Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept of Economics, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Since, the available informational and technological resources constitute a source of prosperity and differentiation for the organisations, the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) is becoming more crucial and vital. The thirty years of the CIO's existence have shown a path of changes and difficulties on defining and establishing the particular role within the organisational context. The present study examines the CIO role evolution over the last thirty years, analyses the CIO role at the present time and discusses the CIO role in the future. The examination of the evolution of the CIO role identifies four main areas of interest that are used as the conceptual framework of the study. These areas relate to business strategy, innovation and competitive advantage, relationships building and external environment. Based on a qualitative research approach, nine case studies of existing CIOs are conducted and analysed from the private and the public sector. The analysis provides insights about the responsibilities of the CIOs, currently, regarding each one of the role aspects and the furthermore, particular responsibilities for these aspects. The results of the analysis demonstrate that within the CIO role responsibilities there are activities such as active participation in the strategic planning, exploitation of information management as an enabler of innovation, active facilitation of consultation processes with the stakeholders and finally, networking with outside organisations such as suppliers and customers but also networking with peers to share best practices. Regarding the future of the CIO role, it is argued that the CIO role includes responsibilities relating to technology management and it is counterproductive to separate these responsibilities to another C-level executive such as a CTO. Finally, it is argued that the CIO role enhances the dynamic capabilities of the organisation by helping it to improve its learning processes and the way it transforms its information resources. The results of the study have implications to both industry and academia. The proposed CIO role model could be used by industry as a guideline for the job description of the role in question, as well as an evaluation scheme for the post holders. With respect to academia, the proposed role model could be used to identify the skills necessary for a CIO and thus, to help inform areas in which university educational programmes should focus on.

This thesis offers an information strategy for a small-sized webdesign business. It examines the current state of its IS/IT, whilst evaluating its benefits in business procedures and processes. This thesis envisages an IT strategy that will significantly support increase in competitiveness on the market and accomplishment of the business goals of this firm. This strategy introduces various elements of the future information system and emphasises the importance of the choice of the right solutions. The essential part of master’s thesis are also theoretical resources.

Information Systems (IS) research frequently uses survey data to measure the interplay between technological systems and human beings. Researchers have developed sophisticated procedures to build and validate multi-item scales that measure real world phenomena (latent constructs). Most studies use the so-called classical test theory (CTT), which suffers from several shortcomings. We first compare CTT to Item Response Theory (IRT) and subsequently apply a Rasch model approach to measure hedonic aspects of websites. The results not only show which attributes are best suited for scaling hedonic information systems, but also introduce IRT as a viable substitute that overcomes severall shortcomings of CTT. (author´s abstract) / Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

Limited research has been conducted on how system administrators actually can affect information systems (IS) after they have been implemented; hence, this study examines how system administrators can affect IS success in an implemented IS. The study identified a system administrator´s affect on the three IS quality dimensions in the DeLone and McLean IS success model. The empirical findings was based on a single case study where the data was collected through interviews with the system administrator and the system assistants, but also through a questionnaire answered by the users of the IS. The empirical findings suggested that the system administrator can affect IS success through the IS quality dimensions both directly and indirectly. The system administrator´s affect on IS success proved to be highly dependent on the external system vendor and the structure of the internal support unit.

Designing local controllers for networked systems is challenging, because in these systems each local controller can often access only part of the overall information on system parameters and sensor measurements. Traditional control design cannot be easily applied due to the unconventional information patterns, communication network imperfections, and design procedure complexities. How to control large-scale systems is of immediate societal importance as they appear in many emerging applications, such as intelligent transportation systems, smart grids, and energy-efficient buildings. In this thesis, we make three contributions to the problem of designing networked controller under information asymmetries and limitations. In the first contribution, we investigate how to design local controllers to optimize a cost function using only partial knowledge of the model governing the system. Specifically, we derive some fundamental limitations in the closed-loop performance when the design of each controller only relies on local plant model information. Results are characterized in the structure of the networked system as well as in the available model information. Both deterministic and stochastic formulations are considered for the closed-loop performance and the available information. In the second contribution of the thesis, we study decision making in transportation systems using heterogeneous routing and congestion games. It is shown that a desirable global behavior can emerge from simple local strategies used by the drivers to choose departure times and routes. Finally, the third contribution is a novel stochastic sensor scheduling policy for ad-hoc networked systems, where a varying number of control loops are active at any given time. It is shown that the policy provides stochastic guarantees for the network resources dynamically allocated to each loop. / <p>QC 20140221</p>

Information technology (IT) is a key enabler of modern business practices, yet reliably effective IT systems remain a significant challenge for many organizations. The consequences when systems fail to behave as expected becomes ever-more problematic as IT dependence grows. Therefore, methods for assessing IT effectiveness and generating actionable recommendations for improvement are key drivers of success. For this reason, large organizations often adopt IT best practice frameworks such as COBIT, ITIL or ISO/IEC standards which can offer greater assurances of IT effectiveness. However smaller organizations are rarely able to adopt these frameworks due, in part, to resource constraints, and a preference to eschew authoritative practices in favour of informal guides to action. Consequently, a significant research gap is the lack of IT effectiveness approaches for organizations unable or unwilling to adopt formal IT best practice frameworks. This thesis presents an alternative norms-based approach to IT effectiveness which some organizations might find more suitable. Norms are informal beliefs (e.g. ‘using a complex password helps safeguard data’) which motivate behaviours and can often be expressed using non-technical language. We review the literature to formulate a predictive model connecting norms to IT quality. Employing a scientific methodology defensible on philosophical grounds and accepted research practices, we distil a set of IT effectiveness norms from the COBIT 4.1 IT governance framework and adapt theories of motivation to justify our assertion that IT effectiveness norms can motivate actions. Our work is signficant in its formulation of an alternative approach for assessing IT operations and improving organizational IT outcomes. Our survey instrument –validated in four studies, which include a non-profit and government organization, multiple small businesses, a large pharmaceutical company and a university –is a light-weight and reliable assessment tool. Our predictive model is able to explain 26% of observed variance, and can offer actionable and non-technical insights which can improve organizational outcomes. A norms-based approach may bring many of the same IT effectiveness benefits offered by formal IT best practices into organizations, such as small businesses, which lack the resources for their implementation. This approach may also help bridge important communication gaps between IT professionals and others in the organization by providing a different, less technical perspective for framing, assessing, diagnosing, and communicating about IT processes.

Online product reviews have become an important and influential source of information for consumers. Firms often manipulate online product reviews to influence consumer perceptions about the product, making it a research topic of urgent need for theory development and empirical investigation. In this thesis, we examine how consumers perceive and respond to the three commonly used manipulation tactics. Firstly, an exploratory pre-study via in-depth interviews with online shoppers indicates that consumers commonly have the knowledge for online review manipulations as well as for detecting them. In the first study, a survey was used to investigate the three popular manipulation tactics in terms of ethicality and deceptiveness. They rated hiding/deleting unfavorable messages as the most deceptive and unethical, followed by anonymously adding positive messages, and then offering incentives for posting favorable messages. In study 2, in a simulated field experiment, we introduce persuasion knowledge to further examine the negative influence of review manipulations on consumers’ attitudes. The results suggest that review manipulation increases suspicion of manipulations but can hardly reduce purchase intention of focal products. We also find that consumers’ persuasion knowledge enhances suspicion of manipulation, but lessens the negative impact of suspicion on purchase intention. The third study uses secondary data of a branded e-retailer and its third party website to cross-validate the effect of manipulations on product sales. The results confirm our hypotheses that review manipulation are effective in promoting sales; however, this influence would decrease over time. This research contributes to the online marketing literature by augmenting the Information Manipulation Theory and Persuasion Knowledge Model to examine the deceptive persuasion in the online context and its impact on consumer behavior. Furthermore, we also contribute to the literature of online WOM by empirically examining the influence of review manipulations on sales. Our findings provide valuable insights to practitioners and policy makers on the pitfalls of online manipulation activities and the need to ensure the healthy development of e-commerce.

Master's thesis deals with the assessment of the BENU pharmacy information system and proposes the necessary changes to increase the efficiency and effectiveness that will help the companyin their internal processes. The introductory part is focused on the theoretical basis of the work, where the basic concepts are explained. The second part is devoted to the company and the analysis of the information system, its features, characteristics and requirements. The last part, which is based on the analysis of the current state, containts suggestions for improvement, benefits and economic evaluation.

The two longitudinal case studies that make up this dissertation sought to explain and predict the relationship between usability and clinician acceptance of a health information system. The overall aim of the research study was to determine what role usability plays in the acceptance or rejection of systems used by clinicians in a healthcare context. The focus was on the end users (the clinicians) rather than the views of the system designers and managers responsible for implementation and the clients of the clinicians. A mixed methods approach was adopted that drew on both qualitative and quantitative research methods. This study followed the implementation of a community health information system from early beginnings to its established practice. Users were drawn from different health service departments with distinctly different organisational cultures and attitudes to information and communication technology used in this context. This study provided evidence that a usability analysis in this context would not necessarily be valid when the users have prior reservations on acceptance. Investigation was made on the initial training and post-implementation support together with a study on the nature of the clinicians to determine factors that may influence their attitude. This research identified that acceptance of a system is not necessarily a measure of its quality, capability and usability, is influenced by the user’s attitude which is determined by outside factors, and the nature and quality of training. The need to recognise the limitations of the current methodologies for analysing usability and acceptance was explored to lay the foundations for further research.