Look Before You Leap into ERP Implementation: An Object-Oriented Approach to Business Process Modeling

Procedural due diligence is critical for effective adoption and use of enterprise systems. Such procedural review needs to be holistic, capturing both the mechanistic aspects of process workflows as well as the human behavioral influences. Traditional methodologies offer little guidance on how to capture the human dimension of business processes. This article draws upon the Object Oriented (OO) concepts to propose and validate an approach that simultaneously models the content of the process flows and the human behavioral context. The two companies that served as test sites greatly benefited from using this process modeling approach. The analysis results gave these companies—that were on the verge of full-scale Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) implementation—reason to pause and reevaluate their current state of affairs

An Approach to Measuring Extent of Use of Web Functionalities: A Content Analysis of HTML Tags

Commercial activity on the World Wide Web (WWW) portion of the internet continues to grow at an accelerated rate. However, anecdotal evidence suggests there is a high level of variance in the extent of use of Web functionalities. This article examines the validity of this claim by content analyzing Web page HTML tags. These tags are used to capture the following Web functionalities: a) information dissemination, b) interactive communication, c) multi-media support, and d) access to internet tools like FTP, E-Mail, Telnet, etc. Our results (based on a sample of 77 Web sites from four service industries) support the anecdotal observation that there exists a high level of variance in the extent of use of Web functionalities

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE: THE CRITICAL LINK OF TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS

Numerous claims have been made regarding the use of information technology (IT) infrastructure for strategic benefit. However, examination of these claims has been hindered by a lack of clarity regarding the nature of the infrastructure construct. This paper develops a framework to provide a more clear conceptualization of infrastructure. The focal point of this framework is that IT standards play a crucial role in the development of effective IT infrastructur

Shaping Up for E-Commerce: Institutional Enablers of the Organizational Assimilation of Web Technologies

The global reach of the Web technological platform, along with the range of services that it supports, makes it a powerful business resource. However, realization of operational and strategic benefits is contingent on effective assimilation of this type III IS innovation. This paper draws upon institutional theory and the conceptual lens of structuring and metastructuring actions to explain the importance of three factors – top management championship, strategic investment rationale, and extent of coordination – in achieving higher levels of Web assimilation within an organization. Survey data are utilized to test a nomological network of relationships among these factors and extent of organizational assimilation of Web technologies

The shareholder-wealth and trading-volume effects of information-technology infrastructure investments

Despite the rising tide of investments in information technologies (IT) infrastructures, empirical evidence about the effects of such investment moves is scarce. Stock market investors provide one appropriate perspective on the value-creation and growth potential of IT infrastructure investments through their reactions to specific IT infrastructure investment moves by business firms. This research utilizes the event study analysis approach to examine if IT infrastructure investments are associated with significantly positive abnormal stock market returns and rises in trading volume when firms announce such investments. Drawing upon a sample of IT infrastructure announcements in the early 1990s, this research finds significant evidence that positive abnormal returns and increased trading volume are associated with IT infrastructure investment announcements. Further, when such investments are contrasted with investments in IT applications, evidence exists that infrastructure investments generate greater excess returns and a larger increase in trading volume than applications investments do. The evidence provides empirical support for the potential of IT infrastructure investments to be perceived as a platform for growth and revenue generation opportunities in contemporary business firms

Examining the Shareholder Wealth Effects of Announcements of Newly Created CIO Positions

While information technology (IT) has been transforming the business landscape for a long time now, it is only recently that empirical evidence demonstrating the positive impact of IT on firm performance has begun to accumulate. The strategic importance of a firm’s IT capabilities is prompting an increasing number of companies to appoint chief information officers (CIOs) to effectively manage these assets. Such moves are reflective of changes in top management thinking and policy regarding the role of IT and firms’ approaches to IT governance. This paper uses the event study methodology to examine market reactions to announcements of new CIO positions. Findings strongly support the notion that, for firms competing in industries undergoing IT-driven transformation, announcements of newly created CIO positions do indeed provoke positive reactions from the marketplace