Factors contributing to IT industry success in developing countries: The case of Thailand

A stream of research exists that explores a country's information technology (IT) industry success. The theoretical model used in these studies is primarily focused on small developed countries. We contend that the factors that contribute to IT industry success in developing countries are likely to differ somewhat from those that play a role in small developed countries. Research to date on IT industry success has neglected developing countries. This study therefore presents an alternative IT industry success model for developing countries. It adapts Ein-dor, Myers, and Raman's (1997) model in developing such a conceptual model. The adapted framework is then applied in a study of IT industry in a developing country—Thailand. We found IT-related foreign direct investment to be vital to IT industry success in Thailand. Unlike findings from earlier studies on small developed countries, geographical location and to a lesser extent government investment promotion policies are also important to IT industry success in a developing country. These findings support the view that there are differences in the factors that affect IT industry success in developed and developing countries. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Bodyshopping versus offshoring among Indian software and information technology firms

Investigations of offshore outsourcing of information systems have presented little evidence on developing country software and information technology (IT) industries. This study probes how Indian software and IT suppliers trade off work in India versus bodyshopping of employees. Worldwide clients view these practices as full offshoring versus on-shore temporary hiring from an Indian firm, but these practices are probed from suppliers’ perspective. Suppliers’ characteristics are theorized to affect their use of bodyshopping versus in-India work. A Reserve Bank of India survey of every Indian software and IT firm elicited suppliers’ use of bodyshopping to serve clients abroad. Consistent with theoretical rationales, suppliers that were larger, incorporated, public, and owned foreign subsidiaries most frequently provided bodyshopping among their international services. Bodyshopping was used frequently for IT purchasing and systems maintenance and infrequently for business process applications, and was infrequent to nations where bodyshopped labor costs were high. The evidence expands knowledge of the vibrant entrepreneurial IT industry in India and how it serves client firms abroad.     

Role of Universities in IT Education in India

In the wake of the information technology (IT) revolution, the paper describes the changing role of universities to promote IT education in India to generate qualitative and competitive manpower in the face of the mushrooming of private institutions in the field of IT. The rapid growth of private teaching initiatives reflects inadequacies of the public educational system to the needs of the emerging IT environment, especially considering the high prices charged by private training. It is pointed out that the emerging knowledge society and the economy are not going to be based on IT alone, but will depend on the development of both IT and basic research in domain areas. Any policy on IT education should ensure that basic disciplines are not ignored. Universities should develop new and innovative programmes for students from different basic disciplines to give training for high-end jobs. To promote IT education a new innovative concept of earning while learning has recently been introduced. Some of the initiatives started by Delhi University to modify/improve course programmes for IT education are highlighted, looking at the needs of the industry.     

Software exports development in Costa Rica: Potential for policy reforms

Software industry development is acknowledged as an important engine of economic growth for many developing countries. The role of national policy has been identified as a catalyst to software industry and software exports development. Academic and practitioner frameworks have emerged to guide policymakers to the factors that are critical to success. This article adopts an institutional theory perspective on the strategy-making and implementation process and examines how historically rooted, taken-for-granted assumptions limit the possible courses of action and may also simultaneously open up new opportunities. Certain complexities and contradictions are highlighted through a longitudinal case study of Costa Rica where there is an ongoing strategic planning effort to increase software exports. Key findings from the research are related to improving our understanding of how software exports policy is influenced by local, emergent institutions that have been shaped by particular historical circumstances. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Threat or coping appraisal: determinants of SMB executives’ decision to adopt anti-malware software

This study presents an empirical investigation of factors affecting small- and medium-sized business (SMB) executives’ decision to adopt anti-malware software for their organizations. A research model was developed by adopting and expanding the protection motivation theory from health psychology, which has successfully been used to investigate the effect of threat and coping appraisal on protective actions. A questionnaire-based field survey with 239 U.S. SMB executives was conducted, and the data were analyzed using partial least squares (PLS). This study demonstrates that threat and coping appraisal successfully predict SMB executives’ anti-malware software adoption intention, leading to SMB adoption. In addition, considerable variance in adoption intention and actual SMB adoption is addressed by social influence from key stakeholders and situation-specific variables, such as IT budget and vendor support. Further, the generalizability of the model was tested using industry type and IS expertise. The adoption intention of IS experts and IT intensive industries was mainly affected by threat appraisal and social influence, while that of non-IS experts and non-IT intensive industries was significantly influenced by coping appraisal and IT budget. Vendor support was a key facilitator of the anti-malware adoption for IS experts and IT intensive industry groups, while IT budget was for non-IS expert and non-IT intensive industry groups. Key implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

双专业复合型软件工程课程体系的研究与实践(英文)

With IT technology continues to penetrate to other industries,the industry of information technology is becoming the focus of IT companies for business.The urgent need for industry information is the compound software talents who will both have strong project management skills,good technical background and fast learning ability.To this end,Dalian Jiaotong University,based on integrating information technology and its application in different areas,initiated the dual professional compound training model of "traditional professional + software engineering" in 2001 in the country.The aim for this model is to train software talents who are compound,practical and the international competitiveness.This paper focuses on the depth discussion of dual professional compound software engineering curriculum,and analyzes the need for reform of dual professional compound software engineering curriculum,then combines with IT industry needs and the actual situation in the school to put forward practical curriculum reform program.     

Social IT outsourcing and development: theorising the linkage

In recent years, a growing number of social enterprises have focused their attention on harnessing the benefits of trade in software by involving underprivileged communities from developing countries in the production of information technology (IT). The goal of this type of activity, known as social IT outsourcing, is not only to provide employment and income to low‐income individuals but also to address wider development priorities within the locality. This paper focuses on strengthening our understanding of social IT outsourcing as a promoter of development. Based on research in Jharkhand, eastern India, we seek to understand how social IT outsourcing activity is interpreted from the perspective of employees who provide data services for the market and from the perspective of the social enterprise that balances its market orientation with its social development goals. Our findings generate new insights into the mechanisms at play through which social IT outsourcing is able to provide a variety of developmental advantages to rural poor communities leading to policy implications for governments and development agencies.     

The role of software patents in sustaining IT-enabled competitive advantage: a call for research

A number of information technology (IT) researchers have examined IT and sustained competitive advantage. However, the relationship between software patents and IT sustained advantage is often unclear and incomplete. This paper reviews some of that research, pointing out various research contributions while indicating some of the problematic issues in dealing with competitive advantage and software patents. In addition, we highlight a number of software-based patents that have been awarded to organizations in diverse industries, including some that provide researchers and executives with insight into how organizations are protecting unique business methods with software patents. We also pose some intriguing research questions, including determining why firms do in fact patent software, and investigating the potential differences in doing business globally involving countries that either take steps to protect software assets with patents versus those that do not. Based on the information presented, we anticipate that IT researchers would be more open to investigating the relationship between software patents and sustaining IT-based competitive advantage.     

Organizational software piracy: an empirical assessment

Application of Information Technology (IT) has had a significant impact on all aspects of business. Due to technology, the ease with which software can be pirated is increasing and is leading to increased concern for copyright protection. This paper reviews and discusses software piracy issues from a global perspective and reports the findings of a survey concerning the impact of sectors like government, private and academic in Turkey. Although software piracy has long been attracting the interest of academics, no quantitative research has ever been realized in this field in the country. Elsewhere also, most of the software piracy-related studies are from individuals' perspectives and are limited to students, academics, cost, and attitudes. Very few have reported findings related to IT professionals and organizations. The survey was conducted among IT managers of large-scale organizations from different sectors such as the government, private and academic community. Based on the survey of 162 IT managers, the results indicated that sectors have significant impact on software piracy to some extent.     

What is the Right R&D Strategy for Overcoming the Difficulties of the South Korean IT Industry?

This study proposes new strategies for the information technology (IT) industry in South Korea, provides objectives for the South Korean IT industry and articulates the roles of the Korean government agencies, companies and users. Specifically, it covers South Korean IT strategies employed during several periods, including a stagnant period and a more recent period reflecting new successful IT environments of developed countries. South Korean IT companies should recognize the importance of user interface and user experience technologies as a next key global IT industry trend. Raising this awareness is critical in increasing the global competitiveness of the Korean IT industry. Furthermore, South Korean government agencies should take more active role in constructing and improving interactive environments that would benefit both companies and users. For future research, it is imperative to investigate the specific roles of companies, users and government agencies with respect to IT usage.     

Organizational software piracy: an empirical assessment

Application of Information Technology (IT) has had a significant impact on all aspects of business. Due to technology, the ease with which software can be pirated is increasing and is leading to increased concern for copyright protection. This paper reviews and discusses software piracy issues from a global perspective and reports the findings of a survey concerning the impact of sectors like government, private and academic in Turkey. Although software piracy has long been attracting the interest of academics, no quantitative research has ever been realized in this field in the country. Elsewhere also, most of the software piracy-related studies are from individuals' perspectives and are limited to students, academics, cost, and attitudes. Very few have reported findings related to IT professionals and organizations. The survey was conducted among IT managers of large-scale organizations from different sectors such as the government, private and academic community. Based on the survey of 162 IT managers, the results indicated that sectors have significant impact on software piracy to some extent.     

Development of IT in Japan amid financial difficulties

The Japanese bubble economy in the 1980s, one boosted by capital gains income from inflated asset prices, burst in the early 1990s resulting in strong deflationary pressure. In the face of a sluggish economy, corporate investment has been sluggish. Amid such a weak economy, investment in information technology (IT) has remained relatively strong, particularly in the telecommunications sector. The growth of the IT industry came along with the changes in its structure. Adoption of open architecture, greater use of packaged software, and increased popularity of outsourcing are examples. The adoption of open architecture in IT was in part a reflection of the openness of the systems that employed the technology. The Japanese industry that relied on close relations along the supply chain tended to maintain proprietary IT architecture within groups. The increasing power of the demand side has been instrumental in opening up the once closed supply chain and the IT infrastructure.     

IT education: more specialized in 2010

IT education is about as agile as a barge when it comes to reacting to changes in the IT industry. It takes a while but eventually the educational institutions do align their programs with advances in the technical and business requirements of IT hiring needs and corporate research agendas. Because of institutional inertia, however, program changes are usually years behind changes in industry fundamentals. IT education in 2010 changed in the following ways: 1) specialized educational programs fully reflect changes in the global IT community; 2) universities incorporate product commoditization into their curriculums; 3) remote learning technologies become sophisticated and highly used; 4) and IT education increases its focus on business and communication skills.     

软件生态系统研究综述

软件生态系统加速软件产业的垂直分工和水平整合,改变了软件产业的商业生态.自2003年提出以来,软件生态系统吸引工业界和学术界的广泛关注.国内外知名IT企业深耕软件生态系统,形成许多具有广泛影响的软件生态系统.近年来,在云计算、移动应用开发、信息物理系统、区块链等新兴信息技术快速发展和软件生态系统应用领域不断拓展的双重作用下,软件生态系统新泛型不断涌现.人们对软件生态系统的认识与理解,随着研究深度和应用广度的不断变化而改变.直至2016年,学术界和工业界才对软件生态系统的定义趋于一致.软件生态系统是在特定的技术环境中软件企业、开发者、技术社区等涉众以软件产品、服务、数据和知识为媒介相互作用而形成的复杂系统.通常,研究人员使用2003年提出的软件生态系统研究内容七分类法把相关文献归类到过程与技术、定性分析、结构化分析模型、实证研究、工具及表示法、行业应用、技术报告等七大类中.由于软件生态系统的领域边界、关键特征较之2003年的情境已发生巨变,原有的七分类法有待修订.本文类比自然生态系统,建立软件生态系统元模型来描述软件生态的结构及特征.在软件生态系统研究内容七分类法的基础上,将“定性分析”和“结构化分析模型”整合为“分析方法与框架”,把“行业应用”和“实证研究”合并为“实证研究”,形成软件生态系统研究内容五分类法.然后,对2015~2017年软件生态系统的研究现状进行文献综述,从技术报告、分析方法与框架、过程与技术、实证研究、工具及表示法五个方面总结软件生态系统的研究现状,并展望研究趋势及发现面临的挑战.软件生态系统的需求工程、架构建模、模型驱动开发、能量机理、关键特征分析、信息量抽取与建模、生态网络分析、缺陷/代码坏味累积效应、CASE工具、软件生态系统新泛型等方面的研究有待进一步深入.     

Information technology,the organizational capability of proactive corporate environmental strategy and firm performance: a resource-based analysis

The study of the relationships between information technology (IT), environmental organizational issues and firm performance is a cutting-edge research topic for the information systems (IS) community. However, at present we know very little about these relationships. Drawing on the perspective of IT-enabled organizational capabilities and the literature on organizations and the natural environment, our study introduces conceptually the construct organizational capability of proactive corporate environmental strategy to the IS field. We propose that IT capability may enable the implementation of a proactive environmental strategy and that this strategy could play a significant role in determining the business value of IT. Using structural equations modeling with data collected from 63 firms, we find that IT capability is an enabler of proactive environmental strategy and that this strategy plays a significant role in mediating the effects of IT on firm performance. Our study provides initial evidence on the role of IT in the implementation of proactive environmental practices. Our results suggest to IT executives that their decisions matter in shaping environmental sustainability, which in turn will generate business value from IT.     

Gendered selves and identities of information technology professionals in global software organizations in India

Global software organization (GSOs) are a recent form of work settings where Information Technology (IT) professionals engage in information and communication technology (ICT) mediated software development work for businesses across the globe. Issues of self, identity, and gender are linked to particularities of GSOs as a work setting. Using an interpretative, ethnographic approach, empirical data from a case study in India was analyzed to understand how gender was expressed in GSOs and linked to the concepts of self and identity of IT workers. Data suggests that GSOs are a global work setting where local issues of gender reflect social arrangements in Indian society. These arrangements have implications for GSOs as a work setting, for software development work, as well as for the selves and identities of IT workers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The influence of the informal social learning environment on information privacy policy compliance efficacy and intention

Throughout the world, sensitive personal information is now protected by regulatory requirements that have translated into significant new compliance oversight responsibilities for IT managers who have a legal mandate to ensure that individual employees are adequately prepared and motivated to observe policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance. This research project investigates the antecedents of information privacy policy compliance efficacy by individuals. Using Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance within the healthcare industry as a practical proxy for general organizational privacy policy compliance, the results of this survey of 234 healthcare professionals indicate that certain social conditions within the organizational setting (referred to as external cues and comprising situational support, verbal persuasion, and vicarious experience) contribute to an informal learning process. This process is distinct from the formal compliance training procedures and is shown to influence employee perceptions of efficacy to engage in compliance activities, which contributes to behavioural intention to comply with information privacy policies. Implications for managers and researchers are discussed.     

Adoption of open source software in organizations: A socio-cognitive perspective

Open source software (OSS) is an important trend in the information technology adoption landscape. It has received considerable attention in the scientific literature, but mostly in the professional press. In fact, there is much debate over its actual commercial and organizational value. Since the public discourse accompanying an IT may influence adoption decisions, it is important to consider IT specialists’ perceptions of the discourse on OSS. In this study, we investigated the relationship between IT specialists’ profiles, IT specialists’ reception of the public discourse on OSS, and their organizations’ receptivity to OSS. Drawing on the socio-cognitive perspective of IT innovation adoption and the organizing vision theory, a survey of 271 IT specialists was conducted to examine these issues. Our results indicate that a majority of IT specialists in our sample are rather neutral about the OSS concept conveyed in the public discourse. However, our sample also comprises respondents with more extreme perceptions who can be classified as either supporters or detractors. Our results indicate that detractors have more years of experience but have been less exposed to OSS than supporters, and that IT specialists’ perceptions of the OSS concept are positively associated with their organizations’ openness to OSS adoption and, to a lesser extent, with the existence of an organizational policy that favors OSS adoption. Altogether, our findings provide strong support for the organizing vision theory and the idea that the popularity of an IT innovation concept favors the adoption of the material IT innovation in organizations. By providing a preliminary test of a nomological network of IT specialists’ perceptions of the OSS concept, our study offers insights as to why organizations may or may not take OSS into account in their software procurement decisions.     

Building outsourcing relationships across the global community: the UPS–Motorola experience

The United Parcel Service (UPS)–Motorola case study revolves around two major areas of information technology (IT) management: IT as a competitive tool and global outsourcing of IT projects. It provides an opportunity to become familiar with the decisions and actions taken by UPS to assure their competitive advantage in the turbulent courier services industry. In the IT outsourcing area, the case addresses managerial and technical issues associated with outsourcing IT projects across the global community. The case presents the specific factors that made this outsourcing project successful and discusses the development of the outsourcing relationships between UPS and Motorola (Israel), from initial negotiations to the creation of a strategic alliance between the two companies. A major point in this case is the gradual development of trust between the two sides, trust that led the two firms from being committed to a contract to becoming strategic partners.