Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO)

University of California, Irvine

A National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center since 1998.

CRITO research focuses on understanding the social, economic, and managerial implications of information technology

Center Mission and Rationale

CRITO conducts theoretical and empirical research to answer a broad array of questions related to the use, impact, and management of information technology in organizations. CRITO is distinguished by its concentration on the social, economic, and managerial aspects of information and technology. Center research focuses on reducing the gap between the capabilities offered by information technology and the ability of organizations to use it effectively. There are four main areas of research: Management of IT, the IT Enabled Enterprise, IT and Society, User Environments and Technology Enabled Collaboration. The goal is to determine how organizations can more effectively use information, as well as better design and manage information technology.

CRITO has three primary objectives:

• Conduct research and disseminate results leading to greater understanding of the organizational and management implications of IT in organizations
• Facilitate dialogue between academic researchers, executives, and IT professionals to assist organizations in leveraging the potential offered by technology
• Promote collaboration among faculty, students, and the corporate community through CRITO expertise, facilities, and activities.

Research Program

The Center's core group of investigators at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) includes faculty from the Graduate School of Management (GSM), the Department of Information and Computer Science (ICS), the School of Social Sciences, and the Department of Education. CRITO consists of corporations working together with faculty to better understand the evolving fabric of the information society and its implications for the design, use, and management of information and technology. Conducting careful, empirically grounded studies, faculty research focuses on the interrelations between information, technology, organizations, and society by examining social, economic, and managerial impacts. The aim is to determine how organizations can more effectively use information and better design and manage new technology for improving organizational performance and society in general. Research focuses on social structures such as workgroups, organizations, markets, households, and virtual communities.

The Center creates new knowledge, methodologies, and practices to aid user organizations in the effective use of information and technology. It also creates knowledge about user environments to aid the information industry in the design of user-oriented products and services.

The significance of the research supported through CRITO is not limited to specific topics under investigation but also encompasses the approach to, and the capability to do, the needed research. CRITO's Faculty Associates examine how information and technology are actually introduced into organizations, adapted, and used; how they affect organizations; how use and impact differs from the versions presented in both futurist and technologist research; and the implications for the design, use, and management of future technologies.

Special Center Activities

There have been 20 publications and 30 presentations produced as a result of Center funding. In addition, there have been four PhD dissertations completed with seven more in progress. The Center has provided support to 11 doctoral students and seven MBA students in the past year. Abstracts and full text copies of most of the above papers and some of the presentations can be obtained from the CRITO web page (www.crito.uci.edu).

Center Location

Headquarters

Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO)
University of California, Irvine
3200 Berkeley Place North
Irvine, CA 92697-4650

Tel (949) 824-6387 * Fax (949) 824-8091
Homepage: www.crito.uci.edu

Center Director: Vijay Gurbaxani - vgurbaxa@uci.edu

Center Evaluator: David Tansik - dtansik@bpa.arizona.edu