Alex Lopes

Areas of Expertise

Online information goods; Collaboration technologies; Face-to-face and online social networks; IS educational initiatives.

Academic Degrees

• PhD, University of Pittsburgh, 2002
• MS, Universidade de Sao Paulo, 1996
• BS, Universidade Federal do Ceara Fortaleza, 1992

Professional Experience

• Director of the Tech Consulting Workshop, 2015-Present
• MS-IS Academic Director, College of Business, University of Cincinnati, 2008-2011
• Field Service Assistant Professor, College of Business, University of Cincinnati, 2009-2011
• Assistant Professor, College of Business, University of Cincinnati, 2002-2009
• Visiting Professor, Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, 2001-2002
• Business Analyst and Consultant, Fundacao Instituto de Administracao-FEA-Universidade de Sao Paulo, 1995-1996

Awards, Honors & Certificates

• Certified Scrum Master, 2015
• Winner of the Kelley Service Award, 2014
• Winner of the Westerbeck Junior Faculty Graduate Teaching Award, 2011
• Nominated for the Excel Graduate Teaching Award, 2010
• Nominated for the Ronald J. Dornoff Fellow of Teaching Excellence Award. 2008
• Best Paper Award in the Organizational Communication and Information Systems Division, Academy of Management Metting, 2001

Selected Publications

• Choudhury, Vivek, Alexandre B. Lopes, and Doug Arthur (2010), "Issues and Opinions-IT Careers Camp: An Early Intervention Strategy to Increase IS Enrollments," Information Systems Research, Vol. 21, No. 1, March, pp. 1-14.

Abstract This paper reports on a specific promotional initiative designed to spur enrollment in IT-related fields—an IT Careers Camp aimed at high school students. The camp was different from most prior computer camps in that it was not aimed at building skills such as programming or Web development. Rather, it was specifically designed to convince participants that (1) job prospects in the field are strong, and (2) IT/IS work is interesting and creative. To this end, the camp was designed in partnership with a number of corporations, and included as a central element a series of experiential opportunities for participants. Each day of the camp featured a visit to a corporation where the students took part in a hands-on activity that involved solving a business problem with IT. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations indicate that the camp was very successful in changing students'' perceptions about the nature of IT work and the IT job market. We believe the camp can be a useful tool to create a pipeline of well-informed students interested in IT careers. We present here details of the design and execution of the camp in the hope that others may wish to replicate our efforts.

• Sacchi, Alexandre, Emerson Giannini, Regiane, Bochic, Nicolau Reinhard, and Alexandre B. Lopes (2009), "Digital Inclusion With the McInternet: would you like fries with that?," Communications of the ACM, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 113-116.

Abstract In this paper we examine how a well-orchestrated plan implemented by McDonald''s/Brazil to offer free Internet access to its customers, many of them using computers for the first time, helped to decrease that country''s digital divide. The digital divide refers to the division of a society into information haves and information have-nots. Eliminating the digital divide has been a long term project for many organizations. Sites such as the Digital Divide Network (http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/) list many projects that have attempted to provide "digital inclusion", where people have physical access to IT resources and enough proficiency to use them to increase their knowledge base. What McDonald''s/Brazil has achieved is to unite these lofty aspirations with practical gains: increased profitability, access to exclusive data about its customers, and an improved infrastructure for its own information processing needs.

• Mehra, Ajay, Josh Marineau, Alexander B. Lopes, and Ted K. Dass (2009), "The Co-evolution of Friendship and Leadership Networks in Small Groups," in George Graen and Joan Graen (eds.), Predator''s Game-Changing Designs, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Abstract This study examines the dynamic interplay of friendship and leadership networks. We collected wholenetwork panel data-- at two intervals, four months apart-- from all 25 members of a small group of elite students at a large Midwestern university. Using the software program SIENA, we analyzed network dynamics using a stochastic actor-based approach that modeled network change as a Markov process evolving in continuous time. We found statistically significant differences in the structure and dynamics of friendship and leadership networks at the dyadic, triadic, and network level of analyses. Our findings offer new theoretical insights into how friendship and leadership relations co-evolve in an interdependent work group.

• Lopes, Alexandre B. and Dennis F. Galletta (2006), "Consumer Perceptions and Willingness to Pay for Intrinsically Motivated Online Content," Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 23, No. 2, Fall, pp. 203-231.

Abstract Providing profitable online content has been an elusive goal, challenging many companies such as the New York Times, Disney/ABC/ESPN, and Microsoft/Slate. Charging for content has been hit-or-miss, attributable to a lack of generally applicable models of information value. Previous studies in the management information systems literature emphasized extrinsically motivated content (addressing tangible gains), while many sites target intrinsic goals such as entertainment or education. This study examines potential factors influencing willingness to pay for intrinsically motivated online content. Data from 392 college students indicate that even when analyzing content whose potential rewards are intangible and nonquantifiable, potential consumers focus on "expected benefits" as the main antecedent for willingness to pay. Other antecedents, such as perceived quality and provider reputation, only affected willingness to pay indirectly through expected benefits. Researchers are offered a baseline model for future study, and practitioners are advised to provide initial visitors a clear message about benefits of use to entice them to pay for content.

• Lopes, Alexandre B. and Nicolau Reinhard (2005), "Competing in the Brazilian Real-Time Financial Information Services Industry: Commitment and Adaptation," Information & Management, Vol. 43, No. 5, July, pp. 587-597.

Abstract In this study, we examine two very different firms operating in the Brazilian real-time financial information services (RTFIS) industry. We conducted two separate qualitative studies 7 years apart analyzing how a technology-based incumbent reacted to the entry of a challenger with better content-generation capabilities. We concluded that even when facing an entrant with new technologies and environmental changes, commitment to its own IS resources represented the best long-term strategy for the incumbent firm, because the incumbent kept focused on what it did best and invested in the redeployment of its flexible IS resources to redefine its industry processes and activities.