Investigation of How IT Leadership Impacts IT-Business Alignment through Shared Domain Knowledge and Knowledge Integration

Using full range leadership model and the knowledge-based view of organizations, we develop and test a model linking Information Technology (IT) leadership to IT-business alignment. Specifically, we examine how transformational IT leadership behaviors influence IT-business alignment through mechanisms that develop shared domain knowledge between IT and business personnel and mechanisms that integrate specialized IT and business knowledge. We also examine how the former mechanisms influence the efficiency of the latter. This study contributes to the existing literature by suggesting transformational leadership and mechanisms related to knowledge integration as key factors in IT-business alignment

IT Capabilities – Quo Vadis?

The successful management of IT capabilities and their complex interdependencies with other organizational capabilities constitutes an important source of competitive advantage for many organizations today. The role of IT capabilities in enabling competitive actions is well-researched. By reviewing a large number of IT capabilities-focused research articles, the authors seek to answer the questions, “What have we learned? What do we still need to learn?” This research-in-progress article presents key findings regarding IT capabilities, highlighting current research limitations, and providing propositions and recommendations regarding future research

Exploring the Divergent Social Dimensions of CEO Narcissism on Internal Firm Outcomes

In this study, I move away from the common clinical conception of narcissism in management to a novel two-dimensional concept and measurement of narcissism. Because these dimensions are shown to have divergent motives, goals, social strategies, and behaviors, I theorize that these differences in narcissism will have diverging effects on the firm. Then, I shift the conceptual focus of CEO narcissism research from the CEO as an agentic decision-maker seeking external praise for firm consequences to an implicit social strategist who prioritizes short-term interpersonal interactions in service of narcissistic supply. I examine four internal outcomes likely to be influenced by the two dimensions of narcissism: CEO tenure, heir apparent likelihood, TMT turnover, and vertical pay disparity. I test my hypotheses using a videometric approach on a random sample of SP500 firms from 2018

Essays in Leadership Communication

This work centers around leadership communication: how our (dis)information-rich and uncertain global environment has posed challenges to and offered opportunities for this key leadership behavior, and how leaders engage in difficult communications with their stakeholders. I focus on leader-stakeholder two-way dynamics to investigate leader communication in critical moments when they deliver undesirable information to their stakeholders and respond to tough questions from their stakeholders. Essay I reviews research on leader communication and discusses those challenges and opportunities. Essay II uses 107 million Twitter posts to examine stakeholder responses to political leaders’ COVID-19 communications and illustrates the evolving leader-stakeholder relationship throughout different phases of the global pandemic. Essay III explores organizational leaders’ response strategies when facing difficult questions from stakeholders in high-stakes corporate environments. In conclusion, I aim to highlight leaders’ indispensable responsibilities to communicate effectively, benevolently, and responsibly, enhancing the field’s current understanding of crisis leadership, followership, and strategic leadership

From innovative I.S. strategy to customer value:the roles of innovative business orientation, CIO leadership and organizational climate (Equal contribution)

While information systems (IS) have traditionally been used primarily for firm-wide operational efficiency, emerging theoretical perspectives have shifted scholarly focus to IS as a force that can drive value through business innovation. This study examines how IS strategy creates customer value through an innovative business orientation and how IS leadership and the organizational context can influence the relationship between innovative IS and business strategies. Integrating several research streams under the umbrella of the IS strategic management literature, we develop and empirically validate a research model based on confirmatory analysis and structural equation modeling applied to survey data collected from senior IS executives in 165 organizations based in the United States and India. Our results suggest that organizations that have an innovative IS strategy are well positioned to engage in business innovation, which in turn yields greater customer value. Furthermore, we find that strong IS leadership and a creative organizational climate enhance the relationship between an innovative IS strategy and innovative business orientation

Strategic Human Resources in Casino Operations: Revealing the Perceptions of Casino Operators and Human Resource Leaders

The casino industry in America continues to grow. As the industry expands, the competition for revenue generation and market share increases. This requires the ability to differentiate from the competition and create competitive advantage, within a highly commoditized industry. In service of this need, capable gaming executives are necessary to design and execute the strategy required. Human resource (HR) leaders are not immune from this requirement. Human resource leaders are in an excellent position to create an HR strategy aligned with organizational strategy to capitalize on an employers’ workforce in support of differentiation and sustained competitive advantage. Six research objectives were established for this study to describe the perceptions of casino HR leaders and casino business-unit leaders relating to the perceived value of the HR function as a viable method to achieving sustained competitive advantage in the Mississippi casino industry. The study employed a cross-sectional, non-experimental, descriptive research design and a 23-question survey to collect descriptive, quantitative, and qualitative data. The researcher used online survey software to distribute the survey and collect data. The population consisted of approximately 294 property-level HR and Business-Unit Leaders employed in the Mississippi casino industry. Study results revealed a majority of respondents were college graduates, between the ages of 30-59 years of age and averaged approximately 18 years of experience in the gaming industry, and approximately 14 years in the Mississippi casino industry. Findings demonstrate a perception gap between HR Leader and Business-Unit Leader Groups in many areas. HR leaders overvalue their contribution to strategy development and business partnership compared to the business-unit group’s perception. HR leaders perceive their understanding of human capital and their ability to add value through talent decisions more than the management group. However, business-unit leaders perceive real value in the HR function more than just as a cost-based center of operation, and perceive the HR leaders to have the business skills necessary to be successful in the Mississippi gaming industry. Both groups report satisfaction with the HR leader’s knowledge and skills, although HR leader rank their satisfaction higher than management. However, management perceives HR leaders spend more time in file maintenance roles and less time in strategic business partnership. Although there were several benefits and barriers of achieving strategic HR alignment, the HR leader’s cross-functional knowledge was both a potential benefit and barrier to achieving alignment. Although HR has some role in strategy in Mississippi casinos, it is not as a full business partner. Results demonstrate HR plays more of a strategy implementation role. Analysis indicates when HR’s perceived role in strategy increases, anticipation of HR budget growth and HR inclusion in strategy formulation increases. Both groups perceive the HR function in Mississippi casinos has the potential to help create a sustained competitive advantage for casino organizations. Additionally, as perception of an integrated HR strategy increases, the perception of HR as a competitive differentiator and source of sustained competitive advantage increases. Recommendations for research include replicating the study in Mississippi during a period of economic growth for Mississippi casinos to account for the financial declines associated with the recession and the BP oil spill. Study replication in other jurisdictions would determine if the results of this study remain constant in other states. Additional research is warranted to understand how other casino departments add value to casinos’ strategic positioning

The influence of organizational and information systems factors on the effectiveness of post-merger technology integration

This dissertation explores how ten specific organizational and information systems factors influence post-merger IS integration success, and the role that degree of IS integration plays in moderating the influence these factors may have on IS integration success. Data were gathered, using a self-administered survey instrument, from senior IS executives at firms that experienced a U.S. public merger greater than $25 million between 2004 and 2007. Support is found for the study\u27s Conceptual Model, indicating that all ten factors in unison influence post-merger IS integration success. The data support the hypotheses that quality of merger planning, quality of communication of merger activities to IS, quality of IS integration planning, degree of end-user involvement in IS integration activities, and quality of technical support to users during the IS integration each have a significant influence on post-merger IS integration success. The data also support the moderating effect of degree of IS integration on the relationship between post-merger IS integration success and executive (non-IS) management support. In a supplemental path model analysis, a complex relationship is hypothesized to exist between the factors and IS Capability and IS Performance, the two IS integration success measures, As a result, four of the five remaining hypotheses are indirectly supported. This research expands the body of knowledge that identifies sources of IS integration performance, thus helping to explain sources of overall merger performance

Supervisory Performance and Satisfaction in Relation to Supervisory Style Interactions at Adjacent Levels of Management

The present study examined, for a range of industrial management positions, the relationship of supervisory style patterns at adjacent managerial levels to supervisory performance and job satisfaction. It also investigated the utility of Fiedler’s Contingency Model for determining the supervisory style associated with optimal work group performance at the middle levels of industrial management. Supervisory style was viewed as the extent to which a supervisor’s job related behaviour was basically task-oriented or human relations-oriented. One hundred and twenty-four production supervisory staff representing six manufacturing companies and six organizational levels completed a multi-faceted questionnaire. Measurement devices included: three indices of supervisory style, measures of satisfaction with four separate aspects of the job, two higher management ratings of job performance and independent ratings of position power and job task structure. The results suggested that, for most levels of industrial management, a subordinate manager’s similarity to his immediate supervisor was unrelated to the subordinate’s job satisfaction. At the third level of management similarity of supervisory style was positively related to this manager’s satisfaction with his work and his coworkers. The results provided considerable support for earlier findings which showed that subordinate job satisfaction was positively related to the supervisor’s “consideration” behaviour as perceived by the subordinate manager. Analysis of data related to the Contingency Model provided little support for the model’s validity in terms of the present sample