A Study of Global Information Technology Key Issues: Influence of a Nations Level of Economic Development

The objective of this study is to aggregate the published data and information on global information technology (GIT) issues in various nations around the world to gain some insights into common factors or determinants that may have significant impact or influence on their ranking. Using cluster analysis on a sample of ranked IT issues from 16 different countries and regions of the world a model of the global IT environment suggested by Palvia and Palvia (1996) is partially supported. The data basically suggests an alignment between the level of economic development of a nation and the importance of various types of IT issue

Mandatory Laptop Computers for All Students: Lessons Learned from the Technology-Learning-Communication (TLC) Initiative at Northern Michigan University

This paper presents the preliminary observations of the Technology-Learning-Communication (TLC) initiative at Northern Michigan University. The authors have spent the last year conducting interviews to gather critical information on the impact of mandatory laptop requirement on the various stakeholders of the university. The motivations, processes, changes, and initial feedback from various individuals and groups are presented. It was found that such a technology-focused endeavor requires various structural as well as procedural changes. In fact in some facets the university has to transform itself into a highly cohesive and efficient business organization where procurement, distribution and inventory control become a part of the organization culture. The study also finds that need for welldefined metrics relating to outcome of the project need greater attention. This study provides valuable insight to other universities and decision makers. It is anticipated that this interesting case study will be available in its entirety in early 2002

The innovativeness of Born-Globals and customer orientation: Learning from Indian Born-Globals

Born-Global firms, a newly emerging organizational form targeting international markets as a primary source of business from their inception, have innovativeness, requiring an intimate knowledge of their customer, as a primary feature. This study explores how a Born-Global's customer orientation leads to innovativeness through technological capability for customer relationship management (CRM) and external customer information management. Our empirical results, based on responses from 154 Indian managers, indicate that a Born-Global's customer orientation is an effective enabler of its innovativeness, whose effects are mediated by technological capability for CRM and external customer information management. Although significantly affected by customer orientation, the results further indicate that relationship quality with the buyer does not influence a Born-Global's innovativeness. When CRM technology and managing customer information obtained from external sources are employed, customer orientation significantly helps maintain the innovativeness of Born-Globals according to the results.Born-Globals Customer orientation Innovativeness