One opportunity for organizations to participate in open source software (OSS) development is throughorganizations OSS(orgsOSS), a term we use to describe a group of organizations that commit resources to collectively develop OSS. This archetype of OSS development is distinct from other types that include organizations, yet is understudied. As organizations increasingly contribute to and rely on OSS as part of their strategy, understanding how they can collaborate to build software holds importance for the future of software development. This study collects a unique dataset of development tasks from a large orgsOSS project spanning over two years and seven releases. Building on existing OSS research, we explore norms with respect to collaboration, i.e., how developers assign, discuss, and complete tasks, in an orgsOSS project. Interestingly, our analysis reveals that developers in orgsOSS do not always adhere to ideals of widespread sharing and participation espoused by traditional OSS, however some developer and task characteristics helped foster these ideals. Based on these and other findings, we develop a set of propositions and associated collaboration mechanisms that are important to future orgsOSS and other similarly structured software development projects.

Research on enterprise systems (ES) implementation has focused on different aspects of implementation challenges, employee reactions, and system success. Much of this research has been conducted in developed countries and a few developing countries. This raises an obvious question about the applicability of findings to other contexts with different social and organisational cultures. We examine ES implementations in 12 organisations in Saudi Arabia, an important economic and political frontier and a unique sociocultural context in the Arab World. Using sociotechnical systems theory and institutional theory and the literature on contextualisation, we studied contextual aspects of three important factors related to ES implementations – i.e., ownership and governance, scope management, and employee empowerment. We found that the nature of ownership and governance plays a significant hindering role during implementation. Further, Saudi organisations implementing ES faced major challenges in managing the scope of implementation due to interferences from the top management and/or owners, and lack of justification by the consultants. Finally, we found that owners and top management were deeply concerned about losing their control over employees following ES implementations. We extend prior research and theories by offering contextual explanations unearthed from a context that is different from developed and many developing countries.

Research on information technology (IT) adoption and use, one of the most mature streams of research in the information science and information systems literature, is primarily based on the intentionality framework. Behavioral intention (BI) to use an IT is considered the sole proximal determinant of IT adoption and use. Recently, researchers have discussed the limitations of BI and argued that behavioral expectation (BE) would be a better predictor of IT use. However, without a theoretical and empirical understanding of the determinants of BE, we remain limited in our comprehension of what factors promote greater IT use in organizations. Using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology as the theoretical framework, we develop a model that posits 2 determinants (i.e., social influence and facilitating conditions) of BE and 4 moderators (i.e., gender, age, experience, and voluntariness of use) of the relationship between BE and its determinants. We argue that the cognitions underlying the formation of BI and BE differ. We found strong support for the proposed model in a longitudinal field study of 321 users of a new IT. We offer theoretical and practical IT implications of our findings.

Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and floods, have a profound impact on healthcare by limiting healthcare providers' ability to effectively provide patient care in the affected areas and respond to myriad healthcare needs of the affected population. The situation can potentially be exacerbated if healthcare providers do not have effective mechanisms in place for disaster response. The response to Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that made landfall in August 2005 and affected several states in the southwestern U.S., was a vivid example of how the lack of effective planning and responsiveness can affect healthcare services. In this paper, based on an extensive case study, which included a rigorous examination of the Veterans Health Administration's information technology (IT) infrastructure and its response to Hurricane Katrina, we present five strategies that healthcare organizations can undertake to develop and leverage IT-enabled disaster response. These include the development of: 1) an integrated IT architecture; 2) a universal data repository; 3) web-based disaster communication and coordination; 4) an IT-enabled disaster support system; and 5) standardized and integrated IT-enabled disaster response processes. We discuss how these strategies can help healthcare providers manage continuity and offer quality healthcare during natural disasters.