Adapting ERP Systems in the Post-implementation Stage: Dynamic IT Capabilities for ERP

Background: Firms recently rely on enterprise systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), to integrate, automate, and support business strategy and operations. However, uncertain environments require firms continuously adapt their ERP systems to meet changing business demands in the post-implementation stage. What capability can drive ERP post-implementation adaptation (PIA) deserves further research. Based on the dynamic capabilities view, we propose that dynamic IT capabilities for ERP, namely IT sensing, IT learning, IT integration, and IT coordination capability, can drive ERP-PIA. Method: A cross-sectional and matched-pair mail survey of both business and IS executives was administrated for collecting data from the top 1,000 manufacturing firms in Taiwan. Partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was constructed for measurement validation and hypotheses testing. Results: Based on 128 samples (74 firms), our findings demonstrate the importance of the dynamic IT capabilities for achieving higher levels of ERP-PIA. ERP-PIA can facilitate greater organizational benefits from system use. Conclusions: This study conceptualizes and empirically demonstrates the importance of ERP-PIA, which provides a specific example of IT/IS adaptation. This study also conceptualizes dynamic IT capabilities for ERP, and theorizes how these capabilities interact to enable firms to adapt ERP systems to fulfill the emergent demands. This study improvs the understanding of the roles of dynamic IT capabilities for ERP in enabling ERP-PIA and organizational benefits through a richer theoretical framing than that of prior studies. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol12/iss1/2

The Impacts of Goal Structure Design among Projects within an IT Program on the Resources Monitoring

Within an IT program, a key source of conflict has been the competition among project managers over scarce resources necessary for the completion of their own individual projects. To succeed in the overall implementation of their program, however, program managers must consider methods for effectively monitoring resources when designing projects. The shared cognition theory suggests that a shared understanding of tasks among all program members would serve as a solid foundation for the effective monitoring of resources. However, would a shared understanding alone be sufficient to achieve the needed level of resources monitoring among individual teams? Drawing from the social interdependence theory, we propose that goal interdependence is a critical condition for integrating multiple projects into a program. We argue that shared goal understanding leads to heightened levels of resources monitoring which in turn leads to greater efficiency in the implementation of the IT program. However, this relationship may be moderated by the goal interdependence among projects within the program. To empirically test the model, an instrument has been developed while data collection nears completion

Coordination among ERP Consultants: Controlling Mechanisms

Consultants are deemed critical to the success of an ERP implementation because of the breadth and complexity of the system, the management of multiple modules, and the one-time nature of the project that limits desire to increase investment in a permanent workforce. However, consultants often fail to effectively coordinate their activities, making integration of the ERP problematic. Coordination across module implementation of the ERP is essential to the overall success. Achievements of consultants are often controlled by organizations though the negotiated contract, but just how do consultants apply controls to meet their obligations and reach an effective level of integration for the system? A qualitative analysis of consultant perspectives on coordination controls will serves as the basis of the study. Grounded theory techniques will be applied to surface appropriate controls applied by consultants. Taiwan ERP consultants serve as the interview cases. We expect that the level of knowledge of the tasks and procedures could be a determinant of the choice of control mechanisms adopted by ERP consultants firms

Charged Higgs-boson decays into quarks

We consider the full genuine next-to-leading order SUSY–QCD corrections to the charged Higgs decays into quarks supplemented by the NNLO corrections to the effective top and bottom Yukawa couplings. The NNLO corrections to the effective top Yukawa coupling are a new ingredient of our analysis. We arrive at an approximate NNLO prediction for MSSM charged Higgs decays after including the N$^4$LO QCD corrections for large charged Higgs masses. The residual uncertainties are in the percent range or below, depending on the particular MSSM scenario

THE ROLE OF AGILE METHODOLOGY USE AND FEEDBACK ATTRIBUTES IN GAME DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR GAME PROJECT QUALITY

Game development projects (GDPs) adopt agile methodology to leverage its flexibility especially when final design and consumer’s tastes are highly uncertain and unpredict-able. Although close customer collaboration is an important success factor for agile methodology, game development projects have difficulties in working closely with their end-users. As a result, team members tend to take advantage of game testers’ feedback to see whether the features meet the consumer’s tastes. Feedback from game testers con-tains technical and aesthetic aspects that contribute to the quality of a game, that is, stability, functionality and playability. This study argues that specific and immediate feedback from game testers can enhance the benefits of the agile methodology use to achieve the game project quality. To empirically test the model, an instrument has been developed while data collection nears completion

IT Program Goal Interdependence and Team Process Adjustment

IT programs are a common management structure put in place to govern multiple IT projects and complex IT deployments. The presence of multiple project teams can lead to difficulties in driving toward a common organizational goal for the program. One desirable behavior for program teams is the ability to adjust to changes in requirements due to environmental shifts or errors in requirements. We develop a model that considers how adjustments are fostered. The model suggests that goal interdependence and commitment, combined with monitoring, lead to heightened adjustment behaviors. Adjustment behaviors, in turn, lead to desirable program outcomes, but the relationships are moderated by requirements uncertainty

The global role of ppGpp synthesis in morphological differentiation and antibiotic production in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

The induction of ppGpp synthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor influenced the expression of several genomic elements characteristic of streptomycete biology, including antibiotic gene clusters, conservons, and morphogenetic proteins

Multi-component Decomposition of Cosmic Infrared Background Fluctuations

The near-infrared background between 0.5 and 2 μm contains a wealth of information related to radiative processes in the universe. Infrared background anisotropies encode the redshift-weighted total emission over cosmic history, including any spatially diffuse and extended contributions. The anisotropy power spectrum is dominated by undetected galaxies at small angular scales and a diffuse background of Galactic emission at large angular scales. In addition to these known sources, the infrared background also arises from intrahalo light (IHL) at z < 3 associated with tidally stripped stars during galaxy mergers. Moreover, it contains information on the very first galaxies from the epoch of reionization (EoR). The EoR signal has a spectral energy distribution (SED) that goes to zero near optical wavelengths due to Lyman absorption, while other signals have spectra that vary smoothly with frequency. Due to differences in SEDs and spatial clustering, these components may be separated in a multi-wavelength-fluctuation experiment. To study the extent to which EoR fluctuations can be separated in the presence of IHL, and extragalactic and Galactic foregrounds, we develop a maximum likelihood technique that incorporates a full covariance matrix among all the frequencies at different angular scales. We apply this technique to simulated deep imaging data over a 2 × 45 deg^2 sky area from 0.75 to 5 μm in 9 bands and find that such a "frequency tomography" can successfully reconstruct both the amplitude and spectral shape for representative EoR, IHL, and the foreground signals