Reducing Incongruity of Perceptions Related to Information Risk: Dialogical Action Research in Organizations

• Main Author: Sedlack, Derek J.
• Format: Others
• Published: NSUWorks 2012
• Subjects: information; information security; information security improvement; information security strategy; information systems; technological frames of reference; Computer Sciences
• Online Access: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/299; http://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1298&context=gscis_etd

A critical overreliance on the technical dimension of information security has recently shifted toward more robust, organizationally focused information security methods to countermand $54 billion lost from computer security incidents. Developing a more balanced approach is required since protecting information is not an all or nothing proposition. Inaccurate tradeoffs resulting from misidentified risk severity based on organizational group perceptions related to information risk form information security gaps. This dissertation applies dialogical action research to study the information security gap created by incongruent perceptions of organizational members related to information risk among different stakeholder communities. A new model, the Information Security Improvement model, based on Technological Frames of Reference (TFR), is proposed and tested to improve information security through reduced member incongruity. The model proved useful in realigning incongruent perceptions related to information risk within the studied organization. A process for identifying disparate information characteristics and potential influencing factors is also presented. The research suggested that the model is flexible and extensible, within the organizational context, and may be used to study incongruent individual perceptions (micro) or larger groups such as departments or divisions.