Two recent reviews report that the empirical findings in information technology outsourcing (ITO) research are frequently inconsistent with the prevailing dominant analytical framework of transaction cost economics (TCE). While employing similar methodologies, the two reviews propose different strategies to resolve the inconsistencies. One is to improve the methodological rigor, specifically, the operationalization of TCE constructs. The other is to abandon TCE in favor of a new analytical framework. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the empirical findings on the choice of contract type as a function of task uncertainty. The results support both strategies. Refining the operationalization of TCE constructs, specifically of task uncertainty, would have improved the reliability of findings on TCE-based relationships between task uncertainty and the choice of contract type. However, independent of such methodological improvements, TCE is of limited relevance in recent ITO research for predicting the choice of contract type. Generalizing these findings, we conclude that ITO research requires a new analytical framework to further develop the theory of ITO and to provide sound guidance to the ITO industry. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Partial support for this project was provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG SCHE 1805). We thank Christoph Riedl for comments on the manuscript. We thank Joan Spiller for editorial support.
While workarounds are studied frequently in information systems research, a coherent and interrelated structure to organize the knowledge of the field is still missing. In this study, we provide a first step towards an ontology of workarounds in order to enable researchers to study the relationships among the core concepts. By identifying existing literature, we discover three gaps in workaround research: (1) lack of conceptual consensus, (2) fragmentation and (3) static perspective. To advance theory, we provide an overview of different types of workarounds that are frequently used in literature. Based on these findings we derive core concepts of workarounds that are used in literature and provide an ontology of workarounds.
ustainability is a measure of the capacity of a certain process or state in any system to balance the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. One of the main challenges of sustainability is translating theory into action in the form of operational service offerings. Establishing sustainability as an essential aspect of services in service science and defining sustainability as a service in and of itself will foster the design and development of comprehensive, future-oriented, flexible values, methods, and tools applicable to all design, development, management, and implementation processes. The paper concludes with a novel model of sustainability as a service science that is illustrated with a simple example.
With automated driving advancing, first production models started to incorporate the technology. However, until full autonomy is achieved, drivers always need to stay available to take over control from the car. This requirement has proven challenging: increased levels of automation reduce drivers' situational awareness and driving performance can suffer, especially in the critical moments after takeover. While manualdriving research introduced strategies to direct drivers' attention back to the road, notably interruptions of the non-driving task, the efficacy of these interventions on automated driving remain unclear. To investigate this, 53 participants drove in an automated simulator while performing tasks on an IVIS. With task interruptions, they reported increased situational awareness and showed improved reaction times during takeover , particularly for low-effort tasks (watching movies). Different to manual driving, halting tasks did not suffice; instead, we displayed the driving scene. Results question effects of situational awareness on takeover and offer solutions for manufacturers. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing~Empirical studies in ubiquitous and mobile computing • Human-centered computing~Empirical studies in interaction design • Humancentered computing~Information visualization KEYWORDS Semi-automated driving; take over request; situational awareness; out of loop; IVIS; interruptions.
acing rising energy costs and the heightened awareness of environmental issues expressed by society and encapsulated in regulations, sustainability is a major requirement for designing and operating future service systems. In addition, sustainability serves as a key driver for profitable services. Restructuring service processes to meet environmental regulations should be seen as the opportunity to design processes that consume less and thus cost less. Furthermore, sustainable services require service providers to incorporate a holistic perspective that incorporates service provisioning, the service network, and the service customer. In addition, designing sustainable services now promotes the transfer of sustainability as a service from the current generation to the next. We analyze Better Place, a company in the electric mobility industry, to demonstrate the potentials and challenges of sustainable services. We show that sustainability is a major driver of service design. Furthermore, Better Place shows that understanding and clarifying sustainability raises important methodological issues for service design by highlighting the complexity of designing services in a multi-actor value network.
In this paper, we investigate the effects of four determinants of vendor profitability in enterprise resource planning (ERP) outsourcing projects under two contractual regimes: fixed price (FP) contracts and time and material (TM) contracts. We hypothesize that effect sizes are larger under FP contracts than under TM contracts. From a transaction cost economics perspective, we hypothesize that project uncertainty and project size are negatively associated with vendor profitability. From a knowledge-based view of the firm perspective, we hypothesize that industry knowledge and client knowledge are positively associated with vendor profitability. We tested these hypotheses on a comprehensive archival data set comprising 33,908 projects from a major vendor in the ERP software market. Our results confirm and extend previous research. Our results support the existence of two contractual regimes: effect sizes on vendor profitability are indeed much larger in FP contracts than in TM contracts. Also in line with prior research, our results suggest negative effects of project uncertainty and project size in terms of project budget on vendor profitability and positive effects of industry knowledge on vendor profitability. Contrary to prior knowledge, we find that project size in terms of project duration is significantly positively associated with vendor profitability in FP contracts. Also contrary to what is known, we find a significant negative effect of client knowledge on vendor profitability in both contractual regimes.
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