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1 – 10 of over 3000Sen Liu, Yang Yang, Wen Guang Qu and Yuan Liu
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the value creation potential of cloud computing in inter-firm partnerships. It examines how cloud-based IT infrastructure capabilities in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the value creation potential of cloud computing in inter-firm partnerships. It examines how cloud-based IT infrastructure capabilities in flexibility and integration contribute to partnering agility and, consequently, firm performance. This study also introduces business lifecycle and market turbulence as internal and external context variables, respectively, to investigate the different roles of cloud computing in value creation.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was used to collect data from 184 client firms of the largest cloud computing services provider in China (Alibaba Cloud). The theoretical model was tested using PLS analysis.
Findings
Cloud infrastructure (CI) flexibility has a positive effect on partnering agility, while the effect of CI integration on partnering agility is moderated by business lifecycle and market turbulence.
Research limitations/implications
The surveyed firms are all Alibaba Cloud clients, which may limit the generalization of the findings.
Practical implications
The study suggests that besides the cost benefits, the value creation aspect of cloud computing should also be emphasized in research and practice. The study provides a new perspective to understand the business value of cloud computing in inter-firm partnerships.
Originality/value
The study suggests that the flexibility-related and integration-related features of cloud computing can create value for firms by facilitating inter-firm collaboration in exploiting business opportunities.
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Akhilesh S Thyagaturu, Giang Nguyen, Bhaskar Prasad Rimal and Martin Reisslein
Cloud computing originated in central data centers that are connected to the backbone of the Internet. The network transport to and from a distant data center incurs long…
Abstract
Purpose
Cloud computing originated in central data centers that are connected to the backbone of the Internet. The network transport to and from a distant data center incurs long latencies that hinder modern low-latency applications. In order to flexibly support the computing demands of users, cloud computing is evolving toward a continuum of cloud computing resources that are distributed between the end users and a distant data center. The purpose of this review paper is to concisely summarize the state-of-the-art in the evolving cloud computing field and to outline research imperatives.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors identify two main dimensions (or axes) of development of cloud computing: the trend toward flexibility of scaling computing resources, which the authors denote as Flex-Cloud, and the trend toward ubiquitous cloud computing, which the authors denote as Ubi-Cloud. Along these two axes of Flex-Cloud and Ubi-Cloud, the authors review the existing research and development and identify pressing open problems.
Findings
The authors find that extensive research and development efforts have addressed some Ubi-Cloud and Flex-Cloud challenges resulting in exciting advances to date. However, a wide array of research challenges remains open, thus providing a fertile field for future research and development.
Originality/value
This review paper is the first to define the concept of the Ubi-Flex-Cloud as the two-dimensional research and design space for cloud computing research and development. The Ubi-Flex-Cloud concept can serve as a foundation and reference framework for planning and positioning future cloud computing research and development efforts.
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Technological change drives transformation in most sectors of the economy. Industry 4.0 technologies have been applied at different stages of a building’s lifecycle. However…
Abstract
Purpose
Technological change drives transformation in most sectors of the economy. Industry 4.0 technologies have been applied at different stages of a building’s lifecycle. However, limited studies exist on their application in real estate facilities management (REFM). This study aims to assess the existing knowledge on the topic to suggest further research directions.
Design/methodology/approach
Scopus-indexed literature from 2013 to 2023 was examined and visualised using VOSviewer software to output quantitative (descriptive) results. Content analysis was used to complement the quantitative findings.
Findings
Findings indicated a concentration of research in China, Norway and Italy. The knowledge areas included three clusters: lifecycle integration and management, data curation and management and organisational and management capabilities. The benefits, challenges and support strategies were highlighted.
Research limitations/implications
More collaboration is needed across countries and territories on technology integration in REFM. Future research using alternative methodologies is recommended, with a focus on adopting and non-adopting REFM organisations. Further, implications for facility managers, employees, technology suppliers or vendors, training, organisations and management exist.
Practical implications
Further, implications for facility managers, employees, technology suppliers or vendors, training, organisations and management exist.
Originality/value
The study reveals the knowledge base on technology use in REFM. It adds to the evidence base on innovation and technology adoption in REFM.
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Prerna Lal and Sangeeta Shah Bharadwaj
The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that drive the adoption of cloud-based services and further understand the impact of this adoption on the organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that drive the adoption of cloud-based services and further understand the impact of this adoption on the organizational flexibility. This study presents information technology executive’s perspective and discovers new constructs of organizational flexibility that can be achieved due to the adoption of cloud-based services, which is the main contribution of this paper.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses in-depth interview approach. Total 21 Indian cases were studied by interacting with respondents having similar profiles (i.e. CIOs, CTOs, technology heads, and systems managers). Based on the literature review a semi-structured questionnaire was prepared and administered through in-depth interviews.
Findings
Analysis of data reveals that cloud-based services provide relative advantage in terms of scalability, accessibility, and on-demand deployment of services within no time. Easy to use interface, experience, and expertise of the cloud service provider as well as support from top management plays important role in the cloud adoption decision. Further the study also identifies that no matter which model of cloud-based services (software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), or infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS)) is used; cloud-based services’ adoption impacts organizational flexibility, which can be divided into four categories, namely, economic flexibility, process flexibility, performance flexibility, and market flexibility.
Research limitations/implications
This is an exploratory study conducted through in-depth interviews hence the results can further be verified through a quantitative research. The study does not explore negative factors that may discourage adoption of cloud-based services. Though two factors vendor lock-in and security emerged as a concern very prominently in the in-depth interviews but this issue can further be explored in detail.
Originality/value
This study bridge the gap in the research by identifying the factors that drive the adoption of cloud-based services in different forms (SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS) as well exploring the impact of cloud adoption on the organizational flexibility in case of Indian organizations.
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As the size of the population is growing and the capacity of the planet Earth is limited, human beings are searching for sustainable and technology-enabled solutions to support…
Abstract
As the size of the population is growing and the capacity of the planet Earth is limited, human beings are searching for sustainable and technology-enabled solutions to support society, ecology and economy. One of the solutions has been developing smart sustainable cities. Smart sustainable cities are cities as systems, where their infrastructure, different subsystems and different functional domains are virtually connected to the information and communication technologies (ICT) and internet via sensors and devices and the Internet of Things (IoT), to collect and process real-time Big Data and make efficient, effective and sustainable solutions for a democratic and liveable city for its various stakeholders. This chapter explores the concepts and practices of sustainable smart cities across the globe and explores the use of technologies such as IoT, Blockchain technology and Cloud computing, etc. their challenges and then presents a view on business models for sustainable smart cities.
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Younghoon Chang, Siew Fan Wong, Uchenna Eze and Hwansoo Lee
Founded on the concept of organizational ambidexterity and the competing value model, the purpose of this paper is to develop an information technology (IT) ambidexterity…
Abstract
Purpose
Founded on the concept of organizational ambidexterity and the competing value model, the purpose of this paper is to develop an information technology (IT) ambidexterity framework to underscore the importance of a balanced and harmonious IT environment in enterprise cloud adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
With survey responses from 165 IT executives in a managerial position who are in charge of cloud computing implementation, partial least square method is used to test the research model.
Findings
Cloud absorptive capacity plays an important role for firms to secure a competitive advantage. The synergy of the two capabilities (flexibility and control), which have conflicting characteristics, contributes to the enhancement of cloud absorptive capacity and leads to a firm’s knowledge accumulation and performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study is the very first attempt that empirically establishes the relationship between a firm’s competitiveness and cloud computing absorptive capacity. This study provides a comprehensive framework that integrates ambidexterity theory with the competing value framework (CVF) with extending the concept of absorptive capacity that is bounded within an organizational perspective into a cloud computing context.
Practical implications
Firms should treat cloud computing as a strategic consideration to secure a competitive advantage in the contemporary business environment. For a firm’s performance, a dual governance structure, that encompasses flexibility and control, is required to achieve competitive advantage from cloud computing adoption.
Originality/value
To facilitate organizational effort in achieving a harmonious cloud environment, the authors propose a comprehensive ambidexterity framework integrating the CVF approach. This framework maps IT ambidexterity onto the CVF. As CVF considers internal and external factors that ambidexterity theory does not cover, integrating two theories can provide more comprehensive implications and discussions regarding cloud computing adoption.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the value of cloud computing adoption (CCA) as a proxy for information technology (IT) flexibility (ITF) and IT effectiveness (ITE…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the value of cloud computing adoption (CCA) as a proxy for information technology (IT) flexibility (ITF) and IT effectiveness (ITE) among Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan.
Design/methodology/approach
A research framework with five hypotheses has been developed based on the results of previous studies. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling has been used for data analysis.
Findings
The results revealed that elements of ITF in two domains, IT technical resource (connectivity, modularityand compatibility) and IT human resource (IT personnel skills) specific to CCA, were significantly correlated with ITE.
Research limitations/implications
The findings have crucial implications: they contribute to the research community, administrators and cloud computing providers (CSPs) concerning the framework-improved procedure for CCA. The proposed model can enhance the awareness of service providers about why some SMEs accept cloud computing services, whereas actually the same ones having the same type of business do not. In addition, the above providers should enhance their interaction with the SMEs that contributed to the cloud computing knowledge to make a well-organized setting for the CCA, specifically, SMEs need that adopt an on-premise private cloud architecture. Moreover, necessary to determine the challenges in deploying solutions from the perspective of CSPs. The sample has been limited to Jordan respondents.
Practical implications
The research studies about the usage of cloud computing have shown its effects on SMEs today. Also, the different impacts of cloud computing on other sectors are at the center of attention. SMEs could get significant advantages by carefully considering and managing CCA from the ITF and ITE perspective.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to develop a framework for CCA based on the standpoint of ITF in two domains, IT technical resources (connectivity, modularity and compatibility) and IT human resources (IT personnel skills) and effectiveness.
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Basma Al-Mutawa and Muneer Mohammed Saeed Al Mubarak
The purpose of this study is to investigate the adoption of cloud computing as a digital technology by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and assess its impact on sustainability…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the adoption of cloud computing as a digital technology by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and assess its impact on sustainability of such enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach
A model was developed that featured factors influencing SMEs sustainability. Primary quantitative data was gathered using a survey as an instrument. Total set of n = 387 responses were gathered using a convenience sampling method.
Findings
Findings reveal that cost reduction, ease of use, reliability and sharing and collaboration factors have significant statistical impacts on SMEs sustainability, whereas privacy and security factor has no significant statistical on SMEs sustainability.
Practical implications
The study poses significant implications on managers and SME development authority to create an inductive environment for technological support for SMEs’ sustainability.
Originality/value
The study enhances SMEs’ performance and sustainability by upgrading their existing information and communications technology as a digital infrastructure and benefiting from novel IT-based cloud revolution. Several studies have provided an understanding of the use of cloud computing services in SMEs but lack enough information about the challenges and impact on SMEs sustainability.
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Hsin-Yi Huang, Edward C.S. Ku and Chun-Der Chen
This research aimed to examine the role of cloud infrastructure capabilities of tourism small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism supply chain, increasing the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aimed to examine the role of cloud infrastructure capabilities of tourism small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism supply chain, increasing the online consumption value of tourists.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses stratified random sampling. A value model was formulated, and the study distributed 2,000 surveys; 412 valid responses were received and analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach.
Findings
The cloud-based architecture provides tourism SMEs a competitive advantage in the dynamic tourism market and the ability to develop next-generation system capabilities while providing tourism SMEs with a new application foundation to adapt to the ever-changing tourism market.
Originality/value
For tourism SEMs, the cloud allows adjusting strategies and procedures for tourism supply chain management; this agility enables tourism SMEs to anticipate changes in the travel market and respond to changing consumer demands in the tourism industry.
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Nan Jiang, Erlin Tian, Fattaneh Daneshmand Malayeri and Alireza Balali
A fundamental concept of the smart city is to get the right information at the right place to make city-related decisions easier and quicker. The main goal of supply chain…
Abstract
Purpose
A fundamental concept of the smart city is to get the right information at the right place to make city-related decisions easier and quicker. The main goal of supply chain management (SCM) systems is to enhance the supply chain process for delivering the identified products to customers correctly in distributed organizations. In addition, new IT infrastructure such as cloud-based systems and internet of things (IoT) have changed many organizations and firms. Hence, this study aims to assess the factors that contribute to the success of SCM systems.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the usage of urban knowledge, urban intelligent transportation systems and IT infrastructure was considered as a key factor for the success of SCM systems. For assessing the features of the model, a comprehensive questionnaire was designed. The survey questionnaires were sent to critical informers who are practical heads associated with SCM and urbanism. Of these, 315 usable responses were received, resulting in a response rate of 82.03%. The data were examined using Smart-PLS version 3.2 and IBM SPSS version 25.
Findings
The obtained results showed the high strength of the proposed model. This study found that the impact of urban ITS (safety, accessibility, information management and flexibility) is important to the success of supply chain management systems. Another important finding is that the cloud-based system (cloud security, resource virtualization, on-demand self-service and scalability) has a very important role in the success of supply chain management systems. The finding showed that the effect of IoT service variable (commercialization, mobility features, infrastructure capabilities and security and privacy) on the success of supply chain management systems is significant and positive. The findings also showed that urban knowledge (usage skills, awareness, experience and knowledge sharing) is viewed as a significant factor in the success of supply chain management systems.
Research limitations/implications
The inductive nature of research methodology has introduced limitations on the generalizability of results. Therefore, it is recommended to examine the validity of this research model in other supply chains.
Practical implications
The statistical results support the crucial role of urban knowledge, urban intelligent transportation systems, IoT services and cloud-based systems. Therefore, aspects relating to these factors must be the focus of attention of any distributed organization in their endeavor to develop supply chain management systems. Implementing cloud based IoT through accurate and timely availability of information, can predict forecasting and planning processes, resources, logistics and support, service management and spare parts and many sub-processes in the supply chain. These technologies allow organizations to invest in manufacturing and operating processes rather than paying for the software section, which will generate more cash flow.
Originality/value
One of the most crucial and fundamental parts of an organization’s management is the supply chain management. The department is responsible for coordinating all units from the initial stages, such as supplying materials to the final stages, such as delivery and after-sales service. Comprehensive and credible information platforms are essential for managing a supply chain. Therefore, it is important to use integrated information systems such as IoT, cloud computing, intelligent transportation systems and more in this part of the organization management. Covering this information in a timely and accurate manner will facilitate the process and make the process more transparent. For this purpose, a model is needed to determine the relationship between technologies and supply chain management, which this study has provided a comprehensive model.
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