The Determinants of Network Default and Consolidation

Many industries whose products and services are based on information technology are being swept by asset buyouts, mergers and consolidations, a trend that promises to bring increased competition and cooperation, and lower prices for consumers. We have seen this happen in the world of packaged software products, including database management products, CASE tools, LAN software and software suites. The recent news of the merger of IBM and Lotus, and Microsoft\u27s attempted purchase of Intuit are cases in point. In a similar vein, the cellular communications industryalready has experienced a number of consolidations, with the result that the big players have gotten dramatically bigger. The market for services delivered by retail electronic payment networks also has experienced a deal of change in the last decade. Electronic banking networks have been merging with and acquiring one another in their fight for market share. The result is that the average network has increased in size, and although automated teller machine (ATM) usage has expanded even more dramatically,today fewer and fewer electronic banking networks exist (O\u27Keefe, 1994). Each of these industry scenarios shares an important feature: installed base appears to give rise to network externalities that create value for users who adopt common solutions and buy into shared technological standards. This, in turn, creates value for the acquirers or for the owners of the merged network. Why do some network technologies consolidate with competing technologies or networks to remain competitive, while others evolve to become dominant? How can these outcomes be explained? Although much has been written on the adoption of technologies and networks in the presence of beneficial externalities by economists (e.g., Farrell and Saloner, 1985; Katz and Shapiro, 1985; Oren and Smith, 1981) and IS researchers (e.g., Bakos, 1991; Chismar and Meier, 1992; Clemons and Kleindorfer, 1992; Gurbaxani and Whang, 1991; Seidmann and Wang, 1994), little is known about why network mergers occur under these circumstances. This research examines the determinants ofnetwork default(when a network goes out of business by its own choice) and network consolidationin electronic banking networks, and suggests a general evaluative framework that applies more broadly, to a spectrum of informationtechnologies and competitive interorganization information systems that offer network externalities

International co-ordination of e-commerce

Despite the world-wide stock market breakdown of the internet economy in the year 2001, the new information and communication technologies will enable firms to integrate world-wide e-commerce in their business. This will facilitate the entry of firms in every connected country into international markets and perhaps value up their market position. Therefore, the world-wide use of information and communications technology, in particular e-commerce is fostered. To attain this, there are lot of attempts to regulate the e-economy on an international level as there are uncertainties in legal certainty, data protection or the digital divide between industrialised and development countries. The paper addresses this topic and shows which playing fields of co-ordination in e-commerce are relevant in general and how they are recently implemented in international co-ordination activities by various organisations and states e.g., the European Union, the United States or the WTO.e-commerce; internatioal coordination

IOS ASSIMILATION STRATEGIES: AN EMPIRICAL APPRAISAL

Interorganizational information systems (IOS) are increasingly relied on to facilitate the electronic exchange of data among organizations. Though substantive progress by the research community toward understanding IOS technology has been made, one unattended issue is understanding more fully the efficacy of alternative management strategies for assimilating IOS into organizational processes. Referred to here as IOS assimilation strategies, these strategies may offer to management useful alternatives for planning for and proceeding with IOS implementation. Conceptually based on Keen's (1991) notions of "reach" and "range" regarding organizations' computing infrastructure, two IOS Assimilation Strategies are tested for their comparative effects on three efficiency and six effectiveness measures. The empirical results, based on data from forty-eight organizations of the Group Insurance industry and the nonparametric Friedman test for significance testing, indicate that a significantly different ranking on the efficiency measures occurs across groups inhering varying strengths of IOS use pursuant to the alternative IOS Assimilation Strategies. The results suggest that greater efficiency gains may obtain by pursuing a strategy to extend IOS range over IOS reach. Consequently, management is advised to weigh carefully which IOS benefits, in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, are more important for substantiating IOS investments, and to make decisions regarding IOS implementation accordingly.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

IOS ASSIMILATION STRATEGIES: AN EMPIRICAL APPRAISAL

Interorganizational information systems (IOS) are increasingly relied on to facilitate the electronic exchange of data among organizations. Though substantive progress by the research community toward understanding IOS technology has been made, one unattended issue is understanding more fully the efficacy of alternative management strategies for assimilating IOS into organizational processes. Referred to here as IOS assimilation strategies, these strategies may offer to management useful alternatives for planning for and proceeding with IOS implementation. Conceptually based on Keen's (1991) notions of "reach" and "range" regarding organizations' computing infrastructure, two IOS Assimilation Strategies are tested for their comparative effects on three efficiency and six effectiveness measures. The empirical results, based on data from forty-eight organizations of the Group Insurance industry and the nonparametric Friedman test for significance testing, indicate that a significantly different ranking on the efficiency measures occurs across groups inhering varying strengths of IOS use pursuant to the alternative IOS Assimilation Strategies. The results suggest that greater efficiency gains may obtain by pursuing a strategy to extend IOS range over IOS reach. Consequently, management is advised to weigh carefully which IOS benefits, in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, are more important for substantiating IOS investments, and to make decisions regarding IOS implementation accordingly.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

An Explanatory Case Study on Passenger Service Systems Adoption: A Taiwanese Air Carrier

This study explains the adoption of Passenger Service Systems (PSS) in airlines through the lens of Inter-organizational Systems adoption and home-region orientation. It examined 20 causal factors influencing PSS adoption and tested an original research model in the technology–organization–environment context, by applying transactional cost theory and neo-institutional theory. Prior to a cross-case study across multiple airlines, the explanatory single-case research analyzed interview data from four informants with a Taiwanese carrier and multiple industry reports; the key findings highlight: (i) interoperable functionality and industry standards as external technological drivers strongly influenced full conversion to the PSS platform; (ii) within the organizational context, commitment to global network, organizational transformation and top management support were identified as salient internal factors in decision-making and resource allocation, while normative pressures from an alliance body exerted a stronger influence over the airline than any other isomorphic forces; and (iii) in the context of environment, full conversion was also facilitated by PSS vendors and powered by the need for mutual worldwide learning to effectively operate foreign markets from home region. This in-depth case study provides insights that PSS in a common-use environment can bring business value to PSS user airlines in accessing a broader global market, offering greater competitive services and expanding distribution channels. To increase causality and generalizability, future work involving an embedded multi-case study with three East Asian carriers will be undertaken. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol11/iss1/2

The strategic use of information in the airline industry

This thesis is an empirical investigation of the strategic use of information in the airline industry, and explores the development of competition in the airline industry from an information perspective. The research traces the evolution in the environmental conditions facing airlines from World War I to the present. The research also analyses evolution of the uses of information. Information is an enabler, allowing things to be done, but information can also be a resource in itself. The research finds growing strategic use of information from automation to using information as a resource for strategic flexibility. The main sources of information that airlines use in their strategic efforts are analysed, as well as the ways in which airlines procure this information and the uses they make of it in strategy. The research finds evidence of distinct phases in the evolution of the uses made of information by airlines. Crucial to airline strategic flexibility is local market information acquired informally. However, the evidence also illustrates the serious difficulties airlines face in using the external information about the markets in which they operate in their strategy. Different streams of academic literature support the findings of this empirical research