Effects of ERP Systems in China: Cultural Influences in the Manufacturing Industry

To gain a competitive advantage in the global market, many Chinese manufacturing firms have invested heavily in implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Evidence shows, however, that ERP system use has varied significantly between firms. This study addresses such variances in performance in the Chinese manufacturing context, particularly at a plant level. The Gattiker and Goodhue model was adapted for our investigation incorporating a survey instrument. Data were collected from 59 Chinese manufacturing firms. The data collected were analysed using Structural Equation Modeling in association with the Partial Least Squares technique. The results show that the level of interdependence, differentiation between plants, time elapsed after ERP system implementation, high context communication in the Chinese culture, and personal relationships (guanxi) have significant impacts the performance of on firms that use ERP systems. The results also indicate that a better fit between ERP systems and Chinese culture will lead to a higher performance. Particularly, personal relationships (guanxi) have a positive influence on the use of ERP systems, while high context communication has a negative influence. The findings have significant implications for IS researchers and practitioners in the Chinese social context

Does culture matter? Cultural influences and IT governance integration mechanism

This paper aims to contribute to the conceptualization and contextualization of IT governance (ITG) by exploring the potential influences of national culture on ITG integration mechanisms. We address the lack of understanding towards the influences that culture may have on ITG in previous literature and present a framework to examine whether and how cultural intervention effects ITG performance. Conventional themes in ITG studies pay more attention to the structure of decision-making authorities. This paper focuses on the paradigm of integrative coordination. Through the lens of the resource-based view (RBV), we conceptualize ITG as a systemic set of firm-specific resources in IT value creation; whereas the complementarity of national culture to ITG is conceptualized as a type of country-specific resource. The propositions presented are expected to enrich the understanding of ITG integration mechanisms and IT value creation and benefit the cross-country transfer of ITG concepts and practice

Feedback for thought: examining the influence of feedback constituents on learning experience

© 2016 Society for Research into Higher Education. Reflective teaching practice is often heralded as a pillar of effective tuition. However, the perceptions of multiple forms of feedback among learners and their contributions to reflective learning is yet to attract significant attention, particularly in the Information Systems (IS) context. This research investigates the antecedent constituents of feedback and how they contribute to an overall perception of feedback in an introductory IS course. A research model grounded in the pedagogical literature was operationalised and quantitative data collected and analysed using Partial Least Squares. The results indicate that summative and generic assessment feedback were found to be significant towards formulating an overall perception of feedback, and that such perception is significant in influencing a learner's experience. This further highlights the fact that students are overwhelmingly assessment focused and may not engage in reflective practice pertaining to their overall learning experience–necessitating the establishment of learner's reflective lenses to guide them towards such reflection

Social Media in the Workplace: Key Drivers for Inclusive Innovation

The recent decade has witnessed a mass proliferation of information systems enabled, community-based, social networking. Such proliferation has contributed to seismic social and political movements around the globe, but is yet to make a noticeable imprint in business organisations. While many researchers and practitioners have advocated the transition of social media to the organisational sphere, the actuality of this transition is still deficient, necessitating thorough investigation. Consequently, this study addresses this pressing issue by first, presenting a vantage point on the theoretical and practical underpinnings of social media and the revolutionising role they stand to play in organisations. An empirical case study is then presented highlighting the actual diffusion and utilisation of social media in a regional branch of a global consultancy and audit firm. The findings hold important implications as they identify key drivers contributing to the successful diffusion of social media in organisations, and their corresponding utilisation for enabling an inclusive and innovative environment in the workplac

From Cloud to Green: E-Collaboration for Environmental Conservation

While environmental collaboration is being revolutionised by the widespread use of cloud-based collaborative technologies such as wikis, social networking media, and conferencing tools, freely available via the internet, the diffusion of electronic collaboration (e-collaboration) in developing countries remains poorly understood. In order to address this research need, our study examines how Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (ENGOs) in two developing countries use collaborative technologies to co-ordinate and collaborate with diverse and distributed stakeholders towards achieving shared environmental goals. This paper explores how collaborative technologies can transform eco-collaborative efforts and influence the achievement of environmental objectives. Our investigation is viewed from an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) perspective which reveals the emerging roles and limitations of collaborative technologies as mediators of eco-collaboration in Thailand and Lebanon

Can IS Save the World? Collaborative Technologies for Eco-Mobilisation

This paper adopts a transdisciplinary perspective to studying the use of collaborative technologies for environmental collaboration among diverse stakeholders, mobilised towards creating and achieving shared environmental goals. Environmental collaboration is a complex phenomenon involving a multitude of stakeholders and resources often dispersed across vast geographically, politically and culturally diverse areas. The study contextualises the environmental problem situation in Australia and Thailand, and considers the multifaceted emergence of environmental collaboration enacted by various local Environmental Non- Governmental Organisations (ENGO). A research approach, based on the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is adopted. By retracing the associations and the complex webs of translations taking place in the environmental actor-networks of diverse stakeholders and collaborative technologies, the study reveals the emerging roles and limitations of collaborative technologies as mediators of eco-mobilisation

Beyond speculation: A holistic investigation into factors affecting social media utilisation in the workplace

The utilisation of social media in the workplace has attracted much speculation in the business community in relation to its risks and benefits. However, intra-organisational dimensions affecting such ustilisation are yet to be holistically considered. Grounded in the scholarly literature, a survey questionnaire was operationalized and empirical data collected and analysed using PLS. The results indicate that, with respective importance, Championing, Infrastructure, Policy, and Empowerment have a significant influence on social media unitisation in the workplace. The results also highlight the significance between such utilisation and perceived social media benefits. The findings hold important theoretical and practical implications, particularly given the connected, information-intensive, and competitive global marketplace

Integrating enterprise resource planning (SAP) in the accounting curriculum: a systematic literature review and case study

© 2016 Taylor & Francis. This study investigates how an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package SAP was integrated into the curriculum of an accounting information systems (AIS) course in an Australian university. Furthermore, the paper provides a systematic literature review of articles published between 1990 and 2013 to understand how ERP systems were integrated into curriculums of other institutions, and to inform the curriculum designers on approaches for adopting SAP, the benefits and potential limitations. The experiences of integrating SAP into an AIS course from both the students and teaching staff perspectives are described and evaluated. The main finding was the importance of resourcing the instructors with technical and pedagogical support to achieve the learning outcomes. The paper concludes by proposing critical success factors for integrating ERP effectively into an AIS course

Beyond e-business models: the road to virtual worlds

Virtual Worlds (or, VWs) are an intriguing \ufb01eld of research. In particular, VWs appear to create new opportunities for integrating the business of the \ufb01rm with Information Technology (or, IT). This article is a \ufb01rst attempt to address the topic of how owning andmaintaining a VWcan impact on the businessmodels of \ufb01rms and on the literature on business models, and VWs are examined in order to understand the relationship between them. A qualitative methodology is proposed to sketch a radar map framework, which is able to identify value drivers and the subsequent impact on elements of value proposition. Although they need to be tested and veri\ufb01ed, the \ufb01ndings provided in this work might offer support for \ufb01rms looking to VWs as a new way to implement a winning business model. Finally, suggestions for empowering future research are proposed and examined