Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.96.970518205315.26960C-100000@spot.Colorado.EDU> Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 20:54:06 -0600 From: Montealegre Ramiro <mailto:Ramiro.Montealegre@COLORADO.EDU> Subject: "IT in Latin America" To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
CALL FOR PAPERS
Special Issue of Information Technology & People on
Information Technology in Latin America
Guest Editor: Ramiro Montealegre
The Information Technology & People (IT&P) journal invites authors to
submit papers for review on the topic of "Information Technology in
Latin America" for a special issue.
Latin American countries have taken bold measures to open their domestic
markets to international investment and competition, to encourage private
initiative and reduce government intervention, and to promote trade within
the region. In this environment, human intellect combined with
information technology (IT) represents a new hope for achieving the
flexibility, speed, and creativity that are required today for
organizations not only to succeed, but to survive.
In the last decade, there have been many predictions made about the
economic and social benefits that Latin America and other developing
regions of the world will experience as a result of the advent of the
information age. However, optimism is tempered by the awareness that
most fundamental technological progress is taking place in relatively
few advanced industrialized countries. These countries are spearheading
the new phase in world economic development and dominating markets with
new products and processes. Although these technologies rapidly and
seemingly effortlessly permeate the economic and production systems of
the world, they are not available "off the shelf." They have to be
understood, absorbed, and mastered. As a result, a process of North-
South polarization is underway that could exacerbate differences in
world societies and aggravate the existing gap.
Latin American leaders, managers, and researchers are faced with great
challenges and opportunities in the acquisition and use of technology.
However, making fashionable investments for their companies without
systematically analyzing needs, and individuals and environment
characteristics, is irresponsible. If leaders, managers, and
researchers fail to understand how to use IT in accordance with
their situations and idiosyncrasies, it will only create new barriers,
limitations, and foreign necessities in their societies. Fortunately,
there are very successful IT implementation experiences and excellent
research centers that are comparable to their counterparts in
industrialized countries. What is often lacking is an adequate network
linking them to each other and to users who could benefit from their
research. It is important to remember that Latin America comprises a
wide range of people, cultures, climates, and economies at different
stages of development. The same strategy, therefore, cannot be applied
across the board, though groups of countries with the need for similar
strategies could perhaps be identified. Thus, greater country-to-country
cooperation is important for taking full advantage of the range of lessons,
managerial advances, and technological options now available.
The aim of this special issue of IT&P, therefore, is to provide a forum
for topics addressing such IT issues as policy, development,
implementation, usage, management, infrastructure, cross-cultural
aspects, transfer, and assimilation-all with a focus on the business
and economic environment of the diverse and dynamic countries
encompassing the emerging Americas region. The language of the
journal is English. Submissions sought are both theoretical and/or
practice-focused. Papers may be conceptual, empirical, or case studies.
Descriptive case studies or reflective commentary on present practice
are encouraged. Both comparative and single-country studies are welcome.
Authors are invited to nominate up to three reviewers for their
submission (authors should, however, avoid any nominations that involve
a conflict of interest). Nominations should include: name, complete
address, telephone, fax, and electronic address. Nominated reviewers
should be knowledgeable about your topic and methods, as well as the
debate about information technology in the Latin American context.
Articles should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words in length. Authors
should follow the standard "IT&P guidelines for preparation of the
manuscript," which can be found at:
<http://www.mcb.co.uk/services/editoria/liblink/itp/notes.htm>.
Inquiries and manuscript submissions (five copies of full articles)
should be addressed to:
Ramiro Montealegre
Guest Editor, IT&P
College of Business and Administration
Campus Box 419
University of Colorado, Boulder
Boulder, CO 80309-0419
Email: mailto:Ramiro.Montealegre@Colorado.edu
Voice: (303) 492-0416 / Fax: (303) 492-5962
Manuscripts may be submitted in hard copy, on disk (MS-DOS format,
either plain ASCII text, or WordPerfect for DOS or WinWord), or by
electronic mail (plain ASCII text, Word Perfect 5.1 or 6.0 or WinWord).
Electronic submissions will be sent to a special email address; please
contact the guest editor for details.
Deadline for Submission: November 28, 1997
Initial Reviews Returned by: March 2, 1998
Special Issue Appearance: Fall 1998
A brief note about Information Technology & People
IT&P is an interdisciplinary international journal which has been
publishing innovative work on organizational and social issues in IS
since the mid-80s. It is the first IS journal to provide an open
forum for qualitative and critical work and to establish a multi-
paradigm editorial policy. It maintains a common forum of researchers
in IS and practitioners in system design and development. The journal
has a broad international subscriber base in computer science and IS
libraries, research labs and IS departments in organizations, and policy
institutes. For additional information, view the IT&P Home page at:
<http://www.mcb.co.uk/liblink/itp/journhome.htm>.