[AISWorld] JITCAR 19.4 Published (Journal of IT Case and Application Research)

[Shailendra Palvia]

Dear Friends Around the World:

Please note that JITCAR has completed 19 years and has now entered into its 20th year now.  Based on what I hear from the world renowned oldest (since 1796) publisher Taylor & Francis, the journal is very well received from individuals and institutions in terms of both subscriptions and downloads.

You are invited to submit your manuscripts on any IT related theme.  The journal prides itself on focusing on case research methodology. Only research methodology that is NOT acceptable is a broad brush survey and analysis.  If the survey is backed up by a case(s) or interview(s), the manuscript will be reviewed through double blind review process.


I am delighted to present the fourth JITCAR issue of 2017. The contents of this issue are: Editorial Preface article by Dr Edward M. Roche and Mr L. Walker Townes; first Research Case article co-authored by Dr. Lise Tordrup Heeager and Dr. Peter Axel Nielsen; second Research Case article authored by Mr Cheuk Hang AU, Mr Zewen Xu, Mr Lin Wang, and Mr Walter S.L. Fung; Expert Opinion report by Dr Jack Becker and Dr. Daniel A Peak; and Book Review by Dr. Deepali Bharadwaj. Summary information of these items is as follows.

In the editorial preface article titled, “Millimeter Wave ‘5G’ Wireless Networks to Drive New Research Agenda,” the authors emphasize that the next revolutionary generation of wireless telecommunications technology will be “5G”, a new tranche of radio spectrum between 6  and 300 GHz. This spectrum will enable communications for autonomous vehicles, robots conducting delicate surgery, virtual and augmented reality devices, drones, the “Internet- of -Things” (IoT), and lot more. The 5Gs physical network infrastructure will be separated from the logical or virtual infrastructure. Authors go on to assert that “Software Defined Networks (SDN) will be set up and torn down, grown and lessened, according to demand. Complex network management will be aided by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The emerging international standards being worked on at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), envisage a system in which network control and circuit provisioning will be opened up to outsiders, including competitors and user organizations themselves. The complexity of the emerging 5G architecture will present an abundance of opportunities for practitioners and open up exciting new vistas of research.”

First research article is titled, “Intrafirm Knowledge Transfer of Agile Software Practices: Barriers and their Relations.” Intrafirm knowledge transfer of agile software practices between projects for an organization is time consuming and complex due to the inherent high degree of tacit knowledge. Through a case study, this article investigates the intrafirm knowledge transfer of agile practices by utilizing the theory of Barriers to Knowledge Transfer as the basis. Using a conceptual model, the analysis reveals that the barriers of organizational culture, time and resources, knowledge strategy and motivation and willingness are related and as such cannot be understood in isolation.



Second Research Case article is titled, “Establishing a Three-step Model of Designing the Polling Stations for Shorter Queue and Smaller Waiting time: A Case Study Using Computer Simulation.” It utilizes simulation to address the issue of lengthy queues and long wait times (which harm the voting experience and turn away voters) at the polling stations by analyzing data from the 2016 Hong Kong legislative election. The study addressed the bottlenecks of polling station successfully by reallocating the resources through simulations. The authors establish a three-step model for shortening the polling stations queues and waiting times.



The Expert Opinion report documents interview by Dr Jack Becker and Daniel A. Peak with Mr Jack Dowling, chief executive officer (CEO) and Founder of Votum Technology Group (VTG), dedicated to improving client business performance through emerging technologies. Mr Dowling has deep industry expertise in strategic thinking learned through tactical planning, software product development, technology services, telecommunications, logistics and distribution. He has been an invited speaker and panelist at technology and investor conferences run by leading organizers such as CIO Magazine, Information Week, Goldman Sachs, and The Society for Information Management (SIM-DFW Chapter). Jack has over 38 years of experience including 23 years of C-level accomplishments in companies ranging from early stage start-ups to fast-growth Fortune 1000 corporations. He served as EVP/chief information officer (CIO) at Eagle Global Logistics, a $1.7 billion global logistics company; SVP/CIO at CompuCom, a $3 billion global IT services company; and in several key technology management roles at Sprint, a $10 billion global telecom company. Mr Dowling earned his BS in Computer Science in the Texas A&M system. Questions posed to Mr Dowling are: (a) Would you please describe your role as CEO at Votum Technology Group (VTG)?; (b) Would you please recount your journey to your current position? For example, what led you to pursue a degree in Computer Science, and why do you continue to be interested in this field?; (c) While at CompuCom you were involved with a major strategic change to their information systems. In essence, you transformed their product distribution system into one of the most efficient systems in the industry. What were the keys to your success?; (d) What specifically were customers looking for and how did you use technology to get them what they needed?; (e) Were there other benefits derived from the new e-commerce platform and its innovations?; (f) In 1999–2000 you were recognized for your exemplary success at CompuCom with several CIO-of-the-Year awards. One of those awards was the DFW SIM Chapter’s CIO of the Year. How important was this recognition to your career at the time?; (g) Recalling your role as EVP and CIO at Eagle Global Logistics (EGL) (2000–2001), how has the world of supply chain and distribution changed over the past fifteen years?; (h) How were you able to competitively leverage EGL’s information systems?; (i) Following that success, what led you to start your own company, Visual Business Intelligence?; (j) In 2003, you became COO/CIO for Truckload USA. What motivated this move?; (k) In 2005 you led the operation components of GlobeRanger, a middle-stage RFID software product company. Would you please explain how RFID technology influenced the next phase of your professional life?; (l) Then, in 2006, you founded Votum Technology Group (VTG), where you currently preside as President and CEO. What products and services does VTG offer?; (m) Creativity and innovation are a huge component of your business model. How do you stay on top of this curve?; (n) You earlier mentioned disruptive technologies. In your opinion, does one need to utilize disruptive technologies to bring about significant positive change?; (o) We wonder about IT and the generations of professionals who work in the field of IT. Does the age-generation of a person (Boomer, XGen, Millenial, etc.) weigh on your hiring, promotion and laying off decision process? If so how?; (p) You have said that we all have two types of intelligence: (1) native intelligence (e.g., IQ); and (2) our emotional intelligence. How should a person leverage and improve either one or both aspects of the intellect?; (q) What are some of the major challenges facing your firm today? In 5 years?; (r) In your business, how does the constantly-changing IT affect your long-range planning?; (s) On to your preferences. What are the things that you like best about your job?; (t) We have observed that you are very active with the Dallas-Fort Worth and SIM Chapter and SIM. What the benefits of SIM involvement to you and to your firm?; (u) Are there other IT professional or service organizations you find beneficial for you and your firm?; (v) Can you think of any other topic we may have overlooked that our readers might find interesting?



Book review report by Dr Deepali Bharadwaj provides a detailed critique of the 2017 book titled, “Analytics to Action: A Guide to Social Media Measurement” authored and self-published in 2017 by Mr Tim Cigelske. The author is the Director of Social Media at Marquette University. Under his guidance, the university has been named among the top 10 Most Influential Colleges in Social Media by www.Klout.com. Mr Cigelske has been a featured speaker and workshop instructor at the eduWeb Conference and the PR + Social Media Summit. As an adjunct professor, he teaches Media Writing, PR Writing, and Social Media Measurement and Analytics. In addition, Mr Cigelske has been featured by WIRED Magazine, 20/20, Harvard Business Review and The New York Times. This book is about how to capitalize on the immense opportunities offered by social media to promote and build brand name for a company’s products and services. Collecting massive amount of data is just the beginning. The book stresses the importance of analyzing “right” quantitative and qualitative metrics for informed business decisions and effective actions within specific business contexts. Using examples from daily lives, entertainment, and business, the author makes the relatively dry subject of metrics and measurement interesting through three sections named simply as Analyze, Assess, and Act. Analyze section has two chapters titled – Adrift in Data, Tip of the Iceberg. Section two Assess has six chapters appropriately titled –Answering Why (purpose of measurement), Answering Who (audience), Answering What (metrics), Answering Where (which social media channels), Answering When (timing of posts), and Answering How (choice of tools to manage social media) regarding a company’s products and services. Section three titled Act has four chapters– “Action to Analytics” stresses the need to continuously get feedback on published posts and analyze the data for improvement; “Reporting” recommends gathering all the analysis in a report to reflect if the work can be improved through analysis of relevant charts and graphs; “A Day in the Life” gives a peek into the author’s activities as the social media director at Marquette University in form of a Q&A with a student; and finally “A Case Study” written by Sprout Social1 on how Marquette University uses its social media management system.



Routledge, in line with the ongoing trends, has published this journal online since 2014. The website to find all JITCAR issues is: http://www.tandfonline.com/utca. All authors and reviewers are encouraged to start using Routledge’s online manuscript submission and reviewing system http://www.editorialmanager.com/jitcar/. I urge all our current and future authors and reviewers to familiarize themselves with this system.



I hope you will enjoy reading all the items in this issue. With best regards,





Sincerely





Dr. Shailendra Palvia

Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellow for 2016-17

Professor of MIS, College of Management

Long Island University Post, Brookville, NY 11801.

http://liu.edu/CWPost/Academics/Faculty/Faculty/P/Shailendra-Palvia?rn=Faculty+Profiles&ru=/CWPost/Academics/Faculty/Faculty

2012 & 2016 LIU Post Nominee for Abraham Krasnoff Lifetime Scholarship Achievement Award

Founding Editor and current EIC, Journal of IT Case and Applications Research (JITCAR)

Phone #: 732-983-7034


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