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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><u><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Spring 2015 AIS Journal Club Webinar Series</span></u><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Valuing Virtual Worlds: The Role of Categorization in Technology Assessment </span></strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Join us for the second semester of the AIS Journal Club featuring authors from the
<em><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Journal of the Association for Information Systems</span></em>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/6488832006793066498?source=listserv">REGISTER</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">February 4 at 1 p.m. EST<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">presented by Luciara Nardon, PhD, Carleton University and
</span></em><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><br>
<em><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Kathryn Aten, PhD, Naval Postgraduate School</span></em></span></i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Webinar Learning Objectives:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">We will introduce two research projects as a venue for generating a conversation on:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">• Qualitative research methods in information systems research.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">• The role of cognition and culture in the assessment and use of information systems.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">• The potential and challenges of adopting a symbolic action perspective on information systems research.</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">About this
</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Research</span></strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Virtual worlds offer great potential for supporting the collaborative work of geographically distributed teams. However, reports indicate the existence of substantial
barriers to the acceptance and use of virtual worlds in business settings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">In this paper, we explore how individuals' interpretations of virtual worlds influence their judgments of the value of the technology. We conducted a qualitative
analysis set in the context of a large computer and software company that was in the process of adopting virtual worlds for distributed collaboration. We identified interpretations of virtual worlds that suggest three mental categories: virtual worlds as a
medium, virtual worlds as a place, and virtual worlds as an extension of reality. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">We associated these mental categories with different criteria for assessing the value of virtual worlds in a business setting. This study contributes particularly
to the acceptance of virtual worlds but also more generally to the understanding of technology acceptance by demonstrating that the relative importance of the criteria for assessing a technology varies with potential users' interpretations and mental categorizations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">About the Authors:</span></strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Dr. Kathryn Aten is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, U.S.A.
where she teaches business policy and strategy. Her research explores the role of cognition and technology in organizations, focusing on how interactions between technology use, culture and communication shape organizational behavior and outcomes.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Dr. Luciara Nardon is an Associate Professor of International Business at the Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, Canada where
she teaches International Management and Strategy at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research explores the role of culture and cognition on management, focusing on how cognitive processes, communication skills, and technology use facilitate work
in multicultural environments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">About AIS:</span></strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">AIS Members attend webinars free as a benefit of membership. Members of student chapters also receive free registration. Cost to attend as a non-member is $25.
If you are not an AIS member you will receive an email with payment instructions after registering. If you indicated an interest in joining, you'll be contacted with membership details.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">If you have any questions about attending or sponsoring this webinar series, please
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">contact Rachel Daeger at
</span><a href="mailto:rachel@aisnet.org" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">rachel@aisnet.org</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">.<br>
<br>
Journal Clubs were established more than 150 years ago for professors and students to share and discuss current research. Today, this same educational exchange can take place worldwide through online webinars.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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