Most experienced authors know that getting papers through the revision process on the way to publication is challenging (Mingers, 2002), but fewer may have confronted the challenges of trying to si...

This paper for the 20th anniversary issue of the Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM) looks back on the last ten years of research on two related areas highlighted in Tan and Gallupe’s (1999) manifesto for research on global information management in the decade ahead: global enterprise management and global management of information resources. In particular, the paper examines the relationship between the structure and governance of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the structure and governance of IT resources in MNEs. Early IS research hypothesized alignment between enterprise organization structure and the structure of the IT function in high-performing organizations. However, research on “structure” in both MNEs and IT resources shifted to the concept of “governance”. This paper argues that IT organization design (structure and governance in combination) should be the focus of future research on IT resources management in MNEs. In addition, the paper argues that the relationship between MNE design and IT resources management is a critical topic. The paper examines three relationships among these two concepts: the contingency theory argument that IT resources management should follow and be aligned with MNE organization design, the universalistic argument that there is one best way to organize IT resources in MNEs, and the co-evolutionary argument that IT enterprise resources management design can lead, as well as follow, MNE organization design.

An important line of research on global information management examines the effects of national culture on IT development, operations, management and use. This paper argues that global information management researchers should not lose sight of structural conditions related to business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce activity. Structural conditions are physical, social and economic arrangements that shape e-commerce business models and influence individual and organizational use of the Internet. Examples include geography (which affects the physical distribution of goods purchased online), space (which influences the choice of access technology for e-commerce) and financial infrastructure (which is related to credit card use). Structural conditions differ from country to country—and even from location to location within country, but they are not necessarily related to dimensions of natural culture. Therefore, valid explanations of global differences in e-commerce activity require a careful assessment of relevant structural factors.

The sometimes observed negative social effects of electronic communication technology are often attributed to the characteristics of the technology itself. Electronic mail, for instance, filters out personal and social cues and provides new capabilities not found in traditional media, and it has been argued that these factors have consequences such as “flaming” and depersonalization. Alternative theoretical perspectives on the impacts of information technology suggest that our ability to explain these outcomes might be enhanced by attending to users' intentional choices about how to use technology and to unpredictable technology usage patterns that emerge when users interact with the technology and each other. These alternative perspectives are examined in the context of an exploratory case study of a complex organization in which electronic mail was heavily used. Users were found to select email deliberately when they wished to avoid unwanted social interactions. At the same time, they actively took steps to avoid negative outcomes, such as depersonalization of their relationships with subordinates. However, despite their well-intentioned efforts, some negative social effects did occur that cannot entirely be attributed to the technological characteristics of electronic communication. Instead, they appear to be ironic side effects of users' thoughtful efforts to use email effectively. These results suggest the value of according a prominent role in explanations of technology impacts to users' intended and unintended technology uses. The results also imply that negative social effects from using electronic communication technology may not prove easy to eradicate, despite technological developments such as multimedia integration, and despite efforts to train users in the best email “etiquette.”

Article Free Access Share on Why CSCW applications fail: problems in the adoption of interdependent work tools Authors: M. Lynne Markus View Profile , Terry Connolly View Profile Authors Info & Claims CSCW '90: Proceedings of the 1990 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative workSeptember 1990Pages 371–380https://doi.org/10.1145/99332.99368Published:01 September 1990Publication History 58citation657DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations58Total Downloads657Last 12 Months53Last 6 weeks2 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteeReaderPDF