IT ENABLED SERVICE INNOVATION: STRATEGIES FOR FIRM PERFORMANCE

This dissertation seeks to understand firm strategies and implications for sustainability and success in the context of IT-enabled service innovations. The first essay examines how business models evolve to influence the financial sustainability and maturity of health information exchanges (HIE), a new organizational form in the United States healthcare landscape to facilitate electronic health information sharing across multiple stakeholders such as hospitals, doctors, laboratories, and patients. The study focusses on two components of business models of HIEs: the customer value proposition that is manifested through three categories of service offerings (e.g., foundational, vendor driven and advanced), and two revenue model approaches to earn profits (e.g., subscription and transaction-based revenues models). Using an unique archival data set constructed from surveys of HIEs in the US from 2008 to 2010 for empirical analysis; we find that foundational IT enabled service offerings have higher positive influence on operational maturity and financial sustainability, compared to vendor driven or advanced service offerings. Further, findings show subscription-based revenue models are more advantageous for sustainability in early stages, while transaction-based revenue models lead to higher operational maturity in later stages. The second essay investigates how two dimensions of IT enabled service augmentation, i.e., value added service and customer care, interplay with core services to influence customer satisfaction with cell phone services in base-of-the-pyramid (BOP) markets. Arguing for price- and relational- evaluations, we develop hypotheses for a substitution effect of value added services, and a complementary effect of customer care, on the relationship between core service and customer satisfaction. Specific to the BOP market context, we further proposed a differentiated influence of service augmentation for different categories of providers based on their institutional contexts and investment strategies. We empirically examine and find support for the hypothesized relationships using an archival data set from surveys of over 3,400 cell phone customers across 34 providers in seven South Asian countries. The two studies contribute to existing literature in exploring the factors associated with firm performance, and derive managerial implications to effectively manage and profit from IT enabled service innovations. Overall, the dissertation has research and practice implications to gain an understanding of the appropriate strategies to increase firm performance in the context of IT enabled service innovations

The Hierarchy of Green Information Systems Capability in Organizations to Enhance and Ensure Green Performance: An Operant Resources Perspective

Green information systems (green IS) have evolved and expanded over the years, now having a broad scope in organizations. Green IS in these organizations function to help to address climate change challenges. The growing complexity of green IS in organizations needs a conceptual framework that can articulate its different impacts at various levels while taking into consideration a holistic and integrated perspective. This research focuses on how to enhance and ensure green IS-driven green performance in organizations from an operant resources hierarchy perspective. A conceptual model is proposed to examine the role of management support for green initiatives and the role of information assurance in addressing IS misuse and process automation in relationship to green IS capability and green performance. The current study tests the effects of management support as composite operant resources and information assurance as interconnected operant resources for green IS capability in enhancing and ensuring organizations’ green performance using a matched dataset of 73 organizations. We illustrate the application of the proposed conceptual model in two real-world scenarios. This study contributes theoretically by illustrating the application of the operant resources hierarchy perspective in green IS research and provides practical action suggestions for organizations adopting sustainable practices to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13

How to Enhance and Ensure Green Information Systems Capability for Green Performance? An Operant Resources Perspective

Under the growing environmental pressure and concern, organizations invest in information technologies for analytics and decision support in environmental sustainability management. Specifically, organizations should ensure the proper utilization of green information systems (IS) to achieve appropriate environmental outcomes. Otherwise, green IS becomes a non-performing asset, making it a low priority in organizations’ sustainability plans and strategies. This study anchors to the operant resources hierarchy perspectives and investigates how green IS relevant capabilities build on each other for environmental performance. With a matched dataset of 73 organizations from multiple sources, this study tests the effects of green support and information assurance on the relationship between green IS capability and green performance. The findings indicate that as composite operant resources and interconnected operant resources, the interactions of green support, information assurance, and green IS capability can improve organizations’ green performance

The Impact of Data Analytics on Hospital Performance

The healthcare industry has yet to harness the full potential of data analytics in administrative and clinical care operations. Indeed, evidence of data analytics impacts on hospital operations is sparse. This study helps close this research gap by examining the effect of data analytics on hospital clinical operations. A conceptual model is proposed, anchored to dynamic capabilities theory. Using ten years of secondary data for more than 2,500 US hospitals, econometrics analyses provide evidence of a positive impact of clinical data analytical systems (CDAS) on patient experience. However, no similar evidence is found with overall hospital operational performance. Thus, while data analytics can have a targeted impact, organizational-wide effects appear to be more complex. Implications for practitioners and academics are discussed

Disclosure On Online Sustainability Platforms and Value Creation for Digital vs. Non-Digital Firms

This paper aims to study the sustainability practices disclosures on online sustainability reporting platforms. Drawing on the scope of operant resources, this study goes beyond the research sphere by including extended organization components. We examine the impacts of both internal (employee-oriented) and external (customer-oriented) sustainability practices on a firm’s financial performance. Especially, we study the differences between digital and non-digital firms regarding the impacts. This study utilizes analytics techniques to extract concepts from firms’ digital sustainability reports disclosed on a sustainability reporting platform. A matched 3-year panel dataset and econometric estimation methods are used to test two sets of hypotheses. We found that both sustainability practices disclosure can improve firm performance. We also found that digital firms can gain better firm performance with customer-oriented sustainability practices disclosures on online platforms. This study contributes to the literature of IT for social sustainability. It also provides practical implications for online sustainability reporting

Dancing in the Tigers’ Den: MNCs versus Local Firms Leveraging IT-Enabled Strategic Flexibility

Institutional settings in emerging markets pose challenges for multinational corporations (MNCs). We argue that information technology (IT) can be used to develop strategic flexibilities to complement organizational capabilities in emerging markets. We explore how MNCs and local firms compare in leveraging IT-enabled strategic flexibilities and organizational capabilities to improve performance in emerging markets. We focus on two capabilities: marketing capability and relational capability. We theorize that IT-enabled strategic flexibility in customer services (ITCS) complements the firm’s marketing capability, and IT enabled strategic flexibility in transaction services (ITTS) complements the firm\u27s relational capability to influence firm performance. Further, we posit that the complementary effect of ITCS with marketing capability is lower for MNCs than for local firms, whereas the complementary effect of ITTS with relational capability is higher for MNCs than local firms. Our empirical analysis of primary data collected from MNCs and local firms in India broadly supports our theory

Effectiveness of Life Cycle Assessment Systems for Waste Management in Hotels

Hotels are generating a huge amount of waste. Management of these enormous amounts of waste produced by hotels is difficult. To mitigate this challenge, a systematic approach is needed, more so from the sustainable management perspective. However, implementing a sophisticated waste management system may be costly. This exploratory study focuses on how life cycle assessment system (LCAS) influences the waste management in hotels. Anchoring to organizational control theory, we argue that hotel reputation and ownership of a hotel will influence the effectiveness of LCAS. We posit that reputed, and corporate managed hotels will be able to leverage from LCAS implementation better for waste management. We also argue that the effect of reputation and ownership on waste management cost reduction will be mediated through the waste produced by hotels. Data of 1,277 hotels support our arguments. Implications and contributions are discussed

Blockchain for Supply Chain Management: Practice-Based View

In the context of supply chain management, technological and strategic management practices play a critical role in managing supply chain processes that generate operational performance gains for firms. In this paper, we investigate the potential implications of blockchain for both supply chain management and operational processes management practices to develop the higher-order capability of information system integration. This capability enables firms to manage information flow from operational processes and allows information sharing with supply chain partners. From the perspective of practice-based view (PBV), we developed our research model and propositions to address the authenticity of food safety issues and sustainability in the context of the supply chain. We also highlight the need for blockchain implementation within the food industries that create an information-based approach for better operational performance

An Innovation Platform for Diffusing Public Health Practices across a Global Network

Hospitals and health systems in high-income countries (HIC) develop the capacities of peer healthcare organizations around the world by diffusing clinical, quality, and public health improvement practices in lower and middle-income countries (LMIC). In turn, these HIC healthcare institutions are exposed to innovative approaches developed and used by global communities to advance care despite resource constraints in the LMIC contexts. Attention has been growing in recent years to the potential these innovations can have to improve care delivery, lower costs, and drive quality within resource constrained communities in HIC. Often referred to as ‘reverse innovations,’ the identification, adaptation, and diffusion of these practices face challenges in uptake related to limited evidence, perceptions of poor quality or irrelevance, and a complicated regulatory and policy environment. This paper suggests the development of a knowledge platform to support diffusion of innovative health practices along a global community continuum and illustrates its potential use

Teleworking during COVID 19 Pandemic Crisis : Influences of Female Leadership on Business Continuity and Employee Layoff in Eight Countries

COVID-19 pandemic propelled teleworking for most firms to conduct work and sustain businesses. However, teleworking invades work-and-personal boundaries and hinders some employees from conducting complex tasks, potentially leading to layoffs. Did the teleworking trend during COVID-19 lead to unfair employee layoffs while companies sustained businesses using teleworking? Did the gender of a company leader predispose them to leverage telework differently because of the work-and-personal boundary predisposition? Motivated by these puzzles, we explore the impact of teleworking on business continuity and employee layoff, differentiated by leadership gender. The firm-level dataset used in this study comes from multiple surveys conducted by a reputable international financial institution with a worldwide presence. Ordinary least square estimation reveals that teleworking has positive impacts on business continuity but adverse effects on employment. We also found subtle moderating effects of female leadership in samples of eight countries with different income levels. Theoretically, this study contributes to our understanding of both technological and human factors during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It also provides practical implications on IT for development with consideration of income levels