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Frank Ulbrich, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada, frank.ulbrich@ufv.ca
Joao Porto de Albuquerque, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, jporto@icmc.usp.br
The SIG-OSRA track focuses on advancing research and application of information and communication technologies in the end-user environment to support work processes, foster innovation, improve employee performance, and enhance overall organizational effectiveness in direct support of goals and strategies.
This year we invite research papers and teaching cases on topics related to integrating information and communication technologies in the workplace including leveraging end-user innovation, developing end-user oriented apps, managing business process, training and supporting end-users, managing knowledge, and coping with end-user technology adoption, assimilation, and use.
The track is open to all types of research. Best papers from the mini-tracks will be considered for submission to the Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal (ITLPJ).
Lars-Olof Johansson, School of Information Science, Halmstad University, Sweden, lars-olof.johansson@hh.se
Jens Poeppelbuss, Industrial Services Group, University of Bremen, Germany, jepo@is.uni-bremen.de
Organizations strive to become more process-oriented and co-creative when delivering value to their customers. A fundamental principle of both process orientation and value co-creation is to span boundaries within and across organizations. For boundary spanning, organizations, employees and customers (or people in general) rely on information systems as well as related techniques, models and methods. In today’s world, boundaries are becoming increasingly dynamic and therefore pose new challenges to information systems research. On the one hand, inter- and intra-organizational boundaries blur as people engage with each other on IT-based platforms. On the other hand, new boundaries can al so emerge through the use of information systems in the process of creating customer value. Research on how organizations can manage and overcome intra- and inter-organizational boundaries with the help of information systems is subject of this mini-track. We encourage papers applying a wide variety of methodologies, including empirical, theoretical and design-oriented research.
Frank Ulbrich, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada, frank.ulbrich@ufv.ca
End users usually have a sound understanding of how business/organizational processes actually work in their organizations. Business process modelling and process mining are known ways to create insights into processes from various angles, assist in discussing and understanding business process, document processes, analyze the performance of and improve processes, and check processes for organizational compliance. The end users’ sound understanding of organizational processes, however, is difficult to capture and utilize as end users normally have difficulties in accurately explaining, documenting, and modelling such processes. This minitrack focuses on effective techniques for modelling business processes from an end-user perspective. All types of empirical and theoretical contributions are invited.
Marcel Morisse, University of Hamburg, Germany, morisse@informatik.uni-hamburg.de
Claire Ingram, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden, claire.ingram@hhs.se
New technologies and IT innovations like Web 2.0 arise and support work processes, enhance organizational effectiveness and create new organizational structures. Modern communication technologies connect different end-user around the globe which form complex organizational networks and ecosystems. Given the possibilities of IT, new challenges arise. A challenge, addressed more and more by researchers and practitioners is the handling of extreme events in end-user environments. Extreme events range from large natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes), terrorist attacks (e.g. September 11 attacks), and economic crises (European debt crisis) to smaller-sized events (e.g. loss of important organizational assets). Thereby, all extreme events are unique, but resilient handling of extreme events is in general critically dependent on mutually agreed and accepted policies, processes and cultures as well as a flexible and at the same time robust IT infrastructure. Resilient handling of extreme events secures organizations and end-user a advantage in complex organizational networks and ecosystems.
Paul Drews, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, paul.drews@leuphana.de
Elizabeth A. Regan, University of South Carolina, earegan@mailbox.sc.edu
In many organizations, end-users are confronting the IT department with new requirements regarding the IT support of their work. Their expectations towards the IT have changed due to their positive experiences with consumer-oriented systems (smartphones, tablets, cloud services). To keep up with these expectations, many organizations started adopting consumer IT (consumerization) or allowed their employees to bring their own devices and use them at work (BYOD). Organizations need to rethink the balance between innovation and user requirements versus governance and security. Furthermore, in the age of digitization, the term end-user also includes are large number of customers and consumers interacting with the organization’s IT via mobile applications, web shops and web portals. Organizations need to rethink their traditional ways of providing training, support, empowerment, and innovation with regard to this extended user base. This mini-track provides a forum for presenting research in this new and important area of end-user computing.
Andreas Drechsler, University of Duisburg-Essen, andreas.drechsler@icb.uni-due.de
Paul Drews, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, paul.drews@leuphana.de
Over the past few decades, the influence of the IT consulting industry on the use and the management of IT in enterprises has increased dramatically. Many enterprises rely on IT consulting services to transform their business and to change the client’s socio-technical configuration. In consulting projects, consultants often act as change agents for their clients. They are assigned to analyze, propose, and implement IT innovations and to optimize processes. As consulting companies are organized as people-driven professional service organizations, they have to put great efforts into identifying, qualifying and managing the workforce. Despite the prevalence of IT consulting projects in practice, IS research has not covered the field of IT consulting very intensively in the past. This mini-track provides a forum for research on IT consulting projects, the organization of IT consulting firms and consultants acting as change agents.
Elizabeth A. Regan, University of South Carolina, earegan@mailbox.sc.edu
Much of today’s innovation comes at the intersection of business practice and technology integration. It demands trans-disciplinary systems approaches that engage end-users, bridge silos, and extend organizational boundaries. It impacts both the organization and the roles of workers, and often relationships with customers as well. This is an area that has gotten little coverage in the research literature. Although the literature suggests that workers on the frontlines are often the source of solutions not readily evident at management levels, little research is available on the role of end-users, appropriate approaches for engaging them, or the impact on work itself. Technology enabled business solutions generally require both technology savvy and business expertise, but marrying these two successfully is often challenging and sometimes illusive from both a technology and an organizational perspective. Exploratory, theoretical, empirical and descriptive (case studies) papers related to technology enabled business process innovation are invited.
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