2010 Reprints: Technology and Information Systems

Strategic information system planning (SISP) has been identified as a critical management issue. It is considered by many as the best mechanism for assuring that IT activities are congruent with those of the rest of the organization and its evolving needs.  Our research investigated the success of SISP as a function of its key success factors (KSFs) in different contexts and SISP approaches, in a framework that integrated all of the SISP components and provided a new perspective on how the constructs are instrumental to produce SISP success.  Based on responses from 172 American CIOs, our study’s findings empirically supported our research model: the combination of SISP context and approach was found to have a moderating influence on the basic relationship between SISP KSFs and its success; the best predictor for the long-term success of the SISP process was apparently based on the three-way interactions between SISP’s KSFs, its approach and its context. In addition, specific combinations of SISP approach and SISP context were found to decrease or increase the size of the ‘‘planning paradox’’ (the inconsistency in the behavior of the ‘‘basic relationship’’ between the three).

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common condition, managed mostly in primary care practice.  Heartburn and acid regurgitation are considered primary symptoms, and are usually highly specific. However, the symptom spectrum is much wider and in many cases it is difficult to determine whether the patient has GERD or dyspepsia from another origin. The aim of this study is to develop a symptom score and rule for the diagnosis of GERD, using data mining techniques, to provide a clinical diagnostic tool for primary care practitioners in the evaluation and management of upper gastrointestinal symptoms. A diagnostic symptom questionnaire consisting of 15 items and based on the current literature was designed to measure the presence and severity of reflux and dyspepsia symptoms using a 5-point Likert-type scale. A total of 132 subjects with uninvestigated upper abdominal symptoms were prospectively recruited for symptom evaluation. All patients were interviewed and examined, underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and completed the questionnaire.  Based on endoscopic findings as well as the medical interview, the subjects were classified as having reflux disease (GERD) or non-reflux disease (non-GERD). Data mining models and algorithms (neural networks, decision trees, and logistic regression) were used to build a short and simple new discriminative questionnaire. The most relevant variables discriminating GERD from non-GERD patients were heartburn, regurgitation, clinical response to antacids, sour taste, and aggravation of symptoms after a heavy meal. The sensitivity and specificity of the new symptom score were 70%–75% and 63%–78%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve for logistic regression and neural networks were 0.783 and 0.787, respectively. We present a new validated discriminative GERD questionnaire using data mining techniques.  The questionnaire is useful, friendly, and short, and therefore can be easily applied in clinical practice for choosing the appropriate diagnostic workup for patients with upper gastrointestinal complaints.

Despite the problems involved in its use, SWOT (strengths-weaknesses-opportunities- threats) analysis remains a major strategic tool for listing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, for recording the major strengths and translating them into value. This paper presents a straightforward methodology for making a structured analysis of strengths and weaknesses, based on an analysis of important value-creating events and the strengths and weaknesses that caused these events. The focused SWOT methodology distils the strengths and weaknesses into core competences and core problems, by using the core-competence tree and the current-reality tree. The core competences and core problems are then linked into a plan of action aimed at preserving and leveraging the organization's core competences, while defending against exposure to core problems. Applications of the methodology are presented and it is demonstrated in a detailed case study.

The managerial world has been inundated with dozens of sound management theories during the last three decades.  Among them are the Balanced-Scorecard, Activity-Based-Costing, Lean, Six Sigma, TQM, TOC, MBO, MCDM, Core competencies, Vision, Coaching, Outsourcing and many others. The application of these models has often proved disappointing for many companies. A major reason for the failure of these models is the OVERDOSE SYNDROME: taking good principles to destructive extremes. This paper analyzes the origins of the managerial overdose syndrome, illustrates its undesired outcomes and suggests ways to circumvent them in the future.  Cases will illustrate the managerial overdose phenomenon and its remedies.

The Internet offers unlimited possibilities for finding health information. However, the user is often faced with the problem of understanding it. Contextualization has a role to play in enhancing the user’s comprehension. We report on a study which addresses this issue, using a theoretical model of communication whose central theme is that of context. A randomized controlled experimental design was chosen, using as a test-bed the website SeniorGezond we had previously developed. The study was composed of a pre-test, the intervention with the website and a post-test. Participants (n=40) were randomly assigned to exposure or no exposure to contextualization with the website. Results show that contextualization increases understanding for non-knowledgeable users. Furthermore, the participant’s cognitive style was found to be a significant factor in understanding. We also found that participants bring their own contexts such as social context and psychological context to support their understanding.

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to suggest a framework based on the discourse approach to analyze intercultural communication problems in multinational organizations. The paper also aims to suggest solutions to these problems by designing support in computer-mediated communication.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses qualitative methodology to discover communication problems and strategies as they are used by employees in a multinational organization.

Findings – Communication problems and strategies were associated with differences between communicators at three levels of discourse: different assumptions about communication; different ways of structuring information and differences in style.  Research limitations/implications – The implementation of the suggested tools introduces potential sensitivities that need to be considered.

Originality/value – The paper highlights how to apply the discourse approach to the analysis of intercultural communication problems and suggests several implementations of computer-mediated communication mechanisms and techniques that can effectively mitigate communication problems in multinational organizations.

The phenomenon of overspecification and overdesign is well known in all industries: developing features that are not needed by the customer causes excess development efforts, missed due dates, terminated projects and higher lifecycle costs. The paper defines the phenomena, exploring inherent causes, and prescribes solutions for both business-to-business and business-to-customer industries. It presents illustrative cases of overspecification and overdesign, proposes a self-assessment to determine the severity of these phenomena in an organization and resolves the conflicts driving these phenomena. Solutions suggested include adapting Simon’s satisficer approach, resolving the marketing conflict by focusing on the 20% of features that account for 80% of the value, breaking the assumption that overspecification is beneficial for future growth potential, resolving the product manager’s conflict via a global system view, implementing the 25/25 principle, freezing and stabilizing the specifications, constraining developer time to eliminate spontaneous overdesign, and piecemeal feature launch.

The authors argue that for object oriented analysis to be worthwhile, costs should be reduced by concentrating on four major components, namely organizational relationships and interactions, data items, business processes, and user experiences. The benefits of each component should be enhanced by going deeper into the analysis that builds on relevant psychological, organizational and social theories.