Professor Khern-am-nuai awarded funding to help retailers predict surge demands

McGill University has awarded Professor Warut Khern-am-nuai with MI4 Emergency COVID-19 Research Funding to examine social media data to help retailers identify panic buying behavior during the pandemic.

Delve: Searching for the Pandemic’s Silver Lining? Look Online.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the requirements of physical distancing have created a sense of crisis that transcends most boundaries. While the imposed trauma is immense, the sharing of personal pandemic experiences online has been encouraging.

Professor Emmanuelle Vaast named Associate Dean of Research

As Professor Vihang Errunza steps down from his role as Associate Dean of Research at the Desautels Faculty of Management, Professor Emmanuelle Vaast is gearing up to take the reins.

The Role of Decision Support Systems in Attenuating Racial Biases in Healthcare Delivery

Authors: Kartik K. Ganju, Hilal Atasoy, Brad Greenwood and Jeff McCullough

Publication: Management Science, Volume 66, Issue 11, November 2020, Pages 5171-5181.

Abstract:

Although significant research has examined how technology can intensify racial and other outgroup biases, limited work has investigated the role information systems can play in abating them. Racial biases are particularly worrisome in healthcare, where underrepresented minorities suffer disparities in access to care, quality of care, and clinical outcomes. In this paper, we examine the role clinical decision support systems (CDSS) play in attenuating systematic biases among black patients, relative to white patients, in rates of amputation and revascularization stemming from diabetes mellitus. Using a panel of inpatient data and a difference-in-difference approach, results suggest that CDSS adoption significantly shrinks disparities in amputation rates across white and black patients—with no evidence that this change is simply delaying eventual amputations. Results suggest that this effect is driven by changes in treatment care protocols that match patients to appropriate specialists, rather than altering within physician decision making. These findings highlight the role information systems and digitized patient care can play in promoting unbiased decision making by structuring and standardizing care procedures.

Delve: Romancing the User: Three Business Lessons from Digital Daters

New research from Prof Jui Ramaprasad explores how gender, comfort, and impulsivity are key for that perfect chemistry.

First-ever Henry Mintzberg PhD Teaching and Mentorship Award goes to Professor Alain Pinsonneault

Professor Alain Pinsonneault recently received the inaugural Henry Mintzberg PhD Teaching and Mentorship Award in recognition of his high-quality teaching and commitment to student progress. He was nominated for the honour by PhD students and alumni.

2019 SSHRC Grants awarded

Congratulations to the Desautels professors who received 2019 SSHRC Grants.

SSHRC Insight Development Grants

Professor Warut Khern-am-nuai awarded 2019 SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Warut Khern-am-nuai, Assistant Professor in Information Systems, awarded 2019 SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Professor Kartik Ganju awarded 2019 SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Kartik Ganju, Assistant Professor in Information Systems, awarded 2019 SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Delve: Finding the Silver Lining of Workplace Interruptions

Can e-mail interruptions actually boost your productivity at work? New research from Prof Alain Pinsonneault says yes; the key is to be mindful and determine task relevance.

This article is brought to you by Delve, the official thought leadership publication of McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management.

Delve: What the Future of Work Holds in the Age of the Learning Algorithm

What will your workplace be like in the age of the learning algorithm? New research from Professor Samer Faraj explains why the current technological revolution is unlike any other we’ve seen and how we can adapt.

This article is brought to you by Delve, the official thought leadership publication of McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management.

Sharing is caring: Social support provision and companionship activities in healthcare virtual support communities

Authors: K.-Y. Huang, I. Chengalur-Smith, and Alain Pinsonneault

Publication: MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems, Volume 43, Issue 2, June 2019, Pages 395-423

Abstract:

Individuals increasingly rely on healthcare virtual support communities (HVSCs) for social support and companionship. While research provides interesting insights into the drivers of informational support in knowledge-sharing virtual communities, there is limited research on the antecedents of emotional support provision and companionship activities in HVSCs. The unique characteristics of HVSCs also justify the need to reexamine members’ voluntary provisions of help in such communities. This paper develops a model that examines the relationships between the structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions of social capital and the provision of informational and emotional support, and engagement in companionship activities in HVSCs. The model is tested based on data generated through an automated method that classifies and analyzes user-generated text in three healthcare virtual support communities (breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer). The results show that all three dimensions of social capital impact the provision of emotional support; both structural and relational capital facilitate engagement in companionship activities; and only cognitive capital enables the provision of informational support. Research and practical implications on the need to facilitate informational and emotional support provision and companionship activities in healthcare virtual support communities are discussed.

What users do besides problem-focused coping when facing IT security threats: An emotion-focused coping perspective

Authors: H. Liang, Y. Xue, Alain Pinsonneault and Y. Wu

Publication: MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems, Volume 43, Issue 2, June 2019, Pages 373-394

Abstract:

This paper investigates how individuals cope with IT security threats by taking into account both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. While problem-focused coping (PFC) has been extensively studied in the IT security literature, little is known about emotion-focused coping (EFC). We propose that individuals employ both PFC and EFC to volitionally cope with IT security threats, and conceptually classify EFC into two categories: inward and outward. Our research model is tested by two studies: an experiment with 140 individuals and a survey of 934 respondents. Our results indicate that both inward EFC and outward EFC are stimulated by perceived threat, but that only inward EFC is reduced by perceived avoidability. Interestingly, inward EFC and outward EFC are found to have opposite effects on PFC. While inward EFC impedes PFC, outward EFC facilitates PFC. By integrating both EFC and PFC in a single model, we provide a more complete understanding of individual behavior under IT security threats. Moreover, by theorizing two categories of EFC and showing their opposing effects on users’ security behaviors, we further examine the paradoxical relationship between EFC and PFC, thus making an important contribution to IT security research and practice.

How does the implementation of enterprise information systems affect a professional's mobility? An empirical study

Authors: Brad N. Greenwood, Kartik K. Ganju and Corey M. Angst

Publication: Information Systems Research, Vol. 30, No. 2, June 2019, Pages 563-594

Abstract:

Although significant research has examined the effect of enterprise information systems on the behavior and careers of employees, the majority of this work has been devoted to the study of blue- and gray-collar workers, with little attention paid to the transformative effect information technology may have on high-status professionals. In this paper, we begin to bridge this gap by examining how highly skilled professionals react to the increasing presence of enterprise systems within their organizations. Specifically, we investigate how the implementation of enterprise systems-in the form of electronic health records-affects the decision of physicians to continue practicing at their current hospital. Results suggest that when enterprise systems create complementarities for professionals, their duration of practice at the organization increases significantly. However, when technologies are disruptive and force professionals to alter their routines, there is a pronounced exodus from the organization. Interestingly, these effects are strongly moderated by individual and organizational characteristics, such as the degree of firm-specific human capital, local competition, and the prevalence of past disruptions, but are not associated with accelerated retirement or the strategic poaching of talent by competing organizations.

Keeping up with tech innovation in the workplace

Moderating the C2 Montreal panel entitled, The Research of Tomorrow, Today, Professor Jui Ramaprasad explored the pace and impact of technological innovation with Sabrina Geremia, Country Director for Google.

As Geremia underscored, upskilling and lifelong learning will become the norm for members of tomorrow’s workforce.