ISM753 Seminar: IS Planning, Management and Global Issues
Fall 2014
Course Information
Course Title
Course #
Time
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Professor:
Office:
Office Phone:
Seminar: IS Planning, Management and Global Issues
ISM 753
Tuesday 8:00-10:45am
Bryan 433 (Tentative)
Ling Xue
Bryan 439
336-334-4992
Course Description
This research seminar includes two parts. The first part covers classic IS topics dealing with
application of empirical methods to research problems. These may include topics such as
Business value and economic impact of IT, impact of IT outsourcing on firm performance, social
media, and others. Students will get fundamental knowledge about how to use empirical
methods, especially econometric analysis, to study real-world IS problems, and develop a
research proposal related to one or more of the topics covered in this course. The second covers
empirical research methods in information systems. Students will get fundamental knowledge
about common problems in IS empirical studies. We’ll address typical issues such as
heterogeneity, endogeneity, serial correlation, self-selection bias, empirical generalization and
causation; explore common empirical methods including econometrics analysis, panel data
analysis, SEM, event study, and multi-level analysis. During this course, you will become
familiar with classic IS topics (e.g. IT productivity, IT capability, firm performance and RBV
theory) as well as several emerging IS topics (e.g. IT innovation and IT diffusion, social network
analysis, online community, word-of-mouth, mobile computing, etc.) If possible, we will also
introduce some relevant modules in STATA or SAS for econometrics analyses.
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):
Upon completing the course, the student should be able to:
1) Understand the main theories in studying IT planning, management, and global issues;
2) Examine various econometric techniques in the IS research;
3) Identify and evaluate potential researchable topics in IS planning, management and
global issues;
4) Write professional reviews of published articles on IS planning, management and global
issues;
5) Conduct literature review on different research issues pertaining to IS planning,
management and global issues;
6) Prepare research proposal.
TEACHING METHODS AND ASSIGNMENTS:
ISM 753 - Course Syllabus
Page 1
This course blends lectures, class discussion, research project and student presentation.
Class discussion and participation (SLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
o Each student is required to read the assigned articles before class meeting. In the class, s/he is
expected to actively participate in and make meaningful contribution to class discussion.
Paper reviews and critics (SLOs 1, 2, 4)
In the first 2 week, every student will write a review of the paper assigned. The review
should summarize the key issues on research productivity discussed in the paper;
o From week 3 to 14, in each week, every two students will work together to discuss about an
assigned paper. They are expected to write both a review and a critic of the paper;
o Each student will write either a review or a critic, independently, on the paper (however, the
two students focusing on the same paper are allowed to communicate with each other). The
review should briefly summarize the problems studied, the key methodologies and the major
results. The critic should discuss the potential strengths and weaknesses of the papers, and
how they might lead to additional research. The review and the critic should no more than
two double-spaced page 11-point fonts with 1 inch page margin on all sides. Students are
expected to prepare the review independently. The review and the critic are due at the
midnight before the class day through blackboard.
o
Research proposal and presentation (SLOs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6)
o The final research proposal provides students an opportunity to explore one of the topics
covered in the course more thoroughly. The proposal should include the following (1)
motivation and research question(s), (2) related literature, (3) preliminary theoretical
development, (4) discussion. The proposal that is turned in should be 8-10 pages in length.
At the end of the semester, each student will present his/her paper to the class.
Optional Textbook/References
o
o
Jeffrey M. Wooldridge. Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. The MIT
Press; second edition (October 1, 2010). ISBN: 978-0262232586
A. Colin Cameron, Pravin K. Trivedi. Microeconometrics Using Stata, Revised Edition, Stata
Press; (March 9, 2010). ISBN: 978-1597180733
EVALUATION AND GRADING:
The course grade is based on the following assessments:
Class discussion and participation
Paper reviews
Research proposal and presentation
TOTAL
The grade scale is based upon percent of points earned, and is as follows:
93-100%=A
90-93%=A- 87-89%=B+ 83-86%=B
80-82%=B73-76%=C
Below 73%=F
ISM 753 - Course Syllabus
Points
140
140
120
400
77-79%=C+
Page 2
Topics and Readings (Tentative)
Week 1 (8/19/2014): Research in IS: History, Present and Future
Primary Reading:
o Detmar Straub, “Why top journal accept your paper”, MISQ2009, 33(3), pp. iii-x
o Joseph S. Valacich, Mark A. Fuller, Christoph Schneider. Publication Opportunities in
Premier Business Outlets: How Level Is the Playing Field? Information Systems research.
Vol. 17, No. 2, June 2006, pp. 107–125
o Profiling the research productivity of tenured information systems faculty at U.S. Institutions.
Douglas L. Dean, Paul Benjamin Lowry. MIS Quarterly 2011, 35 (1), 1-15.
Supplement Reading:
o A. Dennis and J. Valacich. Research standards for promotion and tenure in Information
Systems, MIS Quarterly 2006, 30(1), 1-12
o Banker, R.D., and Kauffman, R. “The Evolution of Research in Information Systems,”
Management Science, 50, 3, 2004, pp. 281-198.
Week 2 (8/26/2014): Developing IS Research Questions
Primary Reading:
o Does MIS have native theories, Detmar Straub, MIS Quarterly 2012
o Benbasat, I., and Zmud, R. “Empirical Research in Information Systems: The Practice of
Relevance,” MIS Quarterly, March 1999, pp. 3-16.
o Grant A. M., Pollock T. G. From the Editor: Publishing in AMJ-Part 3: Setting the hook.
Academy of Management Journal. 54(4): 873–879. 2011
Supplement Reading:
o Daft, R. L. 1985. Why I Recommended That Your Manuscript Be Rejected and What You
Can Do About It, in Publishing in the Organizational Sciences, L. L. Cummings and P. J.
Frost (eds.), Irwin, Homewood, IL, 1985, pp. 193-209.
o Reviewing Less—Progressing More Matthew Spiegel, JFS 11.
o Damien Joseph, Wai Fong Boh, Soon Ang, Sandra Slaughter, The career path less (or more)
travelled. MISQ 2012.
o Jane Webster , Richard T. Watson, Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: writing a
literature review, MIS Quarterly, v.26 n.2, p.xiii-xxiii, June 2002
Week 3 (9/2/2014): Business Value of IT
Primary Reading:
o Mithas, S., Tafti, A., Bardhan, I., and Goh, J. M. 2012. Information Technology and Firm
Profitability: Mechanisms and Empirical Evidence. MIS Quarterly 36(1), pp. 205-224.
o Ho, J. L. Y., Wu, A. and Xu, S. X. 2011. Corporate Governance and returns on information
technology investment: evidence from an emerging market. Strategic Management Journal,
32(6), pp. 595–623
ISM 753 - Course Syllabus
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Gordon Gao, Lorin Hitt, MS 2012, IT and Trademarks: Implications for product variety.
(count data, survival data)
Supplement Reading:
o Kohli, R., and Grover, V. 2008. “Business Value of IT: An Essay on Expanding Research
Directions to Keep up with the Times,” Journal of the Association for Information Systems
(9:1), pp. 23-39.
o Nigel Melville, Kenneth Kraemer, and Vijay Gurbaxani, “Information Technology and
Organizational Performance: An Integrative Model of IT Business Value,” MIS Quarterly,
2004.
o A. Bharadwaj, S. Bharadwaj, and B. Konsynski, “Information technology effects on firm
performance as measured by Tobin’s q” Management Science, July 1999.
o
Week 4 (9/9/2014): IT Strategy & Investment
Primary Reading:
o ERP Investments and the Market Value of Firms: Toward an understanding of Influential
ERP Project variables, C. Ranganathan, Carol Brown, ISR, 17 (2), 145-161, 2006. (event
study)
o Kobelsky, K., Richardson, V. J., Smith, R. E., and Zmud, R. W. 2008. “Determinants and
Consequences of Firm Information Technology Budgets,” The Accounting Review (83:4),
pp. 957-995.
o Mithas, S., Tafti, A. and Mitchell, W. 2013. “How a Firm’s Competitive Environment and
Digital Strategic Posture Influence Digital Business Strategy,” MIS Quarterly (37:2), pp.
511-536.
Supplement Reading:
o Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O., Pavlou, P., and Venkatraman, N. "Digital Business Strategy:
Toward a Next Generation of Insights," MIS Quarterly (37:2) 2013, pp 471-482.
o Youngjin Yoo, Ola Henfridsson, and Kalle Lyytinen. Research Commentary—The New
Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research.
Information Systems Research 2010 21:4, 724-735
o Chen, D. Q., Mocker, M., Preston, D. S., Teubner, A. 2010. Information systems strategy:
reconceptualization, measurement, and implications, MIS Quarterly, 34(2), p.233-259
Week 5: (9/16/2014): IT Productivity & Risk
Primary Reading:
o Prasanna Tamble, Lorin Hitt, The productivity of IT. ISR 2012, (GMM, endogeneneity).
o K. Stiroh. Information Technology and the US Productivity Revival. American Economic
Review, 2002.
o Dewan, S., Shi, C. and Gurbaxani, V. 2007. “Investigating the Risk-Return Relationship of
Information Technology Investment: Firm-Level Empirical Analysis,” Management Science
(53:12), pp. 1829-1842.
Supplement Reading:
o Erik Brynjolfsson, and Lorin Hitt, “Paradox Lost? Firm-Level Evidence on the Returns to
Information Systems Spending,” Management Science, Vol. 42, No. 4, 1996, pp. 541-558.
ISM 753 - Course Syllabus
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o
Dewan, S., and Ren, F. 2007. “Risk and Return of Information Technology Initiatives:
Evidence From Electronic Commerce Announcements,” Information Systems Research
(18:4), pp. 370–394.
Week 6 (9/23/2014): IT Capability
Primary Reading:
o Rajiv D. Banker, Indranil R. Bardhan, Hsihui Chang, and Shu Lin, “Plant Information
Systems, Manufacturing Capabilities and Plant Performance” MIS Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 2,
pp. 315-337, June 2006.
o Li, S., Shang, J., Slaughter, S. 2010. Why do software firms fail? Capabilities, Competitive
Actions, and Firm Survival in the Software Industry from 1995 to 2007. Information
Systems Research. (Stochastic frontier, capability, survival analysis)
o Rai, A., Pavlou, P. A., Im, G., and Du, S. 2012. “Interfirm IT Capability Profiles and
Communications for Cocreating Relational Value: Evidence from the Logistics Industry,”
MIS Quarterly (36:1), pp. 233-262.
Supplement Reading:
o Michael Wade and John Hulland, “The Resource-Based View and Information Systems
Research: Review, Extension, and Suggestions for Future Research,” MIS Quarterly, 2004.
o Sambamurthy, V., A. Bharadwaj, V. Grover. 2003. Shaping agility through digital options:
reconceptualizing the role of information technology in contemporary firms. MIS Quarterly
27(2), 237-263.
Week 7 (9/30/2014): IT Adoption and Digital Product
Charles Liu, Chris F. Kemerer, Sandra A. Slaughter, and Michael D. Smith. Standards
Competition in the Presence of Digital Conversion Technology: An Empirical Analysis of
the Flash Memory Card Market, MIS Quarterly 2012, (Hedonic price model, network
effects, panel data, VIF, heteroscedasticity, self-selection bias, interaction)
o Angst, C. M., Agarwal, R., Sambamurthy, V., and Kelley, K. 2010. Social Contagion and
Information Technology Diffusion: The Adoption of Electronic Medical Records in U.S.
Hospitals. Management Science 56(8), pp. 1219-1241
o Ravi Bapna, Paulo Goes, Kwok Kee Wei, and Zhongju Zhang. A Finite Mixture Logit Model
to Segment and Predict Electronic Payments System Adoption. Information Systems
Research 2011 22:1, 118-133
Supplement Reading:
o Research Commentary—The Digital Transformation of Healthcare: Current Status and the
Road Ahead Ritu Agarwal, Guodong (Gordon) Gao, Catherine DesRoches, and Ashish K.
Jha. Information Systems Research 2010 21:4, 796-809
o
Week 8 (10/7/2014): Inter-organizational Systems
Primary Reading:
o Yuliang Yao and Kevin Xiaoguo Zhu. Research Note—Do Electronic Linkages Reduce the
Bullwhip Effect? An Empirical Analysis of the U.S. Manufacturing Supply Chains.
ISM 753 - Course Syllabus
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Information Systems Research 2012 23:3-part-2, 1042-1055 (panel data analysis, VIF,
heteroscedasticity)
o Industry-level supplier-driven IT Spillovers, Z. Cheng and B. Nault, Management Science
53(8), 2007.
o Bala Hillol and V. Venkatesh, “Assimilation of Inter-organizational Business Process
Standards,” Information Systems Research, September 2007.
Supplement Reading:
o Viswanath Venkatesh and Hillol Bala. Adoption and Impacts of Interorganizational Business
Process Standards: Role of Partnering Synergy. Information Systems Research 2012 23:4,
1131-1157
Week 9 (10/14/2014): IT Outsourcing
Primary Reading:
o Mani, D., A. Barua, A. Whinston. An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Information
Capabilities Design on Business Process Outsourcing Performance. MIS Quarterly Vol. 34
No. 1, pp. 39-62/March 2010 (self-selection, two-stage, endogeneity, VIF)
o Returns to Information technology Outsourcing, Information Systems Research Dec. 2011,
Kunsoo Han, Robert Kauffman, and Barrie Nault.
o Aral, Sinan and Bakos, Yannis and Brynjolfsson, Erik, I.T., Repeated Contracts and the
Number of Suppliers (August 13, 2012). Forthcoming, Management Science. Available at
SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1635891 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1635891
Supplement Reading:
o Anjana Susarla and Anitesh Barua. Contracting Efficiency and New Firm Survival in
Markets Enabled by Information Technology. Information Systems Research 2011 22:2, 306324
o Is the World Flat or Spiky? Information intensity, skills, and global service disaggregation,
Information Systems Research 18(3), 2007, by Sunil Mithas and Jonathan Whitaker.
Week 10 (10/21/2014): E-Commerce and Mobile Computing
Primary Reading:
o Does the Web Reduce Customer Service Cost? Empirical Evidence from a Call Center. Anuj
Kumar, Rahul Telang, ISR 2012. (quasi-experiment, difference-in-difference, self-selection)
o Online and Offline Demand and Price Elasticities: Evidence from the Air Travel Industry.
Nelson Granados, Alok Gupta, Robert J. Kauffman (multicolliearity, heteroscedacticity etc.),
ISR, 2012.
o Anindya Ghose, Avi Goldfarb, Sang Pil Han (2013). How Is the Mobile Internet Different?
Search Costs and Local Activities. Information Systems Research 24(3):613-631
Week 11 (10/28/2014): Platform Ecosystems
Primary Reading:
o Marco Ceccagnoli and Chris Forman, Peng Huang, D.J. Wu. Cocreation Of Value In A
Platform Ecosystem:The Case Of Enterprise Software, MISQ 2012 (linear probability model,
simultaneous estimation)
ISM 753 - Course Syllabus
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Zhu, F. and Iansiti, M. (2012), Entry into platform-based markets. Strategic Management
Journal, 33: 88–106.
o Kevin Boudreau. Open Platform Strategies and Innovation: Granting Access vs. Devolving
Control. Management Science 2010 56:10, 1849-1872
Supplement Reading:
o Amrit Tiwana, Benn Konsynski, and Ashley A. Bush. 2010. Research Commentary—
Platform Evolution: Coevolution of Platform Architecture, Governance, and Environmental
Dynamics. Information Systems Research 21(4), pp. 675-687
o
Week 12 (11/4/2014): Social Network and Media I
Primary Reading:
o Alliances, Rivalry, and Firm Performance in Enterprise Systems Software Markets: A social
network approach, R. Chellappa and N. Saraf, Information Systems Research Dec. 2010.
o The Effects of Social Network Structure on Enterprise Systems Success: A Longitudinal
Multilevel Analysis. Sharath Sasidharan, Radhika Santhanam, Daniel J. Brass, Vallabh
Sambamurthy, ISR 2011 (HLM)
o Zhang, Xiaoquan (Michael), and Feng Zhu. 2011. “Group Size and Incentives to Contribute:
A Natural Experiment at Chinese Wikipedia.” American Economic Review 101(4): 1601–
1615.
Supplement Reading:
o Feng Zhu & Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang, Impact of Online Consumer Reviews on Sales:The
Moderating Role of Product and Consumer Characteristics, Journal of Marketing, 2010.
(Moderation effects)
o Ransbotham, Sam and Gerald C. Kane. 2011. “Membership Turnover and Collaboration
Success in Online Communities: Explaining Rises and Falls from Grace in Wikipedia.” MIS
Quarterly, 35(3): 613–627
Week 13 (11/11/2014): Social Network and Media II
Primary Reading:
o Bin Gu, Prabhudev Konana, Balaji Rajagopalan, Hsuan-Wei Michelle Chen. Competition
Among Virtual Communities and User Valuation: The Case of Investing-Related
Communities. Information Systems Research, Vol. 18, No. 1, March 2007, pp. 68–85
(random coefficient model)
o Susarla, A., Oh, J-H., and Tan, Y. 2012. “Social Networks and the Diffusion of UserGenerated Content: Evidence from YouTube,” Information Systems Research (23:1), pp.
123-141.
Supplement Reading:
o Katona, JMR 2011, diffusion through social network.
Week 14
November 18, 2014: Emerging Empirical Techniques in IS Research
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o
o
o
Zheng, Z., Pavlou, P., and Gu, B. Latent Growth Modeling for Information Systems:
Theoretical Extensions and Practical Applications. Information Systems Research, 2014,
forthcoming
Luo, X., Zhang, J., and Duan, W. Social Media and Firm Equity Value. Information Systems
Research, Vol. 24, No. 1, March 2013, pp. 146–163
Ushering Buyers into Electronic Channels: An Empirical Analysis Nishtha Langer, Chris
Forman, Sunder Kekre, and Baohong Sun. Information Systems Research 2012 23:4, 12121231
Week 15 (11/25/2014): Research Proposal Presentation
ISM 753 - Course Syllabus
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