Decision, Operations & Information Technologies Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2761
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Item Information Technology and Its Transformational Effect on the Health Care Industry(2007-04-25) Angst, Corey M; Agarwal, Ritu; Business and Management: Decision & Information Technologies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines the adoption of health IT by addressing the barriers to adoption from the perspective of multiple stakeholders. I examine three different phenomena using alternative methodologies and theoretical lenses. Essay 1: The Impact of Firm Characteristics and Spatial Proximity on the Diffusion of Electronic Medical Records: A Hazard Modeling Analysis. This study, positioned at the inter-organizational level, draws upon adoption and diffusion literature to predict the likelihood of EMR adoption by hospitals. I theorize that adoption is driven by factors such as the concentration and experience with complementary HIT and an environmental factor, spatial proximity. Using a hazard model fitted to data from a sample drawn from almost 4,000 hospitals, I find support for a positive relationship between IT concentration and likelihood of adoption. I also find that spatial proximity explains variance in adoption and that its effect diminishes as distance increases. Essay 2: Isolating the Effects of IT on Performance: An Empirical Test of Complementarities and Learning. An issue at the organizational level is whether benefits result from investment in HIT. I apply a knowledge-based lens to the examination of IT adoption and process-level value, incorporating the effects of learning occurring through complementary IT adoption. I test hypotheses using data from almost 400 nationally-representative hospitals matched with quality and financial performance data and find that learning associated with more experience with IT leads to superior performance. Essay 3: Adoption of Electronic Medical Records in the Presence of Privacy Concerns: The Elaboration Likelihood Model and Individual Persuasion. At the individual level, privacy concerns can inhibit the adoption of EMRs. I draw from literature on attitude change to develop hypotheses that individuals can be persuaded to support the use, and ultimately opt-in to EMRs, even in the presence of significant privacy concerns if compelling arguments about the value of EMRs are presented. Using a quasi-experimental methodology, I find that privacy concerns interact with argument framing and issue involvement to affect attitudes toward the use of EMRs. In addition, results suggest that attitude towards EMR use and CFIP directly impact the likelihood of adoption of EMR technology.Item Mindful Use as a Link Between Social Capital and Organizational Learning: An Empirical Test of the Antecedents and Consequences of Two New Constructs(2006-11-28) Adams, Heather Lynn; Lucas, Hank; Decision and Information Technologies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The motivation for this research is that information systems are not often used to their full potential - individuals often fail to use valuable features of systems not allowing firms to maximize their return from investments in these technologies. Additionally, there have been recent calls for new conceptualizations of system use and for research that examines post-adoption use. Therefore, the current research develops two new conceptualizations of system use: full appropriation and heedful use. These new concepts can help address under-utilization issues and fill gaps in the current literature. Full appropriation is fully exploiting applicable features of a system and heedful use is interacting with a system in a way that considers the needs of others within an organization. These conceptualizations are developed from psychological theories on mindfulness which have not been used to study system use. It is expected that a mindful approach to technology can lead to many positive benefits in the workplace. The first step in the current research was to develop and validate measures for these two new forms of use. Then the predictors of full appropriation and heedful use were examined with a social capital lens. The final step of this research was to examine the influence that these broader forms of use have on organizational learning since it has been suggested that organizational learning is the missing link between IT and firm performance. Data from 591 subjects from two separate organizations provided evidence of construct validity of the two newly developed scales and provided support for the overall model indicating a relationship between social capital and mindful use and a relationship between mindful use and organizational learning.Item IT Design for Sustaining Virtual Communities: an Identity-based Approach(2005-08-31) Ma, Meng; Agarwal, Ritu; Lucas, Henry; Decision and Information Technologies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A variety of information technology (IT) artifacts, such as those supporting reputation management and digital archives of past interactions, are commonly deployed to support virtual communities. Despite the ubiquity of these artifacts, research on the impact of various IT-based features on virtual community communication is still limited. Without such research, the mechanisms through which information technologies influence community success are not well understood, limiting the design of community infrastructures that can enhance interaction in the community and minimize dysfunction. This dissertation proposes that identity management is a critical imperative in virtual communities and concerns related to communication of identity serve to shape an individual's interactions and perceptions in the community. Sensitivity to this perspective can help in drawing design guidelines for the IT infrastructure supporting the community. Drawing upon the social psychology literature, I propose an identity-based view to understand how the use of IT-based features in virtual communities can improve community sustainability. Specifically, identity consonance, defined as the perceived fit between a focal person's belief of his or her identity and the recognition and verification of this identity by other community members, is proposed as a core construct that mediates the relationship between the use of community IT artifacts and member satisfaction and knowledge contribution. To test the theoretical model, I surveyed two online communities: Quitnet.com and myIS.com. The former is an online community for people who wish to quit smoking, and the latter is a site for Lexus IS300 sport sedan enthusiasts. The results from surveys support the positive effects of community IT artifacts on identity consonance. The empirical study also finds that a high level of identity consonance is linked to member satisfaction and knowledge contribution. This dissertation offers a fresh perspective on virtual communities and suggests important implications for the design of the supporting IT infrastructure.Item Design of Online Auction System with Alternative Currencies(2004-05-05) Deshpande, Vainateya Suresh; Lucas, Henry; Decision and Information TechnologiesThe University of Maryland has one of the most popular Basketball programs in the region. About 35,000 students seek 4,000 free student tickets allocated for every home game. An auction-based system provides a procedure to achieve and equitable and fair distribution of a high-demand resource. In an auction-based system, goods being sold end up with the person who values them the most. This is a very desirable scenario for a ticket distribution system that aims at maximizing attendance for home games. People who bid high have high values for the tickets and are more likely to attend a game than someone who receives a ticket through a random draw. The thesis lays out the framework for an auction based system to distribute home game tickets.