Stephen P. Smith

Teaching and Research Interests


Research overview

I am currently working as a research fellow on a project investigating how organizational motivation affects the way in which an interorganizational system is implemented. The research grant supporting the project is held by Dr. Md. Mahbubur Rahim. Completed work from that project is listed later on this page.

My personal research focuses on the ways in which the design of computer systems and the user's attitude towards the object or concept shown influence the attitudes of people who use those systems. Because of the relationship between design and attitudes, I use standard IS theories such as Goodhue's Task-Technology-Fit model as well as theories of attitude such as "impression management.".
Examples of topics I am examining include:

  • How should product attributes be represented?
  • When are different types of review considered useful?
  • Does rich media (e.g. 3D visualisation, voice) have a measurable impact on attitudes?
  • Can the online description affect the consumption (post-purchase) experience?
PhD Research
In my PhD thesis I examine how technologies can be used to describe products. I classify product displays into four categories: attribute-based description (catalog), self-discovery (simulate inspection), assisted discovey (simulated shop assistant), and other-person discovery (online community), and then examine the effectiveness of some examples of these technologies, focusing on how attitudes towards the product and the technology interact to influence the informativeness of a display. The thesis is the department's entry in the 2007 Australian Council of Professors and Heads of Information Systems (ACPHIS) best dissertation competition.
Masters Research
My MCom thesis has a related focus. I examined graph usage in the documents sent to shareholders during takeovers, looking at the influences on the number of graphs produced, the way they are formatted (and biased), and the types of impression-management strategies employed.
Current Teaching
 615-260
 BUS5EIS
 Enterprise Information Systems
Past Teaching
 615-110
  Foundations of Information Systems
 615-120
  Information Systems in Organisations
 615-252
  Electronic Commerce
 615-350
  Case Studies in Information Systems
 615-355
  Legal and Ethical Framework
 615-610
  Research Methods in Information Systems
 615-611
  Themes in Information Systems Research
 615-630
  Simulation and Modelling in Information Systems
 306-205
  Business Computing
 615-207
  Accounting Information Systems

Qualifications

Research

Journal Publications
 
Kurnia, S., Smith, S.P. and Lee, H., 2006, "Consumers' Perception of Mobile Internet in Australia, e-Business Review 5(1), 19-32.
 
Smith, S.P., Johnston, R.B., and Howard, S., 2005, “Vicarious experience in retail e-commerce: An inductive model of product evaluation support features,” Information Systems and e-Business Management, 3(1), 21-46.
   
Conferences
 

Smith, S.P., Johnston, R.B., Shanks, G., and Rahim, M., 2007, “From intention to motivation: Developing a motivation-based model of IOS implementation,” in proceedings of International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2007) Montreal, Quebec, Canada December 9-12, 2007

 

Smith, S.P., Rahim, M., Shanks, G., and Johnston, R.B., 2007, “Motivating interorganisational system implementation: Evidence from the Australian automotive industry,” in The 13th Asia Pacific Management Conference (APMC-2007), Melbourne, Australia, 18-20 November, 2007.
 

Smith, S.P., Johnston, R.B., Shanks, G., and Rahim, M., 2007, “Towards a motivational theory of technology implementation processes,” in European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems, R. Hackney (ed.), June 24-26, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain.
 

Smith, S.P., Johnston, R.B. and Howard, S., "Virtual models in online shopping: Do they help or hinder customers?" In 14th European Conference on Information Systems, J. Ljungberg and B. Dahlbom (Ed.), IT-university of Göteborg, Göteborg, Sweden, 2006.
 

Smith, S.P. and Houghton, K.A., 2003, “Accounting information: Explaining the use of graphs in corporate takeovers,” presented at the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) annual conference, Brisbane, July 2003.
 

Smith, S.P., 2003, “Electronic commerce: The effect of information representation format on consumer decision-making” presented at Doctoral Consortium for The Thirteenth Australasian Conference on Information Systems.
 

Smith, S.P., Johnston, R.B., and Howard, S., 2002, “Walking through e-commerce: Vicarious versus direct experience” in J. Cooper, L. Burgess, C. Alcock, and K.T. Win (eds.) CollECTeR 2002. Melbourne, Australia.
 

Smith, S.P., Johnston, R.B., and Howard, S., 2001, “Creating virtual touch: Theoretical framework and research agenda” in C. Alcock (ed.) 6th Annual CollECTeR Conference on Electronic Commerce. Coffs Harbour, Australia.
 

Smith, S.P., 1998, “The potential for error in graph interpretation when using a DSS”, presented at the Accounting Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) annual conference, Adelaide, July 1998.
 
Smith, S.P., 1995. “An experimental evaluation of the effect of information presentation format on information extraction speed,”Proceedings of 6th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, September, 1995, pp. 40-55.
   
Other publications
 
Smith, S., and Barker, J., 1999, “Benefit–Cost Ratio: Selection Tool or Trap?,” pm Network, 13(5), 23–26.
   

Contact Details

Stephen Smith
Updated Wednesday, 15 August 2007

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