Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Tim Jacks, Ph.D., presented two papers during the Global Information Technology Management Association (GITMA) June conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Jacks is an assistant professor of computer management information systems (CMIS) in SIUE’s School of Business.
GITMA was created in 2000 by Prashant Palvia, Ph.D., who is currently at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The annual conference brings educators, researchers and practitioners together to share ideas on international aspects of information technology.
Jacks first became affiliated with GITMA through Palvia who was his dissertation chair. Since he was first introduced to GITMA, Jacks has attended four conferences. This year, he presented papers on the topic of e-health.
His first paper, “Provider vs. Vendor Perspectives on EHR Implementation Issues,” explained differing views of stakeholders, namely medical providers and vendors, in the implementation of electronic health record (EHR) systems. His second paper was a manuscript regarding “attitudes toward risk taking as a moderator between hospital firm culture and CEO/CIO identification of key healthcare information technology issues.”
With his participation in GITMA, Jacks is always reminded that the world is getting “flatter.”
“It’s always good to see my friends and colleagues from Turkey, Germany, New Zealand, China, India, Pakistan, Ghana, Malaysia, Canada, etc., but it’s amazing when you pause to think about it,” said Jacks. “I collaborate with these people via email and skype all the time. The scope of my work is truly global!”
Jacks also updated the status of the World IT Project. The project is designed to examine important worldwide issues confronting IT employees in both staff and management. Requiring extensive research of different countries, he is part of a seven-member core research team to collect data from the various countries.
While in Malaysia, Jacks experienced the culture outside of the conference. He visited a large Mosque in Putrajaya and the Batu Caves north of Kuala Lumpur that involved climbing up 272 steps to the Hindu temple.
Having traveled to many different countries, Jacks said he enjoyed Malaysia’s very friendly people.
“My favorite local custom was to put your hand over your heart any time you said ‘hello’, ‘thank you’ or ‘you’re welcome’,” said Jacks.
“I strongly believe that this global perspective benefits our students, which is why I am such a supporter of SIUE’s international travel programs,” noted Jacks.
Photo: Assistant Professor of Computer Management Information Systems Tim Jacks, Ph.D. presented at the Global Information Technology Management Association (GITMA) conference.