What stops browsers from becoming buyers online? Product uncertainty could be the culprit. But, technology-enabled tools, such as collaborative forums or photos and other visualization media mitigate product uncertainty, according to research conducted by Kevin Hong, assistant professor of information systems. These tools also reduce profit-cutting returns, Hong’s research found.
Last year’s botched roll out of the federal government’s Affordable Care Act website focused a spotlight on the public sector CIO. Those who believe government should be run like a business might conclude that a “rock star” CIO from the private sector would have done it better. But, research shows that’s probably not the case.
If your company has a social media manager, chances are that person reports into the marketing department. But, the marketing department is not necessarily the only department that should be using social media, according to Bin Gu, a professor of information systems at the W. P. Carey School of Business.
The cloud is changing the way businesses operate, spend their money and make decisions, leading many managers to reconsider their current and future operations. Microsoft, IBM, Amazon and others are competing to control the cloud service sector.
Social media provides numerous outlets for people to voice their opinions. Researchers from the W. P. Carey School of Business wondered whether the virtual cacophony is contributing to political polarization. In this study they found that posting activity on Twitter was not correlated with political polarization, but members of Congress who followed more extreme views did appear more polarized in their own opinions and votes.
Predictive analytics promises to harness Big Data, enabling companies to devise more effective strategies. Michael Goul, chair of the Department of Information Systems, has explored these and related questions in his research, which has taken him inside some of the largest and most successful U.S. companies. A special working group of the Society for Information Management asked Goul to present an overview of his research at the society’s annual meeting in Chicago in early May.
