Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Kinly Sturkie - Sociology
Professor and Chair
CONTACT INFORMATION
Office:
132B Brackett Hall
Email: dkstr@clemson.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D., University of Southern California
Master of Social Work, University of South Carolina (1973)
Bachelors, University of South Carolina (1970)
ORGANIZATIONS/PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
American Association for Marital and Family Therapy – Clinical Member; S.C. State Board of Examiners for Professional Counselors and Family Therapist (Gubernatorial Appointee – 6 years; Association of Marital and Family Therapy regulatory Boards – Member – 6 years;
Chair of the Advisory Committee for the National Examination in Marital and Family Therapy – 2 years.
What attracted you to the position of the William S. Lee Distinguished Professor of Information Systems?
When the Chair of the Department of Management at Clemson first approached me with the position, I was mildly interested. However, upon visiting Clemson, talking with the Chairman, Dean and the faculty, I became excited about their enthusiasm in building graduate Information Systems programs at Clemson. It was not merely lip service - but I saw a willingness to support and champion the Professorship as well as hire additional faculty. I also saw a vision espoused by President Barker to make Clemson a top 20 public institution. This vision was echoed and endorsed at all levels of the University. The position offered me a challenge - to build strong programs in the growing field of IS, in a University environment that was supportive, and with great corporate sponsorship from the Duke endowment. Eventually, it was an easy decision.
What exactly does the field of information systems entail?
If we throw out the term "information systems" it has different connotations even to members of the University. Computer Science deals with the soft side of the technology, computer engineering with the hard side. Research and pedagogy in the field of "information systems" however being housed in the business school -- deals with a very relevant central question: "how do corporations effectively use information and information technologies to enhance their effectiveness." The importance of this question has grown, particularly over the past decade as we continue our journey into the information and knowledge age. Most businesses struggle with issues of harnessing value from their information and knowledge resources. Our research deals with a variety of issues dealing with IT value at the level of the individual, group, organization, inter-organization, market, and local/global economic levels. For instance, we might study how to increase individual use of information technology (IT), manage business process change, plan for a strategic role for IT, enhance productivity and competitive impacts of technology, link technology and organizational change, and improve e-business and supply chains.
What trends or changes do you see with respect to IS within 5, 10 or 20
years?
The pace of change with respect to information technologies has clearly accelerated over the past few years. I think that we are still at the dawn of the information revolution. It is easier to extrapolate from what we know about technology as miniaturization and speed continues to improve. At the individual level, we will continue to see more ubiquitous access to information as people gain access to rich information in their cars, mobile devices, and biological implants. Machine to machine access will also be richer as a variety of services will be automated through broader and more holistic integration thereby providing better service quality to consumers. Information and knowledge analysis of massive consumer data will lead to superior casting of personalized products and services.
At the group level, we will see further erosion of the tradeoffs between richness and reach, where more people can interact through richer forms of communication that get closer and closer to face to face interaction. Organizations will see deconstruction of their value chains as they learn to compete in areas of strength and partner or outsource in areas of weakness. In fact, the boundary of the firm as an economic entity will become fuzzier as we see more business webs. Processes will be as important as functions, as organizations try to structure themselves with the aid of technology to compete in global and hypercompetitive environments.
However, such predictions are somewhat linear. It is tougher to predict second and third order impacts of information technologies. For instance, when the horse and buggy was replaced by the automobile, it was easy to see the immediate savings of time and cost. What was tougher to see was the development of suberbia as a higher order effect, as people lived further away from their place of work. Similarly, development of the Laser over 40 years ago didn't come with predictions of its use in
navigation, communication, music, and medicine. In fact, Bell Labs didn't want to patent it because "optical waves had never been of any importance to communications and hence the innovation had little bearing on Bell System interests". They were dead wrong. In fact, they were destined to be wrong unless they could have foreseen the future innovation of fiber-optics or the then unfathomable notion that light could be harnessed and guided!
Also, a major premise of this technologically catalyzed revolution is that individuals, businesses, and economies, will accept the general direction of market determinism. However, there is a real possibility of consumer backlash (e.g., demand for services from real people rather than machines, privacy backlash) - that might originate in some nebulous form and compound itself into a Goliath that could have major implications for the road ahead.
Describe some of your current research projects.
I am involved in a number of projects that focus on a better understanding of what takes place between the investment in information technology and the actual impact. Tracing technology through the organization requires a conceptualization of how IT can leverage unique structure, products, knowledge or processes of the firm, create capabilities and options that could improve a firm’s agility. I’m also interested in how firms generate IT value through inter-firm collaboration, and the role of IT in both increasing and decreasing market efficiency.
What do you see as the biggest challenge(s) to corporate America in terms
of Information Technology?
Perhaps the biggest challenge facing corporations is in their ability to embrace and manage change. As human beings, we are naturally resistant to change. Corporations as aggregations of people have to sense and respond to difficult markeplaces, embrace new technologies, and compete in environments where information among consumers and competitors is becoming widely visible. To compete, simply adopting new technology is not enough - since everyone has access to it. The challenge is to differentiate technology by changing processes, people, strategy, structure, incentives,
and relationships in ways that not only leverage the technology, but make it difficult for competitors to copy it.
What do you look for in students who are interested in working in your field?
The US Department of labor projects that the burgeoning field of information systems is going to have tremendous job opportunities over the next decade. All areas are looking to improve their use of computers and other information systems, which makes this field critical to some extent for all “knowledge workers.” We try to cultivate the ability to think systematically within the box, as well as creatively out of the box thinking. A student that can manage the interplay between the big picture (the forest) and the details (the trees) is more likely to be successful. In more practical terms, in the IS field, that might mean having a good understanding of technology as well as the business context in which it can be applied. I also look for perseverance and good written and verbal communication skills.
What’s your biggest accomplishment?
To me there is nothing as rewarding than making a difference in students’ intellectual lives. Whether it be helping develop a different way of thinking or molding a new doctoral student into a productive researcher, I enjoy the positive metamorphosis, and knowing that I played a role in it.
What do you do for relaxation?
I enjoy spending time with my family. I also enjoy playing tennis, watching football, movies, theatre, and reading.
Is there any other information you would like to share with the CBBS community?
I am delighted to be here, as we try to build our programs in IS. We are well on our way with the doctoral program which has attracted a cadre of top-notch students. I would hope that we will continue to do more with our masters and undergraduate programs. I hope to facilitate creation of an atmosphere of inquisitiveness, and knowledge that can be disseminated in the form of research, as well as transferred to the classroom. I believe that within a few years we will be able to place Clemson on the national and international map with respect to research and pedagogy in IS.