A Modular Systems Perspective of IT Infrastructure Configurations and Productivity

Research on IT infrastructure investments and organizational productivity has been marked with ambiguity, evidenced by the much debated productivity paradox. Part of the ambiguity arises from a paradigmatic aggregated treatment of IT infrastructure and productivity constructs along with a disregard for contingencies and time lags. The focus in this paper is to extend the component based view to understand IT infrastructure productivity. Using a modular systems perspective, revisiting the constructs in an attempt to disaggregate them for a more detailed examination is proposed. This study adds to the body of knowledge through a holistic examination of the relationship between IT infrastructure configurations, contingencies, and organizational productivity

Where have all the flowers gone?: a modular systems perspective of IT infrastructure design and productivity

Assessing value of IT infrastructure investments has been both difficult and ambiguous. This research develops and tests a conceptual framework to understand the productivity process. A lagged and recursive framework is used to trace the relationship between IT infrastructure investments, infrastructure design, and organizational productivity along with contingencies of IT management and the environment. A major contribution of this study is the use of the systems perspective to disaggregate the concepts of IT infrastructure and productivity into collectively exhaustive types. Findings reveal that IT investments do not significant affect productivity but do so when used to develop an IT infrastructure design. IT management is seen to strongly influence IT infrastructure design. Similarly, organizational environment appears to significantly influence the type of productivity focus for a firm. The study adds to the existing body of knowledge through a holistic investigation of the multi-level relationship between IT infrastructure configurations, contingencies, and productivity

Designing Scalable Business Models

Digital business models are often designed for rapid growth, and some relatively young companies have indeed achieved global scale. However despite the visibility and importance of this phenomenon, analysis of scale and scalability remains underdeveloped in management literature. When it is addressed, analysis of this phenomenon is often over-influenced by arguments about economies of scale in production and distribution. To redress this omission, this paper draws on economic, organization and technology management literature to provide a detailed examination of the sources of scaling in digital businesses. We propose three mechanisms by which digital business models attempt to gain scale: engaging both non- paying users and paying customers; organizing customer engagement to allow self- customization; and orchestrating networked value chains, such as platforms or multi-sided business models. Scaling conditions are discussed, and propositions developed and illustrated with examples of big data entrepreneurial firms

The theory of international business: the role of economic models

This paper reviews the scope for economic modelling in international business studies. It argues for multi-level theory based on classic internalisation theory. It present a systems approach that encompasses both firm-level and industry-level analysis

Product Configuration Systems: State of the Art, Conceptualization and Extensions

Product configurators are considered to be among the most successful applications of artificial intelligence technology. In this paper, we determine different conceptualizations of configurators and condense them in a comprehensive morphological box, which should support configurator designers as well as decision makers in selecting the right system. The analysis of the criteria according to which configurators that are designed thus far reveals a neglect of the front-end perspective. Therefore, it is relevant to extend configurators with a front-end component assisting customers during product configuration through advisory. We develop a framework describing the main requirements on an advisory system and propose the technical infrastructure for its implementation. Finally, the advisory system and the configurator are integrated into a comprehensive interaction system.product configurators; advisory system; product personalization

Innovation in Private Infrastructure Development Effects of the Selection Environment and Modularity

This study investigates how the selection environment and modularity affect innovation in private infrastructure development. Our findings stem from an in-depth empirical study of the extent ten process innovations were implemented in an airport expansion programme. Our findings suggest that developer and customers can each occasionally champion or resist innovations. An innovation succeeds contingent upon the capability of the stakeholder groups to develop collectively a plan to finance and implement the innovation, which reconciles subjective individual assessments. Innovations can be particularly hard to adopt when they require financing from different budgets, or when the developer’s investment pays off only if customers behave in a specified way in the future. We also find that the degrees of novelty and modularity neither represent sufficient or necessary conditions enabling or hindering innovation. Novelty, however, makes the innovation champion’s job harder because it leads to perceptions of downside risk and regulatory changes, whereas modularity helps the champion operationalise ways that moderate resistance to innovate.Innovation; financing; implementation

A STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT MODEL FOR IT FLEXIBILITY AND DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES: TOWARD AN ASSESSMENT TOOL

The Dynamic Capabilities View (DCV) has emerged as an influential theoretical and management framework in modern IS research. However, despite the view\u27s significant contributions, its strength and core focus are essentially in its use for historical firm performance explanation. Furthermore, valuable contributions have been made by several researchers in order to extend the DCV to fit the constantly changing IT environments and other imperative drivers for competitive performance. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, no DCV extension has been developed which allows firms to assess their current state of maturity and to derive imperative steps for further performance enhancement. To fill this gap, this article develops a strategic alignment model for IT flexibility and dynamic capabilities and empirically validates proposed hypotheses using correlation and regression analyses on a sample of 322 international firms. Findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between a firm’s degree of alignment of IT flexibility and dynamic capability dimensions – defined as the degree of balance between all dimensions – and competitive firm performance. Alignment can, therefore, be seen as an important condition that significantly influences a firm’s competitive advantage in constantly changing environments. The proposed framework helps firms assess and improve their IT flexibility and dynamic capabilities. Results are discussed, while theoretical and practical implications are highlighted, concluding with suggestions for future research