Information Systems Journal最新文献

The integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in rural areas holds significant potential for facilitating active participation of villagers in spatial governance processes. While previous research has primarily focused on the role of e-participation tools in rural governance, there exists a knowledge gap regarding substantive villager participation within intricate systems. This study explores the intricate mechanism of meaningful engagement by harnessing the potential of ICT and parametric technologies. First, the concept of ‘e-participation ecosystem’ is proposed. The concept integrates ICT, parametric technology and other relevant elements necessary to facilitate substantial participation of rural villagers in spatial governance. Subsequently, an analytical framework to examine the impact mechanism of ICT technology on the efficiency of village spatial governance is developed, building upon an evaluation of villagers' active involvement. Finally, a practical demonstration was conducted in C village to validate the positive impact of ICT on rural spatial governance. This study reveals that the successful implementation of ICT in village spatial governance necessitates a comprehensive ‘e-participation ecosystem’ for support, as the efficacy of individual ICT technologies is limited. Additionally, it highlights that the utilisation of ICT can enhance efficiency in village spatial governance, thereby reducing participation costs for all stakeholders through a streamlined governance process. Moreover, parameterization technology plays an equally crucial role in the process of village spatial governance. By harnessing the power of parameterization technology, the efficiency of generating village spatial planning schemes can be significantly enhanced. When integrated with ICT technology, it has the potential to substantially reduce response time for all stakeholders involved.

Digital tools can help mitigate serious threats to social and economic activity created by external shocks and reduced government funding. This paper complements Information Technology for Development (IT4D) studies of resilience by focusing on how the introduction of new digital tools can sustain both economic and social activities, potentially leading to further adaptations. It investigates eBay's Charity Connect initiative, which supported the UK charity sector to continue selling donated items during the COVID-19 lockdown. The findings present three pathways-outcomes used to foster resilience through introducing new digital tools: interim resilience, bounded resilience and enhanced resilience. Using conservation of resources theory, the paper explains the difference between these outcomes and discusses how balancing stress and resource investment can help leverage digital tools and foster greater digital resilience.

Time is central to many debates about hybrid work- the impact on speed and productivity, commute times, and synchronisation of work. However, we argue that time is often over-simplified in extant hybrid work literature and tends to ignore many temporal concepts that capture the inherently complex, multi-faceted, subtle, and socially embedded nature of time. To address this issue, we conducted studies of five hybrid work teams across two large organisations. The paper contributes to current research on hybrid work by (i) illustrating the various temporal concepts that may be considered in the design of hybrid work environments, as well as the impact of considering or not considering them; (ii) illustrating how these temporal concepts in a physical space can be augmented in the digital space, rather than assuming the digital space should simply represent the physical; and (iii) providing a framework for the consideration of time–aware hybrid work. We hope to spark scientific interest in studying the temporal nuances of hybrid work but also the temporal aspects of design in other areas.

Despite the potential benefits for drivers at the base of the pyramid (BoP) of IT-driven ridesharing businesses, drivers are susceptible to uncertainty owing to their low education and incomes, potentially compelling them to engage less in ridesharing over time. Although this important sociotechnical phenomenon has garnered increasing attention, IS studies on this topic are scarce. Drawing on uncertainty reduction theory, we explored mechanisms for reducing BoP drivers' uncertainty and building their trust to enable them to engage in ridesharing. We identified three means of uncertainty reduction at three levels: trust in passengers, trust in ridesharing platforms, and the effectiveness of ridesharing institutional mechanisms. Using a sequential, triangulated mixed-methods approach, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews to explore trust building with drivers and used data provided by 303 ridesharing drivers to quantitatively test the proposed research model. We found that perceived empathy and information congruity increased BoP drivers' trust in passengers, whereas effective escrow services, perceived justice, matching accuracy, and a high level of privacy control increased BoP drivers' perceived trust in ridesharing platforms, motivating them to engage more frequently with ridesharing platforms. Furthermore, the results indicated that increasing trust in both passengers and ridesharing platforms and improving the effectiveness of ridesharing institutional mechanisms can enhance BoP drivers' engagement in ridesharing. We conducted 30 follow-up interviews with BoP drivers to corroborate the quantitative results and draw robust inferences.

This study investigates the role of information and communication technology (ICT) platforms in facilitating e-governance within a rural context. A longitudinal single-case study approach was employed, involving 37 semi-structured interviews from 2019 to 2022. The findings reveal that information asymmetry and persistent tensions between the government and villagers hinder cooperative behaviour in rural governance, at varying degrees throughout all stages of e-governance. Second, a contagion effect is identified, where the government coerces non-cooperative villagers, exacerbating tensions. The coercive and negotiating-compromising mechanism enabled by ICT platforms illustrates how the ICT platform enables the contagion effect occurs during rural policy deployment. Third, the goal incongruence between the government and villagers necessitates the government's utilisation of ICT platforms to adopt active engagement and induce event that encourage goal articulation, which facilitates a better goal alignment between both parties. This approach promotes the observation of collaborative behaviour among villagers and ultimately fosters increased collaboration with the government, that is, mimicking villagers' behaviour. Meanwhile, government stimulation can effectively facilitate the interaction between government and villagers, promoting the negotiation and compromise between the two parties. Such compromises can foster the goal congruence between the two parties, consequently encouraging greater participation from villagers in rural governance. The case offers valuable insights into the mechanisms by which ICT facilitates rural e-governance, thereby holding significant implications for research on ICT-rural governance and governments grappling with challenges in implementing rural policies.

This study focuses on digital platform cooperatives (DPCs) and investigates how social value is created within platform cooperativism for fostering a more equitable and inclusive digital landscape. We explore and theorise the outcomes of social value creation by DPCs and identify the generative mechanisms that drive their emergence. We do this by adopting a Critical Realism philosophical stance, in combination with Grounded Theory techniques based on the Straussian version of coding. Our data is drawn from 36 interviews with DPC (co-)founders, members, and experts, alongside an array of documentary data from DPCs across 12 European countries. Our analysis reveals three outcomes of social value creation by DPCs: strengthening community capacities, federating cooperative ventures, and fostering practices for narrative co-creation. Additionally, we identify two generative mechanisms with enduring properties and explanatory power: collective identity and empowerment, and government-community symbiosis. These mechanisms are identified through retroductive theorising, offering plausible explanations for the outcomes of social value creation, situated within relevant contextual conditions, such as grassroots mobilisation and advocacy, institutional commitment and policy support, and legislative frameworks for cooperative integration. This study contributes to the understanding of social value creation in platform cooperativism as an endeavour to co-construct a cooperative value ecosystem, providing valuable insights for both theory and practice.

Organisations have increasingly adopted enterprise social networks to mitigate the challenges of hybrid work environments for workplace learning, particularly vicarious learning. However, the improved communication visibility intended to facilitate vicarious learning may paradoxically create tensions that could potentially undermine the benefits of communication visibility, recreating the invisibility of knowledge work. Through an in-depth single qualitative case study at one of the Big Four consulting firms, which serves as a paradigmatic case for hybrid work, we explain how the visibility enabled by enterprise social networks can alleviate or impede vicarious learning in hybrid work environments. We identify three instances of the visibility paradox—performance, information overload, and availability—that create a burden on both knowledge sources and seekers. Consequently, their individual strategic responses render knowledge work invisible, thereby preventing third-parties from capitalising on the potential benefits of vicarious learning that an enterprise social network could afford.

As organisations respond to the increasing preference for hybrid work, employee experience management (EXM) platforms are becoming integral to transforming employees' experiences in hybrid workplaces. In this article, we theorise that EXM platforms are implanted into the workflow through digital embeddedness, which is appropriated and reconfigured through the interactions between human and digital subsystems in hybrid work. We adopt the lens of digital/human interaction to explore the reciprocal process of how EXM platforms configure and are reconfigured in hybrid work. Based on a case study of Microsoft Viva, an AI-based EXM platform, we propose a conceptual model that identifies two dimensions of digital embeddedness: digital/human embeddedness and digital/workplace embeddedness. The study contributes to a theoretical understanding of digital embeddedness as a dynamic process whilst also showing the reconfiguration of hybrid work practices evidences a joint optimization. The study further contributes insights into how hybrid work, which resulted from the enforced remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to emerge due to the digital embeddedness of EXM platforms in the flow of hybrid work.

To date, there is little insight into how digital platforms might be governed towards the creation of social value. We argue that digital platforms can contribute to the creation of social value by enabling social options. Thus, we are concerned about how digital platform ecosystems may be governed towards the enablement of social options. We report on the results from our longitudinal qualitative case study of a digital platform employed by ministries of health in more than 70 low- and middle-income countries. We trace the formation and subsequent shaping of governance mechanisms employed to enable social options across national borders and domains. We develop a model of platform governance that shows how such mechanisms are shaped over time through resourcing, capacitating and purposing processes. These three processes play distinct yet complementary roles in governing for social options.