Papers by Shirley Ou Yang
Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 2017
Journal of Management Information Systems, 2017
Action research (AR) is significant for its promise to bridge the chasm between rigor and relevan... more Action research (AR) is significant for its promise to bridge the chasm between rigor and relevance by seeking to solve real-world problems while building scientific knowledge. In this spirit, in our research project, we argue for a return to the essence of AR-that is, focusing on problem, action, and reflection. Adopting the style of AR known as dialogical AR, we address the issue of operational risk management as encountered by a financial institution in Taiwan. In this AR project, the researchers work collaboratively with workers in a bank to manage the knowledge creation process as part of an operational risk management program. Through three AR cycles, our findings demonstrate that ongoing knowledge creation facilitates the transformation of existing organizational culture and helps practitioners to identify different types of operational risks. We also highlight the conditions under which insights from reflective dialogues between practitioners and researchers can encourage managers to open themselves to new and different ways of thinking and acting. Finally, we offer principles for undertaking effective dialogical AR.
The DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems, 2016
Sociomateriality is a growing research stream in the field of IS. In response to an increasingly ... more Sociomateriality is a growing research stream in the field of IS. In response to an increasingly complex and interconnected world, sociomateriality researchers have proposed a view of relational ontological fusion. This view transcends the conventional framework of assuming a clear distinction between the social and the material. In this paper, we argue that the fundamental difference between sociomateriality and the conventional view lies on the ontological level, not on the epistemological or methodological levels. But without a return to its philosophical roots, sociomateriality remains obscure and confusing. To better inform researchers, we return to the original works of two Western philosophers, Heidegger and McLuhan, who both share the view of ontological fusion in proposing their arguments on how the entanglement of technology and the human agent precludes access to a primordial truth. In this paper, we reflect on these philosophical works, providing a solid foundation for this new approach. We argue that the sociomateriality approach can open the black box of the epistemological bias that stems from habitual systemic thinking. This study contributes to the less-researched area of unintentional consequences of technology. The paper also provides practical, alternative methods that can help in furthering this approach in future studies.
A Journal for Philosophical Study of Public Affairs政治與社會哲學評論, 2020
Drawing from the lens of Castells’ (2008) global civil society, this paper investigates how the p... more Drawing from the lens of Castells’ (2008) global civil society, this paper investigates how the power of free flow of information takes precedence over traditional institutional arrangement, fostering a new type of public sphere in an interconnected world. By adopting an interpretive case study in a cross-border grassroots gospel online network, this study examines how the decentralized networking logic of social media can penetrate religious restricted China. This paper argues that the line between the public and private spheres becomes blurred in a networked society. Social media make it possible for civil society to go global, and produce its own cultural codes and meanings. Identities are the real drivers of social transformation in this society.
Conventional rationalist problem solving seeks to eliminate uncertainty, ambivalence and interfer... more Conventional rationalist problem solving seeks to eliminate uncertainty, ambivalence and interference from uncontrolled influences. This kind of problem solving often leads to unintended consequences, escalating problems due to trans-boundary risk. In this paper, we outline
a social constructive perspective that deals with the problems of ignoring risks and the fallacies of risk management. We suggest that knowledge management and risk management could be two sides of the same coin. We propose a new ontological claim of risk that knowledge management could be adopted to unfold the unknown risk asset in an organization. In order to reconcile the dilemma of development and risk, we suggest a new adaptive risk governance framework in terms of knowledge creation. Theoretically, this framework provides contribution to transform the past negative risk perception as a competing concept to development. Practically, the framework also provides a second-order knowledge network in multi-layer, cross-layer organizations for the integration of organizational knowledge assets.Through a dynamic participatory risk knowledge creation process from organizations to countries, the proposed framework could facilitate the increased unfolding of embedded systemic risk.
Building Legitimacy for Green IS Innovations in Taiwan,” submitted to The Pacific-Asia Conference on Information Systems
ABSTRACT
Information privacy is one of the most significant ethical issues of the information age. The adv... more Information privacy is one of the most significant ethical issues of the information age. The advance of ICT has fostered free flow of information which has led to increasingly serious information security problem. Prior organization-level research has investigated the management of privacy concerns to avoid damage to firms and organizations. Few studies focus on the firm's responsibility to safeguard information when facing changes in the institutional environment. Through an interpretative case study, this research analyzes the actors and issues that have appeared throughout the process of data protection legislation in Taiwan. The findings suggest that the data protection policy making in Taiwan has taken a parental pragmatic approach, leading to the ongoing hand in hand relationship between government and market. Online social norm view, technological view and information ethics view have been oversighted in the policy making process. I argue that IS researchers and IS managers need to move beyond an organizational view on information privacy, and play a more active role in participating in the public debate and discussion on privacy and data protection issues. I suggest the managerial responsibility for information liability should be taken seriously in forming a reasonable and appropriate institutional environment for a firm's organizational privacy behaviour.
PACIS 2010 Proceedings, 2010
Corporate bloggers should thus consider offering more incentives and should be given freedom to p... more Corporate bloggers should thus consider offering more incentives and should be given freedom to prosper in their grassroots use of technology.
Journal of Information Communication and Technology Audit 電腦稽核期刊 32(2015)
Managing risk has been a growing significant topic in a knowledge based society, where uncertaint... more Managing risk has been a growing significant topic in a knowledge based society, where uncertainties are extensively brought about by technology and its unintentional consequence. This paper attempts to deal with knowledgability and manageability of an organization in handling uncertain risk. To explore the possible solutions to the epistemological bias and unawareness conditioned by the attention of the top management, this paper introduces a new research stream that integrates knowledge management (KM) and risk management (RM). I explore the progress of a novel concept, risk intelligence, under the KM and RM integration stream, which advances the traditional risk management one step further. By comparing the positive with constructive approaches of risk intelligence, we identify some fruitful area for future study. Theoretically, the comparisons discussed here could be used as a basis to develop a framework-driven set of future research directions to guide further work in this area. Practically, the various risk intelligence solutions, such as Calibration tests measure, risk intelligence enterprise framework, corporate risk score card, are alternatives for enterprise to establish a reflexive risk knowledge meta-system. Adopting risk intelligence solutions shed new light on how an organization can increase its adaptive ability and flexibility to the fast changing risk environment.
在全球化以知識經濟為主的時代，科技創新伴隨高度複雜性、跨疆界的人為不確定性風險，帶來了前所未有的治理與管理挑戰。本研究旨在協助企業領袖與決策者提昇與裝備知的能力與治理能力，協助其發掘自身與組織路徑依存的認知(知識論)盲點。透過介紹整合知識管理與風險管理的新興國際研究潮流，特別是其中實務界近年來倡議「風險智慧」，作為嘗試治理不確定風險的解決方案，並比較在風險智慧領域中多元進展：實證論取向與建構論取向的不同觀點與做法。本文在理論上的貢獻，指出風險智慧作為後續研究者一個豐富的研究領域，本文的文獻比較分析可作為發展後續研究方向的基礎。在實務上的貢獻，本文所介紹的校準試驗、風險智慧企業架構、企業風險計分卡都是企業導入的自我回饋式的後設風險認知體系的可能路徑，提供組織管理者新的眼光提昇知的能力，強化組織在變動環境中持續的調適力與彈性。
Book chapter in K. T. Chou (ed.) (2014) The Swan Song of Sustainable Development: Environmental J... more Book chapter in K. T. Chou (ed.) (2014) The Swan Song of Sustainable Development: Environmental Justice and Transitional Inertia in Kaohsiung Gas Blast. Taipei: Wunan. Published on the 100th day after the disaster.
Drawing upon the literature on social network analysis, this research examines how part-time mark... more Drawing upon the literature on social network analysis, this research examines how part-time marketers use tourism blogs to conduct relationship marketing with their customers. The findings from an interpretive case study indicate that the network pictures of part-time blog marketers can be categorized into three distinct models: the "fan club," the "compliance," and the "creative outlet" models. Our findings also suggest that different network pictures lead to different network management strategies for blogs. Moreover, providing instrumental support and especially material support by blog marketers play significant roles in aggrandizing this transitivity, which helps to attract more visitors to blog sites. We believe that the innovation and the potential connections derived from the individualistic styles of some bloggers and the hedonic emotional support given to tourism blogs should not be overlooked. Our findings also indicate that more incentives and freedom should be provided to tourism business bloggers in order to prosper in their grassroots use of technology.
The environmental concerns are leading to the growing interest in the adoption of Green IS.
This paper examines the tension between ICT users and legitimate authority in a network society. ... more This paper examines the tension between ICT users and legitimate authority in a network society. To explore this tension, this study reports a case study in the setting of a Taiwanese Christian church, particularly how the church authority was affected by the adoption of new technology. Drawing from a circuits of power perspective, the result of this study reveals that the intertwined relationship among information technology, social structure and users during the process of technology adoption and assimilation. The findings indicate that the implementation of Internet technologies in the church has challenged the traditional role of authority and distorted the power of information flow among stakeholders in the church. Our work shed light on how Internet technologies shape, and are shaped by the membership and belief in the context of religion.
The Internet revolution has fueled the development of e-commerce and the transformation of busine... more The Internet revolution has fueled the development of e-commerce and the transformation of business models and working environments throughout the world. These developments however, are not only limited to the realm of business, where information and communication services have been strong growth sectors globally in the last few decades; the Internet has also significantly influenced social development. Characterized as a set of interconnected nodes, the Internet along with the power of its network effect provides society with a new material basis for networking logic (Castells, 2000). Furthermore, the emergence of Web 2.0 applications has further enhanced the Internet's sociable and active nature. Today, the Internet and associated technologies form the material foundation upon which the global communication and information infrastructure of business and society are built.
The Organizing Vision for Cloud Computing in Taiwan
Cloud Computing has attracted increasing attention from both researchers and practitioners as a n... more Cloud Computing has attracted increasing attention from both researchers and practitioners as a new paradigm of information technology. Many recent studies on technological innovation have focused on two confronting models: rational-actor decision and social construction. However, both models are rarely used at the industry level of analysis. This paper adopts the lens of organizing vision, and presents a secondary analysis on the institutional processes of the forming of the Cloud Computing industry in Taiwan. In doing so it examines several key institutional forces, including (1) community discourse, structure, and commerce; (2) IS practitioner subculture; (3) adoption of core technology; and (4) adoption and diffusion. Our findings suggest that the dynamics of institutionalization of society and technology in the collective sense better explain the formation of the Cloud Computing industry embedded in a large community network than the linear rational choice paradigm. These findings also suggest that decision makers in both the private and public sector should be more aware of the institutional forces that motivate them to adopt IT innovation.
Making sense of corporate tour-guide bloggers
Drawing on studies of social networks and technology sensemaking, this study examines tour guide ... more Drawing on studies of social networks and technology sensemaking, this study examines tour guide bloggers’ perceptions of their corporate blogs and how their perceptions and interpretations lead to different types of relationships in their blog networks. We conduct a qualitative case study of a major Taiwanese travel agency. Our findings suggest that corporate bloggers as actors make different senses on blogging and these senses lead them to establish different levels of closeness to their alters (other network actors). Providing social support and especially material support play significant roles in aggrandizing the transitivity, which help to attract more visitors to their blogs. However, the innovation and potential connections that may follow from the individualistic styles of some bloggers in addition to the hedonic emotional support to a travel blog should not be overlooked. Corporate bloggers should thus consider offering more incentives and should be given freedom to prosper in their grassroots use of technology.
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Papers by Shirley Ou Yang
a social constructive perspective that deals with the problems of ignoring risks and the fallacies of risk management. We suggest that knowledge management and risk management could be two sides of the same coin. We propose a new ontological claim of risk that knowledge management could be adopted to unfold the unknown risk asset in an organization. In order to reconcile the dilemma of development and risk, we suggest a new adaptive risk governance framework in terms of knowledge creation. Theoretically, this framework provides contribution to transform the past negative risk perception as a competing concept to development. Practically, the framework also provides a second-order knowledge network in multi-layer, cross-layer organizations for the integration of organizational knowledge assets.Through a dynamic participatory risk knowledge creation process from organizations to countries, the proposed framework could facilitate the increased unfolding of embedded systemic risk.
在全球化以知識經濟為主的時代，科技創新伴隨高度複雜性、跨疆界的人為不確定性風險，帶來了前所未有的治理與管理挑戰。本研究旨在協助企業領袖與決策者提昇與裝備知的能力與治理能力，協助其發掘自身與組織路徑依存的認知(知識論)盲點。透過介紹整合知識管理與風險管理的新興國際研究潮流，特別是其中實務界近年來倡議「風險智慧」，作為嘗試治理不確定風險的解決方案，並比較在風險智慧領域中多元進展：實證論取向與建構論取向的不同觀點與做法。本文在理論上的貢獻，指出風險智慧作為後續研究者一個豐富的研究領域，本文的文獻比較分析可作為發展後續研究方向的基礎。在實務上的貢獻，本文所介紹的校準試驗、風險智慧企業架構、企業風險計分卡都是企業導入的自我回饋式的後設風險認知體系的可能路徑，提供組織管理者新的眼光提昇知的能力，強化組織在變動環境中持續的調適力與彈性。