Angeliki Poulymenakou

The relationship between information and communication technologies adoption and management

This paper examines the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption on management, praxis. The study, building on the theoretical framework developed by Scott Morton and his colleagues, attempts to identify the dynamic relationships between ICT adoption and management efforts towards modernization and reorganization. Using data from leading Greek firms, we report evidence as to how changes in strategy, organizational structure, management systems, and human skills link with the current and prospective level of use of various types of advanced ICT. Findings generally appear to suggest that Greek firms are in a process of recognizing the potential of ICT to enable and support changes that are necessary for successfully competing in a hyper-competitive environment. In particular, ICT adoption is shown to affect strategy by supporting long-term strategic objectives and the quest for profitability. Indirectly, it also links to strategic planning systems. ICT is found to be related to an internal environment characterized by open organization and flexibility. Finally, the results show that the sample firms recognize the need for multi-skilled personnel to exploit the advantages stemming from ICT adoption.

Knowledge management convergence – expanding learning frontiers

KM seems to be another buzzword. More and more we hear about the new imperatum of knowledge. Like researchers in a new field, our daily life is a continuous knowledge management process. Moreover, the origins of our focus diversify biased to the KM perspectives that we have conceptualized. Our paper intends to reveal the continuous process of KM to re‐usable learning objects. The case of organizational memory is treated as a cumulative system of value adding components. The deployment of information and communication technologies in our approach justifies the intelligence of our analysis. Web semantics, metadata specification and extensive XML specifications provide only the enclosure of an extensive analysis of concepts. Two concepts are presented: multidimensional dynamic e‐learning and the value adding knowledge management framework.

Organizational Information Systems in the Context of Globalization

Acknowledgements. Conference Chairs. Program Committee. Additional Reviewers. 1. Perspectives and Challenges of Organizational Information Systems in the Context of Globalization M. Korpela, R. Montealegre, A. Poulymenakou. Part 1: Work Practices and Their Transformation. 2. ICTs Supporting Targetmania: How the UK Health Sector is Trying to Modernise K McGrath. 3. Counter Networks, Communication and Health Information Systems: A Case Study from Mozambique E. Mosse, S. Sahay. 4. Coordinating Work with Groupware: The Challenge of Integrating Protocol and Artefact J. Pors, J. Simonsen. 5. CRM in Call Centres: The Logic of Practice H. Richardson. 6. Back to Basics: Sharing Goals and Developing Trust in Global Virtual Teams R. Tucker, N. Panteli. Part 2: Organizations, Corporations and Institutions. 7. Have You Got Anything to Declare? Neo-Colonialism, Information Systems, and the Imposition of Customs and Duties in a Third World Country M. Adam, M. Myers. 8. Innovation Theories in Retrospect: The Case of Electronic Commerce Adoption in Small Business in New Zealand N.A. Al-Qirim. 9. Organizational and National Issues of an ERP Implementation in a Portuguese Company J. Esteves, J. Pastor, J. Carvalho. 10. ICTs and Organizational Control Across Cultures: The Case of a UK Multinational Operating in China Wei Liu, C. Westrup. 11. On the Implementation of an Information System in the Mozambican Context: The EDM Case E. Macome. 12. Implementing Global Information Technology Product in a Localized Context: An Exploratory Study of ERP System Implementation in China G. Pan, Shan Pan, Xin-Xin Chen, D. Flynn. Part 3: ICT Industries and Systems Development. 13. The Process of Offshore Software Development: Preliminary Studies of UK Companies in Malaysia A. Aman, B. Nicholson. 14. China Telecommunications Transformation in Globalization Context: A Structuration Perspective Ping Gao, K. Lyytinen. 15. Factors Influencing Irelands Software Industry: Lessons for Economic Development through IT C. Heavin, B. Fitzerald, E. Trauth. 16. Russian High-Speed Software Development: Overcoming the Challenges of Globalization J. Pries-Heje, R. Baskerville, G. Hansen. 17. Institutional Structures and Participation: Comparative Case Studies from India S.K. Puri, S. Sahay. Part 4: Societal Dynamics. 18. Social Exclusion and Information Systems in Community Healthcare T. Cornford, E. Klecun-Dabrowska. 19. Knowledge, NGOs and Networks: Applying Epistemology to the Work of Development J. Johnstone. 20. Less Cyber, More Cafe: Design Implications for Easing the Digital Divide with Locally Social Cyber Cafes T. Salvador, J. Sherry, A. Urrutia. 21. Can E-Marketplaces Bridge the Digital Divide? C. Standing, I. Sims, R. Stockdale, A. Wassenaar. 22. The Footprint of Regulation: How Information Systems are Affecting the Sources of Control in a Global Economy P. Tsiavos, I. Hosein, E. Whitley. Part 5: Cultural, Philosophical and Policy Issues. 23. The Link Between ICT and Economic Growth in the Discourse of Development C. Avgerou. 24. Good Governance and Development Aid: Risks and Challenges of E-Government in Jordan C. CiborrErnie Jordan is Professor of Management at Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney, Australia where he is the Director of the Electronic Commerce Programs and board member of the Macquarie Risk Competence Centre. Ernie was born and educated in the UK, completed his PhD in Hong Kong, and has spent most of his working life in Australia. His major research interests are in electronic commerce, risk management, the strategic management of IT, with particular emphasis on management support systems, and knowledge management systems.There are many studies of information technology outsourcing but very few discuss in depth the process of offshore software development outsourcing. The aim of this research is to understand the important issues and strategies in managing activities and relationships among software development teams involved in offshore outsourcing. The study involves UK companies who are engaged in offshore outsourcing of software development to Malaysia either through joint ventures or fully owned subsidiaries. There are an increasing number of software firms choosing Malaysia as a venue for software development. The study contributes to the growing body of literature on offshore software development outsourcing by building a synthesized conceptual framework for global software outsourcing. This is derived from concepts found to be important in previous studies. The framework is illustrated using data from two ongoing case studies.

Embedding security practices in contemporary information systems development approaches

As information and communication technologies become a critical component of firms’ infrastructures and information establishes itself as a key business resource as well as driver, people start to realise that there is more than the functionality of the new information systems that is significant. Business or organisational transactions over new media require stability, one factor of which is information security. Information systems development practices have changed in line with the evolution of technology offerings as well as the nature of systems developed. Nevertheless, as this paper establishes, most contemporary development practices do not accommodate sufficiently security concerns. Beyond the literature evidence, reports on empirical study results indicating that practitioners deal with security issues by applying conventional risk analysis practices after the system is developed. Addresses the lack of a defined discipline for security concerns integration in systems development by using field study results recording development practices that are currently in use to illustrate their deficiencies, to point to required enhancements of practice and to propose a list of desired features that contemporary development practices should incorporate to address security concerns.

Adopting a lifecycle perspective to explain the transition from technological innovation to alliance management

Innovative technology‐based products and services are often the result of the syndication of skills and resources of more than one firm. Such inter‐firm arrangements – i.e. strategic technology alliances – need to balance innovation with sustainability, an issue requiring explicit management attention. This paper discusses the issues faced by management within this context. The paper argues that strategic technology alliances require a new set of management practices targeting issues at the inter‐firm level, acknowledging and addressing inter‐firm evolution and the impact this has on the nature and severity of topics on the management agenda. The paper proposes a management framework at the inter‐firm level, with topics arranged according to an inter‐firm lifecycle perspective. Topics for managerial attention and action for the stages of initiation, configuration, implementation, stabilization and transformation are identified. Finally, the paper illustrates the utility of this framework by applying it to a strategic technology alliance case in the process of transition from initiation to commercialization.

Quality and electronic commerce: a partnership for growth

This article explores the relationship between electronic commerce (EC) and the management of quality. The stand point it assumes for EC is that of a total entrepreneurial strategy spanning both intraand inter-organizational business and technology aspects. The article explores the relationship of EC and quality management (QM) from five distinct view points: quality for the end customer in view of the personalization of the relationship between the customer and the enterprise; the definition of service quality in electronic service delivery systems; the transformation of QM from a value chain to a supply chain issue due to supply chain integration introduced through EC; the management of quality information; and the management of quality in Internet and software

Electronic commerce competitiveness in the public sector: the importance of stakeholder involvement

This paper considers the role governments and public sector organisations can play in promoting organisational competitiveness in electronic commerce using case evidence from three different European national contexts. The research indicates that stakeholder involvement can be critical for the adoption of systems by intended users and explores two alternative development scenarios for project management in the public sector. Both development scenarios represent approaches that have been adopted in practice with mixed results. The paper illustrates the importance of stakeholder analysis and stakeholder involvement in the development process. In particular, we argue that the consideration of a broad range of stakeholder perspectives is essential for establishing the public sector as a capable change agent for organisational competitiveness in electronic commerce.

Technology Adaptation: Capturing the Appropriation Dynamics of Web-Based Collaboration Support in a Project Team

This research applies contributions from the social sciences to examine how organizations adapt information systems in a project team setting. Its main concern is to study the set of events and actions implicated in the institutionalization of an information system. The motivation for this research has been to address the following questions: why are well designed information systems so often not successfully adapted or used by organizations? How does the adaptation process affect and how is it affected by work context characteristics? In our research we are focusing on analyzing the adaptation process of a collaborative platform in a project team, in the context of the construction industry by applying adaptive structuration theory.

The impact of information and communication technologies on firm structure: evidence from an economy in transition

The present research attempts to identify the dynamic relationships involved between information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption and management efforts towards modernization and reorganization. Using data from leading Greek firms, we report evidence as to how changes in organizational structure, i.e. number of hierarchical levels, formalization, centralization and extensiveness of middle line management, link with the current and prospective level of use of various types of advanced ICT. The results show that ICT significantly affects important elements in of all these structural dimensions. In particular, ICT adoption is found related with delayering, low formalization, clear delineation of managerial role and, prospectively, with decentralization. More generally the findings suggest that ICT correlates with an internal environment characterized by open organization and flexibility.

Playing together in cyberspace: Collective action and shared meaning constitution in virtual worlds

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), represent a new genre in the online games industry. They are immensely popular and many MMOGs report millions of subscribers. These games are considered to be the evolution of text-based multi-user dragons (MUDs). The first MUD was developed in 1979 and allowed text-based communication between players in numerous chatrooms. With the introduction of graphics, the first MMOG was launched in 1984 and, since then, many new titles have been introduced into the market. At the moment, there are over 100 commercial MMOGs released and about 94 more in the stage of development or beta testing.1 MMOGs are different from other types of online games, such as internet games (i.e., chess) or network role-playing games (i.e., tournaments). MMOGs are “active” 24/7 and available for a player to enter and interact with. Most commercial MMOGs require a monthly subscription, where players assume the role of a fictional character (also known as avatar or persona). Each character is capable of performing various activities based on a series of skills The higher the level of a trained skill, the better the character can handle virtual tools and gain access to special areas of the game environment (e.g., more difficult missions).