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1 – 10 of 48Darryl Coulthard and Susan Keller
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on society's relationship with technology and particularly our increasing dependence on electronic technology – so‐called eDependency. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on society's relationship with technology and particularly our increasing dependence on electronic technology – so‐called eDependency. The paper argues that technology is not neutral and we must engage with the moral issues that arise from our relationship with it.
Design/methodology/approach
Society's relationship with technology is examined through the lens of Socrates' consideration of the technology of writing. It identifies “technophilia” as a major theme in society and “neo‐Luddism” as the Socrates‐like examination of the benefits of technology.
Findings
While rejecting both technology determinism and technology presentism the paper argues technology is not neutral and does afford social change within a particular social ecology. The authors suggest that ultimately the use of all technology, including the technology underpinning eDependency, leads to important moral questions which deserve considered debate. The paper concludes by arguing that the Information Systems (IS) discipline should take the mantle of King Thamus and that the study of these issues should become a key concern for the discipline.
Originality/value
In an age of technophilia, this paper calls considered debate on the moral issues that arise from our relationship with technology, how it is appropriated, to whose benefit, and how we change it and will be changed by it.
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The author establishes a point of criticism against various positions regarding technology, especially the proposal of De Kerckhove on the role of social networks in life.To that…
Abstract
The author establishes a point of criticism against various positions regarding technology, especially the proposal of De Kerckhove on the role of social networks in life.
To that end the present text has four sections. The first presents a way to study society from the point of view of its symbolic production, understood as an inseparable whole. Second, this symbolic dimension of all human society, is differentiated in three inseparable components: information, communication, and knowledge. Third, having established these analytical differentiations, the text underlines the importance of the systemic relationship between internal brain and extra-cortical formations or “external” brain, to understand the human complex relations with technology. Finally, the text presents the Cultural Fronts approach as a theoretical and methodological tool for the study of the social production of hegemony and subalternity on scales of everyday life. The methodological fecundity of this category has been proven in a variety of field studies since 1982 and is the basis of the perspective of action research that the author calls “cybercultur@,” understood as the collective development of intelligent self-determination capabilities confronting concrete social problems.
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Cueponcaxochitl D. Moreno Sandoval
In an age when computer science largely shapes the engagement of widely diverse populations with the world, the majority of computing professions are dominated by males, primarily…
Abstract
In an age when computer science largely shapes the engagement of widely diverse populations with the world, the majority of computing professions are dominated by males, primarily of European descent. This monolithic group exhibits hubris that needs to be mitigated by drawing upon diverse points of view. This chapter examines computer science production and its contribution to global climate change through e-waste, water usage, and technophilia. Examining Indigenous epistemologies and intersectional theory to address race, class, and gender issues in relation to global climate change, the chapter advocates for broadening computer science education as a culturally sustaining (Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93–97; Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (2014). What are we seeking to sustain through culturally sustaining pedagogy? A loving critique forward. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 85–100) and revitalizing (McCarty & Lee, 2014) approach to nurturing a social and environmentally responsible movement in computer science education.
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Gayle Porter and Nada K. Kakabadse
The aim of this study is an exploration of the behavioural addictions to work (workaholism) and to use of technology (technolophilia), particularly as they overlap in managers'…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is an exploration of the behavioural addictions to work (workaholism) and to use of technology (technolophilia), particularly as they overlap in managers' work routines and expectations placed on their employees.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a qualitative analysis of managers' comments from structured interviews and focus groups in several countries.
Findings
This research culminated in a model of various adaptations to both work pressure and need to use technology in today's business work, including the potential to over‐adapt or lapse into a pattern of addiction.
Research limitations/implications
The consolidation of multi‐disciplinary literature and the framework of the model will serve as a reference points for continuing research on behavioural addictions related to work and technology.
Practical implications
Human resource professionals concerned with employee well‐being can utilize the components of this model to proactively recognize problems and generate remedies. Specific suggestions are offered to offset undesirable adaptations.
Originality/value
This is the first study to focus on the mutually reinforcing addictions to work and use of technology – an important step forward in recognizing the scope of the issue and generating further research with practical application in business world.
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Mohammad Hossein Jarrahi and Ali Eshraghi
Generational membership is argued to have an impact on how social technologies are used for knowledge sharing and communication in organizational contexts. Previous research has…
Abstract
Purpose
Generational membership is argued to have an impact on how social technologies are used for knowledge sharing and communication in organizational contexts. Previous research has especially underscored the difference between digital natives and digital immigrants in how they make sense of and interact with social technologies for work. The purpose of this paper is to provide a multidimensional perspective and to explore generational differences as well as other factors deriving from both work-related and personal characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a summary of the findings from interviews with 58 consultants from 17 managing consulting firms. Participants were selected based on their knowledge-intensive roles and their willingness to share information about their knowledge practices.
Findings
Findings highlight the significance of the organizational rank, knowledge needs, individuals’ enthusiasm for technology use and personality disposition in shaping workers’ attitudes toward social technologies for knowledge practices. This work builds from a social construction of technology perspective to provide a comprehensive insight into the roles played by work and personality-related factors beyond age and generational differences in the use of social technologies in and for work.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the discourse on generational differences and the use of social technologies. It puts this question into a broader context, and highlights other factors that shape this relationship.
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Nilsah Cavdar Aksoy, Alev Kocak Alan, Ebru Tumer Kabadayi and Alican Aksoy
This study aims to examine the wearable devices market as an essential representative of the digital age using a framework based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the wearable devices market as an essential representative of the digital age using a framework based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the context of sports wearables.
Design/methodology/approach
411 people, are both users and non-users of this technology were surveyed online, and the obtained data analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results support the effects of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and social influence on attitude toward sports wearables and attitude of usage intention. Further, technophobia moderates the relationship between performance expectancy and attitude. However, a moderating effect of technophobia on the relationship between effort expectancy and attitude was not observed.
Originality/value
Due to innovative technologies in the digital age we live in, the devices we use in everyday life have gained intelligence. As more developments take place, and related products enter the market, understanding how people react to these products becomes an important issue. While investigating this issue in the context of sports wearables in this study, an important psychological construct, technophobia, was included in the research model in order to explore the usage intention of individuals through the effects of psychological constructs, such as paranoia, fear, anxiety, cybernetic revolt and cellphone avoidance, and the strong combination of important constructs of phobia to go against technology.
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Xianwei Lyu, Omkar Dastane and Xiaoguang He
Food SMEs is the backbone of local and world economy. Even while food SMEs are aware of the potential advantages of implementing supply chain analytics (SCA), only a small number…
Abstract
Purpose
Food SMEs is the backbone of local and world economy. Even while food SMEs are aware of the potential advantages of implementing supply chain analytics (SCA), only a small number of companies use data-based decision-making. This is because of technophobia. In light of this, the purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that have an impact on SCA adoption which in turn influence the sustainable performance of firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 221 managers working in food-related SMEs in China by using a questionnaire-based survey. The framework of this study was validated using a rigorous statistical procedure using the technique, namely, partial least squares structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings of this study suggest that all modified UTAUT components (i.e. performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and technophobia) significantly influence SCA adoption. Moreover, the existing study highlights and confirms the significance of adopting SCA to improve sustainable performance.
Originality/value
This research is novel, as it extends and investigates the theoretical framework based on UTAUT theory in SCA context and its impact on sustainable organizational performance. In addition, the factor of technophobia is tested in SCA context. This study has several contributory managerial implications for food SMEs.
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Wilfried Niehueser and George Boak
The purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes of employees in a company dedicated to strategic recruitment towards the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes of employees in a company dedicated to strategic recruitment towards the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into their work processes and to consider the implications for training and development.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were carried out with seven employees who were using the new technology. Survey data was gathered from 109 employees who had not, at the time of the research, used the new technology.
Findings
The introduction of AI considerably improved the speed and efficiency of the work processes. The research found that those employees who had used the new technology were positive about its effects, indicating that it was easy to use, robust and highly productive. A proportion of employees who had not, at the time of the research, used the new system, were less sure that it would improve their ability to do their job. Implications for introducing such a system and for employee training are discussed.
Research limitations/implications
This is a relatively small sample in one organisation; further research should be undertaken to assess whether these findings apply more widely.
Practical implications
If these attitudes are found elsewhere, there are a number of simple, practical suggestions for how to introduce AI into similar work processes.
Originality/value
The use of AI is a topic attracting increasing interest and speculation, but there is as yet little empirical research on factors affecting its introduction and use.
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Xingjun Huang, Yun Lin, Ming K. Lim, Ming-Lang Tseng and Fuli Zhou
Technological innovation is one of the remarkable characteristics of electric vehicles (EVs). This study aims to analyze how consumers' technological knowledge affects their…
Abstract
Purpose
Technological innovation is one of the remarkable characteristics of electric vehicles (EVs). This study aims to analyze how consumers' technological knowledge affects their intention to adopt EVs.
Design/methodology/approach
Original data were collected via a survey of 443 participants in China. An extended technology acceptance model was constructed to identify the factors influencing consumers' intention to adopt EVs and related technological knowledge pathways.
Findings
The results show that consumer technological knowledge is positively and significantly related to EVs' perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived fun to use and consumers' intention to adopt EVs. In addition, no direct and significant relationship is found between perceived fun to use and willingness to adopt EVs, from the technical knowledge dimension.
Practical implications
Imparting consumers with EV technological knowledge and usefulness may be an effective way to enhance their awareness and willingness to use EVs. Moreover, the role of females in the decision to adopt EVs should not be ignored, especially in decisions to purchase a family car.
Originality/value
Prior studies lack a technological knowledge-based view, and few studies have discussed how to explore the effects of consumer technological knowledge about EVs on their adoption intention. This study fills the research gap.
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