IT ambidexterity: a competitive IT capability for high-tech SMEs

The proliferation of information technology (IT) tools has pervaded industry environment with products that are becoming differentiated, smarter and competitive every day. Following this trend, high-tech small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face precarious pressures to enhance their technological competence continuously to survive. They are required to embed IT ambidexterity – the ability of the firm to simultaneously refine their existing technologies (IT exploitation) and search new technological solutions (IT exploration) – into their organisational strategy. Owing to limited slack resources and immature firm routines, processes, administrative hierarchy, organisational systems and operational experiences, a key challenge for high-tech SMEs arise in enabling and managing the simultaneous pursuit to exploit existing technology in the short-term and explore new technological breakthroughs for the long-term. This dissertation posits IT ambidexterity as a competitive IT capability and sets out to investigate what are the enabling mechanisms that allow high-tech SMEs to become IT ambidextrous and whether IT ambidexterity is, in fact, a relevant strategy to enable superior performance in high-tech SMEs of the United Kingdom. A survey based dataset of 292 high-tech British SMEs are empirically analysed to test the proposed hypotheses. The study consists of an introduction, a conclusion, and in between four empirical papers, which address specific research gaps in the extant IT ambidexterity literature. Chapter two examines the role of leadership and organisational configuration in facilitating IT ambidexterity and analyses its implications on projects’ performance. The empirical analysis suggests that both leadership and organizational configuration play a vital role to enable IT ambidexterity, which in turn improves project performance. Chapter three focuses primarily on the role of high-tech SME leaders to understand if leadership decision-making styles initiate IT ambidexterity and examines how and when a particular leadership decision-making style can be more effective by considering organisational diversity and shared vision as two important organisational contingencies. The findings suggest leadership participative as well as directive decision-making styles enable IT ambidexterity; however, the participative decision-making style is more effective with heterogeneous firm members, and the directive decision-making style is preferred when a shared vision is dominant among firm members. Moreover, results show that IT ambidexterity significantly enhances firm performance. Chapter four explicates the effect of IT ambidexterity on IT department performance. This chapter draws on a combination of the resource-based view and contingency theory to investigate the moderating effects of a firm’s internal and external contingencies on the IT ambidexterity-IT department performance relationship. The findings show that the positive effect of IT ambidexterity on IT performance is amplified for the firms with more resources and at higher levels of environmental dynamism, complexity and munificence. Interestingly, the results show that the performance implications of IT ambidexterity are not firm age-dependent. Chapter five develops on the IT-enabled organisational capabilities perspective to examine whether IT ambidexterity enhances speed to market – referred as how quickly product is made available in the market after the product definition stage. This chapter posits operational agility as an IT-enabled organisational capability and that formalisation plays a role of moderator in this equation. The developed model is further examined under the varying conditions of environmental complexity. The empirical analysis suggests that the effect of IT ambidexterity on speed to market is partially mediated by operational agility and the operational agility has a greater impact on speed to market in environments that are more complex. While formalization does not moderate the link between IT ambidexterity and operational agility, our results reveal that this moderation effect is evident and significant in complex environments. Despite of its importance, IT ambidexterity is an IT concept only proposed and investigated very recently, for which our understanding is extraordinarily limited in the field of IS. Altogether, this thesis contributes to the embryonic stage of IT ambidexterity literature by providing an in-depth understanding of the enabling mechanisms and consequences of IT ambidexterity in high-tech SMEs. The findings of this thesis contribute to the debate surrounding how to manage and organise for IT exploitation and IT exploration simultaneously within the same firm. In contrast to prior arguments that ambidexterity can only be enabled with separate exploration and exploitation organisational units, the mechanisms irrelevant to high-tech SMEs, this study highlights the idiosyncratic roles of firm leaders and configurations to develop IT ambidexterity. In addition, against the theoretical concerns that due to resource limitations ambidexterity might become a performance-constraining strategy for high-tech SMEs, this study illustrates that IT ambidexterity not only directly impacts performance outcomes of high-tech SMEs but also provide a foundation for developing a higher-order operational capabilities. In conclusion, this study responds to the call for greater attention on developing a competitive IT framework. In contrast to several other constructs (e.g. IT spending, IT development, and IT possession) that may not necessarily create competitive advantage due to imitability and substitutability, this study theorises IT ambidexterity as a distinct and valuable IT capability that is hard to emulate. This study contributes to the Information Systems research by clearly identifying the enabling mechanism and impacts of IT ambidexterity, thus, serves as a foundation stone for future research in this important and growing area of research

Navigating the Use of ChatGPT in Classrooms: A Study of Student Experiences

Amidst growing concerns about ChatGPT-facilitated academic misconduct, universities are grappling with laying out clear guidelines, leaving students and academics in a state of confusion. In this milieu, the study delves into students\u27 perspectives to investigate their engagement with ChatGPT thus far, using Grounded Theory Method to analyze their behavior. Our findings reveal that ChatGPT can significantly enhance learning experiences when used appropriately. The tool\u27s conversational abilities allow students to tailor their interactions, fostering personalized learning and promoting inclusivity. However, a multitude of factors, including sociocultural influences, academic context-driven skepticism, and the tool\u27s limitations, shape students\u27 interactions with ChatGPT. Our study highlights the opportunities ChatGPT presents for technology-enhanced learning while acknowledging the challenges it poses to the academic landscape, paving the way for better-informed policies on the use of AI in higher education

DRIVING NPD PERFORMANCE IN HIGH-TECH SMES THROUGH IT AMBIDEXTERITY: UNVEILING THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP DECISION-MAKING STYLES

The scarcity of IT resources and technological advancements in high-tech small and medium enterprises (SMEs) require leaders to embed IT ambidexterity – simultaneous pursuit of IT exploitation and IT exploration activities – into their organization’s strategy, which could be challenging. To better understand how leaders enable IT ambidexterity, this study focuses on the leadership decision-making style (directive decision-making and participative decision-making) as a key driving factor. Moreover, we examine how and when leadership decision-making styles are most effective in enacting IT ambidexterity by considering new product development (NPD) team diversity and shared vision as two important contingencies. Finally, we test the role of IT ambidexterity in improving NPD performance. We analyse our research model using survey data from 292 high-tech SMEs. Our findings suggest that both decision-making styles enable IT ambidexterity, however, participative decision-making style is more effective in highly diverse NPD teams and directive decision-making style should be preferred when shared vision is a dominant factor among NPD team members. Our results also show that IT ambidexterity significantly enhances NPD performance. We discuss our contribution to information systems (IS) and ambidexterity research and provide implications for practice

Employee Turnover Intention in Call Center (Punjab) Pakistan

Purpose The purpose of this research was to find out the reasons of employee turnover in call centers of Punjab Pakistan so that the companies could retain their trained work force. Also find out the reasons which are affecting on employee’s turnover intention. The intention of this research is to find out those elements behind the employees turnover intention of job. Design/methodology the target population of this research is Multan and Lahore (Punjab). For getting the response 100 quantities of questionnaire were distributed and with use of application SPSS-18, revile the result on correlation analysis. Research findings the findings of this research identified that that there is negative relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The finding and the recommendation of this research will help the manager to develop a deeper insight of research factor for reducing the employee’s turnover intention Originality/value for determining the employees turnover intention in call center that is original study for newly and existing reader knowledge and there is no any portion of research are copy form anywhere. Implications all the company top level manager/HR manager and marketers of the industry who want to decline the turnover intention can use this research results. Keywords: employee’s turnover, job satisfaction, salary, working conditio

Design and Simulation of Cascaded Class-A Microwave Power Amplifier

Microwave power amplifiers are the most significant components in wireless communications systems. As the technology continue to progress, the designers are facing new challenges and opportunities. The purpose of this work is to push the limits of efficiency and bandwidth of power amplifiers. The objective of this research is to design and build a prototype two stage Microwave power amplifier operated at 2.4 GHz with a linear region of operation up to our desired output of 0.5 watt or 27 dBm. The transistor used in the first stage is BFP540 while the output power of the first stage is the input of the second stage in which the ATF50189 transistor is used to for amplification. All the simulations and readings are taken by using AWR Microwave Office software. By using the load line Rl and the biasing points are achieved for both stages. The applications of our proposed device include many products in the field of microwave communications. One of the important applications of a Microwave power amplifier is in the output stage of a transmitter where a signal needs amplification before it is transmitted.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v3i5.364

Impact of IT ambidexterity on new product development speed: Theory and empirical evidence

New product development (NPD) speed is becoming an important weapon by which firms can gain market share in today’s competitive and complex market environments, where consumer preferences change rapidly. Drawing on the information technology (IT)-enabled organizational capabilities perspective, this study proposes that IT ambidexterity—the simultaneous pursuit of IT exploitation and IT exploration, which has become imperative in modern industry to sustain the business value of IT—enhances NPD speed by facilitating operational agility. We examine the proposed relationship of IT ambidexterity with the potential moderating role of market complexity in a sample composed of 292 British high-tech firms. Our findings, based on a moderatedmediation analysis, suggest that the impact of IT ambidexterity on NPD speed is mediated by operational agility and that the mediation effect is especially pronounced in complex markets. The resulting theoretical arguments and empirical evidence yield further insights into the strategic impacts of IT

Supply chain involvement in business continuity management: effects on reputational and operational damage containment from supply chain disruptions

Purpose Does internal integration extend to business continuity and to managing supply chain disruptions (SCDs)? Despite the voluminous literature on supply chain integration, evidence on its effectiveness on risk management and disruption response is scant. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of business continuity management (BCM) and of supply chain involvement in BCM (SCiBCM) on reputational and operational damage containment in the face of SCDs. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on Simons’ Levers of Control framework to explain how the involvement of supply chain in BCM affects firm capabilities in containing damages caused by major SCDs. The authors develop and test hypotheses by analyzing large-scale questionnaire responses from 448 European companies. Findings Results of the data analysis suggest that BCM improves reputational damage containment, whereas SCiBCM improves operational damage containment. The findings also show that the significant effects of BCM and SCiBCM on reputational and operational damage containment, respectively, were amplified for the firms facing higher supply chain vulnerability. Post-hoc analysis further reveals the complementarity effect between BCM and SCiBCM for the companies exposed to high supply chain vulnerability. Originality/value Evidence on the effects of BCM and its internal integration on performance is limited. This study offers empirical evidence on the topic. Also, while supply chain integration can improve information sharing and coordination, some may not fully recognize its potential benefits in addressing SCDs. This study theoretically and empirically demonstrates the role played by internal integration, in the form of SCiBCM, in improving organizational damage containment efforts

The role of managerial activities in achieving Information technology ambidexterity and new product development performance in small and medium-sized enterprises

Given their limited portfolio of resources, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have to manage information technology (IT) exploitation and exploration at the same time to support a major shift in their product focus while maintaining their current array of products. We theorise that SMEs rely on managerial activities to enable IT ambidexterity to enhance the performance of their new product development (NPD). To this end, we hypothesise and test the relationships between managerial activities, IT ambidexterity, and NPD performance. Using multiple respondent data from 292 high-tech SMEs, we find that managerial activities enable IT ambidexterity, and this relationship is moderated by structural configurations. Considering the NPD management challenges ushered in by the digital era, our findings identify IT ambidexterity as a key mechanism to enhance NPD performance in SMEs. Our results contribute novel insights into the effective role of managerial activities in SMEs and help to explain the role of IT ambidexterity in the NPD literature, thereby facilitating continued theory development in this field of research

Mapping the service recovery research landscape: a bibliometric‐based systematic review

With businesses under increasing pressure to provide excellent customer service, postfailure recovery strategies have become critical for long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty. The domain of service recovery has extensively been examined in academia; however, systematic studies that provide a consolidated overview remains scant. To this end, we provide a systematic review and synthesis of service recovery literature by conducting a bibliometric-based cocitation analysis of 24,741 cited references from 1020 articles from across disciplines. The study identifies 10 major research clusters that represent different research streams of service recovery and explores their intellectual foundations. In addition, the research presents a conceptual framework to serve as a parsimonious guide for both practitioners and researchers. Furthermore, the study reveals a number of gaps in the existing literature and suggests promising directions for further investigation, including but not limited to: expanding methodological horizons in service recovery research, understanding service recovery mechanisms in Metaverse and synthetic environments, globalizing service recovery research, revitalizing service recovery processes in the age of artificial intelligence and robotics, investigating service recovery as an investment, and exploring service recovery in shared economies. Notably, this study serves managers, firstly, by providing them with a parsimonious structure of service recovery field that could help identify areas of improvement in their own service recovery systems and, secondly, by highlighting areas where academic knowledge base could inform industry solutions

Morphological characterization, phytochemical profile, and cytotoxic and insecticidal activities of diverse parts of Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.)

Purpose: To standardize Zakham-e-Hayat (Bryophyllum pinnatum Lam.) as well as determine its cytotoxic and insecticidal activity. Methods: Different parts of the plant (flowers, young leaves, old leaves and stem) and different solvents, viz, methanol, ethyl acetate and n-hexane were used for the extraction. Morphological characterization (macroscopic and microscopic), phytochemical screening for primary and secondary metabolites, and thin layer chromatography (TLC) using various solvent systems, namely, methanol/chloroform (MeOH/CHCl3), n-hexane/methanol/chloroform (n-hexane/MeOH/CHCl3), methanol/chloroform/water (MeOH/CHCl3/H2O), n-hexane/chloroform (n-hexane/CHCl3), n-hexane/ethyl acetate (n-hexane/EtOAc) were carried out. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was also performed. In addition, the extracts were evaluated for their cytotoxic and insecticidal activities. Results: The methanol fraction of the young leaves had 50% lethal dose (LD50) of 28.46 µg/mL while the ethyl acetate fraction of young and old leaves showed significant cytotoxicity at LD50 of 0.13 µg/mL and 142.68 µg/mL respectively. On the other hand, n-hexane fraction was inactive. The methanol fraction of the flower revealed the presence of carbohydrates, the ethyl acetate fraction showed the presence of carbohydrates and amino acids, while the n-hexane fraction showed the presence of carbohydrates as primary metabolites. Furthermore, alkaloids, flavonoid, saponins and resins were present in the methanol fraction, flavonoid and alkaloids in the ethyl acetate fraction, and alkaloids and resins in the n-hexane fraction as secondary metabolites. Conclusion: Methanol and n-hexane fractions of Bryophyllum pinnatum have some safe bioactive compounds which may exhibit potential health benefits