Increasing Process Improvement through Internet-based eBusiness Innovations

This research proposes and empirically tests a model of post adoption process improvements realized through use of partners’ Internet-based e-business applications. We identify constructs proposed within adoption and post-adoption use theoretical models as well as presented in existing inter-organizational systems research. Our analysis reveals purely organization-based factors; namely, information systems/technology infrastructure and propensity for like innovations; shape perceptions of process improvement, while technology, or innovation, based and external factors, i.e., ease of use and facilitating conditions respectively, serve as moderators of the relationships between predictors and process improvement

Enterprise Systems Adoption and Firm Performance in Europe: The Role of Innovation

Despite the ubiquitous proliferation and importance of Enterprise Systems (ES), little research exists on their post-implementation impact on firm performance, especially in Europe. This paper provides representative, large-sample evidence on the differential effects of different ES types on performance of European enterprises. It also highlights the mediating role of innovation in the process of value creation from ES investments. Empirical data on the adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Knowledge Management System (KMS), and Document Management System (DMS) is used to investigate the effects on product and process innovation, revenue, productivity and market share growth, and profitability. The data covers 29 sectors in 29 countries over a 5-year period. The results show that all ES categories significantly increase the likelihood of product and process innovation. Most of ES categories affect revenue, productivity and market share growth positively. Particularly, more domainspecific and simpler system types lead to stronger positive effects. ERP systems decrease the profitability likelihood of the firm, whereas other ES categories do not show any significant effect. The findings also imply that innovation acts as a full or partial mediator in the process of value creation of ES implementations. The direct effect of enterprise software on firm performance disappears or significantly diminishes when the indirect effects through product and process innovation are explicitly accounted for. The paper highlights future areas of research.Enterprise Systems; ERP; SCM; CRM; KMS; DMS; IT Adoption; Post-implementation Phase; IT Business Value; Innovation; Firm Performance; Europe

The supply side of innovation diffusion - A UK SME broadband adoption perspective

Recent research suggests that the majority of the Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) e-business research focusses primarily on studying innovation diffusion within the SMEs themselves with limited research into the supply-side of innovation diffusion This study examines the supply side of innovation diffusion to SMEs in south east United Kingdom (UK). It aims to examine and provide an indepth view of the broadband diffusion process to SMEs in UK by exploring the views and activities of the various groups involved in the process with a particular focus on the supply side. Innovation diffusion and social construction of technology theory are applied to extend a framework with a view to address some of the issues not covered in previous literature. Our research results suggest that even though the various social groups are working towards the same goal, both sides have a very different view of what the expectations are from the supply side of innovation diffusion. We believe that our results are useful to providers looking to diffuse broadband as well as other IT innovations to SMEs

Impact of corporate orientation of information technology adoption in the United States forest products industry

This study aims to contribute to addressing the gap that exists in determining the role an organization’s internal operations play in information technology (IT) adoption in organizations. In particular, this research stems from investigating the relationship between company success at adopting information technology systems (the Internet) in the United States forest products industry (specifically, the lumber sector) and the extent to which organizational orientation within the industry supports the development. Following an extensive literature review, a conceptual model that represents the synthesis of information technology adoption-marketing orientation influences is developed. (This study does not infer that a company can acquire only one orientation at any one time). The United States forest products industry has traditionally been perceived as being production-oriented by many researchers. Marketing orientation, however, is a relatively new phenomenon that is gradually seeping into the way the industry does business as a result of competition, technology advancement, and the changing needs of consumers. Consequently, a number of propositions are tested and managerial and research recommendations are put forward. Overall, this research finds that email and the World Wide Web are the two most popular internet-based applications used by companies in the lumber industry. A positive relationship exists between factors of Internet adoption (extent of Internet application, user participation, perceived ease of use by user, perceived usefulness by user, and adoption diffusion by company) and “perceived company effectiveness of Internet adoption” under high and low marketing orientation, with a higher rate of increase in high marketing orientation than low marketing orientation

Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research

This paper reviews the published articles on eTourism in the past 20 years. Using a wide variety of sources, mainly in the tourism literature, this paper comprehensively reviews and analyzes prior studies in the context of Internet applications to Tourism. The paper also projects future developments in eTourism and demonstrates critical changes that will influence the tourism industry structure. A major contribution of this paper is its overview of the research and development efforts that have been endeavoured in the field, and the challenges that tourism researchers are, and will be, facing

Strategic Implications of eCommerce for Papermakers

It is expected that the paper and office products supply chain will move online in the very near future. The hubris of new eBusiness models has ended in a fragmented picture of a multitude of personal views relating to future developments on the eEconomy, eIndustry and eEnterprise levels. This paper endeavors to compile the currently existing knowledge in this field and to identify the basic drivers and inhibitors of the new economy that are of relevance to the forest industry. On the eEconomy level, acceleration in macro-economic growth can be expected due to efficiency and productivity improvements that are triggered by the elimination of information barriers thereby creating more efficient markets. On the eIndustry level, globally operating and more adaptive industry networks will improve economic performance by reaping economies of scale. Less volatile markets will result from improved planning and coordination thereby eliminating redundant capacities. An overly horizontally concentrated market structure might bear the danger of locking the paper industry in an underdevelopment trap of innovation exhaustion and organizational inertia. Business entities on the eEnterprise level will have to adopt the principles of openness, connectivity and strategic integration to fully benefit from networking and integration effects along the entire value chain. However a number of issues, such as sharing critical data in a networked economy, will increase demands for newly adapted business culture and management models

Can knowledge management save regional development?

Australia needs to create innovative regions to sustain economic prosperity and regional development. In order to do this, regions will need to systematically address their knowledge needs and identify tools that are appropriate in maximising their effectiveness. Many initiatives have focused on information and communication technology (ICT) to enable knowledge exchange and stimulate knowledge generation, but active knowledge management (KM) strategies are required if ICTs are to be used effectively. These strategies must respond to the regional economic and social environments which incorporate small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper outlines the importance of KM for supporting regional cluster development and the key ways in which communities of practice (CoPs), a KM technique, have been used to add value in similar contexts. How CoPs and their online counterpart, virtual communities of practice (VCoPs), can be used and developed in regional areas of Australia is considered along with a program for further research.<br /

The First 25 Years of the Bled eConference: Themes and Impacts

The Bled eConference is the longest-running themed conference associated with the Information Systems discipline. The focus throughout its first quarter-century has been the application of electronic tools, migrating progressively from Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) via Inter-Organisational Systems (IOS) and eCommerce to encompass all aspects of the use of networking facilities in industry and government, and more recently by individuals, groups and society as a whole. This paper reports on an examination of the conference titles and of the titles and abstracts of the 773 refereed papers published in the Proceedings since 1995. This identified a long and strong focus on categories of electronic business and corporate perspectives, which has broadened in recent years to encompass the democratic, the social and the personal. The conference\u27s extend well beyond the papers and their thousands of citations and tens of thousands of downloads. Other impacts have included innovative forms of support for the development of large numbers of graduate students, and the many international research collaborations that have been conceived and developed in a beautiful lake-side setting in Slovenia

Understanding Ambidexterity: Managing Contradictory Tensions Between Exploration and Exploitation in the Evolution of Digital Infrastructure

Prior research on the evolution of digital infrastructure has paid considerable attention to effective strategies for resolving contradictory tensions, yet what we still do not understand is the role of higher-level organizational capabilities that help balance the contradictory tensions that emerge during this evolution. In addressing this gap, two related questions guided our investigation: (1) How do organizations experience and resolve contradictory tensions throughout the evolution of digital infrastructure? and (2) What can we learn about the organizational capabilities that drive strategic actions in resolving these contradictory tensions? We approach these questions using an in-depth case study at RE/MAX LLC, a global real estate franchise. Based on our findings, we propose a theoretical model of digital infrastructure ambidexterity. The model recognizes three pairs of capabilities (identifying and germinating, expanding and legitimizing, and augmenting and implanting) and two supporting factors (leadership and structure) that are key to resolving contradictory tensions during this evolution. This study responds to a recent research call for dynamic process perspectives at multiple levels of analysis. We discuss the implications of this model for research and practice and offer observations for future research