Building the Applications Portfolio: A Process Analysis

The utilization of information technology (IT) throughout the organization’s value chain underlies many prescriptionsforthestrategicuseofIT. Inthisstudy,weexaminethediffusionofcomputerizationacross organizations’ business activities using a process approach. Contrasting expectations of the pattern of computerization of business activities over time are developed from traditional diffusion studies and from a body of work comprising more recent empirical studies of innovation adoption, learning theory, and economic theory. Process analysis of a sample of 215 organizations was conducted arid the results prompted a further exploratory maIysis to determine if there were process differences between high and low performing organizations

A paradox theory perspective on HIT’s impact on continuity of care

Regulators of healthcare systems continue to investigate ways to improve continuity of care (COC) for patients given its inherent fragmented nature. Integrated healthcare information technology (HIT) system is touted as one of the ways to improve COC. Yet, studies show that there are still challenges in achieving effective COC even when supported by integrated HIT. These persistent challenges are likely due to deep-seated tensions among the various parts of the healthcare system that are involved in providing care. Drawing on HIT impact literature and paradox theory, we study the implementation of an integrated electronic medical record (EMR) system aimed at improving COC for the specialist referrals process in a hospital cluster. We found that while the system had positive impacts on some aspects of the COC, we uncover two types of paradoxical tensions occurring in this healthcare context that interfered with those positive impacts and contributed to ongoing COC challenges

Severity Assessment of ERP-Organization Misalignment: Honing in on Ontological Structure and Context Specificity

It has been estimated that at least half of all ERP (enterprise resource planning packages) implementations fail to meet expectations or achieve estimated benefits. In many cases, the misalignments between ERP features and organizational requirements have resulted in costly workarounds. In extreme cases, such misalignments have even contributed to project abandonment and organizational failure. One question that arises is why such severe misalignments have not been surfaced and recognized by organizations. Specifically, this paper proposes a framework that seeks to assess the severity of misalignment by critically examining the seductive universal best practices embedded in ERP. The framework is grounded theoretically on key ontological and context specificity concepts. We illustrate the framework by applying it to several hundred instances of misfits that we collected from multiple ERP implementations. We use the results of the analysis to shed light on the functionality ìblack boxî of ERP misalignment

Business-to-Business E-Marketplaces: A Strategic Archetypes Approach

Electronic marketplaces (EMs) are an important empirical phenomenon, because they are theoretically linked to significant economic and business effects. Different types of EMs have been identified; further, some researchers link different EM types with different impacts. Because the effects of EMs may vary with types, classifying and identifying the characteristics of EM types are fundamental to sound research. Some prior approaches to EM classification have been based on empirical observations, others have been theoretically motivated; each has strengths and limitations. This paper presents a third approach: surfacing strategic archetypes. The strategic archetypes approach has the empirical fidelity associated with the large numbers of attributes considered in the empirical classification approach, but the parsimony of types and the theoretical linkages associated with the theoretical classification approach. The strategic archetypes approach seeks a manageable number of EM configuration types in which the attributes are theoretically linked to each other and to hypothesized outcomes like performance and impacts. The strategic archetypes approach has the potential to inform future theoretical and empirical investigations of electronic marketplaces and to translate research findings into successful recommendations for practice

B2B E-Marketplaces - Interconnection Effects, Strategic Positioning, and Performance

Electronic markets theory leads to the prediction that the interconnection effects of information technology will lower coordination costs in market transactions, prompting a move from hierarchical to market arrangements. This prediction was apparently validated by the proliferation of B2B e-marketplaces in the mid-1990s. But the subsequent abrupt consolidation of public, independent e-marketplaces raises questions about what it takes for e-marketplaces to succeed. Experience with actual e-marketplaces suggests that electronic interconnection effects alone may not explain e-marketplace success. The strategic management literature provides a complementary view, emphasizing the fit between an e-marketplace\u27s value proposition, its product-market focus, and its value activities. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to explore the degree to which the strategic positioning perspective contributes to the explanation of e-marketplace success. We analyzed a pair of e-marketplaces sharing the same competitive space, one successful and the other less so. We found that the number and types of interconnection benefits alone did not make a good explanation of e-marketplace success. However, the additional concepts provided by strategic positioning theory - particularly the holistic fit between benefits types offered (value proposition), product-market focus, and value activities - do appear to explain well the observed differences in e-marketplace performance. Future research should extend our exploratory investigation of e-marketplace success

Strategic and Operational Benefits of IOS-Enabled Interorganizational Integration

In this study, we employ the lens of the resource-based view of the firm to examine the strategic value of IOS- enabled interorganizational integration. We first develop the key construct of IOS-enabled interorganizational integration, identifying and defining its two dimensions: interorganizational system integration and business integration. Next, we propose that while the two dimensions have positive impacts on operational performance, only interorganizational business integration has strategic value. The data for this study were collected through a survey of firms in mainland China. The results provide empirical support for our propositions. The study contributes to research by providing a clear conceptualization of IOS-enabled interorganizational integration, establishing the theoretical link between its two dimensions and operational and strategic performance, developing scales for interorganizational system integration and business integration, as well as providing data on the IOS experience of Chinese firms

VIS Standards Deployment and Integration: A Study of Antecedents and Benefits

Drawing on institutional theory and the literature on inter-organizational systems (IOS), this paper develops a research model for assessing the use of vertical information systems (VIS) standards. Extending prior research on IOS use, we differentiated between two distinct dimensions characterizing organizations’ use of VIS standards: the extent to which organizations adopt VIS standards across a wide range of business processes, and the extent of systems and business process integration. We examine how VIS standards deployment and integration differentially influence operational and strategic benefits that standards users obtain. We also examine how various institutional pressures (coercive, mimetic, and normative) influence the extent of deployment and integration of the VIS standards in different ways. The hypotheses are tested using survey data collected from organizations in Asia who have implemented RosettaNet standards

IT CAPABILITIES IN GLOBAL ENTERPRISES

Organizations are globalizing rapidly for growth. However, with globalization they constantly struggle with the often competing objectives of global scale and responsiveness to local conditions and global trends. Prior research suggests that IT capabilities are critical to achieving organizational goals; however there has been relatively little research that explicitly examines IT capabilities in the MNC context. This paper examines in-depth the IT capabilities in a global organization. Drawing on recent research that suggests a goal-oriented approach to IT capabilities, we identify MNC capabilities of Global Scale, Global-Local Responsiveness and Global Coordination. The paper also notes the distinction between resources and processes in the conceptualization of capabilities, and provides empirical support for the resources and associated processes that comprise each of the global IT capabilities

IT Governance in Global Enterprises: Managing in Asia

As businesses reconfigure their value chains and scale up their global expansions, they have to cope with a myriad of complex IT management challenges. This research examines how enterprises realign their global IT strategies for scale, speed, and innovation. Anchored in the IT governance literature, we seek to unravel the required governance structures and processes in balancing the inherent global-local tensions. Through field interviews with CIOs of global enterprises with established Asian presence, we derived a research framework for global IT management. Our findings suggest evolving global-regional-local structural elements in global IT organization supplemented by the institution of horizontal/linking mechanisms. Specifically, the key tension points appear to be in the flexible design of IT service delivery, the facilitation of IT innovation flow, and the nurturing of a global IT management mindset