（2006）the influence of scope and timing of reliability assurance in B2B E-Commerce（Discussion）.pdfVIP

International Journal of Accounting Information Systems 7 (2006) 130 – 133 Discussion Discussion of the influence of scope and timing of reliability assurance in B2B E-Commerce Ed ODonnell University of Kansas, USA Received 12 November 2005; received in revised form 15 March 2006; accepted 16 March 2006 The paper I have been asked to discuss reports findings from a competent study by Mauldin, Nicolaou, and Kovar that examines research questions relevant to understanding the demand for information system assurance. The study examines how intent to use a B2B procurement exchange is influenced by (a) assurance about the reliability of the information system infrastructure versus assurance about the reliability of performance commitments made by participants in the exchange (scope) and (b) assurance that is continuous versus periodic (timing). The objective of my discussion is to provide additional insight regarding the interpretation of results and illuminate design constraints that should be considered by researchers who extend this study to address related research questions. Mauldin et al. suggest that results from their experiment provide support for two of three research hypotheses. I suggest that (a) the extent to which the two supported hypotheses flow from the theoretical framework and (b) the background of participants who provided data for testing those hypotheses must be considered before the results can be rigorously interpreted. The remainder of this discussion presents my understanding of the theoretical framework used to develop the research hypotheses, critiques the link between theory and hy