F. Warren McFarlan

Institutional Factors in Information Technology Innovation

Innovation in information technology is well established in developed nations; newly industrializing and developing nations have been creating governmental interventions to accelerate IT innovation within their borders. The lack of coherent policy advice for creating government policy for IT innovation signals a shortfall in research understanding of the role of government institutions, and institutions more broadly, in IT innovation. This paper makes three points. First, long-established intellectual perspectives on innovation from neoclassical economics and organization theory are inadequate to explain the dynamics of actual innovative change in the IT domain. A broader view adopted from economic history and the new institutionalism in sociology provides a stronger base for understanding the role of institutions in IT innovation. Second, institutional intervention in IT innovation can be constructed at the intersection of the influence and regulatory powers of institutions and the ideologies of supply-push and demand-pull models of innovation. Examples of such analysis are provided. Third, institutional policy formation regarding IT innovation is facilitated by an understanding of the multifaceted role of institutions in the innovative process, and on the contingencies governing any given institution/innovation mix.

Organization Design and Effectiveness over the Innovation Life Cycle

Differing bases of competition in early and later stages of an innovations life cycle call for differing organization designs. Designs that fit early strategic contingencies tend to misfit later ones. Over time, innovating units must either minimize the negative effects of misfit, or make difficult changes in design. Using four paired case studies, we examine how firms address conflicts in strategic contingencies, how managers adjust to misfits, and how organizations adapt their designs. We find that firms use one of three adaptation modes, none of which is fully autonomous nor fully integrated, and all of which change over time. Each mode optimizes for one contingency while suboptimally attempting to address the other. The study suggests practical insights for researchers and managers.

Curriculum recommendations for graduate professional programs in information systems: recommended addendum on information systems administration

An addendum to the Report of the ACM Curriculum Committee on Computer Education for Management is proposed. The proposed addendum is to include in the curriculum a course on Information Systems Administration. It is important for two reasons: (1) the systems designer must understand the administrative framework in which he must operate to work effectively, and (2) an important objective of the curriculum recommendations is to prepare the future manager of the computer activity. It is felt that the importance of these two reasons justifies the addition of the recommended course. The course is outlined in the format of the original report.

Information-Enabled Organization Transformation and Outsourcing

Firms are in the midst of an IT-driven revolution in corporate infrastructure. As illustrated by the Frito-Lay case, the technologies have enabled redistribution/redefinition of authority and decision making, delayering, installation of new control tools, significant time compression, cost reduction, enhanced quality, ability to handle managed complexity and flexibility. Those benefits often evolve over long spans and engender such massive resistance because of their disturbance of existing corporate culture, that disappointing results are being achieved in up to 70% of the cases. At the same time many corporations have lost confidence in their IT unit as the most efficient way to deliver these results and are looking to outsourcing part or all of the IT unit.

What Is Digital Intelligence

The ability to understand and utilize the power of IT to our advantage, also known as digital intelligence, is a critical skill for business and IT managers in todays economy. The authors examine the evolution of IT and digital intelligence and describe what it involves—specifically, an understanding of how to synchronize business and IT strategies, govern IT, and execute IT projects and enterprise systems.

Innovation and Development of China Machine Press in the New Century

China Machine Press (CMP), founded in 1952, is a leading multimedia publishing group in China with large scale, comprehensive and specialized business that integrates paper media, audiovisual media and online media, and combines research, publishing, training, printing, issuing new books and imports over 400 foreign books each year. In 2010, its sales volume of books and periodicals reached RMB one billion. CMPs core competitive advantage lies in its innovative business strategy and management concepts, rigorous publishing standards and high product quality. In 2007, CMP was ranked among the Top 500 Most Valuable Chinese Brands by the World Brand Lab with an estimated brand value of RMB 787 million. From 2008 to 2010, CMP on the list for three years in a row, and with brand value rising beyond RMB 1.66 billion in 2010. CMP started as a state-owned institution, and as part of Chinas publishing industry that is highly regulated by the government, it was also subjec focus of this case study is to understand how Wang Wenbin, President of CMP, devises new business strategies to gain a competitive advantage in a regulated industry and leads the company to carry forward marketization reform.

Global E-Commerce: Impacts of National Environment and Policy, by K. L. Kramer, J. Dedrick, N. P. Melville, K. Zhu Cambridge University Press, 2006

Truly deep, societally disruptive technologies come along very infrequently. When they do, they sweep change in front of them, and over time, massively transform institutions and work habits and redistribute work across geographies. A case in point is the Internet and E-commerce. In ten short years since 1995, Internet enabled e-commerce has virally spread across the globe, transforming massive parts of both corporate and personal life. Previously unknown terms such as B2B (business-to-business), B2C (business-to-consumer), and C2C (consumerto-consumer) are now part of our daily vocabulary, and items such as channels and economics of distribution have been deeply altered. What has been missing in this explosion of work is a thoughtful book based on detailed data analysis and field-based research, which studies these phenomena and identifies at a granular level, the differential impact that is taking place in various countries, and what this means to managers. Global E-Commerce: Impacts of National Environment and Policy is that book and will serve as an invaluable reference. The work, which backs up the book’s conclusions, is very solid. The data for this book were collected through a multiplicity of sources from eight very different countries. The countries studied were selected in order to include a diverse range of mature and developing economies. These countries are the United States, France, Germany, Japan, China, Taiwan, Brazil, and Mexico. The data collection process included: