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The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.

This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.

This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of technological capability (TC) and technology management (TM) on the development of China’s telecommunications industry by examining two interrelated questions: Which is the order parameter for China’s telecommunications industry? and What are the relationships between TC and TM? The paper will develop models to analyze TC, TM and the development of China’s telecommunications industry quantitatively.

The paper reviews literature related to TC and TM and investigates the technical features of China’s telecommunications industry. Then, the paper makes a theoretical analysis of the relationships among them. First, it analyzes the effects of TC and TM on the industry and tries to explore the order parameter. Second, the paper analyzes the interaction between TC and TM. Then, the paper applies the Haken model to construct an analysis model. It also constructs models for measuring TC and TM. Using the data of China’s telecommunications industry from 1991 to 2010, the paper identifies the order parameter for the industry and tests the relationships between TC and TM.

The paper finds that TC plays a dominant role in the development of China’s telecommunications industry. The paper also finds that TC promotes the development of TM. However, TM fails to promote the development of TC. The paper presents two other important findings. The first one is that China’s telecommunications industry has constructed a positive feedback mechanism for continuous development of TC, which provides an impetus for industry upgrades and development. The second one is that there is no positive feedback growth mechanism for TM capability, which has increased the lag between TM and TC and has become one of the important reasons why TM does not promote TC.

Theoretical and managerial implications are put forward. Thus, TC must be improved to propel the development of China’s telecommunications industry; TM should be greatly improved and an effective growth mechanism for TM should be constructed; the synergy between TM and TC should be achieved. Research limitations are also pointed out. Thus, the results in this paper probably cannot be generalized to other industries; it does go on to discuss the synergetic mode of TM and TC that can best compel industrial development, and it does not explain what the growth mechanisms for TM and TC should be.

The paper is original, as it provides new perspectives of TM and TC for analyzing industrial development, and it provides the method and model for quantitatively analyzing TC and TM at an industry level. It discovers the order parameter and new problems of China’s telecommunications industry, which no one has identified before. The paper also offers references for analyzing other industries from the perspectives of TM and TC.

The purpose of this paper is to chart the development of the Nepalese telecommunications industry and assess how they may develop in the future.

A country case study approach is adopted. The Nepalese context is outlined before the telecommunications industry is described and the main drivers of its development identified. The paper draws on interviews as well as secondary sources and models the relationship between the main drivers of the industry in Nepal.

Although the Nepalese telecommunications industry has substantially changed since the modernisation process began in early 1980s, large parts of the country remain without access to telecommunication services.

Some data collection problems were encountered, but these were addressed through the use of multiple sources.

The industry's future development will be shaped by the interplay between geography, resources and the CPN (Maoist) insurgency.

Previous studies have tended to focus on one part of the Nepalese telecommunications industry or one specific issue. This paper provides a broad overview of the industry and draws attention to the inter‐relationships that exist between the key drivers of telecommunications diffusion in Nepal.

As NITEL, Nigeria's former national carrier, has been unable to cope with provision requirements needed by the country to support its development needs, this has led to changes in the attitude of the Nigerian government to competition within the industry. It is the contention of this paper that NITEL could learn from progress already made by its counterparts (such as BT and AT&T) in developed countries such as the UK and USA, especially in the area of regulation and divestiture.

In order to examine these issues, this problem is addressed from two perspectives. In the first place, a comparison is carried out between the Nigerian telecommunications industry and progress already made in the UK and US telecommunications industry. In addition, although contextual differences do exist between the developed UK and US industry and the developing Nigerian market, such a comparison is seen as feasible based on previous research in this field. Arguably, it is suggested that divestiture amongst the numerous strategic initiatives is an option NITEL can explore.

The paper accepts that former monopolies BT and AT&T have developed divestiture theory and practice to address its failures. The question is whether these theories and practices might help NITEL address its challenges.

It is acknowledged that limitations within the paper might exist which may have impacted on the conclusion. In the first place, it could be argued that the existence of contextual differences between developed and developing telecommunications markets limits comparison between NITEL and BT/AT&T. Second, to an extent, it could be viewed as difficult to argue that divestiture successes in BT and AT&T could equate to similar successes in NITEL, especially considering the different economic realities NITEL has had to operate in. Third, it is also appreciated that it is difficult to effectively discuss the impact of a divestiture of NITEL without considering the significant changes in the use of telephony in Nigeria, i.e. the significant and increasing switch from fixed to mobile services.

The paper analyzes telecommunications companies in developing economies.

Michael Porter's Five Forces Model provides an ideal mechanism and framework to study the Oman telecommunications industry's competitive structure. The purpose of this paper is to use this model to identify the competitive forces that affect it the most.

This paper is based on empirical research. The data were collected primarily from secondary sources such as published interviews of chief executive officers of the telecommunication companies in Oman, government reports, and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Oman (TRA). The authors then used Michael Porter's five forces model to investigate the competitiveness of the telecommunication industry in Oman.

The analysis shows that the strongest competitive forces in the industry are rivalry among competitors and threat of substitutes. While the threat of entry and power of buyers also having a significant impact, the power of suppliers is of very limited impact. Hence, the five forces model impacts uniformly on all the players in Oman's telecommunication market and have important strategy implications for them all. The results of this analysis are then used as a critical tool to formulate effective strategies for industry players in the face of the changing dynamics of telecommunication services industry in Oman.

This study is one of the few papers that attempted to study the telecommunication industry in Oman in depth. However, this is the first research study that investigated the competitive landscape of this industry using an established framework such as Michael Porter's five forces model. As such, the study brought to light new insights and paradigms in competing in the telecommunication industry in Oman. This study also suggests new strategic directives to the incumbents, new entrants, buyers and suppliers.

The purpose of the paper is to identify the factors that have moved some regulators around the world to restructure their regulatory agencies towards an integrated information and communication technology (ICT) regulator.

This paper uses the theory of transaction costs as an analytical framework to analyze the regulatory convergence efforts of the UK, India, Malaysia, and South Africa. It relies on case study methodology to elucidate the obstacles towards a converged policy framework.

The cases show that these countries moved towards a converged regulator and laws to eliminate obsolete rules that were hampering investment and slowing competition in the ICT sector. The governments also wanted to eliminate some redundancies and simplify the rules used in regulating ICTs. For some countries the ICT regulator maintains traditional industry distinctions but others moved towards an issues‐organizing framework. The challenges included training, consultations with affected parties, changes in the law, and coping with rules that were still valid.

Given the rapid development of technology and the blurring boundaries of ICTs, regulators are advised to make changes to their regulatory bodies and adopt a more flexible regime of laws and regulators that are able to accommodate technological and industry changes.

The paper makes a unique contribution by linking the theories of collective action and transactions cost to explain why convergence of telecommunications regulation happens and the obstacles that regulatory agencies face in the process.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how to use structuration theory as a benchmarking tool to analyze the formulation of a national strategy.

The paper presents a longitudinal case study of the telecommunications industry of China.

The case study demonstrates structuration theory is a useful tool for the benchmarking analysis. It is found that China's telecommunications industry has transformed by stages and undergone several benchmarks. The specific social and technological elements of China have determined the formulation of its national telecommunications transformation strategy.

The paper extends benchmarking research to strategy formulation. It proposes structuration theory can be used in this aspect of benchmarking analysis.

Implications for how to use structuration theory in the benchmarking analysis, especially that of national strategy formulation are given.

For the first time in the literature, this paper applies structuration theory to benchmarking analysis.

The purpose of this paper to analyse Hutchison Whampoa's involvement in the telecommunication industry.

A brief overview of Hutchison Whampoa is provided before a timeline of the company's involvement in the telecommunications industry is presented. This is followed by the recounting of the company's performance in three areas, namely geographical footprint, mobile subscribers and financial returns. After discussing these three areas, an assessment of the company's exposure to 3G markets is made.

One finding is that Hutchison Whampoa has actively engaged in the telecommunications industry through buying and selling businesses, often through complex organisational structures. A second finding is that the company has been very successful in the past at building and selling mobile operations, though it is unlikely to be as successful with its current series of 3G investments.

Some of the data used in the paper are hard to establish with certainty.

The ownership of service providers and the services available may change as Hutchison Whampoa manages its portfolio of telecommunication investments.

As a late entrant in many markets, Hutchison Whampoa has aggressively sought to capture market share, resulting in new services and lower prices. Whether this will continue in the future is uncertain.

There are no other case studies of Hutchison Whampoa's involvement in the telecommunications industry in the public domain.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers in the special issue on “Next generation mobile telecommunications networks challenges to the Nordic ICT industries”.

This introductory paper summarises the key points of each paper.

The competitive environment of the Nordic ICT industries has changed and is far more complex now compared to the previous single‐standard environment of 2G. The avenues for influencing competition between basic technology platforms and standards are much narrower and involve interaction with a much greater number of stakeholders and technologies on a global level.

The six papers of this Special Issue highlight interesting viewpoints both on the possible future evolution of the mobile telecommunications industry in general, as well as on the past development and present challenges that the Nordic countries face.

This study addresses foreign markets selection decisions by Russian mobile telecommunications operators and the impact of top management team composition on the degree of firms’ internationalization.

The qualitative exploratory study analyzed 24 foreign market entry decisions and the composition of the top management team of the two leading Russian mobile telecommunications operators, VimpelCom and Mobile Telesystems (MTS/AFK Sistema).

Russian mobile telecommunications operators adopted a gradual approach to foreign market selection, as the study revealed the positive impact of the target market’s geographic proximity to Russia on the investment decision. The international background of the top management team was positively related to the increasing distance of the selected foreign markets.

Further studies may include quantitative evaluation of investment decisions by mobile telecommunications operators from other emerging-market firms, as well as a longer observation period and investment decisions by firms operating in other industries.

Russian and other emerging-market firms should evaluate the importance of the top management team composition and international experience prior to initiation of the internationalization process.

Russian multinationals represent a relatively understudied phenomenon, despite the importance of outward foreign direct investments from Russia among other emerging-market firms.