1914 Competence of Information Technology Professionals in Internet-Based Ventures maintainability (Bass, Clements & Kazman, 2003; Deshpande, Murugesan, Ginige, Hansen, Schwabe & Gaedke, 2002). Another important product characteristic is its degree of innovative- ness, that is, the newness of the technology itself or in the newness of applications the technology offers to the customer. For instance, launching an E-Shop (Kollmann, 2006) can be expected to require low development efforts, because there exists a variety of ready-made Web applications for this business model. By contrast, newly fou nd businesses with highly innovative platforms (such as Google with respect to their search technology) will initially focus on the perfec- tion of their technology rather than on aspects of commercialization and generating revenues. In particular, technical problems at the beginning of business operations can be expected to give way to environmental, commercial and competitive problems in later development phases (MacInnes, 2005). Consequently, a shift from IT competence to business and transdisciplinary competence can be postulated with the passing of time. Moreover, as resource availability and thus the number of IT personnel can be expected to increase during WKHJURZWKRIWKH\RXQJ¿UP.ROOPDQQ a shift from operational to strategic tasks can be presumed (Sgobbi, 2002). While at an early stage, IT professionals need to posses entrepreneurial FRPSHWHQFHDQHI¿FLHQWSURJUDPPLQJVW\OHDQG sound technology knowledge, the later CIO is required to additionally possess business manage- ment knowledge and interpersonal competence in order to delegate operational development tasks to her IT staff. Similarly, the relevance of possessing conceptual IT knowledge and having an IT/Busi- ness vision can be expected to increase over time, as the focus moves from a short-term realization WRDORQJWHUPLQWHQVL¿FDWLRQDQGGLYHUVL¿FDWLRQ of the initial business idea (Kollmann, 2006). The aspect of changing requirements particularly ap- plies to Web 2.0 platforms whose business models and Web applications are vague at the beginning, but evolve over time (Highsmith, 2002; O’Reilly, ,QWKLVUHJDUGDQRWKHUIDFWRULQÀXHQFLQJ the value propositions of IT-related competencies is the volatility of the IT/Business environment, as it necessitates software enhancement activities such as adding, changing, and deleting software functionality in response to new and evolving business requirements (Banker & Slaughter, 2000; Zhang et al., 2003). )DFWRUVLQÀXHQFLQJYDOXHSHUFHSWLRQ In gen- eral, a respondent’s temperament determines that respondent’s view of knowledge, while knowledge views of technologists and managers are likely to GLYHUJH'XHFN$¿UVWLPSRUWDQWPRGHUDWRU is thus the respondent’s functional role, that is, the question whether the respondent is responsible for IT-related or business-related tasks. For instance, IT professionals tend to think rather conceptual than pragmatic, while they ascribe less importance to interpersonal relationships. Besides personality, views on knowledge depend on the respondent’s knowledge itself, including practical experience in an area where the respective knowledge is required. It can be argued that value perception LVGLVWRUWHGGHSHQGLQJRQWKHFRQ¿JXUDWLRQRI WKH UHVSRQGHQW¶V FRPSHWHQFH SUR¿OH DV VRFLDO psychology suggests that individuals rate other people more positively the more similar they are t o t he m s el ve s ( By r ne , 19 7 1; J a c k so n , B r et t , S e s s a , Cooper, Julin & Peyronnin, 1991). In addition, business managers are often not aware of the mul- tidimensionality of IT competence (Nakayama & Sutcliffe, 2003), while inexperienced IT profes- sionals might underestimate the importance of their business competence. In contrast, shared do- main knowledge between IT and business people positively affects a correct understanding of each RWKHU¶VFRQWULEXWLRQWRWKH¿UP5HLFK%HQEDVDW 2000). Furthermore, shared domain knowledge positively affects the degree of IT/Business align- PHQWZLWKLQWKHIRXQGLQJWHDPZKLFK³UHIHUVWR the state in which business and IT executives understand and are committed to the business and IT mission, objectives, and plans” (Reich & Benbasat, 2000, p. 81). In this context, alignment 1915 Competence of Information Technology Professionals in Internet-Based Ventures itself can be expected to clarify the value percep- tion of the competence dimensions critical to IT professionals. Misalignment, in contrast, is likely to distort the respondents’ perceptions. FUTURE TRENDS As the IT/Business environment of the Net Econ- omy will continue to evolve and remain volatile in the future, also the role of the IT professional, respectively, of the CIO in Internet-based ventures can be expected to change further on. In particu- ODUFXUUHQW:HEFRQFHSWVUHGH¿QHWKHUROHV of both Web users and Web developers, requir- ing Internet-based businesses to deliver services rather than software products and trust their cus- tomers as co-developers (O’Reilly, 2005). Some of the resulting competency changes have been discussed in this chapter. However, the impact of Web 2.0 on the core competency requirements of ,QWHUQHWEDVHG¿UPVZLOOIXUWKHULQFUHDVHLQWKH future. Furthermore, the prospective convergence of Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web (Wahlster & Dengel, 2006) will even more dramatically change the IT/Business environment of the Net Economy which will be characterized by intelligent search agents and semantic Web services in the future (Sheth, Verma & Gomadam, 2006). From an IT governance point of view, these changes will inevitably entail a need for IT professionals who understand the technology trends and the resulting managerial implications, as well as a well-aligned team of founders incorporating the wide range of skills and knowledge required for operating a business in the Net Economy. The framework presented in this chapter sets up the theoretical foundations for understanding the IT-related competence requirements and com- petence perceptions within the founding teams of Internet-based ventures. With respect to future research activities, dependencies between factors LQÀXHQFLQJWKHDFWXDOYDOXHIDFWRUVLQÀXHQFLQJ value perception and the perceived value of the individual competence dimensions need to be modelled and tested on an empirical basis. CONCLUSION Drawing upon the general IT governance prin- ciple of aligning business and IT, this chapter articulated the concept of IT-related competence LQ\RXQJ¿UPVRIWKH1HW(FRQRP\RXWOLQHG its dimensions and suggested a framework for modeling effects on the value propositions of the different dimensions as perceived by the partners. The proposed competence model comprises three dimensions, including IT competence, business (i.e., non-IT) competence, and transdisciplinary competence. According to their epistemological and functional/disciplinary characteristics, these dimensions have been subdivided in order to meet the contextual particularities of Net Econ- omy ventures, resulting in eight subdimensions (technology knowledge, conceptual knowledge, realization competence, business management knowledge, entrepreneurial competence, inter- personal competence, Net Economy competence, and IT/Business vision). With respect to exploring the value propositions of these dimensions, two NLQGVRILQÀXHQFLQJIDFWRUVKDYHEHHQLGHQWL¿HG factors that have an effect on the actual value proposition of a competence dimension (such as business model, development phase, resource availability, and environmental dynamism), and IDFWRUVWKDWLQÀXHQFHWKHSHUFHSWLRQRIWKHYDOXH proposition by the partners (such as the respec- tive partner’s functional role and competence SUR¿OHDQGWKHGHJUHHRI,7%XVLQHVVDOLJQPHQW within the team). In order to understand to what extent business and IT people contribute to value creation and how they perceive the contribution of each other’s distinct competencies, possible dependencies have exemplarily been illustrated for ERWKNLQGVRILQÀXHQFLQJIDFWRUV)XUWKHUH[SORU- ing these dependencies and relating them to IT governance principles is crucial to comprehend 1916 Competence of Information Technology Professionals in Internet-Based Ventures the complex competence requirements of Inter- net-based ventures and the mutual understand- ing of the founders’ value contributions within heterogeneous teams. REFERENCES Amit, R., & Zott, C. (2001). Value creation in e-business. Strategic Management Journal, 22(6/7), 493-520. Bailey, J. L., & Stefaniak, G. (2001). Industry perceptions of the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by computer programmers. In Proceed- ings of the 2001 ACM SIGCPR conference on Computer personnel research (pp. 93-98). New York: ACM Press. Banker, R. 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Cater-Steel, pp. 239-253, copyright 2009 by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global). 1920 Copyright © 2009, IGI Global, distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 6.13 Consumers’ Preferences and Attitudes Toward 0RELOH2IۋFH8VH A Technology Trade-Off Research Agenda Xin Luo Virginia State University, USA Merrill Warkentin Mississippi State University, USA ABSTRACT Consumer preferences, attitudes, and behavior concerning product choice can be of vital im- portance in the development process and imple- mentation of innovative products or services. The PRELOHRI¿FH02LVEHFRPLQJDFKLHYDEOHLQWKH business-to-employee (B2E) arena as more work LVFRPSOHWHGRXWVLGHWKHRI¿FHDQGWKH¿[HGRI¿FH boundaries extend well beyond the spectrum of the desktop. Potential MO providers (e.g., employ- ers) will encounter adoption resistance as users experience uncertainty. This paper investigates the critical factors in the decision models of consum- ers when evaluating the acceptance and intention to use MO. It will provide research guidelines for MO designers and developers, IT/IS managers, and IS researchers. BACKGROUND Mobile business (m-business, also known as mobile commerce or m-commerce), an emerging extension of electronic business, has received considerable interest among IS researchers, devel- opers, service providers, and end users. Varshney and Vetter (2002) anticipate that the next phase of e-business will be in the area of m-business with the widespread deployment of wireless tech- 1921 &RQVXPHUV¶3UHIHUHQFHVDQG$WWLWXGHV7RZDUG0RELOH2I¿FH8VH nologies. Mobile services have penetrated many leading-edge personal markets such as mobile SMS, mobile games, mobile handset icons, and ring tones. Wireless computing is now becoming widely deployed in the business arena as managers KDYHDSSUHFLDWHGWKHVLJQL¿FDQWDGGHGVWUDWHJLF value of having instant access to business infor- mation that can enhance work productivity, ef- ¿F L H Q F \ D Q G G H F L V L R Q P D N L Q J X O W L P D W HO\ O H D G L Q J WRFRP S H W LW LYHDGYD QW DJHIRU W KH ¿ U P%X VL QHVVH V that cater to consumers’ preferences and needs and that capitalize on expanding opportunities, which arise with new technologies, can sustain competi- WLYHDGYDQWDJHVLQWRGD\¶V¿HUFHO\FRPSHWLWLYH marketplace. Deployment of mobile technology infrastructure, along with mobile devices, enables employee mobility and mobility of IT functions. This is transforming businesses processes by enhancing communication, information access, and business transactions from any device any- ZKHUHDQGDQ\WLPH3HUIRUPDQFHEHQH¿WVIURP wireless technology adoption are being realized in the business-to-employee (B2E) domain as corporations seek to achieve their business goals by growing their capabilities. The rapid development of innovative mobile technologies, along with better integration with the existing network infrastructure, presents new challenges for the enterprise. Thanks to existing wireless technologies, such as 2G and 2.5/2.75G, which introduced GPRS (general packet radio service) and EDGE (enhanced data rates for global evolution), new business opportunities are emerging through new value-added services. 3G services are beginning to receive acceptance in such Asian countries as China, South Korea, and Japan. The technological trend and challenge that mobile users are facing is how to better integrate between wireless services, as 3G technologies are being increasingly revamped and further evolved. For the 3G-based CDMA evolutions, handsets will support CDMA, CDMA 1xRTT, and CDMA 1xEV-DO with three kinds of spectrum including 850/1, 900/2, and 100MHz. For the GSM evolu- tion, handsets will support GSM, GPRS, EDGE, DQG:&'0$RSHUDWLQJLQ¿YHEDQGV 800/1 900/2 100MHz). In the near future, 4G will surface as a collection of services combining existing technologies, such as 3G and WiFi, with other types of wireless technologies including WiMAX and future evolutions of 3G. 4G will be featured by high usability anytime, anywhere, and with any technology; support for multimedia services at low transmission cost; personalization; and integrated services. As such, 4G will be less disruptive and more widely accepted if the promise is delivered upon. It is expected that 4G networks will be all-IP-based heterogeneous networks that allow users to switch any system at any time and anywhere. 4G systems will not only support data telecommunication services, but also multimedia services. And users in widely diverse locations will use the services, as users can use multiple services from any service provider at the same time. Though 4G mobile technologies may offer even greater opportunities, the gradual matura- tion and deployment of 3G technologies makes MO become an achievable goal as more work is FRPSOHWHGRXWVLGHWKHRI¿FHDQGWKH¿[HGRI¿FH boundaries extend well beyond the desktop. There is considerable prior IS research about m-business and wireless technologies (Feather- man & Pavlou, 2003; Kleijnen & Ruyter, 2003; Liang & Wei, 2004; Muthaiyah & Ehsan, 2004; Suoranta & Mattila, 2004; Varshney & Vetter, 2002; Zellweger, 1997). However, these research studies have mainly shed light on areas, such as technology acceptance and penetration, as well as technology trends and issues, leaving the domain of consumer preferences and attitudes towards the D G R S W L R Q RI L Q QRYD W L Y H S U R G X F W V V S H F L ¿ F D O O \ 02 relatively unexplored. More research is needed to explore the factors that constitute ultimate MO adoption and use, as well as the relative importance of these factors for further diffusion of innovation. In consideration of this objective, we investigate 1922 &RQVXPHUV¶3UHIHUHQFHVDQG$WWLWXGHV7RZDUG0RELOH2I¿FH8VH the critical factors in the decision models of consumers when evaluating the acceptance and intention to use MO. Further, we provide research guidelines for MO designers and developers, IT/IS managers, and IS researchers. INTRODUCTION: MOBILE OFFICE TECHNOLOGY Most traditional business applications are de- YHORSHGDQGGHSOR\HGIRUXVHZLWKLQ¿[HGRI¿FH boundaries–using hardware that is not mobile. 7KLVFRQ¿QHPHQWUHVXOWVLQDZLGHUDQJHRIOLPLWD- WLRQVDQGGLI¿FXOWLHVLIHPSOR\HHVFDQQRWDFFHVV needed information whenever and wherever they want, causing postponement in responding to customer requests, dissemination of inaccurate information, and delivering lower-quality work output (Intel, 2004a). Advancements in wire- less technologies have triggered a proliferation of mobile devices and broadened the spectrum of solutions for new business applications and services. In the post-2G era, where the business mobile information environment is compara- tively dynamic, traditional mobile voice services cannot adequately meet customers’ business requirements. 3G networks’ throughputs are fairly equivalent to the early DSL networks that UHYROXWLRQL]HGWKHKRPHRI¿FH*UXPDQ Varshney & Vetter, 2002). Notably, according to Gruman (2005), 3G will reduce the expectation gap and delivery gap between wireless and wired connections. For businesses, there is increasing demand for mobile access to multifunctional services that can enhance communication and collaboration as well as management of business information. Liang and Wei (2004), Muthaiyah and Ehsan (2004), and Gruman (2005) indicate that emerging 3G technologies, such as CDMA- based EvDO (evolution, data optimized) and GSM-based UMTS (universal mobile telecom- munications system), and HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access), have the potential to revolutionize MO users using notebook comput- ers and handsets over the high-speed wide area network (WAN). Due to the dynamic nature of today’s business environment, employees are spending less time ¿[HGWRWKHLUGHVNVDQGPRUHWLPHLQFROODERUDWLYH work meetings, telecommuting, and working in remote locations to accomplish their job objec- WLYHV8QOLNHD¿[HGRI¿FHZKHUHHPSOR\HHVDUH restricted in a limited environment, MO, including on the road, at home, and at work (Cisco, 2002; Gruman, 2005; IBM, 2004; Intel, 2004a, 2004b; North-Smith, 2002), expands the reach of the RI¿FHHQYLURQPHQWDQGSURYLGHVHPSOR\HHVZLWK access to their information, applications/services, and teams, in an anytime and anywhere model, WKHUHE\HOLPLQDWLQJWKHREVWDFOHVRI¿[HGRI¿FH boundaries. As more work is completed outside the RI¿FHDQGDVRI¿FHERXQGDULHVH[WHQGZHOOEH\RQG the spectrum of desktop computing, many of the VROLGEXVLQHVVEHQH¿WVIURPZLUHOHVVWHFKQRORJ\ adoption are being realized in the B2E domain. According to Kleijnen and Ruyter (2003), MO has great potential to become one of the most widely utilized m-business solutions with the global user base potentially exceeding 100 million in 2004. It can beef up productivity for employees, since having real-time access to business information is key to increasing productivity and corporate SUR¿WDELOLW\DVDZKROH7KHFRQJUXHQFHRIWKH ¿QGLQJV RI .OHLMQHQ DQG 5X\WHU &LVFR (2002), IBM (2004), North-Smith (2002), Liang and Wei (2004), Gruman (2005), and Muthaiyah and Ehsan (2004) is that unique MO services, thanks to the revolutionarily enhanced 3G tech- nologies, consist of accelerating mobile com- munication and collaboration services (e-mail, H ID [ X Q L ¿ H G P H V V D J L Q J J UR X SZ D U H P H V V D J L Q J mobile business information management ser- vices (real-time calendar events, address books, to-do task lists, calculator, word processor), and mobile information access services (access to 1923 &RQVXPHUV¶3UHIHUHQFHVDQG$WWLWXGHV7RZDUG0RELOH2I¿FH8VH &50 DFFHVV WR FRUSRUDWH ¿OHV DQG FRUSRUDWH databases via secure mobile portal, access to external business information services). These process facilitation services are increasingly be- coming incorporated in a mobile corporate portal that is a combination of hardware and software with integrated network development, timely information management, and seamless security mechanisms to enable communications between wireless networks and devices. Being able to create new expectations among business users who want to constantly maintain work sessions without disruption and discon- nection on the road, at home, or at work, the emerging deployment of the 3G-powered MO initiatives will greatly transform and improve the way employees work and communicate with col- leagues, customers, suppliers, and vendors. These improvements also contribute to rapid responsive- ness, decreased costs, improved productivity and ZRUNHI¿FLHQF\DQGEHWWHUZRUNOLIHEDODQFHLQ WHUPV RI PRUH ÀH[LELOLW\ DQG FKRLFHV 0DQDJ- ers, however, must understand whether and how MO would be accepted and ultimately adopted by employees/users in order to help companies achieve organizational objectives and obtain competitive advantage. Also, potential providers of MO will encounter a high uncertainty about consumers’ acceptance and intention to use. A lack of studies directly investigating the adoption and diffusion patterns of MO is to be expected due to the newness of the MO initiatives per se. Employee/user behavior in the MO context also has remained rather uncharted territory, which leads to an important topic for further research within the MIS discipline. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION The theoretical framework of this chapter is grounded in the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) and perceived characteristics of innovating (PCI). Despite the fact that there is little empirical research conducted on MO, there is a plethora of adoption theories and models that investigate and capture user behavior characteristics. In IS research area, the landmark is the technology acceptance model (TAM), proposed by Davis D Q G ' D Y L V W K D W LG H Q W L ¿ H G ease-of-use (EOU) and usefulness as the two key determi- QDQWVLQÀXHQFLQJXVHUDGRSWLRQ+RZHYHU3ORXIIH et al. (Plouffe, Hulland, & Vandenbosch, 2001) indicate that TAM’s parsimony makes individual responses to new technologies differ depending on the context. In a bid to integrate the main user acceptance models, Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis (2003) formulated the XQL¿HGWKHRU\ of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), ZKLFKH[KLELWVVLJQL¿FDQWO\HQKDQFHGSUHGLFWLYH value for adoption intention, with an adjusted R square of approximately 70%. Yet, one weakness of the UTAUT model is that the empirical base did not include e-commerce or m-commerce technologies, which Venkatesh et al. (2003) identi- ¿HGDVQHHGLQJIXUWKHULQYHVWLJDWLRQDQGWHVWLQJ Consistent with Plouffeet al. (2001), Kleijnen and Ruyter (2003) argue that the narrow focus of the adoption concepts hinders us from identifying other potential drivers of m-commerce adop- tion. User acceptance of m-commerce-oriented 02FDQEHLGHQWL¿HGDVDWHFKQRORJ\DGRSWLRQ Following the recommendation of Kleijnen and Ruyter (2003), we thus focus on the adoption process in search of valuable insights for build- ing a theoretical framework for critical success factors of MO. I n t he d o m a i n o f a d o p t i o n p r o c e s s , i n n o v a t i o n , and diffusion (ID) is extensively researched and is ³perhaps one of the most widely researched and best documented social phenomena” (Mahajan & Peterson, 1985). In ID research, IDT, proposed by Rogers (1995), is the most acceptable and reliable framework that has been fairly widely validated in sociology, psychology, and commu- nications as well as IS to explain user adoption of technical innovations. According to Rogers LQQRYDWLRQLV³an idea perceived as new . align- PHQWZLWKLQWKHIRXQGLQJWHDPZKLFK³UHIHUVWR the state in which business and IT executives understand and are committed to the business and IT mission, objectives, and plans” (Reich & Benbasat, 2000, p. 81) 35(3), 50-63. Chandler, G. N., & Hanks, S. (1994). Founder competence, the environment, and venture per- formance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 18(3), 77-89. Chandler, G. N., &. Software Maintanance and Evolution: Research and Practice, 15(3), 191-204. This work was previously published in Information Technology Governance and Service Management: Frameworks and Adap- tations,