Big data analytics and firm performance: Effects of dynamic capabilities

Drawing on the resource-based view and the literature on big data analytics (BDA), information system (IS) success and the business value of information technology (IT), this study proposes a big data analytics capability (BDAC) model. The study extends the above research streams by examining the direct effects of BDAC on firm performance (FPER), as well as the mediating effects of process-oriented dynamic capabilities (PODC) on the relationship between BDAC and FPER. To test our proposed research model, we used an online survey to collect data from 297 Chinese IT managers and business analysts with big data and business analytic experience. The findings confirm the value of the entanglement conceptualization of the hierarchical BDAC model, which has both direct and indirect impacts on FPER. The results also confirm the strong mediating role of PODC in improving insights and enhancing FPER. Finally, implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Performance effects of aligning service innovation and the strategic use of information technology

In the current dramatically changing business environment, innovation capability is the key to attaining competitive advantages for firms. Drawing on the concept of alignment, the present research proposes a service innovation alignment model within which service innovation and strategic use of information technology (IT) coexist in evaluating performance. Data for hypotheses testing are collected from top-ranked service companies in Taiwan. A total of 165 surveys were collected. Performance implications of alignment are examined using fit as covariation approach. The findings demonstrate that the alignment between service innovation and the strategic use of IT has significant impacts on service innovation performance as well as business performance.     

Measuring Electronic Commerce Technology–Enabled Business Value: An Empirical Investigation

This research investigates whether firms using e-commerce technologies are successful in generating business value and, if so, which e-commerce drivers determine this success and how firms should use these drivers. There is no systematic empirical evidence in the IT productivity and business value literature regarding the payoffs a business receives from its e-business initiatives. The current research contributes to the literature in the e-commerce area by identifying a set of e-business value constructs, incorporating these constructs in a model in a manner not done before, and empirically validating the model using an Analysis of MOment Structures (AMOS)/?Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. The present research also contributes to the e-business value literature by providing insights into causal relationships among Rogers' innovation and diffusion theory (IDT) factors. This is the first time a research study has empirically established comprehensive causal relationships among these factors. The SEM analysis of the model indicates that the proposed model is able to explain e-commerce success utilizing the constructs identified and grounded using IT business value literature and Rogers' IDT. We conclude by summarizing its contributions to the IT literature, in general, and the e-business literature, in particular, and by providing insights for practice and suggestions for future research.     

Corporate Social Performance, Stakeholder Orientation, and Organizational Moral Development

This article begins with an explanation of how moral development for organizations has parallels to Kohlberg's categorization of the levels of individual moral development. Then the levels of organizational moral development are integrated into the literature on corporate social performance by relating them to different stakeholder orientations. Finally, the authors propose a model of organizational moral development that emphasizes the role of top management in creating organizational processes that shape the organizational and institutional components of corporate social performance. This article represents one approach to linking the distinct streams of business ethics and business-and-society research into a more complete understanding of how managers and firms address complex ethical and social issues.     

Exploring the Interplay of the Design and Emergence of Business Processes as Organizational Routines

Much of the BPM literature views business process design and implementation as a top-down process that is built on strategic alignment and managerial control. While this view has enabled the design of many IT artifacts for business processes, it is inconsistent with the observation that information infrastructures, including a company’s business process infrastructure, are at drift, a term that refers to the lack of top-down management control. The paper contributes to resolving this inconsistency by developing a meta-framework that conceptualizes business processes as emergent organizational routines that are represented, enabled, and constrained by IT artifacts. IT artifacts are developed in processes of functional-hierarchical decomposition and social design processes. Organizational routines have ostensive and performative aspects, forming a mutually constitutive duality. A literature review demonstrates that the propositions offered by the meta-framework have been insufficiently considered in the BPM field. The paper concludes with an outlook to applying the meta-framework to theorize about the interplay of design projects with the subsequent emergence of business processes in organizations.     

Determinants of Successful IT-Enabled Business Innovation： A Case Study from the Perspective of Institutional Entrepreneurship Theory

As the role of information technology （IT） in business innovation becomes increasingly important, an increasing number of organizations have started to consider how to promote IT-enabled business innovation. Although extant studies have identified organization, environment, and innovation＇s characteristics as substantial determinants of IT innovation, they do not emphasize the accompanying innovation in processes, products or services, which distinguish IT-enabled business innovation from general IT innovation. Therefore, the reason why few companies succeed in realizing IT-enabled business innovation remains obscure. Anchored on the institutional entrepreneurship theory, this paper examines determinants of the success of IT-enabled business innovation in a fast-growing company using the case study approach. Our findings indicate that IT-business coordination competency, degree of institutionalization, participation of business managers, top management team＇s （TMT） attitude towards the innovation, and the innovation＇s relative strength, have significant impacts on the success of IT-enabled business innovation. Our findings also contribute to IT innovation research by identifying special determinants of IT-enabled business innovation and redirecting research ranging from innovation in IT itself to IT-enabled innovation in business processes, products or services.     

商业模式基础理论不统一的表现及原因分析

商业模式提供了一条在不确定、快速变动和难以预期的市场环境中分析商业选择新途径,成为继产品、企业、产业、网络之后新的分析单元。本文通过商业模式的定义、要素、分类以及与战略的关系角度分析商业模式基础理论的不统一,并且通过文献研究深入探讨其不统一的深层次原因,希望能给商业模式研究提供一些有益的参考。     

The Effect of Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility on Environmental Performance and Business Competitiveness: The Mediation of Green Information Technology Capital

With the emergence of environmental sustainability and green business management, increasing demands have been made on businesses in the areas of environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR). Furthermore, the influence of ECSR on green capital investment, environmental performance, and business competitiveness has also been the subject of attention from enterprises. However, in previous studies, the mediating role of green information technology (IT) capital in the relationship between ECSR, environmental performance, and business competitiveness, has not been investigated by researchers. In order to bridge this gap in the ECSR literature, this study aims to examine the influence of ECSR on green IT capital, and the consequent effect of green IT capital on environmental performance and business competitiveness. Data were collected from 358 companies from the top 1000 manufacturers in Taiwan. The results confirmed that ECSR has significant positive effects on green IT human capital, green IT structural capital, and green IT relational capital. Green IT structural capital and green IT relational capital have positive effects on environmental performance and business competitiveness, and environmental performance has a positive effect on business competitiveness. In addition, green IT structural capital and green IT relational capital have partial mediating effects on ECSR, environmental performance, and business competitiveness. The implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

A new way of thinking about IT project management practices: Early empirical results

Despite decades of efforts to improve the management of Information Technology (IT) projects, failure rates remain high. This article first reviews literature about information systems success and IT project success. Most of the improvement efforts have focused on advancing variations of the traditional project management paradigm, such as embodied by the Project Management Body of Knowledge. This article describes a new way of thinking about managing IT project called Value-Driven Change Leadership (VDCL), and reports the results of an initial empirical exploration to identify project success factors stemming from VDCL as well as the traditional paradigm. The results are based on data collected from 16 medium-sized IT-intensive projects at eight Chicago-based organizations from six different industries. The results, although not based on a large sample, point to several project management practices associated with project success that stem from both the traditional paradigm as well as VDCL. For example, traditional practices managing stakeholders’ expectations, scope, and schedule are associated with project success, as are practices stemming from VDCL, such as managing the end-product’s architecture, business value added, and the organization change associated with systems implementation. The results of this study also suggest that further research into new ways of thinking about IT project management may be fruitful.     

IT Controlling – Concepts and Transformation into Practice

In the first part the paper depicts central IT controlling terms and selected IT controlling concepts of the last decade. In the second part a performance oriented IT controlling concept describes central processes of the IT controlling concept by using a three step life cycle model in terms of a reference model. Finally some important results from a current survey concerning the development of IT controlling in German speaking countries are given. Based on these facts the paper describes the needs for action in academia and practice: The role of the IT controller has been established in German speaking countries, but there is disagreement concerning targets, tasks and processes of IT controlling, cost oriented tasks and reporting are dominating the practitioner’s work, established economic methods of IT controlling are not consistently used in companies. This article is also available in German in print and via http://www.wirtschaftsinformatik.de: Gadatsch A (2009) WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK. doi: 10.1007/11576-009-0166-x.     

Virtual Meetings With Hundreds of Managers

This paper describes the use of a Group Support System (GSS) in a distributed meeting with hundreds of managers. All were managing directors of the local banks of Rabobank. The distributed meeting has contributed to reducing the lead-time of a decision of hundreds of managers from an estimated 6 months to 4 weeks while at the same time increasing the involvement of the managers. The paper discusses the processes followed, the results achieved, the feedback from the managers as collected in a survey and the lessons learned. The experience shows that large-scale virtual meetings with business managers are feasible today. The participants recognize the usefulness of the virtual meeting but also indicate the need to improve the processes followed and the IT used.     

How mobile technologies support business models: Case study-based empirical analysis

Mobile technologies have pushed the connectivity of IT systems to the limit, enabling people and things to connect to one another at all times. The amount of information companies have at their disposal has increased exponentially, thanks largely to geolocation and to the vast array of sensors that have been integrated into mobile devices. This information can be used to enhance business activities and processes, but it can also be used to create new business models. Focusing on business models, we analyze mobile technologies as enablers of activity changes. We consider the differentiating characteristics of mobile technologies and examine how these can support different business functions. A study based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of 30 cases across different industries allows us to identify mobile technology success factors for different core activities. The results show that several combinations of mobile technology initiatives provide a competitive advantage when these initiatives match the business model.     

The criticality of CMO-CIO alignment

This year, chief marketing officers (CMOs) will spend more money on IT than chief information officers (CIOs). This rapid shift in responsibility is creating a growing divide between CIOs and CMOs over firms’ IT investment decisions and actions, which is of increasing significance to firm performance. Understanding and managing this CIO-CMO divide is important in light of the magnitude of investment involved—global IT spending is estimated to exceed $4.1 trillion by 2018—and CEOs’ belief that technology is a critical success factor for future firm performance. Heretofore, there has been little investigation regarding the unique relationship between the CMO and CIO. The research reported herein addresses this shortcoming by revealing the results of in-depth interviews with CMOs and CIOs across multiple industries. The results identify the nature and sources of conflict between the two roles as well as the management-related mechanisms to overcome them, revealing the need for CEOs to focus on managing four specific sources of CMO-CIO conflict: perspective, goals, accountability, and structural conflict. While the CEO has the power to create the management-related mechanisms that promote greater CMO-CIO alignment, we also detail steps that the functional leaders can take to put the mechanisms in place should the CEO fail to do so.     

Understanding the Determinants of User Acceptance of Enterprise Instant Messaging: An Empirical Study

As modern organizations increasingly depend on information systems (IS) to enhance work productivity and seek new business opportunities, communication effectiveness has become one of the key factors that underlie the effective performance of IS implementations and applications. Instant Messaging (IM) presents a revolution in enterprise communication. As more organizations are findings ways to utilize this near-synchronous computing communication technology to enhance communication effectiveness in the workplace, there is a compelling need to understand the factors that are important for the adoption of enterprise IM. We have developed an integrative model based on constructs of the existing IT adoption models as well as theories on motivation, innovation diffusion, and critical mass. Using responses from 140 intended subjects, we have found the results of survey data support the contentions that perceived usefulness, compatibility, enjoyment, and security are significant predictors of intention to use enterprise IM. Although perceived connectivity did not predict the intention directly, it did indirectly through perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Barriers to implementing e‐learning: a Kuwaiti case study

The paper reports on a research project that encompasses two key objectives: (1) finding out about the barriers affecting or preventing e‐learning from being adopted by companies as an integral part of their workforce's training and learning processes and (2) establishing a comparison between the barriers and the e‐learning implementation models found in Kuwait and in the practice of Western companies. The practices from Western countries are used as a benchmark for the Kuwaiti experience. The collection of the primary data was carried out through the use of semi‐structured questionnaires with human resources managers as well as IT managers in charge of the e‐learning of 11 of the largest companies in Kuwait. The research results show that the key implementation barriers in Kuwait are (1) lack of management support; (2) language barriers; (3) IT problems; and (4) workload and lack of time. From these, two are common to Western countries (technology and time). The remaining two (management support and language barriers) are specific to Kuwait. Regarding the comparison between the two implementation models, the key finding was that the usual e‐learning development cycle (plan–design–integrate–improve) was not followed in Kuwait. The planning, designing and improving stages were largely ignored, with the emphasis resting almost completely on integrating the e‐learning tools and processes in the rest of the organization. This finding was found to be in line with barrier number one – lack of management support. The key lesson learned from this research is that the problem of e‐learning implementation in Kuwait is not so much one of knowing what the barriers are but one of knowing what the appropriate management processes should be for companies to achieve business success. The paper also provides recommendations for an e‐learning development plan to fit the current business environment in Kuwait.     

Impact of IT Service Management Frameworks on the IT Organization

Over 90 percent of companies are estimated to use IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks, yet there is little research on their benefits to the Information Technology (IT) department and the business units. An international survey of 491 firms was conducted to assess the benefits of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the de-facto ITSM framework, specifically on how these benefits evolve as companies increase their adoption of the ITIL model. Also studied are the perception of challenges of the implementation and the number of ITIL processes implemented in relation to the progress of the adoption of ITIL. Results indicate that as the maturity of implementation increases, the perception of challenges decreases. Findings also show that as the maturity of implementation increases, the number of realized benefits increases, as well as the number of implemented ITIL processes. Implications for practitioners and researchers are also discussed.     

Assessing business value of Big Data Analytics in European firms

In the strategic management field, dynamic capabilities (DC) such as organizational agility are considered to be paramount in the search for competitive advantage. Recent research claims that IT business value research needs a more dynamic perspective. In particular, the Big Data Analytics (BDA) value chain remains unexplored. To assess BDA value, a conceptual model is proposed based on a knowledge-based view and DC theories. To empirically test this model, the study addresses a survey to a wide range of 500 European firms and their IT and business executives. Results show that BDA can provide business value to several stages of the value chain. BDA can create organizational agility through knowledge management and its impact on process and competitive advantage. Also, this paper demonstrates that agility can partially mediate the effect between knowledge assets and performance (process level and competitive advantage). The model explains 77.8% of the variation in competitive advantage. The current paper also presents theoretical and practical implications of this study, and the study's limitations.     

Sustainable supply chain management in “Base of the Pyramid” food projects—A path to triple bottom line approaches for multinationals?

Conducting business operations at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) have necessitated the need for multinational corporations (MNCs) to involve poor communities in production processes including management of critical supply chains. However, current research on the interface between supply chain management and BoP business operation is lacking. In analyzing three cases of BoP projects in the food industry this study addresses the question of how sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) applied to BoP projects can help MNCs to achieve their sustainability goals. Findings indicate that applying SSCM to BoP projects can complement economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. In particular, the BoP projects analyzed show viable paths for integrating the social domain of sustainability with general SSCM theory and practice. From the perspective of international business research, the findings help to link sustainability activities to MNC operations at the BoP. Accordingly, further research is needed to advance integration of these two research streams.     

A curriculum model for IT infrastructure management in undergraduate business schools

As information technology infrastructure becomes strategic to organizations, the author examines business-school programs that educate future infrastructure analysts. Information systems (IS) 2010 and information technology (IT) 2008 curriculum models are used to survey courses required by telecommunications and IT infrastructure programs in business schools. Of 525 Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business–accredited schools, 259 have IS/IT programs and 18 have telecommunications and infrastructure-related programs. IT Infrastructure, Networking-Advanced, and IT Security are the top three infrastructure-related courses. Programs also require courses including IS Project Management; Social and Professional Issues; and IS Strategy, Management and Acquisition. Data collected are used to develop a new curriculum model of IT infrastructure management program that can be offered by business schools.