Pratim Datta

Telemedicine diffusion in a developing Country:The case of India (march 2004)

Telemedicine (health-care delivery where physicians examine distant patients using telecommunications technologies) has been heralded as one of several possible solutions to some of the medical dilemmas that face many developing countries. In this study, we examine the current state of telemedicine in a developing country, India. Telemedicine has brought a plethora of benefits to the populace of India, especially those living in rural and remote areas (constituting about 70% of Indias population). We discuss three Indian telemedicine implementation cases, consolidate lessons learned from the cases, and culminate with potential researchable critical success factors that account for the growth and modest successes of telemedicine in India.

A preliminary study of ecommerce adoption in developing countries

What factors underlie the adoption dynamics of ecommerce technologies among users in developing countries? Even though the internet promised to be the great equalizer, the nuanced variety of conditions and contingencies that shape user adoption of ecommerce technologies has received little scrutiny. Building on previous research on technology adoption, the paper proposes a global information technology (IT) adoption model. The model includes antecedents of performance expectancy, social influence, and technology opportunism and investigates the crucial influence of facilitating conditions. The proposed model is tested using data from 172 technology users from 37 countries, collected over a 1‐year period. The findings suggest that in developing countries, facilitating conditions play a critical moderating role in understanding actual ecommerce adoption, especially when in tandem with technological opportunism. Altogether, the paper offers a preliminary scrutiny of the mechanics of ecommerce adoption in developing countries.

The economics and psychology of consumer trust in intermediaries in electronic markets: the EM-Trust Framework

The rise of electronic markets (EM) and e-commerce came with the promise of disintermediation. Yet, from aggregators to authenticators, the online landscape today is scattered with intermediaries such as EBay and Verisign, aiming to streamline e-commerce transactions and building consumer trust in EM. The central theme of this paper is to understand the contextual factors that lead to consumers’ need to trust intermediaries. In developing our arguments, the paper synthesizes perspectives from information economics, transaction cost economics, and literature on institution-based trust to develop the EM-Trust Framework. Drawing from information economics, the paper contends that EM embody certain inefficiencies, which in turn contribute towards heightening consumer uncertainty, especially under conditions of high information specificity. Heightened consumer uncertainty subsequently reduces consumer trust in EM. It is only in the face of uncertainty and a loss of trust in EM that consumers transfer their need to trust in intermediaries. However, the transference of trust is complete only if agency costs from intermediation lie within consumer thresholds. A mini-case of online mortgage marketplaces is used to illustrate the EM-Trust Framework, thus creating threads for more insightful investigations in the future.

Interplay of cost and adoption of tele-medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of tele-cardiology in Ethiopia

Abstract...the barriers to diffusion of Tele-Medicine are not entirely technical. Cost has to simultaneously satisfy a number of stakeholders... (Anderson, Aydin and Jay, et al., 1994).Rising costs of the provision of healthcare have been a major issue for debate in both developing and developed countries. This is especially true of very capitalistic societies such as the United States where privatization of the healthcare sector has left many with little or no affordable healthcare. The situation is even worse in developing economies. Developing countries deal with various problems in the provision of health services and healthcare Tan et al. (E-medicine diffusion: E-medicine in Developed and Developing countries. Chapter 8 in E-health paradigm shift: Perspectives, domains and challenges. In Tan J. (Ed.), Imprint of Wiley, New York, Jossey-Bass, 2005). Some of these problems include acute shortages of healthcare professionals and medical facilities Mbarika et al. (Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) 2005;6(5):130–170). Such shortages have resulted in growing numbers of middle to upper-class citizens of developing countries traveling abroad to seek necessary health services. Using a multi-method case study research, this paper examines the role of Tele-Medicine in the healthcare system and analyzes the costs and benefits of introducing Tele-Cardiology services in Ethiopia (a Sub-Saharan African country). This is a cost comparison study for the treatment of cardiac patients traveling abroad versus patients treated via Tele-Cardiology. Our findings show that Tele-Cardiology is clinically more feasible and more cost effective compared to patients traveling abroad for treatment.

An applied organizational rewards distribution system

Purpose – How can managers optimally distribute rewards among individuals in a job group? While the management literature on compensation has established the need for equitable reimbursements for individuals holding similar positions in a function or group, an objective grounding of rewards allocation has certainly escaped scrutiny. This paper aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approach – Using an optimization model based on a financial rubric, the portfolio approach allows organizations to envision human capital assets as a set (i.e. a team, group, function), rather than independent contractors. The portfolio can be organized and managed for meeting various organizational objectives (e.g. optimizing returns and instrumental benefits, assessing resource allocations).Findings – This research introduces an innovative portfolio management scheme for employee rewards distribution. Akin to investing in capital assets, organizations invest considerable resources in their human capital. In doing so, o...

The (gradually) changing face of state IT jobs

Working for the state once meant long hours, low pay, and lots of red tape. That picture has certainly changed in recent years, as state governments plan to compete with the private sector for top IT talent.

Perceived Audit Quality from ERP Implementations

Todays organizational information technology IT landscape is dominated by ERP systems. These systems are typically known to bring changes within the organization. Past studies have focused on the technical perspective-the idea of integrating organizational information computing needs with change management and system learning. Although ERP systems can carve a new audit landscape requiring auditors to accommodate audit processes, controls, and test when auditing in a post-ERP implementation environment, few studies have discussed the implications. In this paper, the authors examine how perceived post-ERP implementation changes influence perceived audit quality. Using empirical evidence gathered from auditors experienced in a post-ERP implementation audit, the research found that auditors perception of changes in an audit due to ERP implementation have significant impacts on the perceived audit quality. Results indicate that perceived ERP-related changes in an audit process increased perceived audit quality whereas decreased substantive testing in auditing ERP implementation had a positive effect on perceived audit quality. However, findings suggest that control risk associated with auditing ERP implementation reduced perceived audit quality.

Shifting Perspectives: A Process Model for Sense Making Under Uncertainty

This paper proposes that, in the context of generating actionable knowledge, uncertainties pertaining to big data streams should be recognized, categorized and accounted for at the appropriate level of knowledge management process models. Arguing that sensemaking from big data sources is a complex series of processes extending beyond just the application of sophisticated analytics, this paper proposes a big data reengineering BDR framework to guide requisite categorization, contextualization and remediation processes. The authors discuss the characteristics that uncertainty presents to organizations using big data streams as potential knowledge sources-surfacing relationships between the underlying knowledge flows and uncertainty and presenting typologies that categorize the effects of several common sources of uncertainty. These typologies also serve to provide guidance to transformation agents regarding appropriate actions ultimately aimed at the generation of actionable knowledge.

A global investigation of granger causality between information infrastructure investment and service-sector growth

Over the past two decades, both developed and developing countries have been investing a significant portion of their resources in the creation of an information infrastructure. However, speculation abounds regarding the efficacy of information infrastructure investments, especially when the opportunity cost for investing in information technology (IT) is measurably high among developing nations. This longitudinal study introduces and explores infrastructure development and service-sector growth as key metrics for IT investment success. It also traces the notional evidence of IT infrastructure development as mediating the causal relationship between information infrastructure investments and service-sector growth. Using data from low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries, the mediating and lagged impact of information infrastructure on service-sector growth reveals that information infrastructure development does play a significant role as a mediator. It points out that information infrastructure investments can be a misleading causal antecedent if countries fail to develop their infrastructure. It also provides evidence of a recursive relationship between infrastructure development and service-sector growth. An exploratory time-series analysis across different country categories suggests that information infrastructures must be properly developed to reconcile the paradox. In addition, exploratory tests reveal a distinct divergence between infrastructure investments and infrastructure development among different country tiers.

Knowledge-acquisitions and post-acquisition innovation performance: a comparative hazards model

Do acquisitions lead to instrumental innovations related to the acquired knowledge? Past arguments on vertical integration espouse how a quest for knowledge drives acquisitions culminating in innovation performance. Using Google and Yahoo as cases-in-point, we examine how facets of acquired innovation knowledge impact post-innovation performance. In particular, the apparently opposing fortunes of Google and Yahoo allow us to investigate the pace of their innovation performance as a hazards model. Results from our investigation highlight Google’s ambidexterity over Yahoo with a swifter, systematic pace of innovation performance – from hastening time to patenting new ideas to the time to releasing new applications from acquisitions.