Profile

Cecil Eng Huang Chua is an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University. He received a PhD in Information Systems from Georgia State University, a Masters of Business by Research from Nanyang Technological University and both a Bachelor of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems and Economics and a Masters Certificate in Telecommunications Management from the University of Miami. In addition to research on building information systems, Cecil has published work examining community and small group norms and their impact on various kinds of information technology.

Cecil Chua investigates problems in three main research areas, all of which share the common theme of “appropriation of information systems technology,” i.e., using an information technology in a way unintended by the developer. The three research areas are:

Database as a contributing discipline: Here I apply database theory and perspectives to other disciplines. A perspective embodies the ontological and epistemological outlook embedded in a researcher through training, acculturation into a research community, and familiarity with the community’s norms. For example, in one of my research projects, I demonstrated that a computer program could be written as a database.

Role of the IS researcher: Here I study the actual practice of IS research. Thus, while I do engage in conceptualization and advocate particular courses of action for the IS community, all opinions are grounded first and foremost in formal empirical study. For example, I advocate particular forms of researcher evaluation based on bibliometric analysis.

Misappropriation of information systems technology: Here I study the use of information technology for criminal or unethical ends. Example topics in this area include computer fraud, and the dissemination of hate speech through the Internet.

Web Presence

Recent Publications

• The Evolution of e-Commerce Research: A Stakeholder Perspective, The Journal of Electronic Commerce Research (Forthcoming)
• Developing Maintainable Software: The Readable Approach, Secision Support Systems (Forthcoming)
• Technological Impediments to B2C Electronic Commerce: An Update, co-authored with Gregory Rose, Houy Min Khoo and Detmar Straub for Communications of the AIS (2005)
• On Conceptual Micro-Object Modeling, co-authored with Roger H.L. Chiang and Ee-Peng Lim (2002)