[AISWorld] JITCAR Volume 12, Number 2 has been published

[Gordon, Steven]

Dear Colleagues:

It is my pleasure to announce the publication of the 46th issue of JITCAR (Volume 12, Number 2) -- The Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research (http://www.jitcar.org).  

Sincerely,
Steven R. Gordon
Editor-in-Chief, JITCAR
Professor, Information Technology Management Babson College, Babson Park, MA  02457
Tel: 781-239-4571
Web: http://faculty.babson.edu/gordon

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Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research, Special Issue on Smart Sourcing
Volume 12, Number 2, 2010

Editorial Preface 
Business Process Fashions: Implications for IS Research
Anna Sidorova, University of North Texas, USA

Research Article One
ITIL Implementation:  Critical Success Factors; A Comparative Case Study Using the BPC Framework
Keld Pedersen and Pernille Kræmmergaard, Aalborg University, Denmark
Bjarne Christoffer Lynge, Implement A/S, Denmark
Christoffer Dalby Schou

Research Article Two
Requirements Engineering During Complex ISD: Case Study of an International ICT Company
Päivi Ovaska, Saimaa University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Larry Stapleton, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland

Teaching Case One
What Is The Difference? The Case of Two ERP Implementations
Celia Romm Livermore, Wayne State University, USA
Pierluigi Rippa, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy

The Expert Opinion
An Interview with Samuel D. Dunn, P.E., Ph.D.
Chief Information Office, Babson College, USA
Conducted and Documented by:
Mahesh S. Raisinghani, Texas Woman's University, USA

Book Review
The Adventures of an IT Leader
By Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan, and Shannon O'Donnell
Published in 2009 by Harvard Business Press, ISBN: 978-1-4221-4660-6; 314 pages
Reviewed by Richard G. Platt, University of West Florida, USA

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Editorial Preface 
Business Process Fashions: Implications for IS Research
Anna Sidorova, University of North Texas, USA

INTRODUCTION
Although one may argue that fundamentals of business have changed little since the invention of double entry accounting by merchants of Florence in end of 13th century (Lee, 1977), the modern business world is ruled by management fads and fashions (Abrahamson, 1991). Abrahamson (1991) argues that in the face of uncertainty about the effects of innovations on organizational efficiency, organizations tend to follow fashion-setters in making innovation adoption decisions. Thus organizations often adopt technically inefficient innovations if organizations in fashion-setting networks, such as consultants, promote them.  He further proposes that organizations tend to reject old technically efficient innovations when fashion-setting networks introduce mutually exclusive replacements.

The world of information technology is as prone to fashions as the world of management in general, with often fundamentally similar versions of existing things being re-introduced under different names as new and potentially groundbreaking innovations (Baskerville & Myers, 2009, Wang 2010).  The fast pace at which new information technologies are introduced makes it is increasingly difficult to objectively estimate the effect of such innovation on organizational performance, and that makes IT managers particularly prone to fashion-following behavior.

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Research Article One
ITIL Implementation:  Critical Success Factors; A Comparative Case Study Using the BPC Framework
Keld Pedersen and Pernille Kræmmergaard, Aalborg University, Denmark
Bjarne Christoffer Lynge, Implement A/S, Denmark
Christoffer Dalby Schou

ABSTRACT
This article examines critical success factors for the implementation of an IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) . It uses a case study methodology grounded in Business Process Change (BPC) theory to compare a successful ITIL implementation with an unsuccessful one. Data was collected by conducting interviews at various levels in two organizations. The study identifies several critical success factors related to ITIL implementation and compares these factors with factors identified by previous research in order to highlight areas that need specific attention when implementing ITIL.

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Research Article Two
Requirements Engineering During Complex ISD: Case Study of an International ICT Company
Päivi Ovaska, Saimaa University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Larry Stapleton, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland

ABSTRACT
This paper provides a new interpretation of how ISD requirements can be collectively constructed in organizations through intersubjective sensemaking. The study described in this paper focuses upon how people in complex ISD contexts make sense of requirements as the development process unfolds. Its primary contribution is to suggest that requirements shaping during an ISD project can be described as a sensemaking process of incongruence, filtering, negotiating and shifting of different attitudes and expectations. An interpretive case study is undertaken and it highlights how the relevant stakeholders of the project came to make sense of, and shape, their ISD process. The study suggests sensemaking as a potential new rationality for requirements engineering and for ISD in general, by complementing the traditional functional rationalism. It lays a basis for understanding the complex interactions that emerge during challenged ISD projects in their way of navigating out of difficulties.

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Teaching Case One
What Is The Difference? The Case of Two ERP Implementations
Celia Romm Livermore, Wayne State University, USA
Pierluigi Rippa, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy

ABSTRACT
This is a unique case study as it is based on two "twin" case studies rather than one. The two cases studies, one from Italy and one from the US, describe the implementation of a SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in two similar organizations. Both organizations are mid-sized companies with similar size workforce and similar size annual sales. Both are in the electronics and telecommunications area. However, this is where the similarity ends. As indicated in the two case studies, the implementation process of the ERP systems, which followed similar steps, unfolded quite differently and resulted in very different outcomes. Thus, while the Italian implementation project met all its goals and was perceived by all participants as a success story, this was not the case for the American project. This teaching case study should give readers an understanding of the stages that a typical ERP implementation project follows, as well as, enable readers to understand the impact that individual, group, organization and national culture variables, have on how the process of implementing ERP systems unfolds and what may contribute to its final outcome.

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The Expert Opinion
An Interview with Samuel D. Dunn, P.E., Ph.D.
Chief Information Office, Babson College, USA
Conducted and Documented by:
Mahesh S. Raisinghani, Texas Woman's University, USA

INTRODUCTION
Dr. Sam Dunn comes to Babson from Shawmut Design and Construction with over 15 years of CIO experience in several different industries:  Healthcare, engineering, construction, government and technology consulting.  

While working as Chief Technology Officer for the State of Tennessee Dr. Dunn worked in highly secure network environments and was responsible for the statewide technology infrastructure, including the State's single State Data Center.  

Dr. Dunn also served as a Chief Information Officer for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and led the state's National Health Information Network (NHIN) federal standards efforts and was appointed as lead for the CHFS Kentucky Health Information Technology (KHIT) initiative by Secretary Dr. James Holsinger.  Dr. Dunn developed a model for Kentucky's statewide eHealth interoperability efforts and served as a technical advisor on eHealth security and privacy policy matters to Dr. Holsinger and Governor Fletcher. 

Dr. Dunn was also appointed to the Kentucky Telehealth Board with responsibility for the statewide telehealth communication and eLearning network used to educate physicians and emergency care staff during disease outbreaks and national disasters. 

Prior to joining the State Government, Dr. Dunn worked as a CIO running Smith Seckman Reid's health care facility management operations division, a nationally recognized engineering consulting firm.  

Dr. Dunn is also a licensed professional engineer in multiple states.  He has a strong background in leading large software development projects and eLearning solutions.  He is a successful entrepreneur and has owned several small businesses.  
Dr. Dunn has five years of teaching experience at Vanderbilt University and the University of Kentucky in an adjunct capacity.  He has taught classes in Networks, Management of Technology, and Health Informatics.    

Dr. Dunn holds multiple degrees: M.B.A. Northwestern University; Ph.D. Computer and Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University; M.S. Computer and Electrical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology; and B.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Tennessee.

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Book Review
The Adventures of an IT Leader
By Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan, and Shannon O'Donnell
Published in 2009 by Harvard Business Press, ISBN: 978-1-4221-4660-6; 314 pages
Reviewed by Richard G. Platt, University of West Florida, USA

INTRODUCTION

When this reviewer first entered what was then called the DP (data processing) profession back in the 1970s, one of the hotly debated topics of that day was whether a job prerequisite for a systems analyst was prior work experience as a programmer. (Kapur, 1974) Each side of that debate had its champions and the issue never was resolved. Flash forward to the 1990s and similar issues were still hotly debated (Todd, McKeen, and Gallupe, 1995). One higher-level example of the same question involved IBM going outside the organization to hire a new CEO who had no experience in the technology industry, much less any experience at IBM. (Gerstner, 2002). Now, flash forward to 2010 and the same issue provides a major dimension to the contextual framing of the story told in The Adventures of an IT Leader.

Adventures is a fiction novel, but it is set within a highly plausible context much like case studies that are based on facts but set within hypothetical companies. In fact the authors describe Adventures as "series of case studies" that serve to demonstrate many aspects of modern IT management. The circumstances of the book include a modern day financial services company, IVK, which has experienced rapid growth. However, recent setbacks, caused in no small part by organizational growing pains, motivate the IVK board of directors to bring in a "turn around" CEO. The new CEO proceeds to shake up the top levels of IVK corporate management, including the position of chief information officer (CIO).  The main character in Adventures, Jim Barton, had been the highly successful head of Loan Operations at IVK. Barton expected the new CEO to promote him to Vice President or even Chief Operating Officer. Instead, Barton is challenged by the new CEO to take over the IT department as its new CIO. While Barton has the reputation as an excellent general manager with an in-depth knowledge of the operations of IVK, Barton has absolutely no background in IT.