Antonis C. Stylianou

Global corporate web sites: an empirical investigation of content and design

Globally accessible web sites enable corporations to communicate with a wide variety of constituencies and represent a resource for any organization seeking a broad audience. Developing an effective multinational Internet presence requires designing web sites that operate in a diverse, multi-cultural environment. This is not simple, given that the field of web site development has lacked standards and vales relating to content and design. This study develops a conceptual model that differentiates web site content from design. The content component addresses the issue of what is included in the site and identifies the various types of information. The design component addresses presentation and navigational features. This conceptual web site content/design model was used to study the features of global corporate web sites to determine if the content and design features have become globally standardized or if differences exist as a result of national culture and/or industry. The majority of web site content features were found to be significantly different across various cultural groups. This, however, was not the case for design features. Furthermore, there appeared to be little association between the content and design features and industry classification.

Information systems continuance intention of web-based applications customers: The case of online banking

The proliferation of the Internet has not only allowed businesses to offer their products and services through web-based applications, but it has also undermined their ability to retain their customers. It has reduced search costs, opened up barriers to entry, and diminished distinctiveness of firms. Effective retention of customers allows firms to grow in size and popularity, thereby increasing their profitability. We extended Commitment-Trust theory, an expectation-confirmation model, and technology acceptance theory to develop a model of IS continuance intention of customers of web-based applications. Relationship commitment and trust were found to be central to IS continuance intention. Also, perceived empowerment influenced relationship commitment, while perceived security influenced trust. Our findings thus supported traditional intention factors, highlighting the role of trust as a stronger predictor of intention than commitment but, contradicting findings from marketing research, trust was found to be a stronger predictor of retention in the e-commerce context.

Post-merger systems integration: the impact on IS capabilities

Mergers and acquisitions may disrupt the operations of the organizations involved. Major issues include the need to integrate personnel, business processes, information systems, and diverse information technologies across the merging organizations. However, if carefully planned and properly managed, the merger/acquisition and the resulting integration process can become an opportunity to strengthen the capabilities of the combined organization and place it in a better competitive position. This paper uses the results of a field survey to examine the effects of post-merger systems integration on information systems area capabilities. Factors influencing the success of the systems integration are identified.

Corporate mergers and the problems of IS integration

Abstract 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.

An integrative framework for IS quality management

T he importance of information technologies and the information systems function is no longer of debate among business people. The question, rather, is how an organization can take best advantage of IT in order to support its operations, add value to its products and services, and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. To be able to perform up to such high expectations, the IS function must develop an intimate understanding of the expectations of its varied clientele. As organizations embark on their journey to be more responsive to their customers and to continuously improve the quality of their products and services, IS must do the same. Unfortunately, it seems that despite the importance of IT to the success of most organizations, the function is not proactive when it comes to actively pursuing and implementing quality principles. Surveys of IS managers [5] found that a minority of IS managers (41%) understood the basic principles of Total Quality Management (TQM), and thought they would be useful to the IS function. Even in the cases where TQM principles were understood, they often were not implemented in the IS function. Previous research in this area is at best fragmented, with focus on only subsets of IS quality (software and data quality), and is centered around front-line (core) processes (for example, systems development). This article takes a holistic view of quality in the IS function from the perspective of an IS manager and considers issues relating to multiple stakeholder groups, product, service, and process quality. This framework represents a contribution to both the practice as well as the research of how the IS function should be managed. From the practical perspective, the framework along with the discussion of many issues relating to the implementation and management of an IS quality system can be used to introduce and pursue a philosophy of total IS quality. From the research perspective, the framework integrates and fills in gaps in the existing literature, and it proposes new research questions. Total IS quality is a multidimensional Considering issues relating to multiple stakeholder groups, product, service, and process quality is important for managing IS quality. ■ Antonis C. Stylianou and Ram L. Kumar

Pricing on the Internet and in Conventional Retail Channels: A Study of Over-the-Counter Pharmaceutical Products

Business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce survived the near-disastrous dot.com market crash in March of 2000 and has emerged as an integral component of doing business. Studies conducted before 2000, when companies had little experience with e-commerce, found that there were differences in pricing strategies and search and menu costs between the Internet and the conventional (brick-and-mortar) channel of distribution. The present study examines pricing data collected during a more mature period when companies routinely used both channels to sell products. The study utilizes data from the Internet and from conventional retailers for a bundle of over-the-counter pharmaceutical products. It finds that prices but not total cost are lower on the Internet, and therefore that shopping for such products on the Internet is likely to be a convenience issue. It also finds, contrary to expectations, that price changes are not more frequent or smaller on the Internet than on the conventional channel, whereas cost and price dispersion are greater. Finally, it discusses the pricing strategies of stores that have both Internet and conventional channels.

Factors considered when outsourcing an IS system: an empirical examination of the impacts of organizational size, strategy and the object of a decision

As IT expenditures have been growing over the last few years, organizations have started to scrutinize them more closely and some are deciding to outsource parts of their Information Systems (IS) operations. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research on the impact that the object of an outsourcing decision may have on the factors considered when making such a decision. The impact of organizational size and the firms strategy has also not been conclusively established in the literature. This paper examines and compares the different supplier, internal, technology and cost factors considered when outsourcing Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) or Decision Support Systems (DSSs) (the object of a decision). It also examines the divergent decision factors for large, medium and small organizations, and the competitive strategys impact on the factors that are considered. The paper is based on a study with samples from four large SAP Conferences and includes 1889 individuals working in organizations that use enterprise resource planning software. This research found that the object being outsourced, the firms competitive strategies, and the organizational size are factors that significantly influence the outsourcing decision process. We found that the relative importance of decision factors for the outsourcing of OLTP is significantly different from those for a DSS and that, where the outsourcing object is of strategic importance, there is a closer attention to internal factors. Our findings confirm that outsourcing strategies are aligned with organizational strategies. For example, cost factors dominate in the outsourcing decision among organizations that employ a low-costs strategy as compared to those following a differentiation or niche strategy. Also, compared to firms pursuing other competitive strategies, for the outsourcing of DSS, differentiators place a significantly higher emphasis on supplier factors. Regarding the role of company size, we found significant differences in the importance given to supplier, internal, technology, and cost factors by organizations of different sizes. For example, compared to smaller organizations, larger organizations gave less importance to supplier and technology factors and more importance to cost factors.

A process model for analyzing and managing flexibility in information systems

Competitive pressures are forcing organizations to be flexible. Being responsive to changing environmental conditions is an important factor in determining corporate performance. Earlier research, focusing primarily on IT infrastructure, has shown that organizational flexibility is closely related to IT infrastructure flexibility. Using real-world cases, this paper explores flexibility in the broader context of the IS function. An empirically derived framework for better understanding and managing IS flexibility is developed using grounded theory and content analysis. A process model for managing flexibility is presented; it includes steps for understanding contextual factors, recognizing reasons why flexibility is important, evaluating what needs to be flexible, identifying flexibility categories and stakeholders, diagnosing types of flexibility needed, understanding synergies and tradeoffs between them, and prescribing strategies for proactively managing IS flexibility. Three major flexibility categories, flexibility in IS operations, flexibility in IS systems & services development and deployment, and flexibility in IS management, containing 10 IS flexibility types are identified and described.

Market reaction to application service provider (ASP) adoption: An empirical investigation

We examined the impact of ASP adoption on the market value of the firms and explored contextual factors in the positive abnormal returns. We employed event study methodology to analyze 268 ASP adoption announcements from 1998 to 2007. The results indicated that ASP adoption announcements were associated with positive increases in the market value of the firm. In addition, differences in market returns to ASP adoption were found to depend on strategic adoption intent, firm size, industry, and vendor status. These results provide useful implications for making decisions about whether, when, and how to adopt ASP to maximize the business value.

An organizational change perspective on the value of modeling

Abstract The modeling activity is central to management science practice since it can facilitate the systematic investigation of problems and issues faced by organizations. In this paper we argue that management science modeling can also initiate significant organizational change, even in the absence of a successful implementation. We categorize these changes as (1) knowledge creation and dissemination; and (2) altered coordination and communication patterns. We illustrate our points using numerous examples and two brief cases, one American and one French. Both cases are successful implementations, but both also provide additional, identifiable benefits that can be linked to the notion of organizational change. We conclude with a set of recommendations for the modeler.