Organizational Culture and Information Systems Implementation: A Structuration Theory Perspective

The structure and culture of an organization does affect implementation of projects. In this paper we try to identify organizational factors that could affect the implementation efforts of an Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). The information system in question has taken overtly a long time and it’s not complete yet. We set out to find out whether organizational issues are at play in this particular project. The project under study is a large-scale integrated information system which aims at strengthening and further developing Financial Management Information in the wider public service in Kenya. We borrow concepts from Structuration Theory as applied in sociology to understand the organizational perspective in the project. We use the theory to help explain some of the meanings, norms and issues of power experienced during the implementation of the IFMIS. Without ruling out problems of technological nature, the findings suggest that many of the problems in the IFMIS implementation may be attributed to organizational factors, and that certain issues are related to the existing organization culture within government

Effects of Information Technologies on Organizational Culture: A Discussion Based on the Key Role of Organizational Structure

This chapter discusses the influences of information technologies on cultural features of organizations with an emphasis on the concept of “organizational structure” because research shows that organizational culture and organizational structure are in a very close relationship. In this regard, it argues that information technologies can have direct and indirect effects on organizational cultures based on the information technologies’ influences on organizational structures and the processes, activities, and human relations within these structures. Underlining different and controversial approaches and findings in the literature, this study makes some deductions by referring to important features of information technologies and organizational culture. Therefore, the approaches and evaluations given here are thought to be useful for the practitioners and students who are interested in the subject and the academic staff who are interested in doing research on this subject

An Empirical Investigation of Factors Influencing Knowledge Management System Success

Knowledge has been viewed as a critical component for organizations. Consequently, organizations implement Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs) to seek competitive advantages, but they may encounter mixed results. This research draws on previous information system and knowledge management system success-related literature and selects eight factors that are believed to be critical for the successful implementation of a KMS. These factors were derived through a literature search of current KMS success-related literature. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that could have a clear influence on the development and implementation of KMSs. The study presents the empirical examination of a theoretical model of KMS success for predicting system use by law enforcement officers. The research findings were accomplished through a validated questionnaire that surveyed 10 law enforcement officers from various agencies. These results contribute to the literature by empirically supporting the hypothesized relationships between identified success factors and KMS success. Though limited in sample size, this research can serve as a foundation for future studies, which can help identify other factors critical for KMS success. The comprehensive model can be used to undertake further research and thus add value to knowledge management system-based literature. In addition to its theoretical contributions, the study also presents important practical implications through the identification of specific infrastructure capabilities leading to KMS success

Economic cycle and Information Technology management : Explorative survey of effects and challenges

This master thesis aims to find out by literature review the interrelations between economic cycles and information technology (IT) stages and deployment. In furtherance of this aim, an explorative survey analysis of the opinions of IT managers in Finland about how the economic environment influences IT management and deployment was analyzed. By identifying recent economic cycles and IT infrastructure cycles, some inter-relations was ob-served. The effects of economic cycle on IT and IT deployment in organizations is difficult to prove although there has been some obvious reductions in IT project expenditures and in some circumstances an abrupt postponement of ongoing IT projects during recessions. The result of this study is based on the opinions of 249 IT managers. First, there was an evaluation in performance matrix on how organizational objectives including IT are affected by the economic situation. Some effects were noticed in this population, but they were not statistically significant differences. Therefore an explorative analysis of factors affecting different key phenomena of IT management and deployment were made. In the analysis, it was observed that IT manager’s opin-ions seems to be most homogenous in the following variables: 1) Trying to increase efficiency of IT by cutting down IT costs, 2) Postponing IT purchases and investments, 3) Requiring extremely short pay-back times from IT investments.The explanation for the homogeneity in financial items might be because of the pace of change and invention in the field of IT. As a result of the rapid pace of change in IT, organizations need to always keep up with budgets and investments into IT to derive the full benefits from IT. To be able to stay ahead of economic cycle changes, IT managers in particular and managers in general should continually scan the business environment for signals of economic cycle changes and subsequently implement pro-grams and policies to effectively mitigate the effects of economic cycle changes on their busi-nesses

Business intelligence for sustainable competitive advantage: the case of telecommunications companies in Malaysia

The concept of Business Intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool has been widely emphasized in the strategic management literature. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well explained. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage.Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.This research uses combination of theoretical foundation of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study then is carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by Partial Least Square-based Structural Equation Modeling.The findings revealed that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management will have better chance in realizing their dreams of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. It thus implied that the executives’ positive perceptions towards BI initiatives are deemed necessary. Moreover, the most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social and environmental issues.The BI model well explained how BI was deployed in Malaysian telecommunications companies. This study thus contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts

The development of the e-commerce technology adoption in Libya : evidence from the Libyan oil and gas industry

The style of doing business electronically, especially using the Internet, is now popularly known as e-Commerce technology. It is generally acknowledged that e-Commerce is revolutionizing the way of doing business. Internet and e-Commerce experts and researchers have recognized the potential of e-Commerce applications for the success of any organization. There is evidence that many companies have benefited from such technology. However, despite numerous studies of e-Commerce, there is a little research identifying the factors associated with the adoption of e-Commerce within petroleum companies. This research investigates factors that influence the adoption of e-Commerce in Libyan Oil and Gas Companies (LOGCs). The study provides insights into the perceptions of Internet and e-Commerce in Libyan petroleum companies who are developing or will develop Internet and e-Commerce technology. However, the LOGCs lack information technology (IT) infrastructure, technical expertise and good management, which appear to be real barriers to adopting e-Commerce. This study will assist those LOGCs that are considering or currently conducting their business using the Internet and e-Commerce. A framework of e-Commerce adoption will be developed to investigate the factors that potentially influence the adoption of e-Commerce. Many oil and gas companies are transferring part of their businesses to the Internet. So how are the LOGCs rising to face the challenges of the fast-moving information age? The Libyan petroleum industry seems to be very slow in responding to this area of information technology. If so, then the full potential of the industry and economy will be compromised. This research examines the factors that hinder or facilitate e- Commerce adoption. A questionnaire was developed utilizing ideas from the existing literature. The sample consisted of top managers in LOGCs (n--21 1). Multiple methods were used to collect and analyse the data: descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis. All analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The results confirmed the findings of the literature survey, in that organizational characteristics influence e-Commerce adoption level. This study proposes a theoretical framework with influential factor groups including organizational, innovation, industry, and environmental factors. Some themes have emerged from previous literature explaining the reasons for rejecting e-Commerce adoption. The results confirm that organizational factors are highly significant in explaining e-Commerce adoption. The results also confirm that environmental factors are crucial and there was a significant relationship between the level of e-Commerce adoption and environmental factors. It is also confirmed that the perceived benefit coefficient has a negative sign and it is not significantly related to adoption level. Finally, the industry factors are not related to e-Commerce adoption level as hypothesized. This study has various limitations, and further research is needed in order to develop a more comprehensive e-Commerce technology adoption model