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1 – 10 of over 268000Clare Victoria Thornley and Catherine Anne Crowley
The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of ensuring that the capabilities are in place to identify when a project can no longer deliver value and to take appropriate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of ensuring that the capabilities are in place to identify when a project can no longer deliver value and to take appropriate action to terminate the project.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus groups with project management practitioners were used to collect in-depth qualitative data. This was then supplemented with a questionnaire, which included both closed questions and the opportunity for free text answers.
Findings
The problem of getting better at stopping projects is both common and difficult to solve. It has many facets, which include complex people and cultural issues, processes and procedures as well as financial reporting and project governance. In order to improve, therefore, it is useful to address these different facets in a coordinated way using a capability approach with a focus on business value.
Research limitations/implications
The data from practitioners are retrospective, as their actions were not actually observed by the researchers as they were happening. This means that faulty recollection may influence the results but, it also allows for insights from reflection to be incorporated.
Practical implications
An organizational capability approach focusing on all three aspects of capability; people, processes and technology, can help organizations get better at stopping projects. Specific recommendations are provided and analyzed in terms of their respective capability focus.
Social implications
If performance in terminating projects is improved, it has the potential for significant benefits and cost saving for society in terms of improved government services and the ability to halt projects around new policy initiatives when emerging evidence shows they will not work.
Originality/value
It provides detailed practitioner input on the problem of stopping projects and suggests recommendations for improvement in the context of a structured organizational capability approach with reference to a particular framework, IT-CMF.
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Guangming Cao, Yanqing Duan, Trevor Cadden and Sonal Minocha
– The purpose of this paper is to develop, and explicate the significance of the need for a systemic conceptual framework for understanding IT business value.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop, and explicate the significance of the need for a systemic conceptual framework for understanding IT business value.
Design/methodology/approach
Embracing a systems perspective, this paper examines the interrelationship between IT and other organisational factors at the organisational level and its impact on the business value of IT. As a result, a systemic conceptual framework for understanding IT business value is developed. An example of enhancing IT business value through developing systemic capabilities is then used to test and demonstrate the value of this framework.
Findings
The findings suggest that IT business value would be significantly enhanced when systemic capabilities are generated from the synergistic interrelations among IT and other organisational factors at the systems level, while the system’s human agents play a critical role in developing systemic capabilities by purposely configuring and reconfiguring organisational factors.
Practical implications
The conceptual framework advanced provides the means to recognise the significance of the need for understanding IT business value systemically and dynamically. It encourages an organisation to focus on developing systemic capabilities by ensuring that IT and other organisational factors work together as a synergistic whole, better managing the role its human agents play in shaping the systems interrelations, and developing and redeveloping systemic capabilities by configuring its subsystems purposely with the changing business environment.
Originality/value
This paper reveals the nature of systemic capabilities underpinned by a systems perspective. The resultant systemic conceptual framework for understanding IT business value can help us move away from pairwise resource complementarity to focusing on the whole system and its interrelations while responding to the changing business environment. It is hoped that the framework can help organisations delineate important IT investment considerations and the priorities that they must adopt to create superior IT business value.
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Simona Popa, Pedro Soto-Acosta and Euripidis Loukis
In recent years, there has been much debate about the value generated by the firms’ investments in information technology (IT). Although literature suggests that technology itself…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, there has been much debate about the value generated by the firms’ investments in information technology (IT). Although literature suggests that technology itself will rarely create superiority, web infrastructure can be critical for knowledge sharing and the formation of virtual teams to execute innovation processes which, in turn, may enhance e-innovation and business value. Building on these antecedents, the purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how web infrastructure and e-innovation can create business value by complementing each other.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm this paper develops a conceptual model to assess the effects of web infrastructure and e-innovation on business value as well as the complementarity between these resources. To test the associated hypotheses, a regression model was estimated and tested on a large sample of Spanish firms from different industries.
Findings
The results show that web infrastructure is not positively related to business value, but on the contrary e-innovation has a positive impact on business value. However, support for complementarity between web infrastructure and e-innovation was not found.
Originality/value
The present study tests the RBV logic, arguing that not all IT resources are source of competitive advantage. In the same vein, this study shows that e-innovation, as it requires combination of IT infrastructure with other unique intangible resources, is much more difficult to imitate, leading to competitive advantages.
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Serge-Lopez Wamba-Taguimdje, Samuel Fosso Wamba, Jean Robert Kala Kamdjoug and Chris Emmanuel Tchatchouang Wanko
The main purpose of our study is to analyze the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on firm performance, notably by building on the business value of AI-based transformation…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of our study is to analyze the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on firm performance, notably by building on the business value of AI-based transformation projects. This study was conducted using a four-step sequential approach: (1) analysis of AI and AI concepts/technologies; (2) in-depth exploration of case studies from a great number of industrial sectors; (3) data collection from the databases (websites) of AI-based solution providers; and (4) a review of AI literature to identify their impact on the performance of organizations while highlighting the business value of AI-enabled projects transformation within organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study has called on the theory of IT capabilities to seize the influence of AI business value on firm performance (at the organizational and process levels). The research process (responding to the research question, making discussions, interpretations and comparisons, and formulating recommendations) was based on a review of 500 case studies from IBM, AWS, Cloudera, Nvidia, Conversica, Universal Robots websites, etc. Studying the influence of AI on the performance of organizations, and more specifically, of the business value of such organizations’ AI-enabled transformation projects, required us to make an archival data analysis following the three steps, namely the conceptual phase, the refinement and development phase, and the assessment phase.
Findings
AI covers a wide range of technologies, including machine translation, chatbots and self-learning algorithms, all of which can allow individuals to better understand their environment and act accordingly. Organizations have been adopting AI technological innovations with a view to adapting to or disrupting their ecosystem while developing and optimizing their strategic and competitive advantages. AI fully expresses its potential through its ability to optimize existing processes and improve automation, information and transformation effects, but also to detect, predict and interact with humans. Thus, the results of our study have highlighted such AI benefits in organizations, and more specifically, its ability to improve on performance at both the organizational (financial, marketing and administrative) and process levels. By building on these AI attributes, organizations can, therefore, enhance the business value of their transformed projects. The same results also showed that organizations achieve performance through AI capabilities only when they use their features/technologies to reconfigure their processes.
Research limitations/implications
AI obviously influences the way businesses are done today. Therefore, practitioners and researchers need to consider AI as a valuable support or even a pilot for a new business model. For the purpose of our study, we adopted a research framework geared toward a more inclusive and comprehensive approach so as to better account for the intangible benefits of AI within organizations. In terms of interest, this study nurtures a scientific interest, which aims at proposing a model for analyzing the influence of AI on the performance of organizations, and at the same time, filling the associated gap in the literature. As for the managerial interest, our study aims to provide managers with elements to be reconfigured or added in order to take advantage of the full benefits of AI, and therefore improve organizations’ performance, the profitability of their investments in AI transformation projects, and some competitive advantage. This study also allows managers to consider AI not as a single technology but as a set/combination of several different configurations of IT in the various company’s business areas because multiple key elements must be brought together to ensure the success of AI: data, talent mix, domain knowledge, key decisions, external partnerships and scalable infrastructure.
Originality/value
This article analyses case studies on the reuse of secondary data from AI deployment reports in organizations. The transformation of projects based on the use of AI focuses mainly on business process innovations and indirectly on those occurring at the organizational level. Thus, 500 case studies are being examined to provide significant and tangible evidence about the business value of AI-based projects and the impact of AI on firm performance. More specifically, this article, through these case studies, exposes the influence of AI at both the organizational and process performance levels, while considering it not as a single technology but as a set/combination of the several different configurations of IT in various industries.
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IT-based supply chain performance is co-created through inter-organizational business processes. This research is motivated to explore how business value of IT in supply chain is…
Abstract
Purpose
IT-based supply chain performance is co-created through inter-organizational business processes. This research is motivated to explore how business value of IT in supply chain is co-created in downstream process and probe into the possible complementary effect of relational resources from retailers and customers during the cooperative process. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A model is proposed to conceptualize the process with three dimensions and six constructs, which emerges a causal link between organization resources application, e-supply chain capability (ESCC) and process performance. And then the research model was validated using partial least squares with data collected from 128 manufacturing firms in China.
Findings
The results provide broad support for the following: the casual relationship among inter-organizational resources interaction, ESCC and process performance; the mediating role of ESCC in the e-CRM process is more significant than that in e-ordering process; and there is the moderating effect between relational resources and internal resources in e-CRM process.
Practical implications
It offers guidelines for managers to plan the roles played by resource, capabilities and performance for e-supply chain success in multi-firm environments.
Originality/value
This study provides a novel perspective and offers important implications for e-supply chain research and practice, by exploring intermediate factors and shedding light on the process of co-creating business value of IT in supply chain.
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Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and…
Abstract
Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).
The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.
This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.
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This paper explores the conceptual and methodological issues relating to the valuation and appraisal of commercial properties where revenue generated by the provision of…
Abstract
This paper explores the conceptual and methodological issues relating to the valuation and appraisal of commercial properties where revenue generated by the provision of additional services constitutes a significant proportion of the total income flow. The paper focuses on two main areas. First, the valuation and development of the serviced office model is discussed. Second, the implications of the growing interest of landlords in acting as access managers and suppliers to their tenants are considered. The US debate on business enterprise value and hotel appraisal is reviewed. It is concluded serviced offices owner occupiers have two main assets – the tangible property asset and intangible business asset(s) – which are symbiotically linked but separable. In order to appraise these interests valuers need to be able to value businesses and property since the income flows derived from service provision will have different drivers and risk profiles than pure property‐derived income flows.
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Anton Manfreda and Mojca Indihar Štemberger
A poor relationship between top management and IT personnel is often denoted as a business–IT gap. In an era of digital transformation, bridging this gap and establishing a strong…
Abstract
Purpose
A poor relationship between top management and IT personnel is often denoted as a business–IT gap. In an era of digital transformation, bridging this gap and establishing a strong relationship between business and IT are more important than ever before. The purpose of this paper is thus to examine a particular link between business and IT managers – a partnership relationship – together with the factors facilitating it.
Design/methodology/approach
A partnership construct is developed based on interdisciplinary studies and transferred to the business–IT context since it is not generally used in IT disciplines. The model was empirically tested with structural equation modelling using data obtained from 221 IT managers in Slovenian companies.
Findings
The results show that both the perceived value of IT and the business orientation of the IT department exert a positive influence on the partnership, while a mere technology-oriented IT department has a negative effect on the partnership relationship. Furthermore, the paper also presents the prerequisites for a business-oriented IT department.
Originality/value
In this digitalisation era, IT is becoming even more important for its strategic role in organisations. There is thus a strong need to bridge the business–IT gap. Despite significant efforts made to close this gap, it remains a major issue. This research contributes to understanding the business–IT gap and presents the key factors for ensuring a partnership relationship is in place. The study also combines the views of social exchange theory and knowledge-based theory and upgrades findings concerning the influence of social facilitators on collaboration outcomes.
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Yi Wang, Yuan Liu, Yeyuan Dai and Danming Lin
– The purpose of this paper is to elicit the rich implications of IT business value for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the perspective of IT leaders.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to elicit the rich implications of IT business value for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the perspective of IT leaders.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses case study and the repertory grid technique to explore cognition of IT business value of the IT leader in Guangdong CHJ Industry Co., Ltd (CHJ), a fast-growing jewelry company in China. The paper further examines this cognitive structure of IT business value by using cluster analysis technique.
Findings
This paper develops a six-category framework of IT business value from IT leaders' perspective, which provides insights for future research of IT applications in SMEs.
Originality/value
This study contributes to IT business value research by providing empirically grounded insight from perspectives of IT leaders in SMEs. The identified IT business value framework can also serve as a practical tool to help managers comprehensively assess and evaluate IT applications in SMEs.
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Morten Brinch, Jan Stentoft and Dag Näslund
While big data creates business value, knowledge on how value is created remains limited and research is needed to discover big data’s value mechanism. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
While big data creates business value, knowledge on how value is created remains limited and research is needed to discover big data’s value mechanism. The purpose of this paper is to explore value creation capabilities of big data through an alignment perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a single case study of a service division of a large Danish wind turbine generator manufacturer based on 18 semi-structured interviews.
Findings
A strategic alignment framework comprising human, information technology, organization, performance, process and strategic practices are used as a basis to identify 15 types of alignment capabilities and their inter-dependent variables fostering the value creation of big data. The alignment framework is accompanied by seven propositions to obtain alignment of big data in service processes.
Research limitations/implications
The study demonstrates empirical anchoring of how alignment capabilities affect a company’s ability to create value from big data as identified in a service supply chain.
Practical implications
Service supply chains and big data are complex matters. Therefore, understanding how alignment affects a company’s ability to create value of big data may help the company to overcome challenges of big data.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates how value from big data can be created following an alignment logic. By this, both critical and complementary alignment capabilities have been identified.
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