informativeness, readability and subjectivity level. The results show that these features can be used as reliable indicators to separate shill reviews from normal reviews. An experiment was conducted to measure the impact of shill reviews on perceived product quality. The results showed that positive shill reviews significantly increased quality perceptions of consumers for thinly reviewed products. This finding provides strong evidence about the risks of shill reviews and emphasizes the need to develop effective detection and prevention methods.</p>

<p> Feature selection is one of the most important decisions made by product managers. This three article study investigates the concepts, tools and techniques for making trade-off decisions of introducing new features in evolving Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software products. The first article investigates the efficacy of various feature selection techniques when the trade-off is between comprehensiveness and time-to-market. The second article investigates the impact of current level of product performance when the trade-off is between providing different types of innovative features to the users. The third article investigates the impact on the ability of the COTS product to attract new users and retain existing users when the trade-off is between providing utilitarian and hedonic value through new product features. </p><p> To meet these research goals an extensive multidisciplinary study of Information Systems (IS) and Product Development literatures was conducted followed by experimental research. The experiments were conducted among youth between 19-24 years who were users of Gmail software and produced some key findings. </p><p> In the first study the Kano survey method was found to be effective in identifying those features which added value to the product and those that did not. This finding will facilitate product managers in using appropriate techniques for identifying the critical product features to be built into the COTS product thereby reducing time-to-market without sacrificing product quality. In the second study, current COTS product performance was found to significantly impact the type of innovation to be introduced into the COTS product. Basic or Core product innovations were found to have value for the users when performance is low but not when the performance is high. On the other hand, Expected or product Performance innovations and Augmented or user Excitement innovations were found to have value when the performance is high but not when the performance is low. In the third study, Hedonic value and Utilitarian value of product features were found to have distinctive impact on users. While Hedonic value impacted Word-of-Mouth, a measure of the products' capacity to attract new customers, Utilitarian value impacted User Loyalty, a measure of the products' capacity to retain existing customers.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to examine the experiences of clinicians in the adoption of Electronic Medical Records in a Medicare certified Home Health Agency. An additional goal for this study was to triangulate qualitative research between describing, explaining, and exploring technology acceptance. The experiences were studied through an anonymous survey using a third party vendor. The data revealed that in spite of Internet and connectivity issues, clinicians at XYZ Home Care overlooked these issues because of the benefits in utilizing an electronic medical record system. These benefits include quick access to patient medical records and saving time. The data allowed for triangulation between describing, explaining, and exploring technology acceptance.</p>

<p> The percentage of failure in traditional project management is high, as nearly 70% of projects fail (The Standish Group, 2009). Unsuccessful projects impact businesses, customers, and society in sizable ways. </p><p> Project success and failure research fit into two categories: (a) project management methodological issues and (b) leadership and organizational behavior issues. Most research focuses on the former. This research addressed the later, specifically examining Information Technology (IT) project workers who reside in the United States. </p><p> The central research question was, What is the optimal organizational culture for IT project teams such that success factors are enhanced and failure factors are lessened? A mixed-methods study was designed and implemented. For Phase One, an internet survey was conducted using Cameron and Quinn's (2006) Competing Values Framework (Organizational Culture Assessment Inventory (OCAI)) and compared to a measure of IT Project Success. For Phase Two, qualitative interviews were carried out using Schein's (2004) Three Levels Model of organizational culture, and then a Thematic Analysis was completed to obtain an optimal culture model. </p><p> One hundred forty-one participants completed Phase One. Results showed no significant correlation between the four culture types (Clan, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy) and IT project success. For Phase Two, 15 participants of varying job roles and demographics completed interviews. Applying Thematic Analysis techniques, 175 codes related to leadership and organizational behavior issues were determined, which produced twenty-six themes. </p><p> The findings from Phase Two produced a set of interrelated organizational culture factors that IT project workers believed were optimal for project success. The framework was termed Enlightened Information Technology Project Culture (EITPC)TM and comprised four dimensions: (a) organizational behavior/leadership, (b) processes, (c) support, and (d) technology. The results suggest that if managers and consultants implemented this model, or applicable factors, that their IT projects would likely have greater success, or lower degrees of failure. </p><p> Suggestions for future research is to continue to study leadership and organizational behavior issues of project teams. Additional research is needed on the Enlightened Information Technology Project Culture (EITPC)TM framework to determine whether differing demographics of IT workers and company (or project) types impact the results.</p>

<p> Automated Logistics Environment (ALE) is a new term used by Navy and aerospace industry executives to describe the aggregate of logistics-related information systems that support modern aircraft weapon systems. The development of logistics information systems is not always well coordinated among programs, often resulting in solutions that cannot be easily integrated or made interoperable with other information systems used within the Department of Defense. A phenomenological approach was used to explore ALE program managers' lived experiences of coordinating defense acquisition programs toward the goal of creating a common environment in which information systems are well integrated and interoperable. The business problems associated with smart aircraft diagnostic, prognostic, health and usage monitoring systems, and the challenges created by the large volumes of data that are being collected by sensors onboard newly deployed smart aircraft also were explored. This qualitative study was accomplished by conducting interviews with 18 logistics and information technology managers from Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland with first-hand experience in dealing with ALE. The study results were presented in the form of a composite description derived from the textural-structural descriptions for each study participant. Results of the study included the structures of meaning surrounding ALE and identified social, organizational, and other non-technical components of systems integration that have been largely ignored in the information systems literature. Study results also included the perceived benefits and disadvantages of a common Automated Logistics Environment. Future researchers should consider the rich opportunities available to study other system of systems environments in federal government agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense, military departments, and subordinate defense agencies. While scholars may desire to simplify complex phenomena, future researchers should take care to avoid oversimplification of systems integration constructs in system of systems environments. As shown by this current ALE study, some technical and nontechnical issues may be inseparable in a real world setting. The ALE study results indicated that research that focuses on either technical or non-technical aspects of systems integration may not fully account for dynamic, interrelated (and often subtle) factors and may restrict our understanding of systems integration.</p>

<p> Systems engineering teams' value-creation for enterprises is slower than possible due to inefficiencies in communication, learning, common knowledge collaboration and leadership conduct. This dissertation outlines the surrounding people, process and technology dimensions for higher performing engineering teams. It describes a true experiment investigation of opportunities to improve communication, learning and common knowledge collaboration. </p><p> The art and practice of Systems Engineering contributes business value by orchestrating large numbers of knowledge-workers as engineering teams in the achievement of complex goals. During the creation of new systems, engineering team performance modulates business efficiencies to realize those complex goals. Higher performing engineering teams share a vision providing purpose, rely on personal knowledge convolved with collaborators knowledge to unleash potential, leverage common knowledge in their team mental models, and execute synergistically. Why do non-high performing teams exist? Culture change is hard. Humans prefer the familiar. Without Leadership and systematic enablement, teams usually do not naturally find the high performing team traits. </p><p> This research investigates a unique Information Technology based Systems Engineering Knowledge Asset (SEKA) management mechanism. The selected mechanism integrates multiple techniques for improved collaboration efficacy. The research methodology was a modified true experiment with dual-posttest only, using an A and B group for comparative controls. Research findings reflect, with 99% confidence, that SEKA represented in 3-way Multiple Informational Representations Required of Referent (MIRRoR) knowledge constructs improves systems engineering teams' consumption of a common knowledge base. </p><p> Engineering teams can consume a set of information, which generates knowledge common with their collaborators, in a shorter period. More knowledge that is common facilitates increased ability to collaborate. Increased collaboration accelerates team learning, leading to shorter systems delivery schedules, lower cost to produce and earlier actionable intelligence. Shorter delivery times increase customer satisfaction; lower costs improve profit margin potential, and earlier actionable intelligence supports "left of boom" intervention. </p>

<p> Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) are increasingly being used in healthcare organizations. However, there are few factors influencing the physician adoption rate of EMRs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the meaningful use incentives, and the type of specialty practices in relationship to the physician use of EMRs. Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) were analyzed to how meaningful use incentives and the type of physician practices affect the physician use of EMRs. The Chi-Square test and ANOVA test have been use to examine the hypothesis, and the association was found to be statistically significant.</p>

<p> Information systems can be used to increase competitiveness by increasing the effectiveness and speed of decision-making. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a subset of cloud computing that provides information systems functionality through a web browser. Organizations that adopt SaaS can receive value over time if they continue to use the SaaS solution after implementation. This study analyzed the extent to which SaaS adoption and continued use factors affect the continued use of SaaS in organizations. The research can help organizations maximize the value of SaaS by identifying success factors for continued use. The study determined the extent to which the independent factors of Rapport, Responsiveness, Reliability, Features, Security, Flexibility, and Marketing Effort affected the dependent variable of the decision makers' intent to continue use of SaaS within their organization. Participants in the study included IT managers and other technologists familiar with the use of SaaS in their workplace. Invitations were sent via email to IT managers and technologists working at a large aerospace organization. There was also an open invitation posted on a social media site used by customers of a large SaaS provider. The invitations resulted in 101 valid responses. The Extended SaaS-Qual model developed in this study is an extension of an earlier model developed to analyze SaaS continuance. The original SaaS-Qual model was extended to understand the effect of marketing on SaaS continuance intention. Statistical analysis including loadings, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminate validity showed strong support for the Extended SaaS-Qual model. The Extended SaaS-Qual model will help with the establishment of standardized measures for the benefit of both SaaS providers and SaaS users.</p>