An empirical examination of a process-oriented IT business success model

The value of information technology (IT) to modern organizations is almost undeniable. However, the determination of that value has been elusive in research and practice. We used a process-oriented research model developed using two streams of IT research to examine the value of IT in business organizations. One stream is characterized by examining how IT and non-IT variables affect other so-called IT success variables. The second stream is commonly referred to as IT business value, defined as the contribution of IT to firm performance. The resulting research model is referred to in our paper as the IT business success model. Data was collected from 225 top IS executives in fairly large organizations to empirically examine several hypotheses derived from theory concerning the causal nature of the IT business success model. A set of measures for the IT business success model was developed through an intense investigation of the IT literature. The measures were tested for validity and reliability using confirmatory factor analysis. The hypotheses that resulted from past research and conceptually illustrated in the research model were assessed using structural equation analysis. The implications of these findings and the limitations of the study are discussed in an effort to contribute to building a process-oriented theory base for IT business success at the organizational level of analysis.     

The business model portfolio as a strategic tool for value creation and business performance

The number of organisations that operate multiple business models continues to increase. However, operating multiple business models can be complex, as they often need to be harmonised within a broader portfolio due to their interdependencies. This complexity is exacerbated by the increasing role of digital technology and data – enabling new opportunities but also coming with related paradoxes. This paper examines the growing body of literature on business model portfolios revealing that they are evolving into a strategic tool for value creation and business performance. While there are concomitant value opportunities arising from complementarities and synergies, there are also paradoxes emerging from tensions that need to be considered. Employing a developmental literature review, we present a synthesis of recent empirical case studies to gain insight into the management of business model portfolios. Firstly, we identify different strategic intents: diversifying, sensing, and complementing. Secondly, we distil different themes for value opportunities and paradoxes and categorise them according to a business model framework. Thirdly, we identify and discuss the role of digital technologies and data for business model portfolios. Overall, we contribute to an emerging stream of studies on multiple business models in relation to strategy, innovation and technology. By adopting a holistic perspective on the management of business model portfolios, we explore strategic intent, value opportunities and paradoxes, and discuss how portfolios can play a role in strategic management and planning.     

Enabling firm performance through business intelligence and analytics: A dynamic capabilities perspective

This study draws on the sense-seize-transform view of dynamic capabilities as the theoretical lens for examining the role of BI&A in organizations. It views BI&A as the sensing and seizing components of dynamic capabilities that contribute to firm performance by enabling business process change. Findings confirm a positive relationship between BI&A and performance, mediated by business process change capabilities. This study answers the call for a theoretically grounded examination of the relationship between BI&A and firm performance by highlighting the significance of the BI&A seizing capabilities, and the importance of business process change in translating BI&A output into improved performance.     

CEO/CIO mutual understanding,strategic alignment,and the contribution of IS to the organization

Mutual understanding between the CEO and CIO is thought to facilitate the alignment of an organization's IS with its business strategy, and thereby enhance the contribution of the IS to business performance. A survey of 202 pairs of CEOs and CIOs was taken to investigate the relationships between them. Mutual understanding was measured as the role of IS in the organization, using the perspectives of both executives. Strategic alignment was measured as the fit between the CEO's assessment of eight STROBE dimensions and the CIO's assessment of the analogous STROEPIS dimensions; both the CEO and CIO evaluated IS contribution. Mutual understanding of the role of IT led to seven alignment dimensions whereas six alignment dimensions led to IS contributions. Our study extended the theory of IT strategic alignment and provided direction for CEOs and CIOs interested in improving the IS contribution of their organization.     

Aligning the IT portfolio with business strategy: Evidence for complementarity of corporate and business unit alignment

Research on alignment between business strategy and information technology (IT) strategy has generated extensive insights over the last three decades. That research has focused primarily on the fit between business and IT strategies, while cross-domain alignment, i.e., alignment between business strategy and IT infrastructure components, has received far less attention. Further, previous studies have focused on the implications of alignment for firm performance while the effects of cross-domain alignment on business unit performance in multi-business organizations (MBOs) are yet to be examined. This issue is important as IT infrastructures are evolving rapidly. Specifically, MBOs are increasingly turning to corporate IT platforms to support a common set of shared IT needs, while still allowing individual business units to manage unique aspects of their own IT needs through local IT applications. Extending prior research, this study proposes that performance of business units in MBOs is influenced by two complementary forms of cross-domain alignment, viz., alignment between the corporate IT platform and the corporate business strategy, and alignment between the business unit’s portfolio of IT applications and its business strategy. Using data from a global survey of 120 organizations, we find evidence that complementarity between these two forms of cross-domain alignment creates a joint positive effect on business unit performance. We also find that this effect varies with the extent of process digitization within business units. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Outsourcing capabilities,organizational structure and performance quality monitoring: Toward a fit model

Provider IT services has grown substantially, since the advent of IT. However, research on it has been limited and mainly qualitative. A recurring provider problem was identified: a lack of attention to the performance of the IT they provide. Due to uncertainty or change in the client environment, the fit between capabilities and organizational structure of outsourcing providers must be balanced. Here we present the results of an exploratory quantitative empirical study among outsourcing experts involved with three different types of IT outsourcing providers: domestic, offshore, and global.     

Managing culture creep: Toward a strategic model of user IT culture

This article describes a framework of IT user culture that has implications for organizational IT strategy. The research was conducted in multiple settings with a grounded theory approach. The resulting framework is anchored to nine archetypal IT user profiles and encompasses their inter-group dynamics. By adopting a cultural perspective on IT usage, the framework can inform IT adoption and usage strategy with possible cultural antecedents and determinants of usage constructs common in IS research. The proposed framework suggests how management can influence the migration of IT user culture (culture creep). This framework can also enrich other acceptance models in order to more fully consider the human factor during IT implementation and adoption. The results underscore the importance of culture-customizing organizational IT socialization, training and evolution programs.     

Big data and firm performance: The roles of market-directed capabilities and business strategy

Despite being the object of much interest, deep insights regarding why and when investments in big data resources enhance firm performance are lacking in the literature. Building on the resource-based view (RBV) and data provided by 301 senior marketing managers, this study reveals that big data resources primarily improve firm performance by enhancing the market-directed capabilities of the firm. In addition, the data indicate that firms pursuing a differentiation rather than cost-leadership strategy gain most from big data resource investments and that such resources account for 13 % of the variance in the performance of firms pursuing a differentiation strategy.     

IT alignment strategies for customer relationship management

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the overall process of building and maintaining profitable customer relationships by delivering superior customer value and satisfaction. A CRM strategy involves the entire enterprise and is employed on an ongoing basis. Despite the fact that CRM projects incur huge expenditures, a large percentage fails to achieve the stated objectives. Failure in CRM initiatives could be avoided if a firm's CRM strategies are intelligently linked with its employees, customers, channels, and IT infrastructure. In this paper, we focus on those linkages, particularly on the linkages between an organization's CRM strategies and its IT infrastructure. Even though the relationships between IT and business strategies have been extensively explored in the IT alignment literature, prior research has not addressed how a firm's CRM strategies are aligned with its IT infrastructure. In this paper, we investigate the issues relating to CRM-IT alignment based on an in-depth case study of a large, well-known Internet travel agency.     

The role of information technology in achieving the organisation's strategic development goals: A case study

The role of IT in achieving the organisation's strategic development goals has been an area of constant debate. This paper describes the experiences of John Nicholls Builders Ltd, a Cornish building firm, in their attempt to achieve their strategic development goals through the adoption of IT. The implementation stage of the project involved setting a flexible programme and timescale from the start. The company adopted a bottom up approach whereby potential users were consulted and involved in the process. Also the support of top management staff was crucial for the successful transition to the new system. Although there was no single ready-made solution that could fit the organisations requirements, they were able to identify appropriate construction industry software packages and integrate them through development of an intranet and database system. Now, there is greater management control, all departments have greater access to information, enabling them to function more effectively and efficiently, and since projections are more accurate or now available, management can make long-term strategic plans. These improvements and developments to the business system have improved operational efficiency, turnover and profitability of the organisation.     

The procurement alignment framework construction and application

Procurement has become increasingly important for organizations acting in dynamic supply chains and competitive markets. In practice however, companies struggle with adapting and improving their procurement business function. In line with the general trend in management and organization studies, both scholars and practitioners aim to define an integrated procurement policy that is truly aligned on all organizational and IT aspects. The central aim of this paper is to present a framework that supports the definition and application of such an integrative procurement approach. The framework is developed upon insights from IT business alignment (more specifically IT Procurement alignment), procurement maturity measurement and segmentation. It facilitates organizations in monitoring the maturity and alignment of their procurement on five different business/IT perspectives. In addition, the framework enables specific procurement improvements by taking the situational aspect of procurement segmentation into account. The framework was validated twice: through interview expert consulting and through a questionnaire using scale analysis. In a case study it was found suitable for assessing procurement maturity and identifying concrete procurement improvements.     

Linkages between manufacturing strategy, benchmarking, performance measurement and business process reengineering

An empirical analysis is presented for researching linkages between manufacturing strategy, benchmarking, performance measurement (PM) and business process reengineering (BPR). Although the importance of these linkages has been described in conceptual literature, it has not been widely demonstrated empirically. The survey research was carried out in 73 medium and large-sized Slovenian manufacturing companies within the mechanical, electro-mechanical and electronic industries. The resulting data were subjected to reliability and validity analyses. Canonical correlation analysis was used to test six hypotheses.The results confirmed the need for a strategically-driven BPR approach and the positive impact of performance measurement on BPR performance.     

基于战略对应的IT项目组合选择模型

把信息技术项目当作组合来管理可以通过平衡风险和收益来促进企业目标和IT应用的结合,但由于决策信息的不确定性和IT项目目标与企业战略的难以对应,企业面临IT项目组合选择的挑战。构建基于战略对应的IT项目组合选择模型,其中模糊集和模糊层次分析法用来刻画不确定信息和评估IT项目风险、成本及收益,关键成功因素法用来提高IT项目与企业战略的对应,并建立模糊0－1整数规划。利用定性可能性理论把模糊组合选择模型转化为一般可求解的整数规划形式,最后用一个案例说明模型的用法。     

Transitioning to a business rule management service model: Case studies from the property and casualty insurance industry

As the volume, sources and types of business rules continue to grow, so do the needs of organizations to accurately, consistently and effectively manage rules. Increasingly, firms seek business rules management systems (BRMS) for assistance. Although studies have examined BRMS technical considerations, few have examined management considerations of deploying and managing BRMS projects. This study addresses this gap through examination and comparative analysis of BRMS deployments. Qualitative case study methods are employed and findings suggest a common deployment methodology and emergence of tightly structured services model. Participant's adoption drivers, consequences of deployment, IT alignment and transitions to IT service-orientations are provided.     

Impact of the usage of social media in the workplace on team and employee performance

How does the usage of social media in the workplace affect team and employee performance? To address this cutting edge and up-to-date research question, we ran a quasinatural field experiment, collecting data of two matched-sample groups within a large financial service firm in China. We find that work-oriented social media (DingTalk) and socialization-oriented social media (WeChat) are complementary resources that generate synergies to improve team and employee performance. The instrumental value provided by work-oriented social media is reinforced by the expressive value provided by socialization-oriented social media, which help firms to create business value from information technology investments.     

Investigating the effects of business process orientation on organizational innovation performance

Business process orientation (BPO) supports business process management by reorienting employees’ focus from functional performance to customer value adding. While it is generally believed that BPO improves various aspects of organizational performance, there has been a lack of empirical evidence. The results of this study showed that BPO significantly influences organizational innovation performance and identified the underlying mechanism for the effect. Interestingly, it is found that a process view is not sufficient to enhance organizational innovation performance. Cross-functional integration may also need to be carefully managed for innovation. These findings improve the current understanding of BPO and offer managerial suggestions for enhancing innovation.     

Recognizing CEO personality and its impact on business performance: Mining linguistic cues from social media

Upper echelons theory suggests that CEO personality will influence organizational performance. However, difficulty in measuring CEO personality restrains related research. We capture linguistic cues CEOs leaving on social media and recognize their personality by text mining. To our knowledge, it is the first study introducing social media text mining approaches into the research stream that empirically inquires and extends upper echelons theory. Then, we investigate the CEO personality’s impact on both operational and financial performance. Results show that CEO Extraversion, Emotional Stability, and Agreeableness improve Cost Efficiency and Profitability, while CEO Conscientiousness reduces them. CEO Openness to Experience negatively influences Profitability, and all facets of CEO personality improve Employee Productivity except for CEO Conscientiousness. The contribution of our research is multi-sided: (1). methodologically, we introduce a text mining approach to measure CEO personality; (2). theoretically, we provide empirical evidence for upper echelons theory; (3). practically, our results help companies evaluate CEO candidates from a personality perspective.     

Causality in the alignment of information technology and business strategy

The need for a link between information technology (IT) use and organizational strategy has been identified and discussed for a number of years. The thrust of this work argues that the motives for investment in IT should derive from firm objectives and, more particularly, from the strategic plan which the organization wishes to pursue. This paper argues that, often, mere lip service is paid to the strategic nature of IT. Further, strategy justification has become a tool for securing investment in IT by circumventing established organizational policy on investments. Many IT investments labelled ‘strategic’ appear to be operational in nature. This paper discusses the nature and evaluation of strategy and relates it to the literature on IT as a strategic tool. The extent to which the relationship between IT and strategy has altered over recent years is subsequently investigated. The implementation process is investigated and evidence of IT investment activities and the returns available to investing organizations are reviewed. The paper argues that there are a number of alternative views on the IT-strategy relationship, some of which are organizationally detrimental.     

Business analytics maturity of firms: an examination of the relationships between managerial perception of IT,business analytics maturity and success

This study develops a measure for business analytics (BA) maturity and empirically examines the relationships between managerial perception of IT, BA maturity and BA success. The findings suggest that (1) BA maturity can be measured via BA integration & management support, process-level benefits of BA and technology & data analytics capabilities, (2) BA maturity positively affects organizations’ overall BA success, and (3) managerial perception of IT positively influence organizations’ achievement of BA maturity.