grounded theory

National ICT policy challenges for developing countries: a grounded theory informed literature review

This paper presents a review of the literature on the challenges of national information and communication technology (ICT) policies in the context of African countries. National ICT policies have been aligned with socio-development agendas of African countries. However, the policies have not delivered the expected outcomes due to many challenges. Studies have been conducted in isolation to highlight the challenges in the policy process. The study used grounded theory informed literature review to holistically analyse the problems in the context of African countries. The results were categorised in the typology of the policy process to understand the challenges from a broad perspective. The problems were categorised into agenda setting, policy formulation, legal frameworks, implementation and evaluation. In addition, there were constraints related to policy monitoring in the policy phases and imbalance of power among the policy stakeholders. The review suggests areas of further research.




grounded theory

Employees’ Involuntary Non-Use of ICT Influenced by Power Differences: A Case Study with the Grounded Theory Approach

Power differences affect implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in a way that creates differences in ICT use. Involuntary non-use of new ICT at work occurs when employees want to use the new technology, but are unable to due to factors beyond their control. Findings from an in-depth qualitative study show how involuntary non-use of new ICT can be attributed to power differences between occupational groups in the same organization. The findings suggest that experience is a moderating variable and that closeness to formal power holders as well as closeness to the new technology increases the probability for expert control of the ICT-organization processes. These power differences favor ICT experts over ICT novices and result in a high-quality learning environment for the ICT experts characterized by autonomy, inclusion, and adequate work processes and technological solutions. The ICT novices try to navigate in a learning-hostile work environment characterized by marginalization through expert control, isolation, and inadequate work processes and technological solutions. This led to involuntary non-use by the ICT novices, while the experts became more proficient in ICT use. These findings give managers facing a technological organizational change tools to understand important mechanisms for implementing the change in their own organization, and help them take the right actions to integrate new technology and new organization of work.




grounded theory

A Grounded Theory for ICT-Mediated Tacit Knowledge Transferability in MNCs

Aim/Purpose: A vital business activity within organizations is tacit knowledge (TK) transfer. This work aims to propose a novel framework for TK transferability in multinational corporations (MNCs) from the information and communication technology (ICT) perspective. Background: In the past two decades, researchers have developed several frameworks for TK transfer based on humanistic, business, and educational perspectives. However, a review of the existing work revealed that TK transfer has seldom been examined from an ICT perspective. Methodology: A qualitative method was adopted because it was considered the most appropriate for the research requirements. A grounded theory approach was employed to generate the items that potentially affect the transferability of TK. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data, along with observations when possible. The study sample consisted of 20 expert interviewees in Malaysia. An inductive ongoing data analysis process based on grounded theory via open, axial, and selective coding was used as the primary analysis method. In addition, comparative and frequency count analyses were used to examine the collected data. Contribution: The main contribution of this study is its use of the grounded theory approach, which resulted in the generation of items that affect the transferability of TK, not all of which had been identified by previous researchers. This paper reports one of the few inductive studies conducted on TK transferability among MNCs and, therefore, makes distinct contributions to the literature on TK management, specifically bringing to the fore the intricacies involved in TK transferability. Findings: Information and communication technology plays a crucial role in and has a positive impact on TK transfer in MNCs. This study evaluated the potential of various ICT channels to facilitate TK transfer. The findings show that ICT tools cannot completely substitute for face-to-face contact. Tacit knowledge that has a high degree of complexity requires sophisticated channel features for its transfer. From this standpoint, virtual face-to-face communication is the richest communication medium in the ICT hierarchy. On the other hand, email and voicemail are less effective channels for TK transfer, while synchronous groupware is an intermediate communication medium. The findings highlight the importance of utilizing an appropriate mix of channels to improve TK transferability. Recommendations for Practitioners: It is recommended that practitioners consider the diverse aspects of TK and the potential of a range of ICT channels for the TK transfer process in order to increase the efficiency of TK transfer. The analytic categories developed in this study may give managers new insights into and a better understanding of how TK can be supported in a modern organization and how to overcome the barriers to TK transfer.




grounded theory

Ecommerce Fraud Incident Response: A Grounded Theory Study

Aim/Purpose: This research study aimed to explore ecommerce fraud practitioners’ experiences and develop a grounded theory framework to help define an ecommerce fraud incident response process, roles and responsibilities, systems, stakeholders, and types of incidents. Background: With a surge in global ecommerce, online transactions have become increasingly fraudulent, complex, and borderless. There are undefined ecommerce fraud roles, responsibilities, processes, and systems that limit and hinder cyber incident response to fraudulent activities. Methodology: A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to investigate and develop a theoretical foundation of ecommerce fraud incident response based on fraud practitioners’ experiences and job descriptions. The study sample consisted of 8 interviews with ecommerce fraud experts. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge by helping define a novel framework that outlines an ecommerce fraud incident response process, roles and responsibilities, systems, stakeholders, and incident types. Findings: An ecommerce fraud incident response framework was developed from fraud experts’ perspectives. The framework helps define processes, roles, responsibilities, systems, incidents, and stakeholders. The first finding defined the ecommerce fraud incident response process. The process includes planning, identification, analysis, response, and improvement. The second finding was that the fraud incident response model did not include the containment phase. The next finding was that common roles and responsibilities included fraud prevention analysis, tool development, reporting, leadership, and collaboration. The fourth finding described practitioners utilizing hybrid tools and systems for fraud prevention and detection. The fifth finding was the identification of internal and external stakeholders for communication, collaboration, and information sharing. The sixth finding is that research participants experienced different organizational alignments. The seventh key finding was stakeholders do not have a holistic view of the data and information to make some connections about fraudulent behavior. The last finding was participants experienced complex fraud incidents. Recommendations for Practitioners: It is recommended to adopt the ecommerce fraud response framework to help ecommerce fraud and security professionals develop an awareness of cyber fraud activities and/or help mitigate cyber fraud activities. Future Research: Future research could entail conducting a quantitative analysis by surveying the industry on the different components such as processes, systems, and responsibilities of the ecommerce fraud incident response framework. Other areas to explore and evaluate are maturity models and organizational alignment, collaboration, information sharing, and stakeholders. Lastly, further research can be pursued on the nuances of ecommerce fraud incidents using frameworks such as attack graph generation, crime scripts, and attack trees to develop ecommerce fraud response playbooks, plans, and metrics.