Jit

This research proposes and validates a design theory for digital platforms that support online communities (DPsOC). It addresses ways in which digital platforms can effectively support social interactions in online communities. Drawing upon prior literature on IS design theory, online communities, and platforms, we derive an initial set of propositions for designing effective DPsOC. Our overarching proposition is that three components of digital platform architecture (core, interface, and complements) should collectively support the mix of the three distinct types of social interaction structures of online community (information sharing, collaboration, and collective action). We validate the initial propositions and generate additional insights by conducting an in-depth analysis of an European digital platform for elderly care assistance. We further validate the propositions by analyzing three widely used digital platforms, including Twitter, Wikipedia, and Liquidfeedback, and we derive additional propositions and insights that can guide DPsOC design. We discuss the implications of this research for research and practice.

The importance of the impact of IT for organizations around the world, especially in light of a very slow recovery from the global financial crisis, has amplified the need to provide a better understanding of the specific geographic similarities and differences of IT managerial and technical trends. Going beyond identifying these influential factors is also the need to understand the considerations for addressing them in light of recognizing the respective local characteristics, especially when operating in a globally linked environment, although somehow heavily influenced locally. By comparing and contrasting IT trends from different geographies, this paper presents important local and international factors (e.g., management concerns, influential technologies, budgets/spending, organizational considerations) necessary to prepare IT leaders for the challenges that await them. It can also serve as an indicator as the respective geographies evolve from the economic conundrum. The research is based on data from four geographic regions (United States (US), Europe, Asia, and Latin America). The same questionnaire (although translated for the respective respondents), based on the lead authors well-respected and long-running Society for Information Management survey, was applied across the geographies. This paper presents the major findings based on survey responses from 620 respondents (275 US, 100 European, 59 Asian, and 186 Latin) in mid-2011. The top five management concerns were: (1) IT and business alignment; (2) business agility and speed to market; (3) business process management and business process reengineering; (4) business productivity and cost reduction; (5) IT reliability and efficiency. The five most influential technologies were:

We discuss three industry-level changes in the US residential real estate industry due, in part, to the take up and uses of information and communication technologies (ICT): (1) changes in the processes of transacting residential real estate, (2) changing roles for information, and (3) changing nature of intermediation, with the real estate transaction as more complex than the seller-agent-buyer simplification would suggest. We speculate that these changes are currently indeterminate due to ongoing confusion among the impacts of first and second-level effects, the roles of ICT in redefining access to data, and the importance of localized, social structures of real estate markets. To develop these findings, we take an institutional perspective and draw on multiple data collection methods. This provides us a means to highlight the value of an institutional perspective for studying industrial-level change.

The importance of the impact of IT for organizations around the world, especially in light of a very slow recovery from the global financial crisis, has amplified the need to provide a better understanding of the specific geographic similarities and differences of IT managerial and technical trends. Going beyond identifying these influential factors is also the need to understand the considerations for addressing them in light of recognizing the respective local characteristics, especially when operating in a globally linked environment, although somehow heavily influenced locally. By comparing and contrasting IT trends from different geographies, this paper presents important local and international factors (e.g., management concerns, influential technologies, budgets/spending, organizational considerations) necessary to prepare IT leaders for the challenges that await them. It can also serve as an indicator as the respective geographies evolve from the economic conundrum. The research is based on data from four geographic regions (United States (US), Europe, Asia, and Latin America). The same questionnaire (although translated for the respective respondents), based on the lead authors well-respected and long-running Society for Information Management survey, was applied across the geographies. This paper presents the major findings based on survey responses from 620 respondents (275 US, 100 European, 59 Asian, and 186 Latin) in mid-2011. The top five management concerns were: (1) IT and business alignment; (2) business agility and speed to market; (3) business process management and business process reengineering; (4) business productivity and cost reduction; (5) IT reliability and efficiency. The five most influential technologies were: