Digital natives – the generation for whom the Internet has always existed – have embraced the medium as one of choice. They use social computing applications as a medium for many activities, including receiving and giving product advice (ratings, comments), meeting with and talking to friends (social networking, chat), organizing events (social networking), learning (Wikipedia, weblogs), and communication with the general public (Youtube, weblogs). Facebook, a social networking service, has reached an audience of approximately 800 million users; young Iranians organize protests against their government via social networks, while amateur journalists and artists are viewed by millions on Youtube and weblogs. Inspired by these developments, corporations now seek to adopt social computing applications and derive similar benefits for their organizations. However, despite their growing interest, many firms report significant problems with the implementation and acceptance of social computing applications. We describe how three companies solved significant communication and collaboration issues by incorporating social computing applications into their intranets. Particular attention is paid to the deployment and adoption processes. Based on these case analyses, a common understanding of corporate social computing adoption is outlined and recommendations are derived.

In this paper the CIO of a large shipping company describes the challenge of IT-alignment in turbulent years from 2004 to 2010. Our research questions are; how should the CIO relate to a dynamic alignment gap where the business environments are turbulent. How should the CIO understand and manage the IT alignment gap when there is a difference between the espoused and real business strategy? Our framework addresses the interplay of business strategy and IT alignment in four generic types. Through our longitudinal case we show how the framework allows for a deeper analysis of some fundamental challenges for the CIO in turbulent times. We argue that the CIO never should take the business strategy for granted, and we discuss implications for future research. We also present practical implications for the CIO, and a set of recommendations for business management on how to close the gap.

This teaching case focuses on the importance of a formal evaluation of information security practices using established frameworks. Such an evaluation is especially essential for organizations dealing with sensitive customer information. This case first presents the prevailing security practices of PenSource, a pension services company. A description of security practices of PenSource is provided using three approaches: a narrative description, a diagram of PenSource’s network infrastructure, and answers to a questionnaire eliciting information on existing practices on many dimensions such as security organization, policies and standards, and logical access controls. A set of questions to facilitate a reader to analytically reflect on how to improve the current practices of information systems security of the focal organization is included.

David Bernard is Senior Director, Global Innovation Strategy & Services, Business Information Solutions for PepsiCo, Inc.

David leads the Global Innovation Strategy and Services team for BIS. He brings with him 17 years’ experience working across PepsiCo, including CIO Canada, CIO UK & Ireland, CIO Sales & Marketing, and Sr. Director IT Strategy for Frito-Lay North America. David played various business transformation roles,and planning and finance leadership roles for PepsiCo. Prior to joining PepsiCo, David was a manager at Price Waterhouse as a Chartered Accountant designation from Canada.