Darshana Sedera

Knowledge Management Competence for Enterprise System Success

This study conceptualizes, operationalises and validates the concept of Knowledge Management Competence as a four-phase multidimensional formative index. Employing survey data from 310 respondents representing 27 organizations using the SAP Enterprise System Financial module, the study results demonstrate a large, significant, positive relationship between Knowledge Management Competence and Enterprise Systems Success (ES-success, as conceived by Gable et al., 2008); suggesting important implications for practice. Strong evidence of the validity of Knowledge Management Competence as conceived and operationalised, too suggests potential from future research evaluating its relationships with possible antecedents and consequences.

Innovating with enterprise systems and digital platforms

In an era of new technological advances and hyper-competition, it is no surprise that organizational innovation enabled through information systems in order to achieve competitive parity will remain a core topic of interest for both scholars and practitioners. Understanding the process of innovation through enterprise systems (ES) is especially critical, given the contradictory beliefs surrounding the role of ES in organizational innovation. Conversely, recent anecdotal commentary suggests a substantial growth in digital platforms, purportedly energizing innovation. This study seeks to address our limited understanding of how digital and ES platforms attain innovation, through a study involving 189 organizations.

Sustaining the Momentum: Archival Analysis of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (2006–2012)

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User expertise in contemporary information systems: Conceptualization, measurement and application

The development of user expertise is a strategic imperative for organizations in hyper-competitive markets. This paper conceptualizes opreationalises and validates user expertise in contemporary Information Systems (IS) as a formative, multidimensional index. Such a validated and widely accepted index would facilitate progression of past research on user competence and efficacy of IS to complex contemporary IS, while at the same time providing a benchmark for organizations to track their user expertise. The validation involved three separate studies, including exploratory and confirmatory phases, using data from 244 respondents.

Ontology-Based Knowledge Management for Enterprise Systems

Companies face the challenges of expanding their markets, improving products, services and processes, and exploiting intellectual capital in a dynamic network. Therefore, more companies are turning to an Enterprise System (ES). Knowledge management (KM) has also received considerable attention and is continuously gaining the interest of industry, enterprises, and academia. For ES, KM can provide support across the entire lifecycle, from selection and implementation to use. In addition, it is also recognised that an ontology is an appropriate methodology to accomplish a common consensus of communication, as well as to support a diversity of KM activities, such as knowledge repository, retrieval, sharing, and dissemination. This paper examines the role of ontology-based KM for ES (OKES) and investigates the possible integration of ontology-based KM and ES. The authors develop a taxonomy as a framework for understanding OKES research. In order to achieve the objective of this study, a systematic review of existing research was conducted. Based on a theoretical framework of the ES lifecycle, KM, KM for ES, ontology, and ontology-based KM, guided by the framework of study, a taxonomy for OKES is established.

IT-enabled operational agility

Firms make large investments in enterprise information technology (IT) expecting positive impacts on their supply chain operations. Toward IT-enabled operational agility, an enterprise system facilitates the responsibilities of multiple stakeholders; however, its success is not determined merely by its adoption. Firms must contend with information asymmetries and resource interdependencies simultaneously. To this end, this study presents a model that illustrates how IT can be used to accomplish operational agility at a firm. The stagewise model suggests that toward IT-enabled operational agility, new capabilities are enacted to manage resource interdependencies, the process of negotiation and managerial practices that shape IT use in supply chain tasks. Through our findings, our study extends existing prescriptions on firm interdependencies and presents a set of actionable guidelines to help managers better engage with technology toward the attainment of IT-enabled operational agility.

A Benefit Expectation Management Framework for Supply Chain Management Systems

Organizations invest heavily in Supply Chain Management Systems (SCMS) expecting to receive the benefits claimed by software vendors and implementation partners. Reports suggest a growing dissatisfaction among client organizations due to an increasing gap between expectations and realization of SCMS benefits. This study presents a Benefit Expectation Management Framework for SCMS, based on the Expectation-Confirmation Theory. The expected benefits of SCMS are derived through 41 vendor-reported customer stories and academic papers. The expected benefits are then compared with the benefits realized at a case organization in the fast moving consumer goods industry sector that has implemented SAP Supply Chain Management System seven years ago. The study findings argue for the value of managing client expectations of vendor purported benefits in light of the longer lifecycle and multiple employment cohorts of SCMS. The comparison of benefit expectations and confirmations highlight that, while certain benefits are realized earlier in the lifecycle, other benefits could take almost a decade to realize.

Likes—the key to my happiness: the moderating effect of social influence on travel experience

Increasingly travelers engage in social media for travel activities. Prior to traveling, a traveler would post intended travel plans on social media seeking views from family and friends. While traveling, the same traveler would post photographs and comments on social media, seeking affirmation. This paper investigates this aforementioned phenomenon where social influence is sought and acquired through social media using the expectation confirmation theory. Using longitudinal survey data gathered from 156 respondents, prior and during their travels, this research assesses the moderating role of social influence on two of the well-established relationships in consumer marketing.

Supply Chain Benefits Expectation Management Framework

Organizations invest heavily in Supply Chain Management Systems expecting the benefits promised by the software vendors and the implementation partners. However, both academic and industry reports suggest that there is growing dissatisfaction among client organizations due to an increasing gap in benefits purported by the software vendors and benefits realised by the client. In order to better manage expectations of the client organization, this study proposes a Benefit Expectation Management Framework for Supply Chain Management Systems, based on Expectation-Confirmation Theory. This study derives 60 expected benefits of Supply Chain Management Systems through 41 vendor-reported customer stories and academic papers. Through comparing those benefits with the received benefits by a case organization that has implemented SAP Supply Chain Management Systems for seven years, two salient factors – long timetable and multiple stakeholders – have been identified as the controlling factors affecting the confirmation level of Supply Chain Management System expectations and further impacting the satisfaction of a client organization. The case study also highlights the likely causes for realized benefits and enduring issues in relation to the Supply Chain Management Systems.

Exploring Organizational Level Continuance of Cloud-Based Enterprise Systems

As cloud computing has become a mature technology broadly being adopted by companies across all industries, cloud service providers are increasingly turning their attention to retaining their customers. However, only little research has been conducted on investigating the antecedents of service continuance in an organizational context. To address this gap in research, we carried out a quantitative-empirical study. We developed a conceptual model that builds on previous research on organizational level continuance. We tested this model, using survey data gathered from IT decision makers of companies which have adopted cloud enterprise systems. The data was analyzed using PLS. The results show that continuance intention can be predicted both by socio-organizational and technology-related factors, explaining 55.9 % of the dependent variable’s variance. Besides cloud specific findings, the study also enhances knowledge in the area of organizational level system continuance as well as its connection to IS success.