Drivers of Adoption and Continued Use of E-Procurement Systems: Empirical Evidence from China

ABSTRACT

This article develops and empirically tests a research framework that models the role of technological, organizational, and environmental factors in organizational intention toward using e-procurement systems. The partial least square analysis of survey data from 211 firms in China demonstrates that technological factors including perceived efficiency benefits and perceived ease, organizational factors including business to business commerce expertise, information sharing culture, and top management support, and an environmental factor, business partner pressure, shape in different ways organizational intention to adopt and to continue with e-procurement. The findings of the study not only offer valuable insights for stimulating the diffusion of e-procurement systems but also provide important guidance to systems vendors in strategizing their marketing campaigns and focusing limited resources on relevant strategic components.     

Facilitating intercultural negotiated practices in joint ventures: The case of a French–German railway organization

In this paper, we show how new work and managerial practices emerge in international joint ventures (IJVs), how they are co-constructed by cultural negotiating processes over time, and how this co-construction can provide synergistic effects. We use the case study of a binational railway organization which coordinates activities of its parent companies, DB and SNCF, between France and Germany, to focus on emerging practices, and use the framework of Brannen and Salk (2000) to categorize these practices. Our study centres on factors that facilitate the development of synergistic practices: organizational and communication structures, individual skills and socialization of IJV actors, and interpersonal relationships and learning processes in “boundary spanning dyads”. Where previous studies typically insist on boundary spanners as individuals, we specifically highlight the important role of boundary spanning dyads and relationships.     

The effects of learning organization culture on the practices of human knowledge‐creation: an empirical research study in Korea

This research aims to identify the influence of learning organization culture on the practices of organizational knowledge‐creation. Actionable knowledge‐creation practices are put forward as a variable in preference to the learning process itself because they may be more closely related to the achievement of individual and/or organizational performance improvement. Learning organization culture is defined in terms of the seven dimensions of the learning organization established by Watkins and Marsick and their questionnaire based on these dimensions is adapted for the present study. In order to measure knowledge‐creation practices, the knowledge conversion theory of Nonaka and Takeuchi was applied. Confirmatory factor analysis and measurement of internal consistency analyses were used to examine the psychometric properties of the instruments. Multivariate analyses were utilized for measuring the influential relations between variables. The results indicate that the proposed structural model is a valid concept in the Korean context for the purposes of the present research. Learning organization culture shows a strong and positive impact on organizational knowledge‐creation practices. Conclusions and implications are discussed.     

How does CRM technology transform into organizational performance? A mediating role of marketing capability

Customer relationship management (CRM) technology has attracted significant attention from researchers and practitioners as a facilitator of organizational performance. Even though companies have made tremendous investments in CRM technology, empirical research offers inconsistent support that CRM technology enhances organizational performance. Given this equivocal effect and the increasing need for the generalization of CRM implementation research outside western context, the authors, using data from Korean companies, address the process concerning how CRM technology translates into business outcomes. The results highlight that marketing capability mediates the association between CRM technology use and performance. Moreover, a customer-centric organizational culture and management system facilitate CRM technology use. This study serves not only to clarify the mechanism between CRM technology use and organizational performance, but also to generalize the CRM results in the Korean context.     

Linking organizational culture, structure, strategy, and organizational effectiveness: Mediating role of knowledge management

Practices of knowledge management are context-specific and they can influence organizational effectiveness. This study examines the possible mediating role of knowledge management in the relationship between organizational culture, structure, strategy, and organizational effectiveness. A survey was conducted of 301 organizations. The results suggest that knowledge management fully mediates the impact of organizational culture on organizational effectiveness, and partially mediates the impact of organizational structure and strategy on organizational effectiveness. The findings carry theoretical implications for knowledge management literature as they extend the scope of research on knowledge management from examining a set of independent management practices to examining a system-wide mechanism that connects internal resources and competitive advantage.     

Critical success factors determining performance of cross‐border acquisition: Evidence from the African telecom market

This study investigates the factors affecting Bharti Airtel's cross‐border postacquisition performance in an African market. This study describes the relationships among various factors such as technical capability, affiliated firm's absorptive capacity, and organizational learning capabilities, which determine the successful operations of the Zain acquisition deal in South Africa. This paper adopts a qualitative approach to identify factors that influence the postacquisition performance. Seven factors are identified based on the literature. Consequently, it has become a necessity to encapsulate these factors in suitable proportions. In this study, we have developed a total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) to analyze the postacquisition performance of Bharti Airtel in South Africa. Our research has highlighted six dynamic factors (organizational learning capability, knowledge management, technology capability, technology relatedness, acquirer's absorptive capacity, and national culture difference) that affect the firm's postacquisition performance. The interpretive structural model (ISM) and total interpretive structural model for postacquisition performance are built‐up. The developed TISM will support academics and practitioners to develop their understanding of acquisition performance of parent companies in the context of telecom business in the South African market.     

Individual and Organizational Antecedents of Misconduct in Organizations

A heterogeneous survey sample of for-profit, non-profit and government employees revealed that organizational factors but not personal characteristics were significant antecedents of misconduct and job satisfaction. Formal organizational compliance practices and ethical climate were independent predictors of misconduct, and compliance practices also moderated the relationship between ethical climate and misconduct, as well as between pressure to compromise ethical standards and misconduct. Misconduct was not predicted by level of moral reasoning, age, sex, ethnicity, job status, or size and type of organization. Demographic variables predicted job satisfaction and organizational variables added significant incremental variance. Results suggest the importance of promoting a moral organization through the words and actions of senior managers and supervisors, independent of formal mechanisms such as codes of conduct.

Organizational learning and entrepreneurship in family firms: exploring the moderating effect of ownership and cohesion

Organizational learning can significantly improve family firms’ ability to counter by stimulating entrepreneurship. Applying the behavioral theory of the firm, this study empirically examines the effect of family ownership on the breadth, depth, and speed of organizational learning. Each of these dimensions can influence entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the effect of ownership on organizational learning depends on family cohesiveness, the extent to which members of the owner family feel closeness, mutual solidarity, and the desire to stick together. Data from 741 firms show that family ownership is positively associated with the breadth and speed of learning but is negatively associated with the depth of learning. Though cohesiveness does not alleviate the negative effect of family ownership on the depth of learning, it amplifies the effect of family ownership on the breadth and speed of learning. Organizational learning, especially its breadth and depth, positively influences the pace of family firms’ entrepreneurship.     

Ethics, alterity, and organizational justice

This paper articulates a conception of organizational justice based on the promise of a mode of organizing that does not violate the particularity of each and every other person. It argues that the decisive condition for such a form of justice resides in the realities of the cultural practices of an organization as they are apparent in the conduct of people in relation to multiple others. These are practices that can only seek justification in the primary right of each person to be regarded with absolute alterity. It also argues that a degree of violence is unavoidable within any practical ordering of justice and that any consideration of ethics and justice in organizations must account for such violence and seek to negotiate its existence on ethical terms. The organizational justice that is referred to is one sensitive to the exercise of its own power and authority in the context of its unavoidable violation of its basis in ethics. This is a justice that is ethically necessary, but is never sure of itself.     

Why do people use and recommend m-wallets?

In recent years, mobile wallets (m-wallets), a special form of mobile payment, have garnered much attention in various emerging markets. M-wallets were designed to offer customers swiftness, ease of use, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and accessibility. Despite these benefits, usage intentions and adoption of m-wallets in most emerging markets have been low, and they have not received widespread acceptance. Notably, existing research related to intentions to use (IUs) mobile payments has largely focused on developed economies and mobile payments in general. Additionally, few studies have examined intentions to recommend (ITRs), even though researchers have recognized that word-of-mouth is an important driver of consumer behavior. In the present study, we addressed the lack of specific findings on use and recommendation intentions in the context of m-wallets by conducting a large cross-sectional survey of 1256 smartphone users based on diffusion of innovation theory (DOI). Results revealed that relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, and observability were significantly associated with participants' intentions toward m-wallets. However, trialability had no association with participants’ intentions to use and recommend m-wallets to others.     

Managing Word-of-Mouth: A Nonprofit Case Study

Word-of-mouth (WOM) is an important influence on the opinions of donors and their donation behaviors. Against a background of more professional donor relationship management, we investigate about how, if at all, nonprofits (NP) manage WOM. We report an in-depth case study of a single NP. We find that there is widespread appreciation that WOM influences NP performance indirectly through its impact on donor acquisition, donor loyalty, and organizational reputation. Whilst the organization employs networking and WOM practices, it stresses the reduction of negative WOM (NWOM) rather than the promotion of positive WOM (PWOM). Crisis management dominates the NP's WOM-related thinking. We find that PWOM emanates from many organizational influences including donor satisfaction, the welfare service itself, networking practices, external suppliers, alliances, its officers and communication practices including both advertising and public relations. We apply a new model, the eight pillars of WOM, to our analysis of WOM management in the case organization.     

An Evaluation Instrument for Collaborative Processes: Application to Organizational Policy-Making

Decision-making in organizations is guided by policies. Organizational policy-making is a complex process in which several parties are involved, with multiple backgrounds, incompatible interests, and diverging areas of interest, yet they all have to be brought together to produce an acceptable policy result. Therefore, we propose to use techniques from collaboration engineering (CE) in this context. There is hardly any experience with CE in the field of organizational policy-making. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of CE in organizational policy-making, it is important to have a systematic evaluation instrument. We distinguish between general and domain-specific indicators. Moreover, we consider measurement means and operationalization tools, such that organizational policy-making stakeholders can apply our instrument in their own organization.     

Depth versus Breadth Strategies for Global Brand Image Management

Abstract

Developing and maintaining a brand image is vital to any successful marketing and communication campaign. An image that clearly communicates the needs satisfied by the brand contributes to brand equity and helps combat brand parity. The normative model of brand image management suggests that marketers should base their images on a single set of consumer needs (depth strategy), rather than multiple sets of needs (breadth strategy). The extent to which depth strategies outperformed breadth strategies (in terms of annual change in sales volume, profit margin, and market share) was investigated for U.S. consumer goods exported into international markets. These markets varied in terms of level of economic development, cultural context, and competition. While the results indicate that depth strategies do tend to perform best, there are conditions under which breadth strategies perform just as well.     

Enabling and inhibiting factors in adoption of Electronic-Reverse auctions: A longitudinal case study in grocery retailing

Abstract

The paper aims to explore the factors that enable or inhibit the use of Electronic-Reverse Auctions (E-RAs) in the buying process of a large food retail organization, through a category management perspective. Using a case-study analysis based on in-depth interviews, examination of internal documents, simulation and direct observation of some E-RAs, we studied the experience of an Italian-based retailer conducting E-RAs during a two-year period. This approach enabled us to propose an E-RAs development model in retail buying groups, discussing enabling and inhibiting factors such as product, market, organizational and strategic factors. Propositions are developed to stimulate thought and provide guidance for future research.     

Leadership integrity and the role of human resource management in Greece: Gatekeeper or bystander?

With ethical misconduct commonplace in organizations and with the touting of competitive advantage associated with ethical organizational practices, considerable attention has turned to leadership integrity. Leaders are uniquely situated to influence the behavior of organizational members, and integrity has been shown to be instrumental in supporting ethical behavior and decision‐making. This article explores the role and influence of human resources management (HRM) in supporting leadership integrity among a group of large organizations operating in crisis‐stricken Greece. Although the institutional and cultural context of Greece appears to exacerbate role tensions confronted by human resources (HR) professionals, its forces are not deterministic; findings from in‐depth interviews with 12 HR directors indicate that the HR potential to secure ethical influence at the top level is primarily contingent on the nature of the organization's culture. Cultures of integrity enable HR executives to influence integrity and ethical behavior in top management teams (TMTs). In contrast, compliance‐based organizational cultures appear to breed a fickle HR presence: fostering integrity and ethical behavior for the middle and lower levels of an organization, while turning a blind eye to integrity violations at the top.     

The Effect of Context on Moral Intensity of Ethical Issues: Revising Jones's Issue-Contingent Model

Jones's (1991) issue-contingent model of ethical decision making posits that six dimensions of moral intensity influence decision makers' recognition of an issue as a moral problem and subsequent behavior. He notes that "organizational settings present special challenges to moral agents" (1991, p. 390) and that organizational factors affect "moral decision making and behavior at two points: establishing moral intent and engaging in moral behavior" (1991, p. 391). This model, however, minimizes both the impact of organizational setting and organizational factors on these experiences of ethical issues. In this theory, context is modeled as affecting the moral intent and behavior of the actor rather than directly affecting the issue's moral intensity. Here we look specifically at the effect of context on the moral intensity of ethical issues through a phenomenological study. Our results indicate that in certain environments, context may be critical in affecting the moral intensity of ethical issues. Thus, researchers should consider it more fully when assessing these issues' moral intensity.     

Manager Trustworthiness or Interactional Justice? Predicting Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are essential for effective organizational functioning. Decisions by employees to engage in these important discretionary behaviors are based on how they make sense of the organizational context. Using fairness heuristic theory, we tested two important OCB predictors: manager trustworthiness and interactional justice. In the process, we control for the effects of dispositional factors (propensity to trust) and for system-based organizational fairness (procedural and distributive justice). Results, based on surveys collected from 120 employee–supervisor dyads, indicate that manager trustworthiness explains variance in OCBs over and above the variance accounted for by interactional fairness. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

The importance of culture and support for workplace flexibility: An ecological framework for understanding flexibility support structures

Firms use flexible work arrangements (FWAs) to attract, retain, and satisfy human resource capital, while workers use them to manage work and nonwork demands and to reduce stress and conflict. Yet, even when firms have such policies on the books, employees often do not use them because they perceive a lack of support from their organization or their supervisor. Employees may even feel that they will be stigmatized for using such policies. Using an ecological framework, we examine factors that influence support for FWAs at multiple levels: the organization or business unit, the supervisor or work group, and the individual. We offer recommendations to address the mechanisms that affect FWA support at these levels of analyses and present ways organizational leaders may positively influence a work environment by supporting workplace flexibility.     

Relationship Between Organizational Form and Organizational Memory: An Investigation in a Professional Service Organization

The goal of this research is to study the relation between organizational form (OF) and organizational memory (OM). It examines what kind of roles OM plays in different OFs--that is, how OM is used in organizational action--and whether changes in a firm's organizational form relate to changes in the role of OM. These relationships are examined in the context of how information technology (IT) is used to support organizational remembering. The study outlines different manifestations of OM in 1 company as it underwent major organizational transformations during a 3-year period. The manifestations are grouped into "bins," expanding the storage structure concept by Walsh and Ungson to include OM contents and processes of use. The bins are supplemented with an additional bin, the organizational information space, to address the collaborative aspect of OM. Another new construct, the organizational memory profile, is introduced to summarize the combination of OM manifestations in a particular organization at a particular time. The OM profiles are outlined for the case company and they show marked differences between OFs. This upholds the claim that different OFs present different kinds of arenas for OM. IT support for various bins is analyzed and a variety of IT support is recognized. This upholds the view that several OM support systems are needed and that IT can play a significant role in making past events more accessible.     

Movements, bandwagons, and clones: Industry evolution and the entrepreneurial process

Entrepreneurship research has paid insufficient attention to the context in which new businesses are started. Consequently, efforts to identify factors that consistently lead to entrepreneurial success have failed. This is because what works in one context will not necessarily work in another. Even worse, factors that lead to success in one context may lead to failure in another.This article addresses this problem by drawing from the concept of industry evolution to identify three broad but distinct organizing contexts—emerging, growth, and mature industries—and demonstrating how each context presents a different set of entrepreneurial challenges. An industry is defined not as a group of firms producing close substitutes, but instead, as a group of firms of the same organizational form. Industry evolution is understood therefore as the diffusion of an organizational form, with emerging, growth, and mature stages corresponding to the creation, exploitation and erosion of competitive advantage. Defining an industry in this manner makes it possible to overcome the problem of shifting industry boundaries and enables us to distinguish between entrepreneurial activities that shake up existing industries by creating new and competing organizational forms and entrepreneurial activities that replicate well-known organizational forms and drive an industry toward equilibrium. It also enables us to draw from the work of industrial organization economics, strategy, and population ecology.Entrepreneurship is defined as the creation of new organizations and is viewed as a context-dependent social process. New organizations are enacted as critical stakeholders change their behaviors in ways that allow the organization to emerge. The process is successful when the short-term existence of a new organization is no longer at risk. A typological theory of entrepreneurial success is developed by examining how the fit between context and four other critical dimensions cause successful foundings. The theory is multiplicative and probabilistic. It is multiplicative in that all dimensions need to fit for a founding to be successful. Poor fit in any one area can lead to failure. It is probabilistic in that the better the overall fit, the better the odds of success.In addition to context, the dimensions we examine are entrepreneurial networks, entrepreneurial confidence-building behaviors, the motivation of stakeholders, and organizational structures and strategies. In terms of entrepreneurial networks, we examine whether entrepreneurs have weak-tie or strongtie networks, and whether their networks are homogeneous or include subgroups that are unrelated. In terms of confidence-building behaviors, we explore the use of informal (e.g., repeated personal interaction) versus formal (e.g., contracts) mechanisms. With respect to stakeholder motivations, we ask whether stakeholders are driven by social or instrumental motivations. In terms of structure and strategy, we consider two issues. First, we explore whether the emerging organization is market or hierarchy based, and we consider the extent to which the organization is innovative versus imitative. We argue that these various dimensions come together in three logical configurations, that we label movements, bandwagons, and clones.EMERGING INDUSTRY ORGANIZING: MOVEMENTSMovements are the organizing processes through which new organizational forms are created. Pioneers of new forms of organizations have unique personal networks that enable them to see the potential of bringing the factors of production together in new combinations. They have strong ties to two or more nonoverlapping networks. To succeed, they must overcome problems associated with lack of legitimacy. Theentrepreneur is joined by highly committed stakeholders who are motivated by social factors. Belief in the venture's success is achieved through informal confidence building, such as incremental personal exchange and third-party reputation. In this manner, stakeholders develop personal familiarity with the form and make positive assessments about the entrepreneur's competence and trustworthiness. The organizing structure is market based with participant commitments being secured through flexible, cooperative agreements. The strategic emphasis is on innovation and experimentation. The belief in the importance and viability of the new organizational form serves as a loose ideology for controlling and coordinating the actions of participants.GROWTH INDUSTRY ORGANIZING: BANDWAGONSBandwagons are organizing processes that seek to exploit the potential of a newly legitimated form. The strategic challenge at this stage is to prosper newly legitimated form. The strategic challenge at this stage is to prospeamidst rapid growth and change. The successful entrepreneur has an extensive network of high status individuals that can be tapped to quickly mobilize resources within a narrow window of opportunity. Stakeholders are motivated less by social factors, than by a desire to secure the benefits of being early movers. Formal confidence-building mechanisms dominate. In an effort to achieve efficiencies, develop sources of competitive advantage, and preempt the competition, more value-chain activities are developed in house. The strategic posture remains entrepreneurial; however, more emphasis is placed on following the example of other firms.MATURE INDUSTRY ORGANIZING: CLONESClones are the organizing processes that replicate existing forms and incorporate all that has been learned about a given industry and type of business. Strong competition along with stable demand and technology make it difficult to find a source of competitive advantage in a mature industry. At this stage, the successful founder is someone with extensive industry knowledge and contacts who is capable of extracting operating efficiencies and/or identifying some underserved market segment. Expected returns are modest and stakeholders need to be motivated partly by social factors. However, the large amount of information now available about the form and the market itserves enables stakeholders to base their participation decisions on a rational assessment of expected future benefits. Given increased experience with the form, the relationships between the organization and its stakeholders are more predictable and as a consequence, subject to greater formalization. Models exist showing how to structure theserelationships, facilitating greater use of more specific contracts and guarantees. With tight margins and the need for efficiency, greater use is made of hierarchy in an attempt to manage costs. These same highly competitive conditions also make mistakes very expensive. The organization needs to draw upon the knowledge that others have learned about the form. Consequently, it adopts a more conservative strategic posture and is less likely to deviate from established practice.IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCHIf we are ever to understand what leads to entrepreneurial success, we must pay more attention to the context in which organizing occurs. Our typology suggests that fundamentally different processes may be at work at different stages of industry evolution. In addition to empirically testing our theory, an opportunity exists to reexamine the existing entrepreneurship literature through a new conceptual lens, asking how our interpretation of the research would differ if context was considered explicitly. Our theory also has the potential to inform questions about the role of organizational foundings in the diffusion of competitive advantage and to examine the impact of.founding conditions on long-term strategic adaptation.