Ji-Ye Mao

The effect of CRM use on internal sales management control: An alternative mechanism to realize CRM benefits

This case study investigates how effective internal sales management control is achieved through CRM use and why enhanced control is beneficial to firms, which are largely overlooked by the extant literature. The main theoretical lens is organizational control theories. Results show that CRM use strengthened formal control and informal control simultaneously. Formal control was significantly boosted by enhanced outcome measurability and process visibility of sales work. CRM use also facilitated informal control, by serving as the carrier of new institutional processes and sales philosophy, which bolstered clan control, and by functioning as tools for self-control.

On the performance of B2B e-markets: An analysis of organizational capabilities and market opportunities

This research is a study of factors leading to the success of business-to-business (B2B) electronic marketplaces (EMs). A model based on both organizational capability and market opportunity theories was developed to explain the performance of B2B EMs. Organizational capabilities included service provision capability and its enabling capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation and human resource capability, whereas market opportunity was modeled as market size and e-commerce awareness of the industry. Data were collected from 128 B2B EMs in China and analyzed using Partial Least Squares. Results suggest that the research model explains the performance of B2B EMs well. More specifically, among the two service capabilities studied, service width contributes significantly to EM performance, while the effects of service depth are yet to be seen. Moreover, the enabling organizational capabilities and market opportunity factors affect EM performance both directly and indirectly through their enhancement of EM service provision capability.

Hedonic or utilitarian? Exploring the impact of communication style alignment on user's perception of virtual health advisory services

System-user communication style similarity enriches virtual advisory service user experiences.An intelligent virtual general-fitness advisor was designed and developed to empirically examine this.The more alignment with a users Internet Slang usage patterns, the more the system leads to user engagement, transparency, enjoyment, informativeness and credibility.Hedonic aspects contribute more dominantly to users feelings of social presence and system reuse intentions than utilitarian ones. Intelligent advisory services are becoming increasingly pervasive. Ranging from e-Commerce to e-Government platforms, intelligent advisory systems, with user-centered design, can potentially overcome technical barriers that commonly exist on traditional websites. This study explores the impact of system-user communication style similarities on the users perception towards the virtual advisory service in the healthcare domain. Drawing on Similarity-Attraction Theory, we propose a research framework to investigate this relationship. Through a mixed-method approach, including preliminary surveys, experiments and follow-up interviews, this study shows that an intelligent advisory systems communication style, when aligned well with a users communication style, can better engage the user and lead to more perceived transparency, enjoyment, informativeness and credibility during the interaction process. Overall, hedonic aspects of user perceptions are shown to be more critical for creating a feeling of social presence and reuse intentions than utilitarian ones. The implications of the study for research and practice are then discussed.

Research on IT in China: A Call for Greater Contextualization

Research on information technologies (IT) in China has gained increasing attention in the international information systems (IS) community. This study systematically reviews papers on IT in China published in the ‘Senior Scholars’ Basket of Journals’ from 2000 to 2013. We have two specific objectives: to identify key research issues and trends, and to propose future directions for research on IT in China. This paper categorizes the global distribution of authors and their research methods. Five research streams are identified, including human behaviors in IS adoption and use, IS management, e-Business, social media, digital collaborations and group support, and industry and societal issues in IS. While each stream is examined in detail, we specifically pay attention to the effect of the Chinese context in each paper and the approaches to contextualizing the research. On the basis of our findings from the literature review, we propose a focus on the Chinese context as guidance for future research.

How Do it Outsourcing Vendors Respond to Shocks in Client Demand? A Resource Dependence Perspective

IT outsourcing vendors depend on projects from their clients to reap gains and develop capabilities. Because of this dependence, vendors are vulnerable to shocks in client demand. However, the extant literature on how vendors mitigate the damage from demand shocks is very limited. This multiple case study examined five pairs of relationships between Chinese vendors and their Japanese clients, drawing on resource dependence theory, which considers two response strategies: bridging and buffering. Our findings suggest that both bridging and buffering should be specified further on the basis of their explorative and exploitative dimensions, and that the choice of a particular strategy depended on the power relation between the vendor and client. Results show that when the client was in a high-power advantage, the vendor chose bridging. More specifically, if the vendor also had high power, it adopted explorative bridging; otherwise, it adopted exploitative bridging. When the client was in a low-power position, the vendor would pursue explorative buffering. Exploitative buffering was a common response to demand shocks, independent of the dyadic power relation.

Seller performance in B2B e-marketplaces: a validated exploratory model based on resource-based view and transaction cost theories

This research studies the performance of business-to-business (B2B) sellers in e-marketplaces (EMs) from both resource-based and transaction cost perspectives. Organisational resources and capabilities, including online marketing, EM management, online social networking, product/service quality, learning, and exclusive brokerage rights, are proposed to impact on B2B seller performance positively. Two transaction cost factors, asset specificity and complexity of product description, are proposed to affect B2B seller performance negatively. Hypotheses are tested empirically, based on a PLS (partial least squares) analysis of data gathered from 91 B2B online sellers. Results indicate that general capabilities such as learning and social networking capability explain online seller performance better than specific functional capabilities, and asset specificity and complexity of product description can be sources of competitive advantage for online sellers, thus positively impacting on B2B seller performance.

Cross Boundary Mechanisms for Knowledge Management by User Representatives in Enterprise Systems Implementation

Cross boundary knowledge management (KM) is essential for the successful implementation of enterprise systems (ES), and user representatives undertake a critical role in the process. However, this important phenomenon has been largely overlooked by the extant literature. Drawing upon cross boundary KM theories and the ES implementation literature, this exploratory case study investigates how user representatives facilitate cross boundary KM and what mechanisms are used to be effective. The implementation of ES by Alpha (pseudonym) was examined because it involved a wide range of organizational units and stakeholders, which made cross boundary knowledge flow difficult. Results show that user representatives played a pivotal role as they used a variety of mechanisms for crossing physical boundaries, cognitive boundaries, and social boundaries. A process model was developed to reveal how boundary-crossing mechanisms affect KM via creating a common knowledge space, shared knowledge, and knowledge adaptation. This study makes three theoretical contributions. It develops an integrated model for understanding the cross boundary mechanisms by user representatives, extends prior research on cross boundary KM from a vendor perspective only to a client perspective, and it broadens research on user participation with the ES implementation context. This research also has significant implications for practitioners such as user representatives, project managers, and consultants.

Digital transformation by SME entrepreneurs: A capability perspective

This research investigates how entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with inadequate capabilities and limited resources drove digital transformation in their companies, a phenomenon that remains under‐researched in the extant literature. We conduct qualitative research on digital transformation to cross‐border e‐commerce undergone by 7 SMEs on the Alibaba digital platform. We inductively derive a process model that aims to describe and explain how SME entrepreneurs, with support from the digital platform service provider, drive digital transformation through managerial cognition renewal, managerial social capital development, business team building, and organizational capability building. This model expands our understanding of both digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation. It also presents new insights into how digital platform service providers can help SMEs transform and compete.

When and how authoritarian leadership and leader renqing orientation influence tacit knowledge sharing intentions

Abstract In this study of tacit knowledge-sharing intentions in China, we examine the roles of authoritarian leadership and fairness with respect to the way managers make decisions and treat their subordinates. In particular, we examine the role of leader renqing orientation, i.e., the way leaders distribute favors and emotional concern to their subordinates, as a moderating factor. We draw on the research literature in the domains of knowledge management and cross-cultural Psychology to identify constructs that we then test with a survey of 309 Chinese employees. Our findings are counter-intuitive and are discussed in detail before we conclude with implications for research and practice.

Market choices of a Chinese outsourcing vendor: The Case of ChilTech company

This case describes a Chinese software outsourcing vendors struggle with its market choices, in response to the rippling effect of the global financial crisis. It also introduces Chinese software outsourcing vendors’ capability development, market conditions, and idiosyncrasies. ChiITech is representative of Chinese software vendors, in terms of its development history, environment conditions, experience of the financial crisis, and countermeasures. Students can learn about the evolution and current status of the China-Japan software outsourcing industry through this case, and more specifically how vendors make market choices in a highly volatile market.