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The paper outlines an approach to CSCW systems design based on the concept of `coordination mechanisms.' The concept of coordination mechanisms has been developed as a generalization of phenomena described in empirical investigations of the use of artifacts for the purpose of coordinating cooperative activities in different work domains. On the basis of the evidence of this corpus of empirical studies, the paper outlines a theory of the use of artifacts for coordination purposes in cooperative work settings, derives a set of general requirements for computational coordination mechanisms, and sketches the architecture of Ariadne, a CSCW infrastructure for constructing and running such malleable and linkable computational coordination mechanisms.

... This article motivates the need for enterprise models and introduces the concepts of generic and deductive enterprise models. It reviews research to date on enterprise modeling and considers in detail the Toronto virtual enterprise effort at the University of Toronto.

Despite the importance to researchers, managers, and policy makers of how information technology (IT) contributes to organizational performance, there is uncertainty and debate about what we know and don’t know. A review of the literature reveals that studies examining the association between information technology and organizational performance are divergent in how they conceptualize key constructs and their interrelationships. We develop a model of IT business value based on the resource-based view of the firm that integrates the various strands of research into a single framework. We apply the integrative model to synthesize what is known about IT business value and guide future research by developing propositions and suggesting a research agenda. A principal finding is that IT is valuable, but the extent and dimensions are dependent upon internal and external factors, including complementary organizational resources of the firm and its trading partners, as well as the competitive and macro environment. Our analysis provides a blueprint to guide future research and facilitate knowledge accumulation and creation concerning the organizational performance impacts of information technology.

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Innovative e-commerce ideas are characterized by commercial products yet unknown to the market, enabled by information technology such as the Internet and technologies on top of it. How to develop such products is hardly known. We propose a interdisciplinary approach, e -value , to explore an innovative e-commerce idea with the aim to understand such an idea thoroughly and to evaluate it for potential profitability. Our methodology exploits a requirements engineering's way of working, but employs concepts and terminology from business science, marketing and axiology. It shows how to model business requirements and improve business-IT alignment, in sophisticated multi-actor value constellations that are common in electronic commerce. In addition to the e -value approach methodology, we also present the action research-based development of our methodology, by using one of the longitudinal projects we carried out in the field of online news article provisioning.

We explore the effect of computerization on productivity and output growth using data from 527 large US firms over 1987-1994. We find that computerization makes a contribution to measured productivity and output growth in the short term (using one year differences) that is consistent with normal returns to computer investments. However, the productivity and output contributions associated with computerization are up to five times greater over long periods (using five to seven year differences). The results suggest that the observed contribution of computerization is accompanied by relatively large and time-consuming investments in complementary inputs, such as organizational capital, that may be omitted in conventional calculations of productivity. The large long-run contribution of computers and their associated complements that we uncover may partially explain the subsequent investment surge in computers in the late 1990s.

through Information Technology Assets Claims that information technology can be a source of competitive advantage, which populated business literature in the late 1980s, have been largely discredited. Nonetheless, business executives continue to look for ways to apply information technology strategically to their businesses. Reporting on a two-year study of IT management practices, the authors note that some firms do appear to generate competitive advantage from their IT, but the advantage results from their IT capabilities, not from their IT applications. Specifically, a firm delivers value from IT by building and leveraging three assets: highly competent IT human resources, a reusable technology infrastructure, and a strong IT-business partner relationship. These three assets are interrelated in the sense that they tend to strengthen- or weaken- one another. Together, they allow a firm to apply information technology to strategic business needs faster and more cost effectively than the competition. This paper describes the characteristics of strong IT assets and offers strategies for developing them. Developing Long-term Competitiveness through Information Technology Assets

. As information systems are increasingly being called upon to play vital roles in organizations, conceptual modelling techniques need to be extended to relate information structures and processes to business and organizational objectives. We propose a framework which focuses on the modelling of strategic actor relationships ("A-R") for a richer conceptual model of business processes in their organizational settings. Organizations are viewed as being madeup of social actors who are intentional -- have motivations, wants, and beliefs -- and strategic -- they evaluate their relationships to each other in terms of opportunities and vulnerabilities. The framework supports formal modelling of the network of dependency relationships among actors, and the systematic exploration and assessment of alternative process designs in reengineering. The semantics of the modelling concepts are axiomatically characterized. By embedding the framework in the Telos language, the framework can also potentia...

Firms are undertaking growing numbers of e-commerce initiatives and increasingly making significant investments required to participate in the growing online market. However, empirical support for the benefits to firms from e-commerce is weaker than glowing accounts in the popular press, based on anecdotal evidence, would lead us to believe. In this paper, we explore the following questions: What are the returns to shareholders in firms engaging in e-commerce? How do the returns to conventional, brick and mortar firms from e-commerce initiatives compare with returns to the new breed of net firms? How do returns from businessto-business e-commerce compare with returns from business-to-consumer e-commerce? How do the returns to e-commerce initiatives involving digital goods compare to initiatives involving tangible goods? We examine these issues using event study methodology and assess the cumulative abnormal returns to shareholders (CARs) for 251 e-commerce initiatives announced by firms between October and December 1998. The results suggest that e-commerce initiatives do indeed lead to significant positive CARs for firms ’ shareholders. While the CARs for conventional firms are not significantly different from those for net firms, the CARs for businessto-consumer (B2C) announcements are higher than those for business-to-business (B2B) announcements.