Information Systems Skills Differences between High-Wage and Low-Wage Regions: Implications for Global Sourcing

Developing Information Systems (IS) skills for a company’s workforce has always been challenging, but global sourcing growth has caused the determination of needed IS skills to be more complex. The increased use of outsourcing to an IS service provider and from high-wage regions to low-wage regions has affected what IS skills are required globally and how to distribute the workforce to meet these needs. To understand what skills are needed in locations that seek and those that provide outsourcing, we surveyed IS service provider managers in global locations. Results from 126 reporting units provide empirical evidence that provider units in low-wage regions value technical skills more than those in high-wage regions. Despite the emphasis on commodity skills in low-wage areas, high- and low-wage providers value project management skills. Low-wage regions note global and virtual teamwork more than high-wage regions do. The mix of skills and the variation by region have implications for domestic and offshore sourcing. Service providers can vary their staffing models in global regions which has consequences for recruiting, corporate training, and curriculum

Management Control Systems and Contextual Variables in the Hospitality Industry

Purpose – The paper examined management control systems (MCS) in Indonesian hospitality sector. This study examines the impact of six contextual factors at one time to determine the importance of each factor on the design of MCS. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based upon data collected through a survey sent to “star” hotels in Central Java, Indonesia. Using Chenhall (2003) design, a regression equation is run to examine the relationship between MCS and the contextual variables of environment, technology, structure, size, strategy and culture. Findings – The paper finds that higher levels of the contextual variables of technology, structure, and culture are related to more sophisticated MCS while size is related to more traditional MCS. Research limitations/implications –These findings are related to the hospitality industry in Indonesia. Future research could examine different settings (i.e. country, industry, etc) and investigate the effect of each contextual variable on the relationships between MCS and firm performance. Originality/value – The present study extends the scope of MCS system in accounting literature by testing Chenhall (2003) works on the relationship between contextual variables and MCS. It attempts to fill the gap in contingency-based studies that have previously focused on one aspect of contingency by considering six contextual factors. Furthermore, this paper also contributes to a fuller understanding of MCS practices in Indonesia and the hospitality industry and helps management in determining its most effective design. Keywords Hospitality management, Management Control Systems, Indonesia, Contextual Variable

A Survey on Economic-driven Evaluations of Information Technology

The economic-driven evaluation of information technology (IT) has become an important instrument in the management of IT projects. Numerous approaches have been developed to quantify the costs of an IT investment and its assumed profit, to evaluate its impact on business process performance, and to analyze the role of IT regarding the achievement of enterprise objectives. This paper discusses approaches for evaluating IT from an economic-driven perspective. Our comparison is based on a framework distinguishing between classification criteria and evaluation criteria. The former allow for the categorization of evaluation approaches based on their similarities and differences. The latter, by contrast, represent attributes that allow to evaluate the discussed approaches. Finally, we give an example of a typical economic-driven IT evaluation

The complementary use of IS technologies to support flexibility and integration needs in budgeting

In business controllers’ work on budgeting, considered as a classic decision-making process in organisations, it is consistently indicated that enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, business intelligence (BI) and spreadsheets are commonly applied to assist the process. An academic research contribution on this topic is few. Most available research concentrates on ERP systems but it mentions neither BI nor spreadsheets. A further review of budgeting literature designates that budgeting characterises both flexibility and integration needs to accomplish decision-making. Given the limited understanding as to how IS technologies are used in budgeting, this dissertation aims to describe and explain how business controllers can complementarily use IS technologies to support the flexibility and integration needs in a budgeting process. Two research questions addressed are: RQ1- how do business controllers perceive IS technologies in relation to the need for both flexibility and integration in budgeting? And RQ2 - why do business controllers use IS technologies to support the need for both flexibility and integration in budgeting? The analysis employs conceptual ideas pertaining to structuration theory. Empirical data was collected through interviews, observations and documentations with twenty-six business controllers in sixteen companies in Thailand. It is concluded that business controllers perceive IS technologies to enable and constrain their flexibility and integration needs in budgeting. Spreadsheets are the main IS technology used in budgeting despite an existent of ERP systems and BI because of the flexibility that spreadsheets offer. Business controllers use spreadsheets to support both the flexibility and integration domains but they use ERP systems and BI to support the integration function alone. It is necessary for business controllers to rethink their IS technology use practice because spreadsheets cause errors and frauds. The insights generated create a framework to describe how the three IS technologies should be complementarily used to support specific budgeting activities in respect of the flexibility and integration needs

Cultivating Empathy: New Perspectives on Educating Business Leaders

Beyond rules, procedures, and manuals lie relationships. Jettisoning a formal hierarchical company structure allows all levels of management and employees to positively interact – this is where the key driver of “empathy” is so critical to continue building these relationships and molding a common organizational purpose

The Mediating Effect of NPD-Activities and NPD-Performance on the Relationship between Market Orientation and Organizational Performance

Empirical research has demonstrated that a market orientation has in general a positive effect on organizational performance. The potential benefits of a market orientation have, however, not been realized because academics and practitioners do not yet understand the modus operandi that transform market orientation into superior organizational performance. Recent research has demonstrated that the proficiency in new product development (NPD) activities might be the key in the conversion of market orientation into superior NPD-performance, and hence, organizational performance. This study is designed to test a set of hypotheses related to the interrelationships among market orientation, the proficiency in NPD-activities, NPD-performance, and organizational performance. The results from a sample of 126 manufacturing firms in the Netherlands present evidence for the mediating role of the proficiency in several NPD-activities and NPD-performance in the relationship between market orientation and organizational performance. The fact that this mediating role has been found thus provides a better understanding of how market-oriented behaviors are transformed into superior value for customers.performance evaluation;innovation;statistical analysis;market orientation;studies

Improving the Efficiency of Budgeting in Industrial Enterprise: The case of Russia, Italy, and the Middle East

The study improved budgeting efficiency at industrial enterprises with evidence from Russia, Italy, and the Middle East. In the era of contemporary globalization and technological advancement, a budgeting system holds paramount significance in the effective management of the financial operations and activities, enhancing the overall efficiency of the firm's cash management, mitigating the risk of finance misallocation, and improving the overall financial performance of the enterprise. However, despite its effectiveness, there is a lack of evidence supporting budgeting automation and its efficiency in managing industrial enterprises. More so, limited theoretical and practical relevance is found in the context of Russia, Italy, and the Middle East. This research intended to fill the existing research gap where a qualitative research design was opted. Primary data were collected from the budgeting heads of 3 pharmaceutical firms, each located in Russia, Italy, and Iran. In-depth interviews with 3 budgeting heads identified that the conventional incremental budgeting system needed amendment and replacement with a consolidated and contemporary yet flexible approach to bring radical improvements at the macro-environment level within the industrial enterprise. The key findings led to the development of a model to improve budgeting efficiency, comprising three components: information and analytical/accounting support for budgeting, production accounting information, and a combination of the regulated operation prices. The consolidation of these three components can yield budgeting efficiency

Manager's degree of JIT involvement, locus of control and managerial performance

The competitive global environment has lead many firms into adopting practices that focus on eliminating inefficiencies across the enterprise and its supply chain. The Just-in-Time philosophy is one such practice, however, research has predominantly focused on its technical features and on organisational variables, with surprising little research at the individual level. This paper examines JIT at an individual level and argues that the manager’s locus of control orientation would interact with their degree of JIT involvement to affect managerial performance. The results of a survey of 60 managers employing JIT, demonstrate that an increased degree of JIT involvement leads to a more positive effect on managerial performance for internal locus of control managers than for external locus of control managers