Environmental and organisational drivers influencing the adoption of unified communications technology in South Africa

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-174).Even though Information technology (IT) adoption has been widely studied most of this research has been conducted from within a limited set of perspectives. This study used a combination of perspectives as lenses to understand the factors that enable the adoption of unified communications in South Africa

The Conceptual Perspective of the Moderating Role of Organizational Culture in the Information Technology Innovativeness and Adoption Decision

Government Information Technology Innovativeness defined as notion of openness to new information technology ideas in the government as an aspect of an organizational culture. In adopting the information technology innovativeness, organizational culture plays a crucial role. Misunderstood organizational culture within information technology innovativeness may generate unrealistic or inaccurate outcomes. Unfortunately, the role of organizational culture is nearly ignored in information technology innovativeness literature. In response, using the Resources based view (RBV), contingency and Diffusion-Innovation-Theory (DIT), this paper argues on the interaction between the influence of organizational characteristics (management support, information technology readiness, government strategy) and organizational culture, so as to explain information technology innovativeness. This proposition could improve understanding the information technology innovativeness and help to resolve inconsistency of findings in the literature. Keywords: organizational characteristics; information technology innovativeness; Palestine; organizational culture

Proceedings of RSEEM 2006 : 13th Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets

Electronic markets have been a prominent topic of research for the past decade. Moreover, we have seen the rise but also the disappearance of many electronic marketplaces in practice. Today, electronic markets are a firm component of inter-organisational exchanges and can be observed in many branches. The Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets is an annual conference bringing together researchers working on various topics concerning electronic markets in research and practice. The focus theme of the13th Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets (RSEEM 2006) was ?Evolution in Electronic Markets?. Looking back at more than 10 years of research activities in electronic markets, the evolution can be well observed. While electronic commerce activities were based largely on catalogue-based shopping, there are now many examples that go beyond pure catalogues. For example, dynamic and flexible electronic transactions such as electronic negotiations and electronic auctions are enabled. Negotiations and auctions are the basis for inter-organisational trade exchanges about services as well as products. Mass customisation opens up new opportunities for electronic markets. Multichannel electronic commerce represents today?s various requirements posed on information and communication technology as well as on organisational structures. In recent years, service-oriented architectures of electronic markets have enabled ICT infrastructures for supporting flexible e-commerce and e-market solutions. RSEEM 2006 was held at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany in September 2006. The proceedings show a variety of approaches and include the selected 8 research papers. The contributions cover the focus theme through conceptual models and systems design, application scenarios as well as evaluation research approaches

Mapping domain characteristics influencing Analytics initiatives: The example of Supply Chain Analytics

Purpose: Analytics research is increasingly divided by the domains Analytics is applied to. Literature offers little understanding whether aspects such as success factors, barriers and management of Analytics must be investigated domain-specific, while the execution of Analytics initiatives is similar across domains and similar issues occur. This article investigates characteristics of the execution of Analytics initiatives that are distinct in domains and can guide future research collaboration and focus. The research was conducted on the example of Logistics and Supply Chain Management and the respective domain-specific Analytics subfield of Supply Chain Analytics. The field of Logistics and Supply Chain Management has been recognized as early adopter of Analytics but has retracted to a midfield position comparing different domains. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses Grounded Theory based on 12 semi-structured Interviews creating a map of domain characteristics based of the paradigm scheme of Strauss and Corbin. Findings: A total of 34 characteristics of Analytics initiatives that distinguish domains in the execution of initiatives were identified, which are mapped and explained. As a blueprint for further research, the domain-specifics of Logistics and Supply Chain Management are presented and discussed. Originality/value: The results of this research stimulates cross domain research on Analytics issues and prompt research on the identified characteristics with broader understanding of the impact on Analytics initiatives. The also describe the status-quo of Analytics. Further, results help managers control the environment of initiatives and design more successful initiatives.DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2019 - 2020 / Technische Universität Berli

Study on the Conceptual Model of E-Government standards Adoption Based on Institutional Theory

The purpose of this study is to investigate the forces that promote national e-government standards adoption and diffusion by government agencies. By using institutional theory as a theoretical basis, a conceptual model is set up and the hypotheses are proposed. Three forces of improving national e-government standards adoption are discussed. They are coercive forces, mimetic forces and normative forces. The survey questionnaire has been developed which will be used to test the theoretical model. All the data will be expectedly collected by the end of May, 2013 and then the structural equation model will be analyzed with PLS. From a theoretical perspective, the research model may be informative for researchers investigating the adoption of other technological standards. From the practical perspective, the research results may give some advice to government officials to promote the diffusion national e-government standards

Servitization of Manufacturing companies in emerging markets

Securing a competitive advantage for manufacturing companies in economies with fierce rivalry has increasing become difficult. With financial success, company growth and differentiation being objectives manufacturers are continuously striving to achieve it has becoming more beneficial to manufacturer to servitize. Servitization is the process through which manufacturers integrate services to product offering as a means of adding value to the offerings, differentiate from the competitors or generate additional revenue. Current literature has predominantly focused on western world manufactures in developed markets with little insight into the process in emerging markets such as that of Kenya as used in this study. This study aimsto examine the role of servitization in the pursuit of differentiation and achieving competitive advantage for manufacturing firms in emerging economies therefore, addressing this gap in current literature. The study utilises two key frameworks which are servitization theory and organizational culture theory addressing the existing literature and its closely related concepts. Thesestwo frameworks are chosen as they serve as the basis for studying manufacturing companies undergoing a service transition. A theoretical lens is created based on the synthesis of these two frameworks from which the developed servitization capabilities can be drawn and providing a simple view of the empirical results. The empirical section of this study includes the analysis of three unnamed manufacturing company. Primary data is collected through semi structured interviews with the managers from the case companies, the data is then analysed using context analysis. The study finds several differences in the motivations, challenges, and effects of servitization with conceptual similarities between the manufacturing companies in developed markets i.e., Europe and north America with emerging markets i.e., Sub Saharan Africa and southeast Asia. The level of servitization in Kenya is also highlighted given the scope of the data collected in the study with varying levels of servitization capabilities noted amongst different industries and the viability of ser

A Model for Emergency Service of VoIP through Certification and Labeling

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) will transform many aspects of traditional telephony service, including the technology, the business models, and the regulatory constructs that govern such service. Perhaps not unexpectedly, this transformation is generating a host of technical, business, social, and policy problems. In attempting to respond to these problems, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could mandate obligations or specific solutions to VoIP policy issues; however, it is instead looking first to industry initiatives focused on the key functionality that users have come to expect of telecommunications services. High among this list of desired functionality is user access to emergency services for purposes of summoning fire, medical, and law enforcement agencies. Such services were traditionally required to be implemented (and subsequently were implemented) through state and federal regulations. An emergency service capability is a critical social concern, making it particularly important for the industry to propose viable solutions for promoting VoIP emergency services before regulators are compelled to mandate a solution. Reproducing emergency services in the VoIP space has proven to be a considerable task, mainly due to the wide and diverse variety of VoIP implementations and implementers. While technical and business communities have, in fact, made considerable progress in this area, significant uncertainty and deployment problems still exist. The question we ask is this: Can an industry-based certification and labeling process credibly address social and policy expectations regarding emergency services and VoIP, thus avoiding the need for government regulation at this critical time? We hypothesize that the answer is “yes.” In answering this question, we developed a model for VoIP emergency service compliance through industry certification and device labeling. This model is intended to support a wide range of emergency service implementations while providing users with sufficient verification that the service will operate as anticipated. To this end, we first examine possible technical implementations for VoIP emergency services. Next, we summarize the theory of certification as self-regulation and examine several relevant examples. Finally, we synthesize a specific model for certification of VoIP emergency services. We believe that the model we describe provides both short-term and long-term opportunities. In the short term, an industry-driven effort to solve the current problem of VoIP emergency services, if properly structured and overseen as we suggest, should be both effective and efficient. In the long term, such a process can serve as a self-regulatory model that can be applied to social policy goals in the telecommunications industry, making it an important tool to have as the industry becomes increasingly diverse and heterogeneous

How Human Resource and Information Systems Practices Amplify the Returns on Information Technology Investments

This study examines the important roles that human resources (HR) for information technology (IT) professionals and information systems (IS) practices for all workers in an organization play in shaping returns on firms’ IT investments. In particular, we consider how incentives, autonomy, and training for IT professionals can enable a firm to better leverage the value of its IT investments. We argue that well-trained, motivated, and empowered IT professionals can help firms make better strategic choices in allocating IT investments and implementing IT projects. We also demonstrate how this moderating relationship depends upon collaborative IS and autonomy-enhancing IS practices that affect other knowledge workers in the firm. We leverage archival data for 228 firms with 736 firm-year observations and document two key findings. We find (1) that empowering HR practices for IT professionals positively moderate the effect of IT investments on firm performance, and (2) that the alignment between empowering HR practices for IT professionals and firm-wide collaborative IS practices enhances the value that firms derive from IT investments. Our results suggest that the business value of IT investments is linked to the rewards and opportunities offered to IT professionals, who have a pivotal role in the effective deployment of IT in organizations

Does It Matter? A New Institutional Economics Prespective on B2B E-Commerce Adoption In Greater China and USA

Grounding on new institutional economic theory, this paper studies the impact and effect of institutional environment on Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce adoption in the Greater China region and USA. In a two-phase study, we find that 1) industrial pressure is always the most powerful external facilitator for B2B e-commerce adoption; 2) at the beginning stage of e-commerce, supportive government policy was a prime force to encourage private sector to adopt e-commerce; and 3) as e-commerce becomes more prevalent and routine in business, e-commerce adoption is more business-driven and governmental policy loses its influence. The study is one of the first cross-country studies on the institutional environment and fills the knowledge gap of understanding the external environment of e-commerce