The relationship between IT infrastructure leveraging, talent management and operational sustainability, and their effects on the business value of the operations strategy

The purpose of this research is to examine the role of information technology (IT) in the adoption of human resources (HR) and environmental management activities, a research topic that has not received much attention in prior literature. Drawing on the theory of operational and dynamic capabilities, we propose a model in which IT infrastructure leveraging enables the firm to create value from its operations management both directly and indirectly through talent management and operational sustainability. We test the model using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique with an innovative secondary data set collected for a sample of 63 large firms. The empirical analysis suggests that IT infrastructure leveraging enables the firm’s proficiency to manage talent, which in turn facilitates execution of a more sustainable operations strategy to increase firm performance. The analysis also shows that IT infrastructure leveraging impacts firm performance directly in the long-term

Quality Management practices, absorptive capacity and innovation performance

Quality Management practices (QMP) are a potentially useful tool for increasing a company’s innovation performance. However, the empirical evidence regarding the impact of QMP on innovation performance has been mixed. The purpose of this study is to extend understanding of the impact of QMP on innovation performance by investigating the mediating effect of absorptive capacity on this relationship. A proposed research model and hypotheses are tested using cross-sectional survey data from a sample of 230 leading Spanish firms. The results indicate that QMP enable the development of absorptive capacity, contributing to innovation performance

Impact of IT infrastructure on customer service performance: The role of micro-IT capabilities and online customer engagement

Abstract This research argues that information technology (IT) capabilities can be classified in macro-and micro-IT capabilities. We propose that IT infrastructure capability (a macro-IT capability) enables the development of social media and e-business technology capabilities (two micro-IT capabilities) to online engage customers and improve the firm's customer service performance. We test the proposed model by using the variance-based structural equation modelling technique employing an innovative secondary dataset on a sample of 100 small U.S. firms. Results suggest that IT infrastructure capability positively affects customer service performance through two micro-IT capabilities (social media and ebusiness technology) and social and conventional online customer engagement. Keywords: Macro-and Micro-IT Capabilities, Online Customer Engagement, Customer Service Performance. March 24, 2015 Preliminary draft 2 Introduction Information technology (IT) is changing the way firms operate internally as well as improving the firm's relationship with its suppliers and customers This study is positioned on the relationship between macro-and micro-IT capabilities and customer service performance. Prior research on IT and customer service performance has studied the effects of IT infrastructure flexibility and shared knowledge on customer service performance We examine the impact of IT infrastructure capability on customer service performance by introducing into the same equation two new variables: Micro-IT capabilities and the online engagement of customers. Our central thesis is that IT infrastructure capability can create customer value by developing social media and e-business technology capabilities to online engage customers. Social media capability enables social online customer engagement and e-business technology capability facilitates conventional social customer engagement to improve customer service performance. The proposed model is tested using the variance-based structural equation modelling (SEM) technique on a sample of 100 small U.S. firms

Impact of IT Infrastructure on Customer Service Performance: The Role of Micro-IT Capabilities and Online Customer Engagement

This research argues that information technology (IT) capabilities can be classified in macro- and micro-IT capabilities. We propose a conceptual model in which IT infrastructure capability (a macro- IT capability) enables the development of social media and e-business technology capabilities (two micro-IT capabilities) to online engage customers and improve the firm’s customer service performance. We test the proposed model by using the variance-based structural equation modelling technique and the method of estimation of partial least squares employing an innovative secondary dataset on a sample of 100 small firms included in the 2013 Forbes America’s Best Small Companies ranking. The empirical analysis suggests that IT infrastructure capability positively affects customer service performance through two micro-IT capabilities (social media and e-business technology) and social and conventional online customer engagement

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele