A study of IS assets,IS ambidexterity,and IS alignment: the dynamic managerial capability perspective

This study aims to explore how IT-business alignment can be better achieved. Drawing on the dynamic capability view, information systems (IS) alignment and IS ambidexterity are theorized as IT departments’ ordinary capability and dynamic managerial capability, respectively. Four IS assets are identified as antecedents of both IS ambidexterity and IS alignment. A research model with 14 hypotheses is tested with a sample of 162 manufacturing firms. The PLS analysis shows that IS ambidexterity can increase IS alignment in terms of operational support and that the four IS assets can affect IS alignment directly or indirectly. Implications for research and practice are provided.     

An empirical investigation of the relationship of IS strategy with firm performance

Given the important impact that an IS strategy has on the potential value IS brings to an organization, we develop and test a model of IS Strategy and Firm Performance. Our survey-based study provides strong evidence that firms with defined IS strategies (either IS Innovator or IS Conservative) perform better than those without defined IS strategies. Organizations without a clearly defined IS strategy actually experienced a negative relationship with firm performance. These organizations should realize the potentially negative outcomes of such a lack of strategy and work to extricate themselves before a consistent pattern of investing in IS without clear organizational benefit develops. Furthermore, the study suggests that the IS Innovator strategy is, in particular, associated with more superior firm performance than the IS Conservative strategy under conditions of environmental dynamism. Organizational leaders need to consider the external environments under which their organizations are operating and evaluate the influence those environments may have on their IS strategy’s ability to impact performance. Post hoc analysis results also reveal a fourth potential IS strategy, one that strives for ambidexterity. Ambidextrous firms were found to be associated with the most superior performance, leading to a potential extension of the existing IS strategy typology and a call for future research.     

Investigating the effects of IS strategic leadership on organizational benefits from the perspective of CIO strategic roles

In this study, the effects of IS strategic leadership on organizational outcomes are examined from the perspective of CIO strategic roles. A field survey is conducted that collects data from 110 matched pairs of CIOs and business executives within organizations. Our findings suggest that strategic leadership significantly affects both organizational benefits and information system quality. Further, we found that IS quality significantly mediates the relationship between IS strategic leadership and organizational benefits. We also note that IS vision significantly moderates the relationship between IS strategic leadership and IS quality, although it does not moderate the relationship between IS strategic leadership and organizational benefits or the relationship between IS quality and organizational benefits.     

A meta-analytic assessment of the DeLone and McLean IS success model: An examination of IS success at the individual level

Fifteen years ago, DeLone and McLean published their original model of IS success, which received considerable attention in the literature. Given the widespread acceptance of the model, we conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether the model had been validated by research studies reported in the literature. By aggregating the results of 52 empirical studies that examined relationships within the IS success model at the individual level of analysis, we found support for the relationships that encompass the model. We also offer insights on IS success based on the findings of our work.     

Mobility,Business Process Management,Software Sourcing,and Maturity Model Trends: Propositions for the IS Organization of the Future

ABSTRACT

In this article, I argue that increased mobility, a continued emphasis on business process management, expanded options for the sourcing of enterprise system software, and IS maturity models are trends that will require new capabilities and skills for tomorrow's IS organization.     

Toward a refined conceptualization of IS discontinuance: Reflection on the past and a way forward

Interest in studying information systems discontinuance has been increasing lately, yet there is no consensus on what it means. To improve the situation, we conduct a comprehensive review of current literature on IS discontinuance and identify 55 studies published during 1991–2017 that specifically focus on the topic. Our conceptual analysis disentangles the process, content, and context of the phenomenon, revealing that over the course of a typical IS lifecycle, IS discontinuance may materialize at least in five distinct forms: rejection, regressive discontinuance, quitting, temporary discontinuance, and replacement. After elaborating their distinctions, we discuss their theoretical, methodological, and practical implications.     

Knowledge-based management support: an application to the IS change agent role problem

This paper explores how the change agent role problem can be detected and alleviated with the help of a knowledge-based support tool. The mismatch between MIS specialist change agent role style and IS environment is a complex problem to solve. The problem results when the MIS specialist's role outlines responsibilities that cannot possibly manage the change and related uncertainty surrounding an IS initiative. MIS specialists are classified by change agent roles that reflect varying types of responsibility for social and technological change. Evaluation of IS environment constructs provide the MIS specialist with a formal way to compare the different IS change agent roles to moderate IS uncertainty, thereby increasing the likelihood of IS success. The relevant IS change agentry relationships are identified from a literature review. Results from a multiple case study were used to develop and validate a conceptual model of the IS change agentry application domain. Based on this model, a suitable knowledge representation scheme is developed that provides a high level structure to the IS change agent role application domain and also guides the reasoning process. The proposed approach supports the interpretation of domain relationships applicable when choosing among change agent roles. Therefore, it could be used by IS specialists proactively to facilitate the analysis of complex domain facts prior to committing resources to a change agent role. The approach is illustrated with case data. Managerial implications of the study are discussed.     

Understanding post‐adoption IS usage stages: an empirical assessment of self‐service information systems

Organisations have invested in self‐service information systems (IS) to provide a direct interface for service delivery. Enriching the usage of these systems can provide organisations with immense benefits. However, limited research has been directed towards understanding post‐adoption IS usage behaviour in general and specifically in the context of self‐service IS. This study proposes post‐adoption IS usage behaviour as a broader concept constituting feature level usage of IS, integration of IS in the work system and exploration of new uses of IS. We evaluate how the new conceptualisation can be used to classify users at different stages of self‐service IS usage. Further, we examine user perceptions that differentiate among the users situated at different self‐service IS usage stages. Data were collected in the context of a self‐service Web‐based IS to validate the post‐adoption IS usage constructs and to examine the proposed thesis. The newly developed conceptual structure and measures for post‐adoption IS usage behaviour exhibit strong psychometric properties. The analysis shows three distinct post‐adoption IS usage stages and highlights that usefulness, user‐initiated learning, ease of use, satisfaction and voluntariness of use differentiate users at the different stages of post‐adoption IS usage. The results show that these variables aggregate into value confirmation and learning orientation as two higher‐level concepts. Further, we evaluate the predictive efficacy of the research model in classifying users into different post‐adoption self‐service IS usage stages. Implications are drawn for future research.     

From information systems resources to effective use: Moderating effect of network embeddedness

This research examines how organizations can achieve effective information systems (IS) use by aligning internal IS resources with embeddedness in the IS outsourcing network. Leveraging the empirical opportunity of large-scale organization-wide meaningful use attestation of electronic health records, we conducted a longitudinal analysis of US hospitals from 2013 to 2017. We found that an organization’s network embeddedness amplifies the positive relationship between IS resources and effective IS use. We also identify different impacts depending on network embeddedness types and organization sizes. We found positive moderating effects of structural and positional embeddedness. However, junctional embeddedness has no direct or moderating effect on IS use. In addition, the moderating effects manifest differently for different-sized organizations – i.e., structural embeddedness has a stronger positive moderating effect for large organizations, while positional embeddedness’ positive moderating effect is stronger for small organizations. We also found heterogeneous direct effects of structural and positional embeddedness on organizational IS use. Solely depending on structural embeddedness will result in lower IS use, which is more prominent for small organizations. Positional embeddedness has a negative direct effect on small organizations’ IS use but positively relates to large organizations’ IS use. This research highlights the role of network embeddedness in facilitating IS use and offers a nuanced understanding of its impacts. Our findings also provide practical implications for organizational IS use through strategic IS outsourcing.     

Understanding the consequences of information systems service quality on IS service reuse

IS researchers have normally assumed that satisfaction is the key factor influencing IS customers’ reuse of services; however, a focus on customer satisfaction does not always guarantee customer retention. We synthesized customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction models from prior service quality research to provide a comprehensive model predicting the behavioral intentions of customers to reuse IS services. Five research hypotheses were empirically tested by using a field study of 263 users of an IS service department. Our findings placed IS service quality in a causal network leading to IS service reuse and highlighted the relative importance that service quality value played in predicting behavioral intention to reuse the service.