K. S. Raman

Top Management Support, External Expertise and Information Systems Implementation in Small Businesses

Top management support is a key recurrent factor critical for effective information systems (IS) implementation. However, the role of top management support may not be as critical as external IS expertise, in the form of consultants and vendors, in small business IS implementation due to the unique characteristics of small businesses. This paper describes an empirical study of the relative importance of top management support and external IS expertise on IS effectiveness in 114 small businesses. Partial least squares (PLS) was used for statistical testing. The results show that top management support is not as important as effective external IS expertise in small business IS implementation. While top management support is essential for IS effectiveness, high quality external IS expertise is even more critical for small businesses operating in an environment of resource poverty. These findings call for more research efforts to be directed at selecting and engaging high quality external IS expertise for IS implementation in small businesses.

Engagement of external expertise in information systems implementation

Most small businesses lack computer experience and do not have sufficient internal computer expertise. Hence, small businesses are more dependent on external expertise such as consultants and vendors than are larger businesses. This paper compares the information systems (IS) effectiveness of a group of small businesses that engage separate consultants and vendors (consultant-vendor approach) with that of another group of small businesses that engage vendors who also provide consultancy service (vendor-only approach). The results show that small businesses that adopt the vendor-only approach have more effective information systems than small businesses that adopt the consultant-vendor approach. Further, the vendor-only approach results in the same level of consultant effectiveness and a better level of vendor support for small businesses compared with the consultant-vendor approach. The relationship between vendor and other parties in the IS implementation project is found to be an important predictor of IS effectiveness.

Interacting effects of GDSS and leadership

Abstract Effects of Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) on decision making have been extensively studied in various contexts, involving important variables such as group task and group size. However, a factor of significant relevance to group meeting, leadership, has been little dealt with in GDSS research. This paper reports on an experimental investigation of the interacting effects of GDSS and elected leadership on influence attempts in a decision-room setting. Findings reveal that while the use of GDSS caused the influence distribution to be more equal among group members in the absence of leadership, the system did not withstand the overriding force of leadership when a group leader was present.

Environments for Information Systems Implementation in Small Businesses

Top management support and external information systems (IS) expertise, in the forms of consultants and vendors, have been identified as 2 key factors for effective IS implementation in small businesses. This article proposes a framework for IS implementation in small businesses. The framework is based on high-low combinations of top management support and external IS expertise to characterize 4 IS implementation environments. The framework was tested with a questionnaire survey of 114 small businesses in Singapore. Interviews were also conducted with 67 of these small businesses. IS implementation success was measured by user satisfaction, organizational impact, and overall IS effectiveness. The results show that the most effective IS implementation environment is one in which both top management support and external IS experts work as a team. However, notwithstanding the lack of top management support, IS implementation can still be effective if the quality of external IS expertise is high.

Change Management in Interorganizational Systems for the Public

It is recognized that change management is necessary for information technology implementation success. While there are a growing number of interorganizational systems (IOS) designed for the public, there is little study of and lack of clear guidelines on managing change related to their implementation. This research explores the phenomenon through the case study of a country-wide farecard system implemented in Singapores public transportation system that involved several organizations and the public. Through the case analysis, we identified critical success factors (CSFs) for change management in IOS for the public and interrelated them using a causal loop diagram (CLD). These factors included refinements of existing CSFs identified from the literature as well as new CSFs from our case study. Our case analysis showed that communication through senior management and cooperation of affected organizations in the system implementation was able to overcome resistance to change in these organizations. We also found that while comprehensive publicity could initiate change in the public, a critical mass had to be built up for managing public change by coopting public opinion leaders as well. By interrelating CSFs identified in the case via a CLD, this study provides a preliminary theoretical framework for studying change management in IOS for the public and aims to guide practitioners in implementing such systems.

Towards integrating rule-based expert systems and neural networks

Abstract This research explores a new approach to integrate neural networks and expert systems. The integrated system combines the strength of rule-based semantic structure and the learning capability of connectionist architecture. In addition, the approach allows users to define logical operators that behave much similar to that of human expert decision making process. Neural Logic Network (NEULONET) is used as the underlying building unit. A rule-based shell like environment is developed. The shell is used to built a prototype expert decision support system for future bonds trading. The system also provides a way to behave like different experts responding to different users and giving advice according to different environmental situations.

An empirical study of the task dimension of group support system

This study investigates the effects of a GSS on the decision outcome of five-person, face-to-face groups performing two distinct but related task types. A controlled laboratory experiment with a 3/spl times/2 factorial design was employed. The independent variables were support level and task type. A total of 68 groups were randomly assigned to different support levels (no support, structure support, of GSS support). Half of these groups performed an intellectual task while the other half performed a preference task. The empirical findings show that task type affects consensus change and influence equality. Moreover, support level and task type jointly affect decision scheme satisfaction. This paper attempts to reconcile the body of empirical findings from related GSS studies. It discusses the implications of task type for GSS design and use. >

An empirical study of task type and communication medium in GDSS

The authors investigate the effects of task type and communication medium on group decision outcome in GDSS (group decision support system)-supported meetings. The two task types used are an intellective task and a preference task. The communication medium is varied by using a face-to-face setting and a dispersed setting. The group decision outcome variables of interest are consensus change, decision satisfaction, and decision scheme satisfaction. With the intellective task, no significant differences were found between face-to-face groups and dispersed groups for the group decision outcome variables. With the preference task, face-to-face groups achieved higher consensus change and experienced higher decision satisfaction and higher decision scheme satisfaction than dispersed groups. From the consensus and satisfaction perspectives, groups with a communication medium which is too lean for their task seem to experience more difficulties than groups with a communication medium which is too rich for their task.<<ETX>>

Customers’ preference of online store visit strategies: an investigation of demographic variables

There is significant interest among marketers and academics to understand how to segment online consumers to better fulfill their needs. Previous literature on brick-and-mortar shopping has advocated demographic variables as simple yet valuable indicators to understand consumers and segment them accordingly. However, research in the online shopping context has produced mixed findings about the effects of demographics, which limit their utility to online merchants. As an attempt to address the ambiguity, the study proposes a more comprehensive approach to investigate the effects of demographic variables in the online shopping context. This is done by considering the demographic variables in combinations and using clickstream data to more accurately derive online shoppers’ surfing behaviour for segmentation purposes. Following this approach, our study investigates the effects of the demographic variables of gender, age, income, and education, based on the theories of media naturalness and consumer trait and involvement. The results reveal various effects of age, income, and education on online consumers’ needs being reflected in their store visit strategies. Implications are suggested for e-commerce research and practice.

A partial test of the task-medium fit proposition in a group support system environment

A laboratory experiment was carried out to partially test the task-medium fit proposition in a GSS environment. Communication medium was varied using a face-to-face GSS and a dispersed GSS setting. Task type was varied using an intellective and a preference task. Group decision outcome variables of interest were (actual and perceived) decision quality, decision time, decision satisfaction, and decision process satisfaction. With the intellective task, there were no significant differences between face-to-face GSS and dispersed GSS groups for all group decision outcome variables. With the preference task, face-to-face GSS groups performed significantly better than dispersed GSS groups for all group decision outcome variables. These findings suggest that group decision outcomes in a GSS environment tend to be adversely affected when the communication medium is too lean for the task but not when the communication medium is too rich for the task. Consequences of providing groups with too rich and too lean a communication medium for their task are discussed. Implications of these findings, and other related results, for practice and for future revisions of media richness theory are explored.