Overview

Many existing information systems theories and practices are deeply rooted in North American culture and strongly reflect North American values. However, people from dissimilar cultures have different ways of doing business and disparate values for guiding human behavior. Thus, scholars and practitioners are now emphasizing the importance of assessing the cross-cultural robustness of information systems theories and practices. This project aims to add a cultural dimension to information systems knowledge. With an increasingly globalized environment, where people from different cultures work together through information systems to solve business problems, such research efforts are timely. Knowledge generated by this research project will help scholars to understand limits of applicability of existing information systems theories and help practitioners to understand what information systems practices are useful for what cultures.

Area of Focus

1. Assess how individualism-collectivism may moderate impact of computer-mediated communication on majority influence in electronic work groups.

2. Assess how power distance and individualism-collectivism may moderate impact of computer-mediated communication on minority influence in electronic work groups.

3. Examine how individualism-collectivism may moderate the phenomenon of social performance in electronic work groups.

4. Investigate the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance on the phenomenon of escalating commitment in software projects.

5. Investigate how cross-cultural work groups may choose and use information systems to communicate, make decisions, and accomplish tasks.