Information Technology (IT) managers’ contribution to IT agility in organizations – views from the field

siirretty Doriast

ORGANIZATIONAL USE OF BIG DATA AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE – EXPLORATION OF ANTECEDENTS

The use of Big Data can hold considerable benefits for organizations, but there is as yet little research on the impacts of Big Data use on key variables such as competitive advantage. The antecedents to Big Data use aiming at competitive advantage are also poorly understood. Drawing from prior research on the ICT-competitiveness link, this research examined the relationship of organizational use of Big Data and competitive advantage – as well as certain hypothesized antecedents to this relationship. Data was collected from a nationwide survey in Japan which was addressed to Big Data users in private companies. The result shows that the competitiveness is influenced by the systematic and extensive use of Big Data in the organization, and top management understanding for Big Data use. Antecedents of systematic and extensive Big Data use were found to be the cross-functional activities of analysts, proactive attitude of users, secured data management, and human resources. Future research should strive t

Agility of Business Processes – Lessons from a Digital Transformation Context

The process of digital transformation entails changes in both the processes, practices and routines of organizations. This flux of changes, brings to question the conventional notion of documented business processes and highlights the importance for agility and flexibility in the configuration of organizational processes during digital transformation. Prior research provides a thorough view on the value of meticulous and preplanned business processes as well as capabilities for identifying and capitalizing on new opportunities. However, these studies typically focus on organizations operating in regular business conditions, while studies examining these concepts in periods of digital transformation process are still relatively few. In this study, we focus on the digital transformation processes in a manufacturing technology company that seeks to expand its business to providing data based services for its customers. Our study draws from an empirical base of 60 interviews, supported with company documents, participation in strategy workshops, and several meetings for over 16 months. The paper describes changes that the company is implementing, both in its organizational structure, technology infrastructure, as well as in its business processes. Our observations highlight the difficulty of relaxing the control of business processes and technology infrastructures, required for flexibility, and creation of new processes. The paper advances four principles of agility during digital transformation - mindfulness, light touch routines, flexible infrastructure and ambidextrous organization

Effects of User IT Capabilities and Organized Big Data Analytics on Competitive Advantage

information technology (IT) in order to take advantage of the potential of data for business objectives. While users have received attention in many ways, we note that the capability literature has focused more on the IT supply side. We argue that user capabilities have moved to an integral position in firm competitive advantage, and call them “User IT Capabilities” (UIC). A survey was conducted to collect data from Japanese organizations, and a total valid sample of 1,170 respondents involved in big data use was extracted. The findings show the effect of UIC on the performance of big data analytics and firm competitiveness, mediated by the variable of organized big data analytics (OBDA). The direct effects are shown to be valid irrespective of company size, although the levels of UIC and OBDA are higher in larger firms

Digital Agility: Conceptualizing Agility for the Digital Era

It goes without saying that digital technologies have been forming an increasingly crucial component of companies’ value offerings in recent times. In many industries, this trend has led to converging markets, where traditional firms compete and collaborate with software firms and digital startups. One central competitive factor in these markets is the ability to capitalize on digital options faster than the competition. Prior research on agility in this context has advanced our knowledge on managerial and employee behaviors, as well as structures supporting such behaviors, to enable agility both in traditional and software firms. The challenge for firms in digitally converging markets is that agility now requires a combination of organizational and IS development agility—perceiving these concepts as separate entities is no longer appropriate or instructive. Building on prior work on agile behaviors and structures, and published cases on digital firms, we develop an integrative conception of digital agility in line with the realities of the digital era

IS Agility Research: An Assessment and Future Directions

In this paper, we briefly describe IS agility related research in four established IS research areas: IT infrastructure, IS development, IS organization, and IS personnel. We present a systematic literature review of articles published in leading scientific IS journals during the years 1990-2013. The main contribution of the paper is in the summary of research methods and results of agility related research in the four research streams. Our analysis will provide researchers with a foundation of prior research when designing future studies. Additionally, the paper raises concerns that the dominance of two research streams (i.e., flexible IT infrastructures and agile IS development methods), may overshadow the role of IS personnel characteristics and IS organisation design in agility studies. Future IS agility research could also benefit from studies adopting a broader theoretical perspective to integrate concepts and findings across all four research streams

Fostering Communication between the Elderly and the Youth with Social Games

In today’s aging societies, elderly people often have difficulties to find people to communicate with. To address this loneliness of the elderly, it has been suggested to create more opportunities for children and elderly people to engage in various shared activities together. In this ongoing research, we investigate that social offline games can facilitate communication between the generations by creating a mutually enjoyable environment where elderly and young persons can interact with each other. A longitudinal approach is used to investigate whether intergenerational communication actually is enhanced by utilizing social offline games as the medium. Prior research has been conducted in related topics, such as the perceptions of the young and elderly participants towards each other in a game setting, as well as the impacts to communication behaviours among players of the same generation. We aim to build a model that connects game enjoyment, intergenerational perceptions and communication, and ultimately contribute to improving the well-being and relieving the loneliness experienced by many elderly people

Digital Agility: Conceptualizing Agility for the Digital Era

It goes without saying that digital technologies have been forming an increasingly crucial component of companies’ value offerings in recent times. In many industries, this trend has led to converging markets, where traditional firms compete and collaborate with software firms and digital startups. One central competitive factor in these markets is the ability to capitalize on digital options faster than the competition. Prior research on agility in this context has advanced our knowledge on managerial and employee behaviors, as well as structures supporting such behaviors, to enable agility both in traditional and software firms. The challenge for firms in digitally converging markets is that agility now requires a combination of organizational and IS development agility—perceiving these concepts as separate entities is no longer appropriate or instructive. Building on prior work on agile behaviors and structures, and published cases on digital firms, we develop an integrative conception of digital agility in line with the realities of the digital era. </p