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Faculty Profiles

Mary J. Culnan
mculnan@bentley.edu
SMI 322
781/891-2773
Professor of Information & Process Mgmt
Slade Professor of Management and Information Technology

PhD, University Calif Los Angls, 1980

Research Interests:

Information Privacy

Online Communities

Enterprise Use of Social Media

IT & Public Policy

Social & Organizational Impacts of IT

Practice/Consulting Interests:

Information Privacy

Information Public Policy

Teaching Interests:

Privacy

Social & Organizational Impacts of IT

Mary J. Culnan
Selected Publications and presentations:

Journal articles
Culnan, Mary J, Williams, Cynthia Clark. "How Ethics Can Enhance Organizational Privacy: Lessons from the ChoicePoint and TJX Data Breaches," MIS Quarterly, 33, 4, 673-687, December 2009, 2009.

Culnan, Mary J. "If You Build It, Will They Come? Gaining Business Value from Social Networking," Cutter Benchmark Review, vol. 9, no. 5, 5-11, 2009.

Culnan, Mary J, Carlin, Thomas J. "Online Privacy Practices in Higher Education: Making the Grade?," Communications of the ACM, vol. 52, no. 3, 126-130, 2009.

Culnan, Mary J, Foxman, Ellen R, Ray, Amy W. "Why IT Executives Should Help Employees Secure Their Home Computers," MIS Quarterly Executive, vol. 7 (March 2008), no. 1, 49-56, 2008.

Milne, George R, Culnan, Mary J, Greene, Henry. "A Longitudinal Assessment of Online Privacy Notice Readability," Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, vol. 25, no. 2 (Fall), 238-249, 2006.

Culnan, Mary J. "Does Higher Education Make the Grade for Online Privacy?," TRUSTe Advocate, vol. 10, no. No. 5, Summer 2006, 1-2, 2006.

Culnan, Mary J. "Privacy in Search of Governance," Cutter Benchmark Review, 2006.

Culnan, Mary J. "Bentley Survey Shows Customers Care About Security - But Don't Know How to Implement It," TRUSTe Advocate, vol. 9, no. 1, 2005.

Culnan, Mary J. "Giant Food and Elensys: Looking Out for Customers or Gross Privacy Invasion (Case Study)," Communications of the AIS, vol. 16, 317-328, 2005.

Chan, Yolande, Culnan, Mary J, Greenaway, Kathleen, Laden, Gary, Levin, Toby, Smith, H. Jeff. "Information Privacy: Management, Marketplace and Legal Challenges," Communications of the AIS, vol. 16, 270-298, 2005.

Milne, George R, Culnan, Mary J. "Strategies for Reducing Online Privacy Risks: Why Consumers Read [or Don't Read] Online Privacy Notices," Journal of Interactive Marketing, vol. 18, no. 3, 15-29, 2004.

Culnan, Mary J, Bies, Robert J. "Consumer Privacy: Balancing Economic & Justice Considerations," Journal of Social Issues, vol. 59, no. 2, 323-342, 2003.

Milne, George R, Culnan, Mary J. "A Longitudinal Analysis of the Privacy Web Sweep Data: Using Marketing Research to Inform Public Policy," The Information Society, vol. 18, no. 5, 345-359, 2002.

Culnan, Mary J. "Protecting Privacy Online: Is Self-Regulation Working?," Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, vol. 19, no. 1, 2000.

Culnan, Mary J, Armstrong, Pamela K. "Information Privacy, Procedural Fairness and Impersonal Trust: An Empirical Investigation," Organization Science, vol. 10, no. 1, 104-115, 1999.

Book chapters
Culnan, Mary J. "Online Communities: Infrastructure, Relational Cohesion and Sustainability," in Computerization Movements and Technology Diffusion: From Mainframes to Ubiqutous Computing, Information Today, Medford, NJ, 2008

Culnan, Mary J. "Opt Out vs. Opt In," in Encyclopedia of Privacy, pages 363-364, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT, 2006

Culnan, Mary J. "Privacy Notices," in Encyclopedia of Privacy, pages 427-429, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT, 2006

Culnan, Mary J. "Consumer Privacy, Technology and Policy," in Computers in Society: Privacy, Ethics and the Internet, pages 171-183, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 2003

Culnan, Mary J. "How Privacy Notices Promote Informed Consumer Choice," in Considering Consumer Privacy: A Resource for Policymakers and Practitioners, pages 12-16, Center for Democracy & Technology, Washington, DC, 2003

Mason, R.O, Culnan, M.J. "Privacy in the Age of the Internet," in Managing Information Technology in the 21st Century, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 2001

Culnan, Mary J, Bies, Robert J. "Managing Privacy Concerns Strategically: The Implications of Fair Information Practices for Marketing in the 21st Century," in Visions for Privacy: Policy Choices in the Digital Age, pages 149-167, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada, 1999

Published case studies
Culnan, Mary J. Teaching note accompanies "Giant Food & Elensys: Looking Out for Customers or Gross Privacy Invasion", Written for: Piccoli, G., Introduction to MIS, Wiley & Sons, 2007.

Conference papers
Culnan, Mary J. "Is There Anybody Alive Out There? The Structure of a Springsteen Online Fan Community Based on Member Posting Behavior," in Glory Days Bruce Springsteen Symposium, September 2009.

Fedorowicz, Jane, Gogan, Janis L, Culnan, Mary J. "Is There Gold in California Data Mines? Using Stakeholder Theory to Analyze the Tradeoff between Individual Privacy and the Public Good," in 14th Americas Conference on Information systems (AMCIS), August 2008.

Gallant, Linda M, Culnan, Mary J, McLoughlin, Patrick. "Why People e-File (or don't e-File) Their Taxes," in Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences, January 2007.

Milne, George R, Cromer, Cory T, Culnan, Mary J. "Cyberactivism: Consumer Strategies for Addressing Privacy Concerns," in Marketing & Public Policy Conference, 192-201, May 2006.

Culnan, Mary J. "Online Communities, Infrastructure, Relational Cohesion and Sustainability," in Workshop on Social Informatics: Extending the Contributions of Prof. Rob Kling, March 2005.

Culnan, Mary J. "Social Impacts of Information Technology: Privacy and Security," in Gordon B. Davis Symposium: The Future of the Information Systems Academic Discipline, May 2005.

Culnan, Mary J. "The Pro-Social Behavior of Springsteen Fans: A Case Study of the BTX Online Community," in Glory Days: A Bruce Springsteen Symposium, September 2005.

Foxman, Ellen R, Culnan, Mary J, Ray, Amy. "Securing the Weak Link in Cyberspace: Marketing Computer Security for Home PC's to Consumers," in Marketing & Public Policy Conference, May 2004.

Industry reports
Culnan, Mary J, Carlin, Thomas J, Logan, Traci A. "Bentley-Watchfire Survey of Online Privacy Practices in Higher Education, 2006." Sponsored by Watchfire. Waltham, MA.

Other
Culnan, Mary J. "Georgetown Internet Privacy Policy Survey: Report to the Federal Trade Commission". Web survey of online privacy notices

Professional Memberships:
Association for Information Systems (AIS)
INFORMS
Academy of Management
Intl Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)

Scholarly Work in Progress:
Perspectives of E-Government Stakeholders on Issues Raised by Data Sharing Applications.
with Jane Fedorowicz and Janis Gogan.

Other Activities:
Ad hoc reviewer for National Science Foundation, Information Systems Research, J. of Strategic Information Systems, Journal of the AIS, ICIS, J of Public Policy & Marketing, J of Consumer affairs, ICIS pre-conference WISP, ICIS JAIS Theory Workshop

Advisory Board Member, The Future of Privacy Forum, 2008-

Associate Editor, 2008 European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) (Track on "Researching Ethics in IS")

Associate Editor, MIS Quarterly special issue on Information Systems Security

Editorial Board member, Journal of the AIS, 2007-

Editorial Board member, The Information Socity, 1995-

Faculty member, OCIS doctoral consortium, Academy of Management, 2008

Invited panelist, Fourth Bentley Global Business Ethics Symposium, 2008

Member, ACLU-Mass Science & Technology Advisory Committee, 2006-

Member, Executive Committee on Information Management and Technology, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), 2001-

Ad hoc reviewer for Information Systems Research, Journal of the AIS, Journal of MIS, ICIS and Bled eConference

Member, National Science Foundation review panel

Organizer, Workshop on Effective Privacy Management in Higher Education, May 10, 2007

Program Committee, 2007 Marketing & Public Policy Conference

Quoted in Boston Globe, "ACLU Forum Denounces Domestic Spying," April 2, 2006.

Quoted in Washington Post, "Bell South Wants Story Retraction," May 19, 2006.

Quoted regarding Bentley-Watchfire Study (or study itself was cited) in fourteen publications including Chronicle of Higher Education, CNET.com, USA Today, Educause Review and BNA Privacy & Security Law Report (lead story). Several of these stories were picked up by three different electronic clipping services. Did 1-hour interview on public radio show from California.

Comments on Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Alternative Forms of Privacy Notices under the Gramm-Leach-bliley Act, March, 2004. Available at: http://www.ftc.gov/os/comments/glbaltprivacynotices/index.htm

Organizer, Second Bentley Workshop "Securing the Weak Link in Cyberspace," 11/17/04

Panelist, "Information Privacy Management," International Conference on Information Systems, December 2004.

Member, Advisory Board to IBM Privacy & Data Protection Research Institute, 2002-

Organizer, First Bentley Workshop "Securing the Weak Link in Cyberspace," Co-sponsored with Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, December 2002.

Member, FTC Advisory Committee on Access and Security, Spring 2000

Testimony on H.R. 4049, Bill to Establish the Commission for the Comprehensive Study of Privacy Protection, US House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology, May 16, 2000.

Statement for the Record on Emerging Financial Privacy Issues, US House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, Committee on Banking and Financial Services, July 20, 1999.

Commissioner, President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, 1997-1998

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Current doing research in three areas: information privacy and marketing, cybersecurity related to critical infrastructure protection, and online communities. Her publications include papers in the published Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Social Issues, The Information Society, MIS Quarterly, Management Science and Organization Science. She serves on the editorial board of The Information Society. She served as a Commissioner on the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection and the FTC Advisory Committee on Access and Security. Business Week's e-biz Web site profiled her as a "Mover & Shaker" in 1999. Currently, she serves as a member of the GAO Executive Committee on Information Management and Technology. Her teaching interests include eBusiness and ePrivacy. Prior to joining the faculty at Bentley, she held faculty positions at Georgetown University, American University, University of California - Berkeley, and the University of Virginia.