Returns to Cloud Computing Investments: The Role of Environmental Uncertainty

Although a substantial portion of IT spending has shifted to the cloud, empirical evidence on economic value of cloud computing is lacking. This study examines the effect of cloud computing on productivity and scrutinizes how its effect differs depending on environmental uncertainty. Using publicly available data on the product sales and the inter-industry purchase flows, we measure purchased cloud services in U.S. industries during 1997-2018 and distinguish between software-as-a-service (SaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS). Employing a production function approach, our findings suggest that cloud computing investments do not always lead to productivity gains, but its effect varies by the level of environmental uncertainty. Specifically, while cloud computing contributes to productivity under high environmental uncertainty, it may have an adverse effect under stable environments. Further, this positive impact under uncertain environments is found to be driven mainly by IaaS, rather than SaaS. This study provides important implications on cloud computing investment strategies

The impact of digital innovation on the innovation of traditional industry

We propose a study that applies the new set of logic of digital innovation as a theoretical lens to investigate the indirect effect of digital innovation of social media on the innovation in relevant traditional industries

Effects of CEO Political Orientation on Software-Driven Innovation

While a wealth of research has suggested the increasing importance of software-driven innovation, prior studies have mostly focused on the economic outcomes or consequences of software-driven innovation. This study conceptualizes CEO political orientation drawing upon upper echelon theory and examines how CEOs’ values and beliefs are associated with the software-driven innovation of their firms. Specifically, we suggest that liberal CEOs are more likely to be supportive of software-driven innovation because they prefer to endorse uncertain and unstable strategic decisions, compared to conservative CEOs. Further, we find that the volume of CEO compensation strengthens CEOs’ tendency for software-driven innovation. Our findings underscore the need to consider CEO political orientation in IS research for examining its influence on IT-related strategic decision makings

Access Affordance of Mobile Technology in e-Commerce: Change of Purchase Time Dispersion

The portability of a mobile device and the ubiquity of mobile Internet provide e-market users with more opportunities of access to e-commerce sites throughout a day. In this paper, we examine the access affordance of mobile technologies by analyzing the changes in purchase time dispersion of e-marketplace users after their adoption of mobile channel. By analyzing a large archival dataset including transactions in the mobile and online channels, we find that (1) a user’s purchase time becomes more dispersed throughout a day after the mobile channel adoption, and (2) the impact of the mobile channel adoption on the purchase time dispersion is significantly different across different user groups. These findings present strong empirical evidences of access affordance of the mobile channel and how the affordance is realized across e-market users

On the Economies of Scale and Budget Allocations in Information Technology Services Provision

This study reexamines some fundamental questions in the network era of computing using the data after 1995 when firms have made significant investments in newer types of IT systems. Our findings suggest that firms realize some economies of scale in IT services as they grow in size. We also find that the personnel-hardware ratio is not independent of IT budget. Finally, we find that personnel-hardware ratio was declining during 1999-2003 period in response to changes in factor prices of hardware and personnel. We discuss implications of these results for academic research and for managerial practice

Relationship Between Audience Engagement On Social Media And Broadcast Media Ratings

People often share their opinions or impressions about TV shows (e.g., dramas) with other viewers through social media such as personal blogs and Twitter. As such, broadcast media, especially TV, lead to audience engagement on social media. Moreover, the audience engagement, in turn, impacts broadcast media ratings. Social TV analyzes audience’s TV-related social media behaviors and tries to use the behaviors in marketing activities such as advertisement; however, this is purely based on the quantity of engagement in social media. In this study, we analyze the subjects of the audience engagement on social media about specific TV dramas through topic modeling, and examines the relationship between changes in the topics and viewer ratings of the TV dramas

Relative Importance, Specific Investment and Ownership in Interorganizational Systems.

Author's post-print on any open access repository after 12 months after publication. Must link to publisher version http://www.ucalgary.ca.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/bnault/files/bnault/itm_sep_2008.pdfImplementation and maintenance of interorganizational systems (IOS) require investments by all the participating firms. Compared with intraorganizational sys- tems, however, there are additional uncertainties and risks. This is because the benefits of IOS investment depend not only on a firm’s own decisions, but also on those of its business partners. Without appropriate levels of investment by all the firms participating in an IOS, they cannot reap the full benefits. Drawing upon the literature in institutional economics, we examine IOS ownership as a means to induce value-maximizing noncontractible investments. We model the impact of two factors derived from the theory of incomplete contracts and transaction cost economics: relative importance of investments and specificity of investments. We apply the model to a vendor-managed inventory system (VMI) in a supply chain setting. We show that when the specificity of investments is high, this is a more critical determinant of optimal ownership structure than the relative importance of investments. As technologies used in IOS become increasingly redeployable and reusable, and less specific, the relative importance of investments becomes a dominant factor. We also show that the bargaining mechanism—or the agreed upon approach to splitting the incremental payoffs—that is used affects the relationship between these factors in determining the optimal ownership structure of an IOS.Ye

Search Constraint Of Mobile Technology And Channel Choice In E-Commerce

This study aims to investigate empirical evidence of search constraints of the mobile technology from the theoretical lens of technology affordance. Using a large archival panel dataset encompassing transactions in the PC and mobile channels, we find that information-intensity of products is negatively associated with the choice probability of the mobile channel over the PC channel. However, the negative association is weakened as the user experience in the mobile channel accumulates, suggesting a dynamic relationship between user and technology (i.e., users’ learning or adaptation to technology)

Do IT Patents Matter for Firm Value? The Role of Innovation Orientation and Environmental Uncertainty

IT industry has become patent-intensive due to the rapid advances in technology and the fierce competition among firms. While prior studies indicate financial returns from investments in IT patents are unclear, recent patent wars in IT industry suggest that IT patents may be of great value. We examine the impact of IT patents as an intangible IT resource on firm value in IT industry, while also considering the moderating effect of firms’ innovation orientation (exploitative vs. explorative). Moreover, we examine how environmental uncertainty influences the relationship between firms’ IT patents, innovation orientation, and performance. Our results suggest that the impact of IT patents on firm value is positive and significant. More importantly, we find that this impact varies depending on firms’ innovation orientation. Further, we find that the moderating effect of innovation orientation is influenced significantly by the two dimensions of environmental uncertainty (i.e., competitiveness and dynamism)