Integrated Series in Information Systems Volume 29 Series Editors Ramesh Sharda Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA Stefan Voß University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/6157 wwwwwwwwww Yogesh K. Dwivedi Michael R. Wade (cid:76) Scott L. Schneberger Editors Information Systems Theory Explaining and Predicting Our Digital Society, Vol. 2 Editors Yogesh K. Dwivedi Scott L. Schneberger School of Business and Economics Principia College Swansea University Elsah, IL, USA Swansea, Wales, UK [email protected] [email protected] Michael R. Wade Professor of Innovation and Strategic Information Management IMD Lausanne, Switzerland [email protected] ISSN 1571-0270 ISBN 978-1-4419-9706-7 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-9707-4 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9707-4 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2011936384 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) To my adorable daughter, Saanvi, on her first birthday, for brightening my each day with her smile and touchingly mischievous playfulness. Yogesh K. Dwivedi To Heidi, Christopher, and Benjamin, for your love, patience, and encouragement. Michael R. Wade To Cosy and Sunny for daily putting theory into practice, patiently. Scott L. Schneberger wwwwwwwwww Foreword I am delighted to provide the foreword for the second volume of this book. A book providing a comprehensive treatment of the various theories that are used in the field of information systems (IS) will become a valuable resource for all informa- tion systems scholars. It is my view that the information systems field has made remarkable progress as an academic discipline in a relatively short period of time. The field has made prog- ress, not by ignoring other fields, but by borrowing, learning, and building on the theories, methods, and exemplars of good research in other fields (such as computer science, economics, and psychology). But we have not just used these theories slav- ishly or unthinkingly; rather, IS scholars have adapted them and modified them for use in this new field. We have also come up with some of our own theories in an attempt to explain IS phenomena. Right now we are seeing an explosion of interest in the development, use, and application of information systems and technologies. There is increasing interest in the development, use, and application of information technology and systems by scholars in many different fields. And so this book may also be of interest to schol- ars in many other disciplines besides information systems, particularly if these scholars are interested to find out which theories have proved to be relevant to the field of information systems, and how such theories have been used. For IS practi- tioners, the book might prove valuable as a resource to help identify which theories have proved helpful in understanding how information systems can be effectively deployed in today’s digital world. This book demonstrates that many different kinds of theories have been used to help understand and explain IS phenomena. Volume 1 looks at information systems lifecycle theories and economic and strategic theories, whereas Volume 2 looks at socio-psychological and methodological theories. Of course, some of these theories have been borrowed (such as the theory of the diffusion of innovation), but others have been developed within the IS field (such as the DeLone and McLean IS success model). vii viii Foreword The true value of this book is that it brings together, for the first time, all these various theories into one convenient location. This book not only describes various theories and models applicable to studying information systems/ information tech- nology management issues, but it also provides a critical review of how these theo- ries and models have been used in IS. Auckland, New Zealand Michael D. Myers Preface To advance our understanding of information systems (IS), it is necessary to conduct relevant and rigorous IS research. IS research, in turn, is built on a founda- tion of strong and robust theory. Indeed, the IS field has a long and rich tradition of developing and appropriating theories to examine central disciplinary themes, such as the IS life-cycle and IS business value, along with a host of social and political factors. The ISWorld wiki “Theories Used in IS Research1” (TUISR) lists 87 such theories and models. While this site is a valuable resource for the field, much more could be assembled to aid IS researchers in using theories to explain and predict how information systems can be used within today’s digital society. In our own careers, we have found it to be a major challenge to identify appropri- ate theories for our work, and even harder to fully understand the theories that we encounter. We would encounter theories we find interesting, but the papers where we found them provide an incomplete account or a superficial explanation of what the theory was about, or how it could be used. It was this problem of theory identi- fication and comprehension that led us to create this book. We wanted to produce a collection of papers about theories that could be used by IS researchers as a starting point for their work. This collection would act like a one-stop-shop for IS theory. We already had the TUISR wiki that provided basic information on theory; but with this book, we wanted to provide more depth and insight into the theories that popu- lated our field. We believe the lack of a comprehensive source of information on theory poses special problems for researchers. Due to a deficiency of experience within a new area, it may not be easy to fully comprehend and use a new theory in an appropriate manner. Furthermore, it is sometimes difficult for researchers to determine which particular theory, out of the vast number available, may be appropriate in a research context. We felt a literary and meta-analytic collection of IS theories would not only pro- vide a significant contribution to IS knowledge, but would also provide a valuable aid to IS researchers, practitioners, and students. ix x Preface The overall mission of this book is to provide a comprehensive understanding and coverage of the various theories and models used in IS research. Specifically, it aims to focus on the following key objectives: (cid:115)(cid:0) To describe the various theories and models applicable to studying IS/IT man- agement issues (cid:115)(cid:0) To outline and describe, for each of the various theories and models, independent and dependent constructs, reference discipline/originating area, originating author(s), seminal articles, level of analysis (i.e. firm, individual, industry) and links with other theories (cid:115)(cid:0) To provide a critical review/meta-analysis of IS/IT management articles that have used a particular theory/model (cid:115)(cid:0) To discuss how a theory can be used to better understand how information sys- tems can be effectively deployed in today’s digital world This book contributes to our understanding of a number of theories and models. The theoretical contribution of this book is that it analyzes and synthesizes the rel- evant literature in order to enhance knowledge of IS theories and models from vari- ous perspectives. To cater to the information needs of a diverse spectrum of readers, this book is structured into two volumes, each further broken down into two sections. The first section of Volume 1 presents detailed descriptions of a set of theories centered around the IS lifecycle, including: (cid:115)(cid:0) DeLone and McLean’s Success Model (cid:115)(cid:0) Technology Acceptance Model (cid:115)(cid:0) Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (cid:115)(cid:0) User Resistance Theories (cid:115)(cid:0) Task-Technology Fit Theory (cid:115)(cid:0) Process Virtualization Theory (cid:115)(cid:0) Theory of Deferred Action The second section of Volume 1 contains strategic and economic theories, including: (cid:115)(cid:0) Resource-Based View (cid:115)(cid:0) Theory of Slack Resources (cid:115)(cid:0) Portfolio Theory (cid:115)(cid:0) Theory of the Lemon Markets (cid:115)(cid:0) Technology – Organization – Environment Framework (cid:115)(cid:0) Contingency Theory (cid:115)(cid:0) Porter’s Competitive Forces Model (cid:115)(cid:0) Business Value of IT (cid:115)(cid:0) Diffusion of Innovations (cid:115)(cid:0) Punctuated Equilibrium Theory