External Social Capital, Inter-Organizational Knowledge Trading and Enterprise Innovation Performance in Supply Chain: Evidence from Manufacturing Enterprises in China

Based on perspective of cooperative innovation in supply chain, a conceptual model for the effect of external social capital, inter-organizational knowledge trading on enterprise innovation performance is proposed and empirically tested using the data collected from 256 enterprises in supply chain through the structural equation modeling. The external social capital consists of external cognitive capital, external relationship capital, external structure capital and external position capital in this paper. Inter-organizational knowledge trading is divided into explicit knowledge trading and tacit knowledge trading. The results show that external structure capital and external position capital have significant positive impact on explicit knowledge trading, tacit knowledge trading and enterprise innovation performance. External cognitive capital has significant positive impact on explicit knowledge trading and tacit knowledge trading, it does not impact enterprise innovation performance significantly. Although external relationship capital has significant positive impact on tacit knowledge trading, it does not impact explicit knowledge trading and enterprise innovation performance significantly. Finally, we also find that explicit knowledge trading and tacit knowledge trading have significant positive impact on enterprise innovation performance

Modeling Manifest and Latent Structures in a University: Understanding Resources and Dissent Dynamics

Using modeling and computer simulation, this research focuses on studying two different views to organizational design and their implications for performance in the context of academic institutions. One view represents the manifest structure that includes resources (students, faculty, administration, facilities, finances, partners, donors, etc.); the other view represents the latent structure that focuses on dissent. The dissertation addresses the following two questions; 1. What are the tangible dynamic interdependencies constituting the manifest structure within academic institutions and their impact on performance? 2. What is the impact of the latent structures composed of intangible organizational processes, especially dissent, on performance? The dissertation proposes generic system dynamics simulation models untangling the complexity of the topic by tackling various slices of the problem in separate papers. The models are based on three different theoretical frameworks addressing resources and their composition, dissent, and stakeholder engagement. It is observed that while both the manifest and the latent parts of the university organization impact its performance, the latent part, being invisible, is often ignored. In the long run, the influence of the latent part of the organization can slowly but seriously compromise intangible performances components like quality, reputation, and attractiveness. When the manifest part of the organization is dysfunctional, its tangible performance rapidly suffers. The damage control policies will often impact the latent organizational performance leading the institution into a vicious cycle. The presence of time delays in this framework may create an oscillatory behavior that might modulate a growth or decline trend. Performance measures addressing intangible performance components must be factored into the organizational design since faculty, students, and other stakeholders are not only driven by financial rewards, but also by the organizational environment. The research, besides addressing the important question of the role of latent elements in organization design and demonstrating this can be done using system dynamics modeling and computer simulation, should also be of value to the design and management of higher education institutions

The Impact of Human Capital and Organizational Characteristics on the Business Value of Information Technology

In order for a company to operate effectively within today’s marketplace, an information system (IS) represents a necessary business asset in terms of efficiency and productivity. Still, despite the ongoing advances in technology, an IS stands out as an expensive asset due to the amount of change that it brings to organizational life. Its real value, however, must be examined in terms of its interaction with other resources of the firm. Hence, it is necessary to understand the factors that affect the business value of information technology (BVIT). This research addresses the human capital characteristics and organizational characteristics of a firm, resources that are potentially complementary with IT, and their impact on BVIT. The employees’ diversity and knowledge and the company’s organizational climate and structure represent variables that are expected to affect BVIT. This research uses the resource-based view of the firm as a framework for examining IS, while modeling human capital and organizational characteristics as resources of the firm. It also utilizes concepts from the literature on employee diversity and shared knowledge in order to develop theories and hypotheses about the phenomenon. The resulting hypotheses are built into a research model that is tested using Partial Least Squares, with the relevant data deriving from a large database of Canadian firms that was collected by Statistics Canada in 2005 using the Workplace and Employee Survey. The results show that both resources – human capital and organizational characteristics – impact the business value of IT. These findings have many implications for research and practice, and they contribute to the advancement of knowledge within the field of information systems

The Impact of Business Intelligence Capabilities on Strategic Agility in commercial banks in Jordan

This study aimed to examine the impact of business intelligence capabilities on strategic agility. Accelerated technological progress has pushed organizations to race towards adopting strategies and techniques commensurate with this progress in order to achieve strategic goals effectively and efficiently by anticipating changes and adapting to them quickly. The study population was composed of managers at commercial banks in Jordan, as it is considered one of the economic pillars and a catalyst for increasing investments. A random sample was used in collecting data those consisted of (190) managers who formed a response rate of (89.62%). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied for analyzing the data and testing the study hypotheses. The result concluded that business intelligence capabilities have a positive impact on strategic agility. Moreover, it showed that the business intelligence structure and business intelligence technology as dimensions of business intelligence capabilities have a positive impact on strategic agility, while the business intelligence culture has no impact on strategic agility. Consequently, the study recommended managers use technology to discover the business environment and search for organizational methods that enable the integration of the business intelligence culture with the beliefs and values of employees

The impact of collaboration strategy in the field of innovation on the effectiveness of organizational structure of healthcare institutions

The need for innovative development of healthcare institutions is determined by the necessity to increase the efficiency of organizational processes based on the formation of new models of cooperation, which will make it possible to get access to new technologies and knowledge. The goal of the study is to determine the parameters of the impact of innovative open cooperation strategy and the strategy of innovative closed cooperation of healthcare institutions on the effectiveness of their organizational structure in the context of dissemination and the use of knowledge. Simulation modeling was applied to generate the most effective organizational management structure in the context of innovative cooperation and knowledge exchange within the organizational processes “Inside-out” and “Inside-in”. It is substantiated that the strategies of innovative cooperation “Open Innovation/Closed Innovation” have a significant impact on the organizational structure of management of healthcare institutions in terms of the “degree of centralization” (Dci), “degree of mediation” (Dii), and “degree of centralization of powers” (Dpi). The values of the selected criteria range from 25,52% to 61,50% in the case of Dii, and from 34,53% to 52,63% in the case of Dci, which indicates a higher efficiency of organizational knowledge exchange processes in healthcare institutions, which adhere to the Open Innovation strategy of innovative cooperation. Therefore, there are significant differences in the effectiveness of the management’s organizational structure depending on the degree of openness of innovative cooperation of healthcare institutions. The strategy of innovative openness allows increasing the number and quality of connections in the context of knowledge exchange between the subjects (actors, agents) of the organizational structure (in a broad sense, considering internal and external levels of externality) of healthcare institutions, regardless of the distance between them and the level of similarity

Business and Information System Alignment Theories Built on eGovernment Service Practice: An Holistic Literature Review

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.This chapter examines previous studies of alignment between business and information systems holistically in relation to the development of working associations among professionals from information system and business backgrounds in business organization and eGovernment sectors while investigating alignment research that permits the development and growth of information system, which is appropriate, within budget and on-time development. The process of alignment plays a key role in the construction of dependent associations among individuals from two different groups, and the progress of alignment could be enhanced by emerging an information system according to the investors’ prospects. The chapter presents system theory to gather and analyze the data across the designated platforms. The outcomes classify that alignment among business and information system departments remains a priority and is of worry in different ways in diverse areas, which provides prospects for the forthcoming discussion and research.Final Published versio

How do top- and bottom-performing companies differ in using business analytics?

Purpose Business analytics (BA) has attracted growing attention mainly due to the phenomena of big data. While studies suggest that BA positively affects organizational performance, there is a lack of academic research. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to examine the extent to which top- and bottom-performing companies differ regarding their use and organizational facilitation of BA. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses are developed drawing on the information processing view and contingency theory, and tested using multivariate analysis of variance to analyze data collected from 117 UK manufacture companies. Findings Top- and bottom-performing companies differ significantly in their use of BA, data-driven environment, and level of fit between BA and data-drain environment. Practical implications Extensive use of BA and data-driven decisions will lead to superior firm performance. Companies wishing to use BA to improve decision making and performance need to develop relevant analytical strategy to guide BA activities and design its structure and business processes to embed BA activities. Originality/value This study provides useful management insights into the effective use of BA for improving organizational performance

The relation between school leadership from a distributed perspective and teachers' organizational commitment: examining the source of the leadership function

Purpose: In this study the relationship between school leadership and teachers’ organizational commitment is examined by taking into account a distributed leadership perspective. The relation between teachers’ organizational commitment and contextual variables of teachers’ perceptions of the quality and the source of the supportive and supervisory leadership function, participative decision making, and cooperation within the leadership team are examined. Research Design: A survey was set up involving 1,522 teachers from 46 large secondary schools in Flanders (Belgium). Because the data in the present study have an inherent hierarchical structure, that is, teachers are nested into schools, hierarchical linear modeling techniques are applied. Findings: The analyses reveal that 9% of the variance in teachers’ organizational commitment is attributable to differences between schools. Teachers’ organizational commitment is mainly related to quality of the supportive leadership, cooperation within the leadership team, and participative decision making. Who performed the supportive leadership function plays only a marginally significant positive role. The quality of the supervisory leadership function and the role of the leadership team members in this function were not significantly related to teachers’ organizational commitment. Conclusions: The implications of the findings are that to promote teachers’ organizational commitment teachers should feel supported by their leadership team and that this leadership team should be characterized by group cohesion, role clarity, and goal orientedness. Recommendations for further research are provided

Wiring optimization explanation in neuroscience: What is Special about it?

This paper examines the explanatory distinctness of wiring optimization models in neuroscience. Wiring optimization models aim to represent the organizational features of neural and brain systems as optimal (or near-optimal) solutions to wiring optimization problems. My claim is that that wiring optimization models provide design explanations. In particular, they support ideal interventions on the decision variables of the relevant design problem and assess the impact of such interventions on the viability of the target system