TY - JOUR T1 - Redefining access: Uses and roles of information and communication technologies in the US residential real estate industry from 1995 to 2005 JF - Journal of Information Technology Y1 - 2005 A1 - Sawyer, Steve A1 - Rolf Wigand A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Computer-Mediated Communication KW - Real Estate AB - We discuss three industry-level changes in the US residential real estate industry due, in part, to the take up and uses of information and communication technologies (ICT): (1) changes in the processes of transacting residential real estate, (2) changing roles for information, and (3) changing nature of intermediation, with the real estate transaction as more complex than the seller–agent–buyer simplification would suggest. We speculate that these changes are currently indeterminate due to ongoing confusion among the impacts of first and second-level effects, the roles of ICT in redefining access to data, and the importance of localized, social structures of real estate markets. To develop these findings, we take an institutional perspective and draw on multiple data collection methods. This provides us a means to highlight the value of an institutional perspective for studying industrial-level change. VL - 20 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Information technology and the transformation of industries: Three research perspectives JF - Journal of Strategic Information Systems Y1 - 2004 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Myers, Michael D. KW - Information Technology KW - Real Estate AB - It is often claimed that information technology has the potential to transform entire industries. However, we find that very little IS research has been conducted at the industry level. Moreover, the small amount of research that has been conducted on IT and industries has been based largely on just one perspective of industries. Given the scale and potential impact of the changes that are happening at an industry level, we believe a concerted effort is needed to study this phenomenon. We propose a research agenda for studying IT and industries. We suggest three research perspectives for studying IT and industries: an economic perspective, an institutional perspective, and a socio-cultural perspective. Just as IS research that addresses these aspects at the organizational level has grown in recent years and contributed to our understanding of IS, so in this paper we argue that a similar broadening, as well as more studies, are needed at the industry level of analysis. Weprovide an example from the real estate industry to illustrate the usefulness of the three research perspectives. VL - 13 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Will real estate agents survive? The transformation of the real estate industry by information technology JF - University of Auckland Business Review Y1 - 2004 A1 - Myers, Michael D. A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Real Estate VL - 6 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The social embeddedness of transactions: Evidence from the residential real estate industry JF - The Information Society Y1 - 2003 A1 - Sawyer, Steve A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Rolf Wigand A1 - Allbritton, Marcel KW - Computer-Mediated Communication KW - Coordination KW - Real Estate AB - Information and communications technologies (ICT) are becoming pervasive in the residential real-estate industry and their usage is affecting the work lives of real-estate agents. Drawing on data from a regional study of the residential real-estate industry in the United States, we focus on the disintermediation or, more accurately, the reintermediation of real-estate agents in the sales process. Using data collected from interviews, direct observation, and archival records, we examine how real-estate agents are (1) taking advantage of new ICT in their work, and (2) protecting themselves from others wishing to displace their position in the real-estate value chain. Our analysis of this activity draws on two contrasting theoretical perspectives to illuminate the roles of residential real-estate agents: transaction cost and social capital. The results of this study provide insights into the ways in which ICT are used to build and draw on the social relationships that underpin the actual transactions, to help guide the process of buying/selling a house, and to invoke expertise as needed. VL - 19 IS - 2 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Information and communication technologies in the real estate industry: Results of a pilot survey [Research in progress] T2 - Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) Y1 - 2001 A1 - Rolf Wigand A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Sawyer, Steve A1 - Allbritton, Marcel ED - Smithson, Steve ED - Gricar, Joze ED - Podlogar, Mateja ED - Avgerinou, Sophia KW - Real Estate AB - We have been studying the growing use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the residential real estate industry and the effects of this use on how realtors work. Earlier stages of our project involved qualitative research to develop a better understanding of the industry, the work of realtors and their use of ICT. In this paper we report on the results of qualitative research and a pilot of a survey intended to gather large-scale data on realtors and ICT use. JF - Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) CY - Bled, Slovenia ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Investigating the interplay between structure and information and communications technology in the real estate industry JF - Information, Technology & People Y1 - 2001 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Sawyer, Steve A1 - Rolf Wigand KW - Real Estate AB - Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are reshaping many industries, often by reshaping how information is shared. However, while the effects and uses of ICT are often associated with organizations (and industries), their use occurs at the individual level. To explore the relationships between individual uses of ICT and changes to organization and industry structures, we examined the residential real estate industry. As agents, buyers and sellers increase their uses of ICT, they also change how they approach their daily work. The increasing uses of ICT are simultaneously altering industry structures by subverting some of the realtors' control over information while also reinforcing the existing contract-based structures. This structurational perspective and our findings help to explain why information intermediaries persist when technology-based perspectives would suggest their disappearance. VL - 14 IS - 2 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Cutting out the middleman: The disintermediating potential of the Web in real estate in the US and New Zealand Y1 - 2000 A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Real Estate ER - TY - Generic T1 - How do information and communication technologies reshape work? Evidence from the residential real estate industry T2 - Proceedings of International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) Y1 - 2000 A1 - Sawyer, Steve A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Allbritton, Marcel A1 - Rolf Wigand KW - Real Estate AB - We are exploring how information and communication technology (ICT) use affects the work lives of real estate agents, the process of selling/buying houses, and the overall structure of the residential real estate industry. Earlier stages of our work involved intensive field research on how real estate agents use ICT. In this paper, we report on the design and analysis of a pilot survey of 868 agents intended to investigate their ICT use more generally. Analysis of the 153 responses to this survey sheds light on how ICT use supports information control, enables process support, and helps agents to extend and maintain their social capital. JF - Proceedings of International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) CY - Brisbane, Australia, December 10–13 ER - TY - Generic T1 - ICT in the real estate industry: Agents and social capital T2 - Proceedings of the Advances In Social Informatics And Information Systems Track, Americas Conference on Information Systems Y1 - 1999 A1 - Sawyer, Steve A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Rolf Wigand KW - Real Estate AB - For the past year, we have been involved in a study of the ways in which information and communications technologies (ICT) are becoming pervasive in the residential real estate industry and their effects on the work lives of real estate agents. Our initial results suggest that analyzing an agent’s social capital–the set of social resources embedded in relationships–provides insight into how real estate agents work and how that work is affected by ICT. Social capital has three components: structural, relational, and cognitive. ICT use affects all three components. JF - Proceedings of the Advances In Social Informatics And Information Systems Track, Americas Conference on Information Systems CY - Milwaukee, WI ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Real estate war in cyberspace: An emerging electronic market? JF - International Journal of Electronic Markets Y1 - 1999 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Rolf Wigand KW - Real Estate AB - In this paper, we explore how electronic commerce, the World-Wide Web in particular, is affecting the real estate industry. Real estate is a promising setting for studying electronic commerce because it is an information-intensive and informationdriven industry; transaction-based, with high value and asset-specificity; with many market-intermediaries (agents and brokers who connect buyers and sellers rather than buying or selling themselves); and experiencing on-going information technology (IT) related changes. We analyze a real estate transaction to suggest where IT might change the process of buying or selling a house and discuss several current ventures in this area. This analysis suggests that Web-based commerce is eroding the long-enjoyed information monopoly of real-estate agents and electronic commerce applications have the potential to drastically change current practices in the real-estate industry, including the disintermediation of agents. VL - 9 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Use of the web for electronic commerce in real estate T2 - Proceedings of the Association for Information Systems Americas Conference Y1 - 1998 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Rolf Wigand KW - Real Estate AB - In this paper, we will explore the ways in which electronic commerce, the World-wide Web (WWW) in particular, is affecting the real estate industry. Real estate is a promising setting for studying electronic commerce because it is an information-intensive and information-driven industry; transaction-based, with high value and asset-specificity; market-intermediary (agents and brokers connect buyers and sellers rather than buying or selling themselves); and experiencing on-going information technology (IT) related changes. In this paper, we apply a coordination theory framework to suggest where IT might change the process of buying or selling a house. Electronic commerce applications have the potential to drastically change current practices in the real-estate industry, including the disintermediation of agents. Web-based commerce is eroding the long-enjoyed information monopoly of real-estate agents. We illustrate this potential by reviewing a number of existing real estate websites that demonstrate the possible impact of electronic commerce on this industry. JF - Proceedings of the Association for Information Systems Americas Conference CY - Baltimore, MD ER -