0000000000321336
AUTHOR
Wael Soliman
Toward a refined conceptualization of IS discontinuance : Reflection on the past and a way forward
Interest in studying information systems discontinuance has been increasing lately, yet there is no consensus on what it means. To improve the situation, we conduct a comprehensive review of current literature on IS discontinuance and identify 55 studies published during 1991–2017 that specifically focus on the topic. Our conceptual analysis disentangles the process, content, and context of the phenomenon, revealing that over the course of a typical IS lifecycle, IS discontinuance may materialize at least in five distinct forms: rejection, regressive discontinuance, quitting, temporary discontinuance, and replacement. After elaborating their distinctions, we discuss their theoretical, metho…
Revisiting neutralization theory and its underlying assumptions to inspire future information security research
Over two decades ago, neutralization theory was introduced to information systems research from the field of criminology and is currently emerging as an influential foundation to both explain and solve the information security policy noncompliance problem. Much of what we know about the theory focuses exclusively on the neutralization techniques identified in the original as well as subsequent criminological writings. What is often left unexamined in IS research is the underlying assumptions about the theory’s core elements; assumptions about the actor, the act, the normative system, and the nature of neutralizing itself. The objective of this commentary is to revisit the origin of neutrali…
A tale of two frames : Exploring the role of framing in the use discontinuance of volitionally adopted technology
https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12355 The discontinuance of volitional IS (i.e., information systems adopted, used and discontinued at will) has recently attracted remarkable attention from academics and practitioners alike. However, most research to date has been ahistorical. Ignoring the temporal progression can be problematic when the phenomenon under investigation is dynamic and evolving. To balance this, we adopt a stage modelling approach to understand the process ending with the technology use being discontinued by users of a popular crowdsourcing platform. Two questions guided our investigation: (1) Why do users discontinue using an IS they have volitionally adopted and used? (2) How do…
SARS-CoV-2 infection and venous thromboembolism after surgery: an international prospective cohort study
SARS-CoV-2 has been associated with an increased rate of venous thromboembolism in critically ill patients. Since surgical patients are already at higher risk of venous thromboembolism than general populations, this study aimed to determine if patients with peri-operative or prior SARS-CoV-2 were at further increased risk of venous thromboembolism. We conducted a planned sub-study and analysis from an international, multicentre, prospective cohort study of elective and emergency patients undergoing surgery during October 2020. Patients from all surgical specialties were included. The primary outcome measure was venous thromboembolism (pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis) within 30 da…
Consequences of Discontinuing Knowledge Work Automation – Surfacing of Deskilling Effects and Methods of Recovery
IS automation pervades business processes today. Thus, concerns have been raised about automation’s potential deskilling effects on knowledge workers. We conduct a revelatory case study about an IT service firm where a managerial decision was taken to discontinue a fixed assets management (FAM) software that provided seemingly effective automation of fixed assets accounting and reporting. We study how automation can result in latent deskilling that later becomes apparent when the system gets discontinued, causing disruptions in employees’ daily work and organizational processes. We also investigate how the employees and the company recover from this disruption by leveraging various coping s…
Understanding Crowdturfing : The Different Ethical Logics Behind the Clandestine Industry of Deception
Crowdturfing, the dark side and usually unnoticed face of crowdsourcing, represents a form of cyber-deception in which workers are paid to express a false digital impression. While such behavior may not be punishable under the jurisdiction of formal law, its consequences are destructive to the cohesion and trustworthiness of online information. The conceptual work at hand examines the current literature on the topic, and lays the foundation for a theoretical framework that explains crowdturfing behavior. We discuss crowdturfing through three ethical normative approaches: traditional philosophical ethics, business ethics, and codified rules. We apply these lenses to an illustrative example o…
What Do We Really Mean by Rigor in Information Systems Research?
The term “rigor” entered the information systems (IS) vernacular nearly four decades ago to reflect an ideal that would help transform IS into a coherent research field. Today, rigor is often both claimed and demanded by IS authors as evidence for the worthiness of research. However, it seems that we, as an IS community, lack both a shared understanding of what this ideal represents or what qualifies as attaining this ideal. In this paper, we analyze the usage of the term “rigor” in four leading IS journals, aiming to grasp some of its meanings within the IS community. The findings reveal that “rigor” in IS has multiple meanings, denotes a variety of referents, and is used for various purpo…
Research Perspectives: Reconsidering the Role of Research Method Guidelines for Interpretive, Mixed Methods, and Design Science Research
Information systems (IS) scholars have proposed guidelines for interpretive, mixed methods, and design science research in IS. Because many of these guidelines have also been suggested for evaluating what good or rigorous research is, they may be used as a checklist in the review process. In this paper, we raise the question: To what extent do research guidelines for interpretive, mixed methods, and design science research offer evidence that they can be used to evaluate the quality of research. We argue that scholars can use these guidelines to evaluate what good research is if there is compelling evidence that they lead to certain good research outcomes. We use three well-known sets of gu…
Reconsidering the Role of Research Method Guidelines for Qualitative, Mixed-methods, and Design Science Research
Guidelines for different qualitative research genres have been proposed in information systems (IS). As these guidelines are outlined for conducting and evaluating good research, studies may be denied publication simply because they do not follow a prescribed methodology. This can result in “checkbox” compliance, where the guidelines become more important than the study. We argue that guidelines can only be used to evaluate what good research is if there is evidence that they lead to certain good research outcomes. Currently, the guidelines do not present such evidence. Instead, when it is presented, the evidence is often an authority argument or evidence of popularity with usability exampl…
New Insights into the Justifiability of Organizational Information Security Policy Noncompliance : A Case Study
Information security policies as apparatus for communicating security principles with employees are the cornerstone of organizational information security. Resultantly, extant literature has looked at different theories to better understand the noncompliance problem. Neutralization theory is emerging as one of the most popular approaches, not only as an explanation but also as a solution. In this in-depth qualitative study, we ask the question ‘how do employees justify violating the ISP’? Our findings reveal nine rationalizing techniques, three of which have not been recognized in previous research. We label them ‘I follow my own rules’, ‘matter of mere legality’ and ‘defense of uniqueness’…
Why Is Your Crowd Abandoning You? : Exploring Crowdsourcing Discontinuance through the Lens of Motivation Theory
A typical crowdsourcing platform connects organisations in need for workforce to individuals willing to work for a compensation. Considering that a motivated crowd constitutes a vital resource of such platforms, nurturing it becomes a crucial managerial consideration. Yet, little is known of why individual workers abandon crowdsourcing platforms after long periods of usage. Therefore, we set out to explore how crowd-workers’ motivations change during a platform’s usage lifecycle, from initial usage, to continued use, to its eventual abandonment. To this end, we conducted an in-depth qualitative inquiry into a popular crowdsourcing platform in the software-testing domain. Leveraging self-det…
Common Misunderstandings of Deterrence Theory in Information Systems Research and Future Research Directions
In the 1980s, information systems (IS) borrowed deterrence theory (DT) from the field of criminology to explain information security behaviors (or intention). Today, DT is among the most commonly used theories in IS security research. Our review of IS research applying DT highlights that many fundamental assumptions of DT are unrecognized and therefore unexamined. This may have resulted in misunderstandings and conceptual confusions regarding some of the basic concepts of DT. For example, some IS studies confuse general deterrence with specific deterrence or do not recognize the difference between the two. Moreover, these fundamental assumptions, when directly examined, may provide importan…
“This Is the Future of Advertising!” Or Is It? New Insights into the Justifiability of Deceptive Crowdwork in Cyberspace
Unlike classical forms of deception where the deceiver deceives their victims directly, the crowdsourcing of cyber deception provides a powerful and cost-effective mechanism for deceivers to create and spread falsehood from the shadows. But for a mass deception campaign to be effective, the crowdworkers must rationalize (and willingly accept) their role in the deceptive act. What, then, could justify participation in a mass-deception campaign? To answer this question, we adopt the qualitative vignette approach and utilize neutralization theory as our guiding lens. Our results point to several neutralization techniques that crowdworkers could invoke to convincingly rationalize involvement in…