Four MSIM alumni coauthor articles with Dr. Desouza

Graduates of the MSIM program appear as coauthors with Assistant Professor Kevin Desouza on four recently published and forthcoming papers.

Nina Yuttapongsontorn (MSIM 2007), along with collaborators Dr. Desouza and Prof. Ashley Braganza (formerly of Cranfield School of Management and now with Brunel Business School in the UK), co-wrote a case study entitled "Complexities of Large-Scale Technology Project Failure: A Forensic Analysis of the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority." Published in the March 2008 issue of Public Performance and Management Review, the paper critically analyzes the Seattle Monorail Project "through the lens of stakeholder theory." The authors develop several propositions concerning stakeholders that pertain to large-scale technology projects. They propose that organizations in charge of such projects are more likely to implement them successfully if they understand, monitor and work to influence stakeholder dynamics.

The Winter 2007 issue of Business Strategy Review, published by the London Business School, carries an article by Bryce Smart (MSIM 2008) and Dr. Desouza: "Overcoming Technology Resistance." Information technology managers in small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), say Smart and Desouza, should apply specific techniques to get employees to embrace innovation. Their "ten lessons" for the SME manager encompass defining success at both the strategic and the operational levels, understanding how to motivate employees, and using reinforcement appropriate to the employee's behavior.

Two other articles by Dr. Desouza and recent iSchool graduates will appear in upcoming issues of Business Information Review. Peter Ellis (MSIM 2009) coauthored "On Information Management, Environmental Sustainability and Cradle to Cradle Mentalities," which aims at integrating environmental sustainability and information management so that they reinforce each other, an approach Desouza calls "Green IT" in his blog. Jongmin Moon (MSIM 2009) shares authorship with Desouza on another forthcoming article in the same journal, "Customer-Managed Knowledge Factories." Moon and Desouza note that customers are now managing knowledge from external sources in a way that benefits organizations. The best organizations, the authors argue, will find ways to promote such customer-driven "knowledge factories" rather than trying to impose control from the top down.

Full citations for the articles:

Yuttapongsontorn, N., Desouza, K.C., and Braganza, A. "Complexities of Large-Scale Technology Project Failure: A Forensic Analysis of the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority," Public Performance & Management Review, 31 (3), 2008, 443-478.

Smart, B.A., and Desouza, K.C. "Overcoming Technology Resistance," Business Strategy Review, 18(4), 2007, 25-28.

Moon, J., and Desouza, K.C. "Customer-Managed Knowledge Factories," Business Information Review, Forthcoming.

Ellis, P.C., and Desouza, K.C. "On Information Management, Environmental Sustainability and Cradle to Cradle Mentalities," Business Information Review, Forthcoming.