25 Years of Research into the Management of eTechnology Projects

Over the last 25 years, information technology has evolved from intra-organizational systems to inter-organizational electronic technologies (eTechnology) that span organizations and industries and to extra-organizational systems delivered via the Internet, which involve individuals rather than organizationss. Project management research has largely sought reasons for project outcomes (Factor Research), and considered projects either as a process (Engineering Tradition) or as a form of organization (Social Science Tradition). This meta-analysis of 284 research papers identified key findings that provide insights and guidance for eTechnology project management in different technical and organizational environments. As the management context of eTechnology projects changed and project implementation moved beyond the control of a single organization, research focus shifted to examining topics within inter-organizational environments. Although some shift in focus occurred towards the social aspects of eTechnology project management, there was comparatively little use of multiple levels of analysis or interdisciplinary research within the Social Science Tradition

Modeling Green eBusiness Adoption among Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises in Tanzania

This study was set to model Green eBusiness adoption among SMTEs in Tanzania, right from sourcing, operations, and to end-of-life-management. The study employed the use of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze quantitative data collected from 240 respondents selected from 80 SMTEs in Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, and Zanzibar, who were in operations for at least three years. Although there were twelve hypotheses formulated, only seven hypotheses (with constructs Self-Efficacy, Effort Expectancy, Facilitating Conditions, Coercive Pressures, Intention to Use both to commitment and to Green eBusiness, and Commitment towards Green eBusiness adoption) were revealed significant. Others (with constructs Performance Expectancy, Organizational Support, Green Entrepreneurial Attitude, Normative Pressure, and Mimetic Pressure) were deemed insignificant and thus rejected. These findings imply that, if a firm is to adopt Green eBusiness, the technology behind it has to be easy to use, which inculcate an individual’s self efficacy to use Green eBusiness, drivers that influence Intention to Use. On the other hand, the presence of Facilitating Conditions is important to persuade the new adopters, while, the existence of Coercive Pressure is important in order to reinforce the “green” behaviors related to use of IT and E-Business in general

Effective Inter-Organizational Information and Communication Technology Adoption in Business-to-Business Customer Interface

Past research has found that 80-90 percent of IT investments do not meet corporate performance objectives, primarily due to non-technical reasons such as human and organizational aspects. When Inter-organizational Information and Communication Technology (IICT) implementation is properly managed IICT can help manage the flow of goods, services, and information between business partners in the supplier-customer dyad, thus reducing transaction costs along the entire value chain. Using the underlying Resource-Based View theoretical foundation, this research approaches effective IICT implementation capability as a holistic organizational capability that extends beyond tangible IT resources. This research investigates business outcomes of IICT adoption in the customer interface of supplier-buyer dyad from the supplier’s perspective. A conceptual model was developed and tested that examines cultural, strategic, and managerial factors’ effects on successful IICT implementation. The research identified four facets of customer interface IICT adoption impact on business: 1) internal business process efficiency, 2) customer relationships, 3) information diffusion with customers, and 4) competitive position. “Change management”, “industry sector”, “technology opportunism”, and “IT resources” were found to be significant determinants of customer interface IICT adoption effectiveness. Partial support was gained to indicate that also “managerial IT knowledge” and “information dissemination” had a positive relationship with IICT adoption effectiveness. The findings in the respondent profile revealed that the organizational capabilities that were found most to affect IICT effectiveness were the weakest organizational capabilities in respondent organizations. The research results show that the forest industry sector is lagging non-forest products industry sectors in appropriating value from customer interface IICT implementation. In light of the research results, it can not be concluded that forest industry and non-forest industry respondents would have any significant gaps in the investigated organizational capabilities that have a relationship with IICT effectiveness. However, the findings show that forest industry respondents had adopted IICT later and are currently using it less in their business functions than non-forest industry respondents. The findings indicate that websites, extranets, and direct integration are perceived as valuable eBusiness tools, as opposed to eIntermediaries which are not considered to bring as much value, regardless of customer relationship type