The information technology project control literature has documented that clan control is often essential in complex multistakeholder projects for project success. However, instituting clan control in such conditions is challenging as people come to a project with diverse skills and backgrounds. There is often insufficient time for clan control to develop naturally. This paper investigates the question, "How can clan control be enacted in complex IT projects?" Recognizing social capital as a resource, we conceptualize a clan as a group with strong social capital (i.e., where its members have developed their structural, cognitive, and relational ties to the point that they share common values and beliefs and are committed to a set of peer norms). We theorize that the enactment of clan control is a dual process of (1) building the clan by developing its social capital dimensions (structural, cognitive, and relational ties) or reappropriating social capital from elsewhere and (2) leveraging the clan by reinforcing project-facilitating shared values, beliefs, and norms, and inhibiting those that impede the achievement of project goals. We explore how clan control was enacted in a large IT project at a major logistics organization in which clan control was quickly instituted to avoid an impending project failure. Our research contributes to theory in three ways: (1) we reconcile the two differing views of clan control into a single framework, (2) we explain the role of controllers in enacting clan control, and (3) we clarify how formal control can be employed to develop clan control.

While many studies have assessed IS researcher-production, most have focused on either ranking IS journals or assessing prolific researchers using a restricted time frame and a small "basket" of journals (i.e., those journals selected for sampling). We found no research that has assessed the IS specificity of journals (i.e., the suitability of journals for publishing IS research) nor any that evaluated IS researcher-production measures.Based on a coding of over 26,000 articles and more than 1,900 authors, this study attempts such an evaluation by (1) determining the rate of publication of IS researchers in 58 journals perceived by at least one IS institution as IS specific, (2) profiling prolific and typical IS researchers using descriptive statistics, (3) evaluating the convergent validity of various researcher-production measures, (4) assessing the reliability of these researcher-production measures by varying baskets of The study demonstrates that many journals perceived to be of high quality by IS researchers are not specifically targeted to information systems. Changing the evaluation procedure has a significant impact on measures of typical and prolific IS researchers. For typical IS researchers, measures of production are strongly convergent and are not sensitive to changes in journal baskets. However, for prolific researchers, measures of production are not convergent and highly sensitive to changes in journal baskets. The evaluation of both prolific and typical IS researchers is also highly sensitive to temporal effects. The differences in convergent validity and reliability demonstrate that prolific researchers are more sensitive to minor variations in the assessment procedure.Based on the empirical findings, the study closes with recommendations both for the evaluation of researcher-production and for developing institutional target journal lists, i.e., lists of journals viewed favorably by an institution.

Recent progress in semiconductor technology includes the utilization of advanced metallization schemes and low k dielectrics in integrated circuit (IC) design. 1,2 As critical dimensions decrease, intermetal dielectrics (IMD) with low dielectric constant (k < 3) play an increasingly important role in developing and producing high speed, high performance ICs. Low k dielectrics reduce interconnect RC [resistance (R) ϫ capacitance (C)] delay, power consumption, and offer many advantages such as reduced line-to-line capacitance and interconnnect cross-talk noise.Hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), commercially available in solution as FOx ® flowable oxide, is one of the most intensively studied low k spin-on dielectrics (SOD) concerning both its basic properties as well as integration-related issues. 3-12 Used as gap-filling dielectric in advanced metallization, HSQs built-in microporosity results in reduced dielectric constant and thus lowers coupling capacitance between tightly pitched metal lines. The successful integration of HSQ into IC interconnnects requires a careful choice of materials together with heat-treatment optimization. However, properties of HSQ films, particularly dielectric properties are strong function of curing parameters, i.e., time, temperature, etc. It is therefore of current research interest to carry out an in-depth study of the curing characteristics of this SOD, to achieve a better understanding of how thermal curing affects the properties of HSQ.HSQ is a subset of polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS) macromers, a family of ordered three-dimensional polymers whose structure resembles a cage (Fig. 1a). 3 With the empirical formula of (HSiO 3/2 ) 2n (n ϭ 2, 3, 4, etc.), there are one and one-half (sesqui) stoichiometry of oxygen bound to silicon in a caged structure of HSQ. The structure of HSQ resin, however, is composed of mixture of Si-O network and cage-like network (Fig. 1b), i.e., a random structure of partially formed cages of various sizes as the chemical reactions which produce the resin do not produce completely formed cages. HSQ has no terminal Si-OH or Si-OR groups and it polymerizes after bake and cure by opening of the cages. Therefore, HSQ is cured from a near cage-like structure to a three-dimensional network which provides mechanical integrity to the film for subsequent wafer processing. 4 ExperimentalThin film characterization.-HSQ films (about 4,000 Å) were prepared by spin-coating Dow Corning FOx ® solution onto 8 in. Si wafers followed by heating on three hot plates at 150, 200, and 335ЊC for 1 min each. After that, these films were cured in a furnace at different curing temperature for different durations. The curing conditions used for this study are listed in Table I. The thickness of HSQ films was measured using ellipsometer prior to and after thermal curing. Recent studies reported the importance of an inert environment during the HSQ cure at around 400ЊC in order to prevent oxidation. 4,5 Hence, in this study the HSQ cure employs double ramp rates to prevent tem...

While substantial research has examined the control of Information systems (IS) projects, most studies In this area have only examined how one controller manages a single group of controllees. However, many IS projects, especially enterprise systems projects (often initiated by an organization's corporate headquarters, and involving business unit users and consultants), have multiple stakeholders. The corporate headquarters (the project's principal controller) must simultaneously ensure that the various stakeholders are aligned with the project's goals despite their diverse motivations, and that the stakeholders collaborate with each other to achieve project success. Behavior control theory argues that the controller enacts a control portfolio of formal and Informal controls. However, the presence of multiple controllee groups increases the complexity of vertical controller- controllee relationships, the salience of controllee-controllee relationships, and the interaction between these vertical and horizontal relationships. We therefore examined the creation and evolution of the control portfolio In a multi-stakeholder project over a period of 14 months. We found that (1) the principal controller did enact separate controls for the user and consultant groups; (2) there was more than one controller - the principal controller co-existed with subordinate controllers; and (3) controls enacted by the subordinate controllers and other controllees that cut across stakeholder groups required the support of the principal controller.

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