IT Governance and Types of IT Decision Makers in German Hospitals

Growing expenses for health care services in hospitals stress the potential of a well applied IT governance for cost reduction, productivity gains and a possible source for competitive advantages. The underlying explorative study analyzes the current status of IT governance through a survey among 206 IT decision makers in German hospitals. The quantitative analyses show that the most important requirements of IT managers for IT are the optimization and standardization of processes, that IT investments shift from administrative to medical IT applications, and that private hospitals display relatively higher IT budgets than do non-profit or public hospitals based on financial turnover. Further, two types of future IT decision makers are empirically identified. The types differ regarding their future role as initiators for process optimization and regarding the degree of involvement in strategic decision making.     

How hotels compete on the basis of competitive priorities and their relationship with infrastructural and structural decisions

This paper aims to investigate how hotels compete on the basis of competitive priorities. First, the study analyzes the relationship between competitive priorities and structural and infrastructural decisions. Second, it develops a taxonomy of hotels based on their emphasis on several competitive priorities. Finally, after identifying the groups of hotels according to their competitive priorities, their differences are analyzed regarding the importance and emphasis that they endow to operations decisions. Sixty-five hotels are surveyed, and valid instruments are designed to measure competitive priorities and operations decisions. The results show a positive relationship between competitive priorities, and each structural and infrastructural decision analyzed. Findings indicate that the three groups of hotels emphasize different sets of competitive priorities: cost and flexibility, “Do all” hotels, and quality and service. Finally, the results show significant differences among the groups of hotels in their emphasis on infrastructural and structural decisions. The consequences of competing in each of the categories of hotels are considered in the paper.     

Gender diversity issues in the IT industry: How can your sourcing group help?

In the information technology (IT) industry, women constitute only 33% of employees at the entry level and 17% at the leadership level. In this article, we outline the status of women in the workforce and discuss issues that affect their participation, with a specific focus on the IT sector. We claim that U.S. corporations can influence gender diversity in the IT industry by leveraging their relationships with IT suppliers. To this end, we propose the application of Nudge Theory during the strategic sourcing of IT services. We begin our narrative by describing the current state of gender diversity initiatives. Then, we detail gender diversity initiatives in the sourcing process as revealed by a survey on the topic related to IT suppliers. We then briefly define Nudge Theory and provide examples of this theory as applied to an organization’s supplier base. Finally, we present the details of our recommendation, which suggests that sourcing groups should include questions regarding women’s participation in the IT supplier’s workplace during competitive market events. We conclude with a call to action and a call to research.     

Market Driven Manufacturing

World-Class Manufacturing has received a great dealof attention in the past few years, drawing largely on successfulJapanese manufacturing practices. There has also been a separateexplosion in the use of conjoint analysis to determine customerpreferences for marketing purposes. In this paper these two developmentsare used together to determine the most advantageous manufacturingpriorities for a given competitive situation. For illustrationpurposes we use customer preference data from automobiles; thesepreferences are segmented and we then show how the various segmentslink to differing sets of manufacturing priorities. Finally,we examine how strategic manufacturing priorities can be translatedinto specific action-oriented improvement programs.     

Impact of Organizational Characteristics and Information Technology Maturity on Internet Business Application: A Taiwan Survey

ABSTRACT

The Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) have provided unprecedented opportunities and challenges for conducting business online today. The growing trend of the Internet in Asia will cause companies to go on online quickly and the Internet will reinforce a speedy recovery and drive the globalization of the region. The spread of the Internet with decrease in cost should remove hidden barriers to free commerce and boost the economy in Asia. A cross-sectional survey of the manufacturing industry in Taiwan was conducted. On the basis of concerning value chain, organization and information management, this study examines the impact of organizational characteristics and information technology (IT) maturity on the Internet business application, and on the benefit of improving competitive advantages. It is found that firm type, organizational characteristics and IT maturity influence firms' Internet application in the value chain. Organizational characteristics and IT maturity influence the Internet business application, and the firms' improvement in competitive advantage varies. Overall, the firms with innovation-oriented or high level of IT maturity in Taiwan have higher implementation rate of the Internet and more widespread of application in the value chain. Hence, these firms are usually able to further integrate different value creation activities in the value chain to gain more competitive advantages     

Information technology-enabled dynamic capabilities and their indirect effect on competitive performance: Findings from PLS-SEM and fsQCA

A central question for researchers and practitioners is whether and how IT (information technology) can help build a competitive advantage in uncertain environments. To address this question, the present study seeks to empirically explore the relationship between IT-enabled dynamic capabilities and competitive performance. By drawing upon recent thinking in the strategy and IT management literatures, this paper argues that the impact of IT-enabled dynamic capabilities on competitive performance is mediated by organizational agility. Using survey data from 274 international firms and by applying structural equation modelling (SEM), outcomes suggest that IT-enabled dynamic capabilities facilitate two types of agility, market capitalizing and operational adjustment agility, which in sequence enhance competitive performance. The confluence of environmental factors is examined by fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results of fsQCA reinforce and refine findings of the PLS analysis concerning the limits and conditions to which IT-enabled dynamic capabilities add value.     

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.     

中国IT企业国际化成长动因及模式研究

全球化的加快对我国IT产业的发展提出了迫切的要求,要实现IT产业的跨越式发展,必须利用国内外两种资源,努力增强IT企业的国际竞争力.文章在对IT产业市场结构的分析基础上,提出我国IT企业国际化成长的动因框架,并通过分析得出:我国IT企业的国际化成长是基于核心竞争力培育的成长,通过国际化谋求某种竞争优势,提升企业的核心能力.我国IT企业的国际化利用生物学的相关理论,可采取国际化成长的合作繁殖、复制繁殖和个体进化三种模式.     

The Role of Top Management Participation and IT Capability in Developing SMEs’ Competitive Process Capabilities

This research explores how top management participation and three types of IT capability enable SMEs' competitive process alignment and flexibility capabilities. Our research hypotheses are tested using data from 310 Australian SMEs. Results show that top management participation and external IT linkage capability positively affect both process alignment and process flexibility. While IT infrastructure capability and IT business spanning capability positively affect process alignment, they are not significantly related to process flexibility. In addition, both process alignment and process flexibility capabilities have significant positive effects on SME performance. Contributions and implications of this study are discussed.     

Feasibility Frontier—A Method for Aligning Competitive Strategy with the Choice of IT Architectures

This article introduces an approach that addresses the challenge of aligning choices about IT architecture with the strategic goals of a corporation. This takes the form of a framework that captures how managers make IT architecture choices and how those choices impact an organization's competitive position. Based on microeconomic theory, the framework provides a set of conceptualizations for understanding alignment, plus some recommendations on how organizations should approach IT architecture adoption in a way that assures optimal alignment with strategic goals. The most important facilitating factor for the framework is the commitment to complete, accurate, and unbiased cost and quality assessment of business processes and their supporting IT infrastructure.     

网络效应、信息技术与服务业跨国公司客户管理

通过对信息技术的成功应用,服务业跨国公司在参与全球竞争的过程中,可以克服传统市场竞争条件下的产能的限制,并能够更快地达到为获得网络效应所要求的临界值,从市场扩张的正反馈中获益。信息技术降低了客户管理成本,使得客户忠诚计划和价格歧视具备更强的操作性。因此提高了服务业跨国公司的竞争力。     

The Impact of Outsourcing Strategies on Information Systems Capabilities in the Hotel Industry

This work analyses the strategy of outsourcing information systems and information technology (IS/IT), considering the different activities comprising the IS/IT area. The literature on IS contains numerous works that analyse outsourcing, very few of which examine the relationship with the different types of capabilities in the IS/IT area and their strategic value. Most works centre on the motives for, and advantages of, the strategy of outsourcing the IS/IT area, while scant attention has been paid to the study of the long-term consequences of outsourcing. This work develops a theoretical model which is applied to the hotel sector and which shows that hotels following a more intensive outsourcing strategy develop fewer managerial capabilities related to knowledge in the management of IS/IT resources. This negative relationship extends to other types of capabilities typical of the area and to certain organisational capabilities. A negative relationship is also observed between the level of outsourcing and the strategic value given to the IS/IT area, which may lead to a lower potential for the development of competitive advantage.     

Information and communication technology in retailing: A cross-industry comparison

Information technology (IT) may represent a source of competitive advantage for businesses in general and for retailers in particular. However, there is debate in the literature over the usefulness of investing in technology. This paper aims at analyzing the relationship between consumers’ perception on the use of information and communication technology by the retailer and consumer satisfaction with retailer technologies. Results support the need to restrict the investment in IT to what is strictly necessary, although there are significant differences according to retailer activity.     

西方公司经营战略创新的理论分析与思考

在当今充满不确定性和市场竞争不断加剧的全球化变革时代,西方公司经营战略在不断进化,一种基于核心竞争力和关键客户资源的市场经营战略脱颖而出,这种战略在IT行业内称为主流化竞争战略,主流化竞争战略既能使公司赢得竞争优势,也能真正为用户增加社会福利。     

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.     

The continuing debate on firm performance: A multilevel approach to the IT sectors of Taiwan and South Korea

In the economics and strategy fields, researchers seek to understand the antecedents of firm profitability. How and why do certain private enterprise firms develop competitive advantages in environments of rapid technological change while other firms do not? This study extends recent variance decomposition research in three ways. First, this work compares IT sectors in Taiwan and South Korea by using the Standard & Poor's Compustat® Global Vantage database. Second, this investigation tests industry and firm effects using both the multilevel approach of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) and the conventional variance components approach (VCA). Third, this study explores the question of why there are significant profitability differences among technological firms even with similar industrial structural characteristics and leveraged resources and capabilities in the same IT industry. This study uses data from the U.S. Patent Office to estimate technological diversification at the level of firm resources for knowledge-based relatedness for the IT firms of Taiwan and South Korea. The empirical results find that firm effects have great impact on performance of the IT sectors of Taiwan and South Korea when estimated by either HLM or VCA. However, industry effects dominate firm effects on South Korea's IT sectors when the variance is estimated by HLM. From the perspective of conducting patents innovation, both of the specialized and diversified corporate strategies are matter to the development of these IT sectors, and South Korea's IT firms are more technologically diversified than those firms in Taiwan.     

企业集群竞争力评价指标体系的建立及实证分析

在经济一体化的今天,企业集群对推动区域经济和国家经济的发展起着不可忽视的作用。构建企业竞争力指标体系,对我国IT企业集群竞争力进行实证分析,虽然在某些地方已形成了制造企业集群,但是集群竞争力总体不强。因此,应借鉴国外产业集群的发展经验,从战略的角度制定企业集群发展规划并采取相应策略提高产业集群总体竞争力。     

How to create information management capabilities through web 2.0

Over the last two decades investment in information technologies (IT) has been sufficiently high to be considered economically relevant. However, it has not been easy to prove that there are positive effects of these investments on organisational performance. This study questions the validity of directly relating web 2.0 initiatives to firm performance without taking into consideration other complementary assets such as managerial skills in IT, organisational restructuring and a culture of change. If these factors are not present, IT may not in fact produce any benefits whatsoever. The authors approach this problem using the resource-based view and propose the construct information management capability as a measure to gather the integration of the various co-specialised and complementary capabilities, whether technological or human and organisational, necessary in order to obtain competitive advantages in information use. A scale is created to measure this construct, the reliability and validity of which are demonstrated.     

The Role of Distribution Channel Agents in Promoting Innovative Activity in Small Retail Businesses: A Case-Study of IT Adoption

The successful application of information technology (IT) offers the retailer, large or small, a decisive source of competitive advantage. Smaller retailers, however, have generally been slow to embrace the new technologies of sales data capture, analysis and communication. Within the distribution channel, four intermediary agents - wholesalers, trade associations, voluntary groups and franchisors - are well-placed to encourage more widespread take-up of IT among small retailers. The role of each agent is examined through the presentation of survey-derived information, and it is suggested that none of these agents has exploited widely this potential to promote innovation adoption. However, the presence of identifiable geographical and organisational clusters of small retailers using IT illustrates the important role being played by some of these agents in promoting IT adoption and indicates ways in which many others could encourage innovative activity.