Corporate mergers and the problems of IS integration

The process of integrating information systems (IS) during corporate mergers can be critical to their success. Factors that can support or impede the successful integration of IS include organizational and IS attributes, organizational merger management and IS integration activities. This study develops a conceptual framework for measuring IS integration success and identifies the factors influencing it. A field survey investigates the relationship between these factors and success. According to the results of our field survey of CIOs, prior merger experience, IS participation in merger planning, the quality of merger planning, the criteria used for setting IS integration priorities, and a high level of data sharing across applications appear to have a positive influence on the success of the IS integration. When changes that directly affect personnel have a significant impact, that impact seems to be mostly negative. Programming language incompatibilities also have a negative impact on IS integration success.     

Perceived importance of information system success factors: A meta analysis of group differences

Factors influencing the success or failure of an information system (IS) have been discussed frequently in the literature. This study identifies several additional factors and proposes that the existing ones be classified into eight different dimensions. These encompass, not only the system aspect, but also the human aspect of IS success (ISS). The study further uses data from past ISS studies and also those collected from a field survey to analyze the differences in the perceived importance of ISS factors between four groups of subjects from North America, namely, the user staff, the IS staff, and the managers of the two groups. It reveals that the rank orders of ISS factors between IS staff and IS managers and between user staff and user managers are not significantly different. However, the rank orders between IS personnel and user personnel are significantly different. Based on these, the top and the least important ISS factors are identified. The findings have several implications for IS management practice.     

The relationship between user participation and system success: a simultaneous contingency approach

The relationship between user participation and information system (IS) success has drawn attention from researchers for some time. It is assumed that strong participation of future users in the design of IS would lead to successful outcomes in terms of more IS usage, greater user acceptance, and increased user satisfaction. However, in spite of this, much of the empirical research so far has been unable to demonstrate its benefits. This paper examines the participation–success relationship in a broader context, where the effects of user participation and two other factors, user attitudes and user involvement, on system success occur simultaneously. Other contingency variables considered here are: system impact, system complexity, and development methodology. The theoretical framework and the associated hypotheses are empirically tested by a survey of 32 organizations. Empirical results corroborate the positive link between user participation and user satisfaction and provide evidence on the interplay between user attitudes and user involvement.     

Understanding the successful adoption and use of IS/IT in SMEs: an explanation from Portuguese manufacturing industries

Abstract. The objectives of the research were to identify factors enabling or inhibiting the adoption and use of information systems and technology (IS/IT) in Portuguese manufacturing small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and understand how these factors interrelate in determining relative success in the adoption and use of IS/IT. This research elicited factors from previous quantitative and qualitative research, which had been shown to influence IS/IT adoption in SMEs in other contexts. A strategic change framework was used to structure the factors and ensure that comprehensive evidence about their nature and effects could be obtained in the empirical research. Further factors were identified by initial fieldwork, before carrying out 12 in‐depth case studies, across a range of situations – different industries, different levels of adoption and a range of degrees of success in IS/IT use. The pattern that emerged from the analysis of the data shows that certain factor combinations and relationships appear to determine the relative degrees of IS/IT success across the firms. This pattern can also be explained by interpreting the roles and relationships of the key actors involved in the process of IS/IT adoption and use. Top management perspectives and attitudes towards IS/IT adoption and use play an important role in the development of internal IS/IT competencies and provide an important contribution to the development of a context that enables IS/IT success.     

Management, Market, and Financial Factors Separating Winners and Losers in E-Business

There have been many successful e‐businesses as well as many failed e‐businesses. The methods and practices that were evident in the development of both surviving e‐businesses and failed ones have much to teach us. Why did some e‐businesses fail while others survived? At present few guidelines exist to assist e‐business owners and managers wanting to succeed in their Internet‐based ventures. This study empirically investigated factors that may lead to e‐business success or failure; these were categorized as management, market, and financial factors. The results of a survey were combined with one‐on‐one interviews of venture capitalists who funded successful and failed e‐businesses. The results indicate that certain factors deemed applicable to an e‐business may have contributed to the firm’s eventual success or failure.     

The turnaround of the London Ambulance Service Computer-Aided Despatch system (LASCAD)

The implementation of the Computer-Aided Despatch system at the London Ambulance Service has been one of the most notorious cases of failure within the information systems (IS) literature. What is less well known is that there followed, some time later, a much more successful implementation, described as a turnaround. This paper, based on a case study approach, describes the context and detail of that implementation. A framework from the literature, used in an analysis of the initial failure, is used to analyse and compare the similarities and differences in the development of the two systems. The framework provides four interacting elements and relationships for analysis. These elements are Supporters, Project Organisation, Information System, and the Environment in which they operate. The turnaround system was found to address directly almost all the issues identified as problematic in the failure. These included the approach taken by management to understand the needs of users, including issues unrelated to the system itself, their involvement in the development process, an improvement in the availability of resources (brought about in some part because of the previous failure), the ability to follow a relaxed timeline driven by users' acceptance levels, the preparation of infrastructure projects to develop confidence, participation and prototyping, thorough testing, phased and simple implementation, and trust building. Certain environmental factors could not be so directly addressed but nevertheless were overcome by attention to detail and internal needs. Conclusions indicate that the factors addressed are not new and are to be found in the success literature. What is unusual is that they were implemented in this case in such unlikely circumstances.     

Risks to different aspects of system success

System success is related to many risks associated with information system (IS) development. A common view considers all risks as contributors to a single aspect of success. This view permits controlled research of development complexity. However, some consider system success to be multidimentional with each dimension possibly impacted differently by the various risks. In a survey of 86 IS project managers, the relationship between risk and success is explored. Four IS success measures were found to relate to different risk factors. Project managers can view achievement of a particular success as requiring control of certain risks.     

Linking knowledge transformation to Information Systems evaluation

The evaluation and assessment of Information Systems (IS) is rapidly becoming an important and significant topic for study as well as practice. As such, the application of appraisal frameworks within technology management scenarios in industrial organizations is vital to determining IS project success and/or failure. The information and knowledge requirements of evaluation appear to suggest that mapping benefits, risks and costs to organizational objectives and strategy should result in a clearer and more rational appraisal process. However, in doing so, it is not clear from the extant literature within the field of IS evaluation what aspects of knowledge relate to human and organizational factors in this decision-making task. Hence, in order to elucidate this issue, the authors attempt to highlight those extant components of knowledge that contribute to the overall ISE process, within a case organization. This is achieved via an analysis of case study data against the well-known knowledge transformation model proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi. As a result of this, the authors present a model detailing these factors in the context of the IS evaluation lifecycle.     

Facilitating the implementation of customer-based inter-organizational systems: an empirical analysis of innovation and support factors

Abstract. Inter-organizational systems, which represent the majority of competitive information systems, have received increasing attention from researchers. This study focuses on the implementation of customer-based inter-organizational systems (CIOS). A model is constructed and tested, based on literature in IS implementation and organizational innovation. Data from 73 organizations who have implemented such systems are gathered through a questionnaire. Two classes of independent variables, innovation factors and support factors, are examined for their influence on CIOS implementation success. While no innovation factors emerge as important, support factors, such as customer training and top management support, are found to significantly facilitate successful implementation of such systems. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Determinants of relationship quality for IS/IT outsourcing success in public sector

Relationship has become an influential aspect for the success of IS/IT outsourcing projects. Although some studies have explored the issues of IS/IT outsourcing relationship in the past, these studies are limited to the private sectors. Whereas, studies implicate that the issues related to private and public sectors should be addressed differently. Therefore the main purpose of this study is to examine the IS/IT outsourcing relationship in the public sector by determining relationship quality factors. Based on the social exchange and the relational exchange theories a relationship model is proposed and hypotheses are tested. Ninety three IS/IT outsourcing projects in the public sector of Korea are examined and the results indicate that the outsourcing success is greatly determined by relationship quality. This study will serve as useful guidelines in understanding how to develop a successful IS/IT outsourcing relationships for IT practitioners in the public sector and the vendors undertaking those outsourced projects.     

Discriminative effect of user influence and user responsibility on information system development processes and project management

Context

User participation in information system (IS) development has received much research attention. However, prior empirical research regarding the effect of user participation on IS success is inconclusive. This might be because previous studies overlook the effect of the particular components of user participation and other possible mediating factors.

Objective

The objective of this study is to empirically examine how user influence and user responsibility affect IS project performance. We inspect whether user influence and user responsibility improve the quality of the IS development process and in turn leads to project success, or if they have a direct positive influence on project success.

Method

We conducted a survey of 151 IS project managers in order to understand the impact of user influence and user responsibility on IS project performance. Regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship among user influence, user responsibility, organizational technology learning, project control, user-developer interaction, and IS project management performance.

Results

This study shows that user responsibility and user influence have a positive effect on project performance through the promotion of IS development processes as mediators, including organizational technology learning, project control, and user-IS interaction.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that user responsibility and user influence respectively play an important role in indirectly and directly impacting project management performance. Results of the analysis imply that organizations and project managers should use both user participation and user influence to improve processes performance, and in turn, increase project success.     

Opening the black box: Managers’ perceptions of IS project success mechanisms

In general, works on information system (IS) project success focus on either project success factors or project success criteria, neglecting the relationships (mechanisms) between these concepts. Accordingly, it is mainly unclear how success factors actually contribute to success criteria. We attempt to illuminate this black box by conducting semi-structured qualitative interviews with experienced IS project managers by applying Repertory Grid and Laddering. Our exploratory study yields numerous success mechanisms, revealing project-related motivation to be the central hub in the factors-criteria network. Factors preceding project-related motivation such as transparency, certainty, and management attention are described.     

Using organizational influence processes to overcome IS implementation barriers: lessons from a longitudinal case study of SPI implementation

A fundamental tenet of the information systems (IS) discipline holds that: (a) a lack of formal power and influence over the organization targeted for change, (b) weak support from top management, and (c) organizational memories of prior failures are barriers to implementation success. Our research, informed by organization influence, compellingly illustrates that such conditions do not necessarily doom a project to failure. In this paper, we present an analysis of how an IS implementation team designed and enacted a coordinated strategy of organizational influence to achieve implementation success despite these barriers. Our empirical analysis also found that technology implementation and change is largely an organizational influence process (OIP), and thus technical-rational approaches alone are inadequate for achieving success. Our findings offer managers important insights into how they can design and enact OIPs to effectively manage IS implementation. Further, we show how the theory of organizational influence can enhance understanding of IS implementation dynamics and advance the development of a theory of effective IS change agentry.     

Measuring the Deliverable and Impressible Dimensions of Service Experience

Service innovation has become a priority within the field of innovation management and is increasingly focused on creating memorable experiences that can result in customer loyalty. Studies of experience design suggest individual service elements to be managed when staging an experience, whereas conceptual models in the literature emphasize the holistic way in which an experience is perceived. In short, service experience is greater than the sum of its parts. Therefore, successful innovation management requires the ability to understand and measure the mechanisms by which service innovations impact customers' experiences. Our research addresses this need by identifying dimensions of service experience and developing a tool for their measurement. Using a three stage process of systematic literature review, rigorous scale development and reduction, and validation, we identify six dimensions of the service experience and develop scales to measure each one. This results in a model of service innovation that highlights the levers through which a company's service innovation efforts can result in memorable experiences and ultimately new service success.     

CUSTOMER-DRIVEN LONG-RANGE PLANNING

In a customer-centric, total quality management process, business users are the impetus for future systems, and successful systems projects are those in which the customer is an active participant in almost every aspect. As this article explains, end-user computing's involvement in and integration into the IS organization and its planning process is a necessity.     

Point/Counterpoint

Sales, profits, and success are the goals of any business, large or small. Many factors can influence success, but when software development is an important business constituent, the relationship between the software product's characteristics and business goals is strong. We don't always recognize this, of course, because most of us became engineers for nobler reasons than serving a business - the intellectual challenge, the free T-shirts, the 2 a.m. beer and pizza to celebrate unit tests that are finally passing. But ultimately we must allow the choices we make in software development to be influenced by business goals, or else risk business failure     

CUSTOMER-DRIVEN LONG-RANGE PLANNING

In a customer-centric, total quality management process, business users are the impetus for future systems, and successful systems projects are those in which the customer is an active participant in almost every aspect. As this article explains, end-user computing's involvement in and integration into the IS organization and its planning process is a necessity.     

Using the fuzzy multi-criteria decision making approach for measuring the possibility of successful knowledge management

This study develops a forecasting framework based on the fuzzy multi-criteria decision making (FMCDM) approach to help organizations build awareness of the critical influential factors on the success of knowledge management (KM) implementation, measure the success possibility of knowledge management projects, as well as identify the necessary actions prior to embarking on conducting knowledge management. Subjectivity, uncertainty and vagueness within the prediction process are dealt with using linguistic variables parameterized by triangular fuzzy numbers. By multiplying the importance weights of influential factors and the possible rating of success (failure), predicted success (failure) values are determined to enable organizations to decide whether to initiate knowledge management, inhibit adoption or undertake remedial improvements to increase the possibility of successful knowledge management project. The proposed approach is demonstrated using a real case involving a Taiwanese semiconductor engineering corporation.     

A framework to assess the factors affecting success or failure of the implementation of government-supported regional e-marketplaces for SMEs

Regional electronic marketplaces (REMs) have been used to promote e-commerce uptake by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, the community and regional economic development motives underpinning REM creation can cause complexities. While REM development and management can be informed by existing theoretical frameworks, there is no comprehensive framework that can be used to examine the factors affecting the success or failure of government-supported SME-REMs. The objective of this paper is to construct such a framework that can be used to examine these factors. The literature on e-marketplaces and IT/IS/e-commerce adoption by SMEs is examined to determine the appropriateness of existing theoretical frameworks, the key constructs of which are synthesised to form an integrated theoretical framework. The value of the framework is confirmed by content analysis of published case studies and empirical results from in-depth case studies of two SME-REMs. The most significant factors affecting success or failure of government-supported SME-REMs are as follows: SME-owner innovativeness; REM ownership structure and governance that engender trust and build critical mass by including SMEs in REM development and management; matching REM focus and structure with regional profile by leveraging community ties and existing business relationships; adopting a staged approach to REM development; and ensuring REM benefits are understood by SMEs.