AJIS Volume 27: Four new articles published in the Australasian Journal of Information Systems

Dear Colleagues,

The Australasian Journal of Information Systems (AJIS) has just published 4 new articles in its Volume 27 Section ‘Selected Papers from the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS)’ which conclude the section for ACIS 2021 and ACIS 2022:

The Role of Actors in Blockchain Adoption Decisions  –  An Innovation Translation Perspective

Shipra Chhina, Mehmood Chadhar, Sally Firmin, Arthur Tatnall
s.chhina@federation.edu.au
doi: https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v27i0.4489

An overview of challenges around blockchain adoption has revealed that there is little understanding of the process of blockchain adoption decisions, including who needs to be involved and consulted at various stages. When systems are designed to intentionally protect privacy or to obscure actors, such as blockchain platforms, it can be challenging to identify them and to understand their roles. To do this we used an Innovation Translation approach from Actor-Network Theory (Latour, 2007) which looks at the roles of both human and non-human actors. To understand the interactions among the actors involved, multiple rounds of interviews were conducted with Blockchain experts, utilising the qualitative Delphi method. The findings of this study propose a framework that provides insight into the decision-process by exploring the actors involved and their roles as they implement strategies to adopt blockchain and to convince other actors. The outcomes will assist blockchain practitioners and researchers to have an understanding of pre-adoption decisions and stakeholder involvement. Organisations considering implementing blockchain will benefit from this research as they will know where to start, who to engage, and which stakeholders are needed during the decision-making process.

#Actors #BlockchainAdoption #InnovationTranslation #ActorNetworkTheory #ANT #AdoptionDecision

Effective Communication in Globally Distributed Scrum: A Model and Practical Guidance

Dmitrii Kostin, Diane Strode
dmitrii.kostin.nz@gmail.com
doi: https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v27i0.4501

A trend in information systems development is for globally distributed teams to use agile methods and frameworks such as Scrum. In globally distributed (GD) software development, a known challenge is effective team communication. Researchers, however, cannot evaluate effective communication in GD teams using Scrum unless they know what effective communication means in that context. This qualitative study contributes a theoretical model of effective communication in GD Scrum teams and practical guidance for practitioners. Ten industry professionals working in GD Scrum teams were interviewed to capture their understanding of effective communication. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interviews and form a basis for the model and the practical guidance. This novel model consists of communication transparency, communication quality, and communication discipline, which together lead to the alignment of team understanding (i.e., a team-level shared mental model). This theoretical model lays the ground for future research into the effect of Scrum practices on communication in GD contexts, and the effect of communication on team and project success. For practitioners, this study contributes 11 practical actions that professionals recommend for improving and sustaining effective communication.

#agilesoftwaredevelopment #communicationtransparency #communicationquality #communicationdiscipline #globalsoftwaredevelopment #sharedmentalmodel #teammentalmodel

Integrating Users’ Perceptions to Identify Features Indicating the Quality of Cancer-Related Podcasts Provided by Non-Profit Cancer Organisations

Basma Badreddine, Yvette Blount, Alireza Amrollahi
ali.amrollahi@mq.edu.au
doi: https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v27i0.4435

While cancer podcasts are valuable for support and information, there is a significant gap in understanding their quality features from users’ perspectives. Understanding quality features from users’ perspectives is important to ensure that cancer-affected people receive the support they need. This study addresses this gap by combining multiple theoretical perspectives: a. the IQ assessment framework, source credibility theory, two-factor theory of website design to assess the quality of podcasts, and b. reception theory to highlight listeners’ perception of quality. These perspectives, together, enrich the concept of information systems quality and provide a comprehensive understanding of podcasts’ quality. Through semi-structured interviews with 17 cancer-affected individuals, the research found that credibility, content, and design were essential quality features, with the visual appearance serving as a motivational factor. The integration of Reception Theory highlights users’ active role in shaping quality perceptions, offering new insights into the effective design of cancer-related podcasts. This novel approach bridges a critical research gap, illuminating the complex interplay of technical and human factors in assessing podcast quality from the perspective of users.

#CancerPodcasts #InformationSystemsQuality #ReceptionTheory #Content #Credibility #Design

Approaches and Models for Teaching Digital Ethics in Information Systems Courses – A Review of the Literature

Minna Paltiel, Marc Cheong, Simon Coghlan, Reeva Lederman
mpaltiel@student.unimelb.edu.au
doi: https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v27i0.4435

The value and importance of teaching Digital Ethics within Information Systems and ICT courses is widely recognized and stand-alone or integrated digital ethics units are broadly implemented across degree courses. However, how such courses should be taught and what content they should include is a little explored topic. Using a narrative literature review methodology, this paper reviews the pedagogical theories underpinning digital ethics courses discussed in the literature and outlines approaches that deploy standalone ethics units, integrated ethics teaching, and hybrid teaching approaches and the use of interdisciplinary models. The paper identifies the employment of, and emphasis given to various moral theories in digital ethics education. The paper then discusses how our findings relating to different pedagogical approaches, degree of integration of ethics teaching, the use of interdisciplinary models and use of moral theories—are related to each other. The discussion explores trends in approaches and models for teaching digital ethics highlighted in the review, and makes recommendations for further exploration and inquiry. It concludes that the effective teaching of digital ethics will likely involve a considered combination of approaches, models and techniques, which may also be tailored to the needs of different roles and industries.

#informationsystems #digitalethics #education #pedagogicaltheories #moraltheories

Thank you for your continuing interest in our work and with our best wishes for 2024.

Regards

Professor Karlheinz Kautz
Editor-in-Chief, Australasian Journal of Information Systems
http://journal.acs.org.au/index.php/ajis/index