FIRM-CUSTOMER MOBILE DIGITAL CONNECTEDNESS: CONCEPTUALIZATION, MEASUREMENT AND IMPLICATIONS

Firm-customer digital connectedness for effective sensing and responding is a strategic imperative for contemporary competitive firms. This research-in-progress paper conceptualizes and operationalizes the firm-customer mobile digital connectedness of a smart-mobile customer. The empirical investigation focuses on mobile app users and the impact of mobile apps on customer expectations. Based on pilot data collected from 127 customers, we tested hypotheses pertaining to firm-customer mobile digital connectedness and customer expectations. Our test analysis using linear and non-linear postulations reveals those customers raise their expectations as they increase their digital interactions with a firm

Exploring Spiral of Silence in Digital Social Networking Spaces

Deep within social media’s chaotic deluge of information overloads, hyperactive global masses and voluminous interactions (Mandviwalla and Watson 2014) lie unique social networking spaces where silence trumps noise. Activity in these digital social networking spaces is restrained, anonymity is perceived as good and lesser said is better. Through a longitudinal perspective, this study explores passive participatory behaviors in these spaces through the theoretical lens of \u27Spiral of Silence.\u27 Preliminary findings through a single case confer to the theoretical tenets of Spiral of Silence demonstrating that users of these spaces become less participative, less opinionated and less vocal with increasing familiarity and awareness of deterring social and organizational factors. Our data also predicts potential new Spirals of Silence making a sound theoretical contribution

Exploring spiral of silence in digital social networking spaces

Deep within social media's chaotic deluge of information overloads, hyperactive global masses and voluminous interactions (Mandviwalla and Watson 2014) lie unique social networking spaces where silence trumps noise. Activity in these digital social networking spaces is restrained, anonymity is perceived as good and lesser said is better. Through a longitudinal perspective, this study explores passive participatory behaviors in these spaces through the theoretical lens of 'Spiral of Silence.' Preliminary findings through a single case confer to the theoretical tenets of Spiral of Silence demonstrating that users of these spaces become less participative, less opinionated and less vocal with increasing familiarity and awareness of deterring social and organizational factors. Our data also predicts potential new Spirals of Silence making a sound theoretical contribution

Moving from evaluation to trial: how do SMEs start adopting cloud ERP?

The advent of cloud technology involving low subscription overheads cost has provided small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the opportunity to adopt new cloud-based corporate-wide systems (i.e., cloud ERP). This technology, operating through subscriptionbased services, has now provided SMEs with a complete range of IT applications that were once restricted to large organisations. As anecdotal evidences suggest, SMEs are increasingly adopting cloud-based ERP software. The selection of an ERP is a complex process involving multiple stages and stakeholders, suggesting the importance of closer examination of cloud ERP adoption in SMEs. Yet, prior studies have predominantly treated technology adoption as a single activity and largely ignored the issue of ERP adoption in SMEs. Understanding of the process nature of the adoption and the factors that are important in each stage of the adoption potentially may result in guiding SMEs to make well-informed decisions throughout the ERP selection process. Thus, our study proposes that the adoption of cloud ERP should be examined as a multi-stage process. Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and Ettlie’s adoption stages, as well as employing data gathered from 162 owners of SMEs, our findings show that the factors that influence the intention to adopt cloud ERP vary significantly across adoptive stages

Agility of the firm: customers' perspective

Agility is emerging as an important determinant of success and achieving sustained competitive advantage in hyper-competition. Whilst the digital natives are on the rise, ubiquitous technologies, networks and associated systems are increasingly weaving themselves into the very fabric of everyday life of both individuals and corporations. With a global shift towards “everywhere retailing”, ubiquitous contemporary information systems such as mobile CRM systems (C-CRMS) are evolving. Unlike in traditional CRMS, customers are becoming an important user group in this new paradigm. Draws on agility literature, this study examine how customers’ use of C-CRMS influence firm’s customer sensing capability, firm’s customer responding capability, and how customer-perceived firm’s responsiveness influence customers use of C-CRMS. Following the notions of agility we theorized firm’s customer agility from customers’ standpoint where we use customers’ use of C-CRMS and customer-perceived firm’s responsiveness for sensing and responding components of agility respectively. This research-in-progress paper investigates how C-CRMS facilitates firm’s customer agility, and reports the approach pursued in adopting sense and response measures of customer agility taking the customers perspective derived through extant literature

Ubiquitous customer relationship management: Unforeseen issues and benefits

Convergence of pervasive technologies, techno-centric customers and the emergence of digitized channels, overabundance of user friendly retail applications are having a profound impact on retail experience, leading to the advent of ‘everywhere retailing’. With the rapid uptake of digital complimentary assets and smart mobile applications are revolutionizing the relationship of retailers with their customers and suppliers. Retail firms are increasingly investing substantial resources on dynamic Customer Relationship Management systems (D-CRM / U-CRM) to better engage with customers to sense and respond quickly (Agility of the firm) to their demands. However, unlike traditional CRM systems, engagement with U-CRM systems requires that firms be hyper sensitive to volatile customer needs and wants. Following the notions of firm agility, this study attempts to develop a framework to understand such unforeseen benefits and issues of U-CRM. This research-in-progress paper reports an a-priory framework including 62 U-CRM benefits derived through an archival analysis of literature

Customer agility, smart shopping apps and their implications: Customer relationship management systems in the digital age

This thesis examines the complementarities and vulnerabilities of customer connectivity that contemporary firms achieved through ubiquitous digital technologies. Taking the example of deployment of smart shopping apps to connect with consumers in the context of Australian retail, the study examines how such customer connectivity positively influences firm performances through firm's customer agility whilst creating implications for firms' digital business strategy through altered customer cognitions. Employing Oliver's (1977) Expectation Confirmation Theory, this study empirically tests a conceptual model involving digital connectivity, digital expectations, experiences and satisfaction of the customers who uses smart shopping apps in Australian consumer retail

Polynomial Regression and Response Surface Methodology: Theoretical Non-Linearity, Tutorial and Applications for Information Systems Research

Information systems (IS) studies regularly assume linearity of the variables and often disregard the potential non-linear theoretical interrelationships among the variables. The application of polynomial regression and response surface methodology can observe such non-linear theoretical assumptions among variables. This methodology enables to examine the extent to which two predictor variables relate to an outcome variable simultaneously. This paper utilizes the expectation confirmation theory as an example and provides a methodological commentary that illustrates a step-wise process for conducting a polynomial regression and response surface methodology

Agility: customer's perspective

In competitive environments agility is emerging as an important determinant of success. Despite the widely accepted importance of agility there has been paucity in research on this construct, especially the customer’s perspective of agility. Rise of digital natives together with growth of ubiquitous information systems has changed the way firms engage with their customers. Firms are finding it difficult to establish sustained loyalty hence the long term sustained advantage over competition. Hence, firms are increasingly investing substantial resources on dynamic Customer Relationship Management systems such as mobile-CRMS to better engage with customers to sense and respond quickly (Agility of the firm) to their demands. This paper investigates firm’s customer agility from customer’s perspective, and we propose a model to understand firm’s customer agility from customer’s point of view. The proposed model is derived based on previous conceptions of agility and the expectation confirmation theory (ECT). This paper reports the initial findings of this study obtained through a pilot test. The findings of the study demonstrate that customer’s view point on firm’s customer agility is an important determinant of achieving success through sustained competitive advantage