A Perception-Based Model for Technological Innovation in Small and Medium Enterprises

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) form an integral part of every economy as they are the leadingproviders of revenue and employment. However, as the global economy becomes more reliant onInformation Communication and Technology (ICT), some SMEs are yet to reap the benefits that ICThas to offer. The low rate of adoption and innovative use of ICT amongst SMEs has become significantresearch topics in recent times. One of the many contributing factors towards the above is the failureof SMEs to recognise ICT as a technological innovation, thus affecting their decision to adopt ICT.This and the lack of dynamism between ICT firms and SMEs further impede the development andinnovation of ICT for SMEs. Using a technology-organization-environment framework, this studyattempts to address the above issue by introducing a perception-based model for technologicalinnovation in SMEs. The model is to be further tested against data collected from an Australiancontext. The model has both research and practical contributions. For research, the model attempts tostudy the key determinants and processes of technological innovation and ICT adoption in SMEs.Further, the model attempts to help SMEs recognize that adopting ICT as a technological innovationis important but more of an adaptive than a technical challenge

Nurturing and Leveraging Virtual Communities: A Two-Dimensional Process Model

Despite the optimism surrounding the business potential of virtual communities (VCs), our knowledge of how VCs can be nurtured and leveraged to create value for the organizations that sponsor them is limited. To address this knowledge gap, a two-dimensional process model of the development and leverage of a VC is inductively derived from a case study of one of the most commercially successful VCs in Singapore. The model suggests that different IT competencies drive the development of various VC-enabled capabilities in different stages of VC maturity. Moreover, as the VC becomes increasingly mature, the number of ways in which it can be leveraged for organizational value creation increases. With its findings, this study sheds light on the key mechanisms of VC-enabled organizational value creation, and provides a comprehensive and empirically grounded framework for practitioners to analyze and optimize their investments in VCs

Toward a Social Media Usage Policy

Social media has become the archetype of technology underpinning communication and collaboration across all lifestyles, from the personal to the public. Despite its increasing deployment into corporate technology infrastructures, the encroachment of social media poses several doubts, including its business value, need for a social media strategy and its appropriate management. Although given a pressing need, there is a lack of clear guidance from IS literature around how to study these challenges, and ultimately to answer the question— is the use of social media a distraction at the work place? This research-in-progress paper lays the foundation to answer this specific question. Our work positions social media as a platform that can enable business and service value co-creation. We propose the Social Media -Beliefs, Action and Outcomes (SM-BAO) model, to help develop a framework that can inform social media use policy in the workplace

Social Shaping of Enterprise System Acquisition and Development: The Influence of Reference Users in XiZi Holdings

In this research-in-progress paper, we present a preliminary model of how reference users shape enterprise systems (ES) acquisition and development based on the case study of Xizi Holdings, one of the largest private enterprises in China. Our model draws on the theoretical lens of the social shaping of technology in the context of streamlining complex packaged ES adoption. The model is built on stage-wise observations of the roles that reference users play across the ES acquisition and development process. Our preliminary model identifies three intermediary mechanisms (i.e. attaching, staging and shaping of technology) that are enabled by reference users in the process of negotiating ES acquisition and development. It contributes to the existing discourse in recent IS research on the expanding role of users in influencing the development of packaged enterprise systems and their acquisition

Social Shaping Leadership in Enterprise System Acquisition and Development: The Influence of Reference Users in Xizi Holdings

Acquisition and development remains an important aspect of enterprise systems research. In practice, it means reference users interact in and across organizations to fill gaps in knowledge and offer their experience as models or standards for others. Despite their importance, how reference users influence the acquisition process and the role of IT in its development have received scant attention. This paper presents a study of how reference users shape and lead the acquisition and development of enterprise systems (ES). We derive our findings from investigating and conducting a case study on Xizi Holdings, one of the largest private enterprises in China. Our model deploys a theoretical lens of the social shaping of technology in the context of inter-organizational ES adoption. We build the model on stage-wise observations of the roles that reference users play across the ES acquisition and development process in Xizi, and how Xizi brings together hundreds of autonomous IT systems across 128 subsidiaries under one enterprise-wide vision. Our study model identifies three intermediary mechanisms (i.e., attaching, staging, and shaping of technology) that reference users in the process of negotiating ES acquisition and development enable

Developing a Leading Digital Multi-sided Platform: Examining IT Affordances and Competitive Actions in Alibaba.com

In recent times, digital multi-sided platforms (DMSPs) have revolutionized electronic commerce by enabling new forms of competition and collaboration. Existing studies provide useful insights yet do not recognize the role of information technologies (IT) in examining the development of DMSPs. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a case study of Alibaba.com (henceforth simply Alibaba), the largest online B2B marketplace in the world with over 80 million members. We applied the theoretical notion of IT affordances to examine the possibilities for competitive action at a platform level based on organizational variables and IT features in the context of the environment in which they function. Our findings show that, toward market leadership, Alibaba has developed competitive actions from actualizing IT affordances. At Alibaba, actualizing IT affordances links closely with its defined organizational goals of developing: (1) a collectivist structure, (2) a coopetitive structure, and (3) an autonomous community among platform constituents. Our stage-wise model captures the relational aspects of IT affordances and proposes actionable prescriptions for a DMSP to achieve market leadership

Interdependencies and Collaborative Action for Platform Leadership: A Comparative Analysis of Two Leading Chinese Multi-Sided Digital Platforms

Asia continues to lead e-commerce growth worldwide, with multi-sided platforms like Alibaba.com, 360buy.com and Taobao.com leading the race. Despite their rising prominence, few studies articulate how these multi-sided platforms in Asia service and collaborate with it sides. It is important to learn how platforms encounter and adapt to changing suppliers-platform-customers interactions, to better understand the implications of e-commerce necessary to compete and lead in this digitally enabled landscape. Furthermore, scholars suggest research to discern between modernization of Asia and Westernization. To close these gaps, the authors conduct a case study of two of China’s leading multi-sided digital platforms—A.com and M.com. The researchers cross-examine the development of the two firms since their establishing, focusing on collaborative strategies with their sides and within their business units, through interdependencies and collective action conceptual perspectives. The contributions of this paper are two-fold. Firstly, we introduce a framework that identifies four types (I-IV) of multi-sided platform collaborations. This framework prescribes guidelines to identify and manage different types of collaborative action for strategic planning and operations between platform partners. Secondly, we consolidate four lessons learnt from our data—teach, consolidate, co-opete and ultimately lead—a set of actionable guidelines for platform leadership in the marketplace

A Preliminary Decision Model for Shared Services: Insights from an Australian University Context

Shared Services involves the convergence and streamlining of an organisation’s functions to ensure timely service delivery as effectively and efficiently as possible. This would result in lower cost, improved service delivery and economies of scale. The conventional wisdom of today is that the potential for Shared Services is increasing due to the increasing costs of changing systems and business requirements and also in implementing and running information systems (IS). However many organizations opt instead for an outsourcing arrangement as the alternative towards cost savings, due in essence to a lack of realization of this potential for Shared Services. This paper rationales turning from outsourcing (to looking within organisations) to leverage on Shared Services for similar cost savings and reaping other potential benefits. The paper’s objectives and contributions are three-fold: (1) distinguish between Shared Services and Outsourcing, (2) report on insights from a single Australian university case study through a transaction cost lens, and to demonstrate the potential for Shared Services and (3) develop a decision model to gauge the potential of implementing Shared Services across similar organisations

Delivering Disruption in an Emergent Access Economy: A Case Study of an E-hailing Platform

The growing adoption of platforms such as Uber and Airbnb has contributed to the emergence of an access economy, which has disrupted a number of incumbent industries in the process. In this study, we examine goCatch, one of Australia’s largest e-hailing and ride-sharing multi-sided platforms. From our investigations, we find that the technology affordances of multi-sided digital platforms can help to deliver new commercial services and offerings to consumers of the platform, which enables new forms of consumption and, subsequently, disrupts the incumbent industry. Our findings provide the empirical premise for a model that illustrates the role of technology in enabling consumer recognition, consumer engagement, and consumer transposition in the e-hailing context. For theory, we build on extant literature to identify the forms of motivational affordances leveraged in disruptive platforms and technologies. For practice, we conceptualize the function of technology-enabled gamification as an emergent strategy that one can use to induce consumers to change their behaviors, develop their technical skills and drive innovation that plays a central role in enabling digital disruption. This study also clarifies the relationship between technology affordances and value creation against the backdrop of the emergent access economy

Advancing Enterprise-Wide Information Systems Strategy: Exploring Power Differentials In Parent – Subsidiary Relationships

Power has been an important topic amongst scholars in Information Systems (IS) research. Despite the vast literature on power in IS research, we found there is a lack of study that investigates the significance of power in a Parent-Subsidiary relationship. As a part of an ongoing research to explore the role of IS in the Parent-Subsidiary relationship, this paper highlights the impact of Enterprise Systems (ES) on the evolution of power as a critical aspect of that relationship. Using case study as a research method, we explore four scenarios, namely: Domination, Consultative, Empowerment, and Incitement; each with its own distinct aspects of power and its implication to ES in a corporate group environment. Ongoing research will attempt to explore the scenarios in greater details as well as expanding the number of corporate groups