An empirical investigation of the adoption and usage of electronic data interchange in the hotel industry

This dissertation examines the application of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) adoption and use in the hotel industry. EDI is a type of interorganizational information system that facilitates the exchange of business documents in structured, machine processable form. The research model links EDI adoption to four usages: purchasing, accounting, financing and strategic. Based on relevant literature, six theories were selected from which, nineteen hypotheses were proposed for the relationships between EDI adoption and usage; The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire that was mailed out to 1200 hotel manager with the title of purchasing managers, controllers, and management information systems managers. The managers had the option of mailing in the questionnaire or go to the following Web Site: http://www.unlv.edu/faculty/ramdeen/EDIsurvey.htm and fill out the questionnaire then submit. The usable responses were 287 (23.92 rate); The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. The analysis supports the following hypothesis: (1) EDI purchasing and financing usage is positively related to property size, (2) trading status is positively related to purchasing use, (3) business presence/feedback and quality is positively related to strategic use, (4) uncertainty is positively related to purchases and strategic use, (5) analyzability is positively related to strategic use, and (6) interdependence is positively related to purchase and strategic use; EDI is one of the many ways hotels may exchange information. This study shows that EDI can be use by hotels for purchasing, financing and strategic purposes. For hotels to improve their internal usages of EDI two conditions must be accomplish. First, hotels must improve the information flow between their trading partners. Second, the information flow must be sufficient to stimulate intraorganizational usages. It is anticipated that the role of EDI in hotels will continue to grow in the future. Presently, EDI in hotels are more confine to purchasing (purchase or purchase order processing), and strategic use (long-term procurement contracts and linkages to electronic funds). In the future, EDI could become an important tool for hotels to use in conducting business in both an interorganizational and intraorganizational way; Research on EDI is still in a growth stage. By identifying and testing relevant intraorganizational variables, this study offers insights to practitioners managing internal activities within hotels that are currently using or planning to use EDI. Further, the dissertation provides avenues for future research aimed at understanding the applications of EDI technology and its administrative capabilities that could benefit both practitioners and academics

Getting on the E List: E-Mail Use in a Community of Service Provider

This case examines how a community of organizations providing service to people experiencing homelessness made use of an electronic mail list. Current economic conditions have encouraged organizations in various sectors—including nonprofits—that might normally compete for scarce resources to collaborate with one another to increase their chances of survival. One set of tools likely to be of value in such relationships includes various online discussion technologies. An examination of this community’s email list use over a three-year period suggests a somewhat complex picture regarding technology use. More specifically, some issues both constrain and enable use. Additionally, seemingly basic and minimal uses of the list provided not only the greatest functionality for the users, but also led to several unanticipated consequences for those involved

LEARNING FROM INTERORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCT FAILURE EXPERIENCE IN THE MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY

Much research examines the causes of product failures such as the Ford Pinto gas tank design. Research also examines the consequences of product failures such as new product introductions resulting from the need to improve failed products. However, little is known about how the causes and consequences of product failures interact across different firms, and generate inter-organizational learning, within the same industry. Specifically, limited research has examined if a firm learns to reduce its own annual rate of product failures (e.g., experiences fewer product-related adverse events) by attending to the product failures and new product introductions of its competitors. In addition, we also do not know (1) how delayed reporting of product failure influences interorganizational learning, and (2) how the introduction of new products by one company impacts another firm’s effort to learn from this competitor’s product failures. To address these gaps, this dissertation develops and tests relationships between (1) inter-organizational learning from product failures, (2) product failure reporting delays, and (3) new product introductions. Regression analysis of 98,576 manufacturing firm-year observations from the medical device industry over a ten-year period (1998 to 2008) supports the proposed model. Specifically, the analysis supported two insights: (1) As expected, a competitor’s reporting delays can inhibit learning from others’ failures by increasing the chance of making poor inferences about the failure. Unexpectedly, however, delays can also improve inter-organizational learning because in reports that have taken longer to file, a clearer understanding of the failure’s cause-effect relationships is developed. iii (2) As expected, a competitor\u27s new product introductions positively impact interorganizational learning by transferring knowledge of product design between firms. Unexpectedly, a competitor’s new product introductions can also negatively impact inter-organizational learning from product failure by distracting the observing firm’s attention away from the competitor’s failures. The thesis contributes to the inter-organizational learning literature by: (1) modelling learning from others’ product failures, (2) highlighting the effects of reporting delays, and (3) showing how others’ new product introductions can distract. This thesis shows that learning from others’ product failures and new product introductions has significant benefits because it prevents serious injury and death among device users

Why People Forward Emails to Others?

The issue of electronic mail (e-mail) communication has attracted much academic attention over the last two decades. Yet, little is known about why people forward emails to others. Through a review of the literature, this paper aims to investigate reasons why people forward emails and proposes several variables related to one\u27s intention of doing so. More specifically, we hypothesize that the higher degree the four possible variables are (the recipient’s trust in the email content, the recipient\u27s trust in the senders, intention to staying in touch with friends, and the receivers\u27 altruism trait), the more likely people will forward emails. On the other hand, we hypothesize that the lower degree the two possible variables are (the size of email file, and the cost of forwarding e-mail), the less likely people will forward emails

The resource-based and relational views: complementary perspectives of competitive advantage

Two theoretical perspectives that recognize that differences in firm performance are due to differences in resource endowments are the Resource-based View (RBV) (Barney, 1991) and the Relational View (Dyer & Singh, 1998). However, while the RBV focuses on the attributes of resources endowments that reside within the firm, the Relational View asserts that a firm\u27s critical resources can reside outside the firm. The purpose of this research is to examine the Relational View and the Resource-based View as complementary perspectives by exploring the question: Does the Relational View contribute additional and positive explanatory power to a Resource-based View of competitive advantage? This study offered a conceptual model of competitive position as comprised of a firm\u27s intraorganizational resource position (the Resource-based View) as well as a firm\u27s interorganizational resource position (the Relational View). To test the hypotheses developed from this model, data was gathered from reliable primary and secondary sources relating to resource endowments, integration strategy and organizational performance. This data was gathered for hospitals (853 hospitals) in 33 of the largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Results obtained using regression indicated that the strength of both firms\u27 intraorganizational resource positions as well as their interorganizational resource positions is positively related to performance. Performance was measured with four variables. Return on Assets, Cash Flow Margin, Growth and Market Share. This provided support for the notion that the Relational View provides a needed complementary perspective to the RBV of competitive advantage. Finally, the study\u27s non-findings indicated that while strategic complementarity was positively related to performance, organizational complementarity did not have the hypothesized moderating effect on the relationship between interorganizational resource position and performance

Investigating Managers' Exploration and Exploitation Activities: The Influence of Top-down, Bottom-up, and Horizontal Knowledge Inflows

This paper develops and tests hypotheses on the influence of a manager’s knowledge inflows on this manager’s exploration and exploitation activities. Based on a survey among managers of a leading electronics firm, the findings indicate, as expected, that top-down knowledge inflows of a manager positively relate to the extent to which this manager conducts exploitation activities, while they do not relate to a manager’s exploration activities. Furthermore, as expected, bottom-up and horizontal knowledge inflows of a manager positively relate to this manager’s exploration activities, while they do not relate to a manager’s exploitation activities. We contribute to current literature on exploration and exploitation by focusing on the manager level of analysis, and by adding the importance of knowledge flow configurations to the literature on the impact of organizational factors upon exploration and exploitation.Exploitation;Exploration;Bottom-up;Horizontal;Knowledge inflows;Manager-level;Top-down

Risk Mitigation in Supply Chain Digitization: System Modularity and Information Technology Governance

Firms face significant risk when they adopt digital supply chain systems to transact and coordinate with their partners. Drawn upon modular systems theory, this study proposes that system modularity mitigates the risk of adopting digital supply chain systems and therefore motivates firms to digitize more of their supply chain operations. The study theorizes how the risk-mitigating effect of system modularity can be enhanced by the allocation of decision rights to the IT (information technology) unit. The main logic is that IT managers with more domain IT knowledge can better utilize their knowledge in decision making to achieve effective system modularity. We tested these theoretical propositions using a survey study of Chinese companies and found empirical support. We also found that the allocation of decision rights to the IT unit does not directly mitigate the perceived risk of digital supply chain systems, which highlights the role of decision allocation to the IT unit as a key moderator in risk mitigation. The study generates theoretical and practical implications on how IT governance and system modularity may jointly mitigate risk and foster supply chain digitization

Implementation of Self-Directed Supports for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Political Economy Analysis

Self-directed supports, as a method of service delivery, have grown from small pilot programs in a handful of states to at least one program in every state. For individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), self-direction presents unique opportunities to engage in self-determined behavior and shape the services upon which they rely. Although the evidence base for self-direction is relatively robust, there is a significant lack of information on how implementation of self-direction is faring on the national level. The purpose of this study is to understand how the political and economic factors within and across states have impacted the implementation of a self-directed service delivery system

The political economy of information management : a theoretical and empirical analysis of decision making regarding interorganizational information systems

Het onderzoek waarover in dit proefschrift wordt gerapporteerd heeft betrekking op verschillende vormen van besluitvorming ten aanzien van informatiesystemen die door meerdere organisaties worden ontwikkeld en gebruikt.