Service Activities
OVERVIEW
I have been involved in a number of leadership roles in the profession. The majority of these came about through invitations to be the editor of major journals. I am currently Senior Editor of MIS Quarterly Executive, and Editor of the Section on Breakthrough Research at JAIS. I am Senior Editor (emeritus) of three journals, including MISQ and JAIS, two top journals in our field. I edited an interesting special issue of Database that celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). I also edited two special issues of JMIS on business process change, one in Decision Sciences, and one in the International Journal of Electronic Commerce. I co-edited with Thomas Davenport (well known for his Harvard Press books on reengineering and knowledge management) a special issue of JMIS on Knowledge Management. Recently, I co-edited a Special Issue of MIS Quarterly Executive as well as an issue of MIS Quarterly on value co-creation. I am also involved as a Senior Editor, Associate Editor, Departmental Editor, or Advisory Editor of 17 other journals (including JMIS, JOM, etc.). I am Program Chair for AMCIS, have been on the Program Committee numerous times for the International Conference for Information Systems (ICIS) and have been track-chair of IS for ICIS and the National Decision Sciences Institute Conference, and co-chair of both the AMCIS and ICIS doctoral consortia as well as the MIS Camp (twice). In addition, I am editor of a number of topics on the 4000+ member IS World virtual community. I am also an ad-hoc reviewer for 15 journals, the National Science Foundation and the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of Canada.
I extensively travel to give research presentations or participate in panels at various conferences and institutions around the world. I have been invited to give over a dozen keynote or Plenary addresses. Additionally, I have been involved in leadership roles within the Department of Management Science, College of Business & Behavioral Sciences, Clemson University, including Chair of the Promotion & Tenure Review Committee, post-tenure review, the recruitment of chaired professors and other faculty, doctoral students, and participation in numerous committees related to recruitment, graduate programs, etc. I was involved in dozens of committees at the Department and College level during my 13 years at the Moore School of Business.
LinkedIn Articles
Have Written 35 LinkedIn Articles (thought pieces) which have received over 85,000 views:
- Quick Thoughts on AI and Sloppy Thinking
- Quick Thoughts on Ten Stable Truths of AI Impacts in a Dynamic World
- Quick Thoughts on Misinformation & AI
- Quick Thoughts on Whether the AI Paradigm Will End
- Observations on Right and Left Media
- Give it Up: Markets for Health Care Services Just Don’t Work!
- Is Knowledge Management a Substitute or Complement to Big Data?
- The Facebook Dilemma
- Quick Thoughts on Social Media: The Breakdown of Feedback
- Having Fun With the Limits of Digital
- We can’t Hear You? Polarization, the Decent Center and Social Media
- Quick Thoughts on Polarization: Are We Barking Up the Wrong Tree
- Quick Thoughts: Healthy Polarization and Good Bias
- Quick Thoughts on (Mis)information Markets
- Quick Thoughts on Digital Reality
- Quick Thoughts on the Digital Wealth Gap
- Quick Thoughts on Fake News and Real Data
- Quick Thoughts on the Limits of Artificial Intelligence
- Quick Thoughts on Spiraling AI Automation
- Quick Thoughts on ChatGPT and Academic Research
- Quick Thoughts on the Challenge of Regulating Algorithms
- Quick Thoughts on Generative AI and Creativity
- Quick Thoughts on the Fear of AI
- Quick Thoughts on the AI Productivity Boom and Societal Wealth
- Quick Thoughts on the Value of Work Experience in an AI World
- Quick Thoughts on Training AI to Common Sense
- Quick Thoughts on the Higher Order Effects of AI
- Quick Thoughts on Being Intelligent in an AI World
- Quick Thoughts on the Practical Use of Large Language Models (LLMs) in Research
- Quick Thoughts on Being Informed By Artificial Intelligence
- Quick Thoughts on Investing in AI
- Quick Thoughts on the AI Alignment Problem
- Quick Thought on Anticipating the Unanticipated in AI
- Quick Thoughts on Whether We Can Ever Trust AI
- Quick Thoughts on AI and the 80-20 Rule
Major Conference Activities
- Conference Chair (Hon) for the International Conference for Information Systems
- Co-Chair (with K. Lyytinen) for Debates and Provocations (New Track), European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), Paphos, Cyprus, June 2024
- Co-Chair (with Kalle Lyytinen), MISQ Executive Pre-ICIS Academic Workshop on “Strategies for Surviving and Thriving Within Digital Platforms,” 2020, Hyderabad, India (due to COVID was conducted on Zoom)
- Track Co-Chair (with I. Bardhan, U. Shultz, B. Padmanabhan), Advances in Methods, International Conference for Information Systems, 2020, Hyderabad, India.
- Co-Chair (with N. Hassan, L. Willcocks), SIGPHIL@ICIS Workshop on the End of Theory in IS and Analytics: Does Big Data Really Make the Scientific Method Obsolete, International Conference for Information Systems, Munich, 2019.
- Co-Chair (with G. Gable), ICIS/ ACM SIGMIS 2018 Doctoral Dissertation Award Committee
- Member, ICIS and AMCIS Executive Committees, 2015-2018
- Program Chair (with S. Schiller, A. Bush), Americas Conference for Information Systems, 2018 in New Orleans, LA.
- Award Committee for AMCIS 2017 Best Paper
- Conference Committee and Doctoral Consortium Chair (with G. Gable), International Conference for Information Systems (ICIS), 2017 in Seoul, Korea.
- 2017 ICIS Best Dissertation Committee
- Conference Committee and Doctoral Consortium Chair (with A. Rai), Americas Conference for Information Systems (ICIS), 2016 in San Diego, CA.
- Chair, AIS Early Career Award Selection Committee, 2015 and 2016.
- Track Chair (with Andy Schwarz) on “Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of AMCIS: Examining IS History.” 2014 Americas Conference on Information Systems, Savannah, GA.
- On Program Committee (Associate Editor & Reviewer for two tracks), 2013 International Conference for Information Systems (ICIS) in Milan.
- MIS Camp Chair (with P.Wang), 2013 Americas Conference on Information Systems, Chicago, IL.
- Track Chair (with E. Wang), IT and Service Management, 2012 International Conference for Information Systems (ICIS) in Orlando.
- Program Chair (with Elena Karahanna, Omar El Sawy), Society for Information Management Pre-ICIS Academic Workshop, 2010 on “New IS Leadership Roles for a Digital World,” St. Louis, MO, December 11th, 10am-5pm.
- Advisory Board of the 9th International Conference on Mobile Business (ICMB) and the 9th Global Mobility Roundtable (GMR), Greece, June 2010.
- New Faculty Camp Chair (with Julie Kendell), 2009 Americas Conference on Information Systems, San Francisco, CA.
- On Program Committee (Associate Editor & Reviewer), 2009 International Conference for Information Systems (ICIS) in Phoenix.
- Doctoral Consortium Chair (with Rajiv Sabherwal), 2005 Americas Conference on Information Systems, Omaha, Nebraska
- On Program Committee (Associate Editor & Reviewer), 2004 International Conference for Information Systems (ICIS) in Washington, D.C.
- On Program Committee (Associate Editor & Reviewer), 1999 International Conference for Information Systems (ICIS) in Charlotte.
- On Program Committee (and Associate Editor) of the 1997 International Conference for Information Systems (ICIS) in Atlanta
- Track Chair for MIS (with Bill Doll) at the National Conference of the Decision Sciences Institute, Orlando, November 1996 (236 MIS papers, panels, tutorials, table topics).
- Counselor at the New Faculty Camp, Americas Conference on Information Systems, 1998 (Baltimore). Counselor at the New Faculty Camp, Americas Conference on Information Systems, 1999 (Milwaukee). Counselor at the New Faculty Camp, Americas Conference on Information Systems 2000, (Long Beach).
- Doctoral Consortium Faculty Advisor (at numerous ICIS and AMCIS)
- Session Chair (at ICIS, DSI, and AIS), Panel Member (at ICIS, AIS and DSI conferences), Discussant & Presenter at numerous other conferences.
- On the IS Bowl Team for East vs. West Tri-annual Quiz Bowl at the 2000 Association of Information Systems Conference, Long Beach.
Keynote Speeches
- Keynote Speaker, 16th Annual Doctoral Consortium, School of Information Systems, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, Nov. 23, 2023
- Keynote Speaker, Big 12+MIS Meeting, Denver, Co, April 2020 (postponed to 2021 due to Coronavirus)
- Keynote Speaker, Virginal Research Seminar Series, Williamsburg, VA, March 2020 (postponed to 2021 due to Coronavirus)
- Plenary Keynote at 8th Concurrent SIGPHIL@ICIS Workshop on the End of Theory in IS and Analytics, Dec 15-16, International Conference on Information Systems, Munich, Germany
- Keynote Speaker at ISOneWorld Conference, “Innovative Theory in a Big Data World,” Las Vegas, April-May 2019.
- Plenary Speaker at the SIG-PHIL Workshop, “Indigenous Theory: Caveats of Moving to the Edges,” International Conference on Information Systems, San Francisco, December 2018.
- Keynote Speaker at the JAIS Theory Development Workshop, International Conference on Information Systems, Dublin, Ireland, December 2016.
- Keynote Speaker at the 15th Wuhan International Conference on E-Business, Wuhan, China, May-June, 2016. This is the largest conference on technology and business in China, June 2016.
- Panel Keynote Speaker (with Bernard Tan and Arun Rai) at the DIGIT Workshop, Milan, Italy. The talk was “Embracing Theoretical and Methodological Breakthroughs in IT Adoption and Diffusion,” December 2013.
- Keynote Speaker of the 10th Annual International Smartsourcing Conference at Solbridge International School of Business in Daejeon, Korea. The talk was on the “Three Worlds of Academic Research, Media and Practice in Outsourcing”
- Keynote Speaker of the 12th Global Information Technology Management Association (GITMA) World Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada in June 2011. Talk was titled the “the playground for Information Systems research: moving to the edges”
- Keynote Speaker, “Launching a Research Career,” Pacific Conference on Information Systems (PACIS), Doctoral Consortium, July, 2010.
- (Also participated in a Panel – with R. Ag(Also participated in a Panel – with R. Agarwal, D. Straub, K. Lyytinen, and J. George – on “How to do Impactful Research.”)
- Keynote Speech, “Is IS Research Contributing? Implications for Process and ERP Research,” Pre-ICIS Workshop on Enterprise Systems, Phoenix, AZ, December 2009.
- Keynote Speaker Research Ideas, Projects, Publications & Programs – Talking about doing,” at the KPMG PhD Project, San Francisco, August 5, 2009.
- Keynote Speaker at the 8th Wuhan International Conference on E-Business, Wuhan, China, June, 2009. This is the largest conference on technology and business in China. Speech on “Aspirations and Contributions of Information Systems Research.”
- Keynote Speaker at the Presidential Luncheon of the 9th Global Information Technology Management Association (GITMA) World Conference in Atlanta Georgia, 2008. Talk was titled the “musings, aspirations, and ideals of information systems research in a global environment.”
- Plenary Keynote Speaker at the 4th Annual Conference on Information Technology and Management i at the 4th Annual Conference on Information Technology and Management in Chandigarh, India in July 2006. The conference was sponsored by the Information Institute (USA), the Confederation of Indian Industries, and the Management Development Institute (India).
- Keynote Speech made at the Second Annual Outsourcing Conference at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers in New York City, August 2003.
- Plenary Address at the First Global Flexible Systems Management Conference in New Delhi, India, 2000.
Editorship
- Editor, Special Issie of the Journal of the Association for Information Systems on “Managing the Individual, Organizational, and Societal Challenges of Generative AI: Utopian, Dystopian, Neutropian Perspectives” (with A. Kar, R. Sabherwal, S. Angelpoulos, H. Hoehle)(submission date Aug 31, 2024)
- Editor, Special Issue of MIS Quarterly Executive on “Strategic for surviving and thriving within and between digital platforms,” (With K. Lyytinen) (two issues December 2021 and March 2022)
- Editor, Special Issue of the Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS) on “Strategic Value of Big Data and Business Analytics,” (With R. Chiang, TP Liang, D. Zhang) (2018)
- Senior Editor, Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) in charge of “Interdisciplinary and Path Breaking Research” Section (2015+)
- Senior Editor, MIS Quarterly Executive (2012+)
- Senior Editor (Interdisciplinary and Path Breaking Research), Journal of the AIS (2015+)
- Editor, Special issue of MIS Quarterly Executive on “Leadership Roles for a Digital World,” (With E. Karahanna and O. El Sawy) (2011)
- Editor, Special issue of the MIS Quarterly (MISQ) on “Cocreating IT Value: New Capabilities and Metrics for Multi-Firm Environments,” (with Rajiv Kohli) (2009-2011)
- Senior Editor, MIS Quarterly (MISQ) (2006-2009)
- Senior Editor, Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) (2005-2007; 2008-2011)
- Senior Editor, Data Base for Advances in Information Systems (2001-current)
- Associate Editor for Decision Sciences (DS) (2010)
- Associate Editor for MIS Quarterly (MISQ) (2002-2005)
- Associate Editor for the Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS)
- Associate Editor for the Journal of Operations Management (JOM)
- Associate Editor for the International Journal of Electronic Commerce (IJEC)
- Associate Editor for Database for Advances in Information Systems (1999-2003)
- Associate Editor, Journal of Information Technology Cases and Applications (2002)
- Developmental Associate Editor for MIS Quarterly (2000)
- Editor, Special issue of the Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS) on “Knowledge Management” (with Thomas Davenport) ( Spring 2001)
- Editor, Special Issue of the International Journal of Electronic Commerce on “Business Process Change and Electronic Commerce” (Volume 3, Number 4, 1999) (with Albert H. Segars)
- Editor, Special Issue of Decision Sciences on “The Interface Between IS and Operations” (with M. Malhotra) (Vol.30, No.4, 1999)
- Editor, Special Issue of Database on “IT: The Next 50 Years,” published in December 1996 (in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Association for Computing Machinery)
- Editor, Special Issue of the Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS) on “The Effectiveness of Business Process Change” (with W. Kettinger) (published in Summer, 1997).
- Editor, Special Issue of the Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS) on “Business Process Change,” (with W. Kettinger) (published in Summer, 1995).
- Editor, Business Process Change: Concepts, Methods and Technologies, Idea Group Publishing, 1996 (with W. Kettinger)
- Editor, Process Think: Winning Perspectives For Business Change in the Information Age, 2000 (with W. Kettinger).
Editorial Boards
- Distinguished Editorial Advisory Board: International Journal of Information Management
- Distinguished Editorial Advisory Board: Journal of Information Management Data Insights
- Honorary Board: Journal of Strategic Information Systems
- Scientific Committee: Competitive Renaissance through Digital Transformation, Universita di Pavia (2021)
- Editorial (Advisory) Board: Information Systems Journal
- Advisory Board, Journal of Operations Management
- Strategic Advisory Board, Journal of Intellectual Capital
- International Advisory Board, International Journal of E-Business Research (June 30, 2010-12; June 30, 2012-15)
- Editorial Advisory Board, Encyclopedia of E-Commerce Development, Implementation, and Management, IGI Global (2014+)
- Advisory Board, Advances in Management Information Systems, Research Monograph Series, M.E. Sharpe Publishing
- Advisory Editor, Journal of Global Information Technology Management
- Editorial Advisory Board, Advances in E-Collaboration (AECOB) Book Series
- Editorial Advisory Board, International Journal of Business Information Systems
- Editorial Advisory Board, Business Process Management Journal
- Editorial Advisory Board, International Journal of Information Integrity
- Advisory Editor, Journal of Information Technology Cases and Applications
- Editorial Advisory Board, International Journal of Information Systems and Management
- Editorial Board, Internet Encyclopedia (John Wiley)
- Editorial Board, Decision Sciences Journal
- Board of Editors, MIS Quarterly Executive
- Board of Editors, Journal of Strategic Information Systems,
- Board of Editors, Journal of Market Focused Management,
- Editorial Board, Journal of Information Technology Management,
- Editorial Board, Journal of E-Collaboration
- Editorial Board, Journal of Management Systems,
- Board of Reviewers, MIS Quarterly Special Issue on Curricula and Pedagogy
Media Interviews/Articles
- Article based on research featured in Walton Insights, “Why Your Favorite App May Fail Abroad,” (with Alyssa Riley), July 2024.
- Article based on research featured in Walton Insights, “Not Just Good vs. Evil: A Balanced View of the Societal Impacts of AI,” June 2024.
- Article based on research featured in Walton Insights, “How the Pandemic Altered Mobile App Usage,” April 2024.
- Interviewed by Dr. Brent Williams on 3/25/24 for Walton Podcast on “Trust in AI.” https://walton.uark.edu/be-epic-podcast/episodes/augmenting-artificial-intelligence-through-cross-functional-perspectives-with-varun-grover.php
- Article based on research featured in Walton Insights “Technology-Mediated Interruptions and Work-Life Balance,” Nov 12, 2021. See: https://walton.uark.edu/insights/posts/technology-mediated-interruptions-and-work-life-balance.php
- Interview with Varun Grover on “Business Processes, Information Technology and Its Evolution in the Digital Age,” (conducted by J. Mendling, M. Jans) in Business Information Systems Engineering, August 2021
- Article based on research featured in Walton Insights “With Big Data Comes Big Responsibility,” Oct 23, 2020. See: https://walton.uark.edu/insights/big-data-big-responsibility.php
- Co-authored article in JMIS entitled “The IT Identity Threat: A Conceptual Definition and Operational Measure” discussed and linked in the Wall Street Journal article “Do You Resist New Tech at the Office.” (https://www.wsj.com/articles/do-you-resist-new-tech-at-the-office-11560159001)
- EPIC Spotlight: Varun Grover, Interview by Sandra Birchfield, Walton Today May 2018,(https://waltontoday.uark.edu/2018/05/03/epic-spotlight-varun-grover/).
- “Retailer to Hold Security Seminar: Walmart’s Focus is to Protect Data,” in Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 7, 2018 (numerous quotes)
- “Technology Specialists Identify Trends to Watch in 2018,” Talk Business & Politics, January, 2018. (https://talkbusiness.net/2018/01/technology-specialists-identify-trends-to-watch-in-2018/).
- “Clemson Researcher Says More Tech Not Always Better,” Anderson Observer, Sunday, September 4, 2016.
- Research Challenges “Myths” of More, Better, Technology. Interview with Rick Uhlmann, The Newsstand, September, 2016.
- “PhD Alumnus No.1 in the World for Research Productivity,” Katz Business Magazine, December 2015.
- “10 Questions with Varun Grover,” Interview by David Agogo featured on the home page of the AIS Website (Nov 3, 2015).
- Interview with Janette Robbins regarding “World-renowned IT researcher ties Technology’s Role to Business Growth,” in Clemson Magazines (The Newsstand, CBBS), Spring 2015.
- Interview with Business Magazine Greenville regarding “Grover Recognized with Best Paper Award,”, Spring 2012.
- “Clemson’s Grover Named Fellow of Association,” Anderson Independent Mail, Feb 1, 2011
- April 2007 “Meet the Stars” interview on the Academy of Management, OCIS Doctoral Student (http://ocis.wordpress.com/2008/03/25/star-varun-grover/)
- May 2005 interview with Bill Scheer, Editor, Global IT Services, Kennedy Information.
- February 2004 interview with the Greenville News on “Technology Development in the Upstate.”
- November 2003 interview with Ran Barett of the Change Mgt Learning Center on “Business Process Change.”
- September 2000 interview with Michele Rossi on “IT, process change and the new organization” for the Information Technology Newsletter of the Information Resource Management Association.
- August 2000 interview with the Sun Times (Myrtle Beach) on the Electronics Industry, October 13, 2000 interview with Kathleen Dayton on the same issue.
- Jan 2000 interview with Jan K. Collins of the Business & Economic Review on “Business Process Change in the 21st Century.”
- November, 1999 interview with The State Newspaper on the implications of the “Satellite Home Viewer Act.”
- August, 1999 interview with the Greenville News on “Wireless Startups.”
- May, 1999: Interview with Polly Schneider, CIO Magazine, on “Privacy Infomediaries.”
- March, 1999: Interviewed for Carolina Minute (3 shows) on AM Radio 1320:
- Corporate Information Technology Purchasing
- Infomediaries on the Web
- IT and Changing Corporate Structure
- October, 7, 1998: Interview with Rita Mayer on IS Outsourcing for Infoserver: The Journal for Strategic Outsourcing. Complete interview presented in the December issue under “Academic Corner.”
- November 9, 1998: Interview with Kenneth Taylor on the “current status of the MIS field” to form basis of an article on the “18 leading thinkers in the IS field.” Project Director: Hugh Watson, University of Georgia.
- November 13, 1998: Interview with Kaori Ogino on the “IT Strategic Planning Process” on behalf of the “Working Council for Chief Information Officers,” in Washington, D.C.