Radha Appan

Developing complex, business‐to‐business products: issues and implications

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify issues that are critical to developing complex, business-to-business products and discuss implications for vendor firms. Design/methodology/approach - This paper employs the critical review approach to current complex product literature and draws from relevant literature streams in engineering, management, and marketing to propose a conceptual framework. Findings - The critical review of the complex products research reveals the following as critical issues for research and practice in the development of complex products: definition, internal and external complexity, product and process complexity, standardized to customized complex products continuum, component and process modularity, and operant resources. Research limitations/implications - This paper identifies six specific operant resources that are critical to the development of complex products and proposes a conceptual framework. Clearly, more needs to be done in terms of theoretical and empirical research with reference to the development of complex, business-to-business products. For example, researchers could empirically test the proposed framework; identify other relevant operant resources; and critique the proposed framework and develop a new, more comprehensive framework. Practical implications - Firms that develop complex products could focus on developing the six operant resources that can help them become competent in developing complex products; and developing organizational structures and policies and providing an organizational environment that is conducive to developing robust internal and external social capital. Originality/value - The proposed conceptual framework provides a theoretical foundation for practitioners and researchers to build on.

ICTs in the context of disaster management, stakeholders, and implications

Purpose This paper aims to focus on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in preparation for and management of human and/or nature induced disasters. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from the phenomenal growth of ICTs, initiatives aimed at disaster management, stakeholder theory, prior research and the successful development and implementation of 9-1-1 (emergency telephone service of the USA), this paper explores ICTs in the context of human and/or nature induced disasters. Findings This paper discusses a new ICT for mitigating disaster management, scans, using stakeholder theory, relevant initiatives and prior research to identify the stakeholders relevant for successful preparation for and management of disasters, and draws from the 9-1-1 example to discuss how ICTs can be successfully developed and adopted. Research limitations/implications There are opportunities for researchers to develop ICTs that can make countries, developing and developed, more efficient and effective in their preparation for and management of nature and human induced disasters. In addition, researchers can investigate the role of stakeholders in facilitating the adoption of new ICTs developed for disaster management. Researchers could also help public policy in designing the most efficient and effective programs for the adoption of new ICTs. Practical/implications As an example of new ICTs that can potentially mitigate the effect of disasters, this paper discusses the E711 text-message mobile phone service (named “I am OK”) and provides a description of how this protocol operates and can be implemented. There are tremendous opportunities to develop new ICTs in the context of disaster management. Social/implications This paper argues that ICTs such as E711 can have a major impact on all countries in general and poor and developing nations in particular. Specifically, in the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) markets, developing ICTs for BOP market in the context of managing human and nature induced disasters and ensuring the diffusion of such ICT innovations is both critical and challenging. Originality/value This paper discusses the role and importance of ICTs in disaster management, identifies relevant stakeholders, discusses how ICTs can be diffused and implemented and calls on and hopes to provide an impetus to research on ICTs that can aid in the preparation for and the management of disasters.

Strategy, Decision Making, and Cognition: An Integrative Perspective

Reflecting the dis-equilibrium provoking, ongoing process nature of competition, the role of management in firms has evolved from determining quantity and implementing production function to recognizing, understanding, creating, selecting, implementing, and modifying strategies. The quest for competitive advantages compels firms to continuously engage in strategy and related activities. Given that decision making and cognition are two, somewhat implicit and highly intertwined, concepts that are central to strategy, this research responds to the call for integrating developments in cognition to make strategic decision making more impactful. Therefore, given that cognition 1 is seen as a missing link for strategic management and 2 can impact strategic decision making, this research integrates the perspectives from strategy, decision making, and cognition to develop a framework that can shed light on how firms can succeed in their quest for competitive advantages. The paper concludes with a discussion of the contributions and the corresponding implications for research and practice.

Deconstructing Research on Information Technology (IT) Capabilities: Implications for Marketing Strategy

In the marketing strategy literature, researchers have long since recognized the role of information/knowledge as a potential source of competitive advantage (e.g., Glazer 1991; Li and Calantone, 1998; Li and Cavusgil 2000; Madhavan and Grover 1998). For example, for Glazer (1991), the economy will continue to be information intensive based on the inherently non-scarce and seemingly unlimited, renewable, and regenerative aspects of information/knowledge. In addition, researchers from disciplines such as economics (e.g., Cohendet 2001; Fransman 1994) and corporate Strategy (e.g., Baden-Fueller and Pitt 1996; Grant 1996; Nelson and Winter 1982) have started paying greater attention to the firm as a knowledge processor, and as a body of knowledge respectively. According to these perspectives, the firm is (1) essentially a locus of setting up construction, selection, usage, and development of knowledge and (2) sensitive to sharing and distribution of knowledge/information. Accordingly, we contend that technology that facilitates the efficient and effective construction, selection, usage, and development of knowledge and sharing of information/knowledge can also provide firms with competitive advantages.

Investigating illusions of agreement in group requirements determination

Abstract The success of information systems development efforts hinges largely on eliciting accurate requirements from users and other stakeholders. Requirements determination is difficult due to the complexity of the systems to be built, analysts’ and users’ cognitive and motivational challenges, and the highly politicized nature of many development efforts. The present research addresses a problem that arises from users’ motivations during the requirements determination process. Most past studies have focused on explicit conflicts that arise between systems analysts, users, and other organizational stakeholders. The present research is concerned instead with the opposite problem—illusions of agreement between participants in the systems development environment. Our study investigates a type of illusion of agreement known as the Abilene Paradox in requirements determination. The Abilene Paradox refers to situations in which each member of a group believes (incorrectly) that the other group members want to pursue a particular course of action, which leads everyone to avoid conflict by agreeing to the action publicly while disagreeing privately. We first provide theory underlying the paradox and review past literature. We then build theory to motivate our investigation and generate hypotheses. We then report results of a laboratory experiment utilizing group requirements determination efforts. Results indicated behavior consistent with the presence of the paradox and an illusion of agreement. These results have important implications for research and practice in requirements determination specifically and systems development in general. Our results contribute to both the requirements determination literature and the literature on illusions of agreement and social conformity.

Abstract: Premature Adoption of Technological and/or Administrative Innovations in Marketing: Exploring the Issues and Implications Through a Competitive Advantage Lens

As seekers of reactive and/or proactive innovations in search of competitive advantage, firms often, prematurely, adopt technological and/or administrative innovations. The adoption of such innovations can be premature in two ways: the innovation itself is in its infancy or the firm is not ready for adoption. While the adoption of technological as well as administrative innovations is important, in this research, the focus is on the adoption of administrative innovations. We systematically explore and synthesize research on adoption of administrative innovations to develop a framework to explicate premature adoption of administrative innovations. Next, we review specific administrative innovations such as market orientation strategy, and customer lifetime value framework to explore premature adoption of administrative innovations in marketing. Finally, we discuss the implications of this research for theory and practice. Given the paucity of research on this issue in the marketing discipline, we hope that our work sparks productive inquiry into premature adoption of administrative innovations in marketing.

Exploring Health Information Exchange HIE Through Collaboration Framework: Normative Guidelines for IT Leadership of Healthcare Organizations

ABSTRACT Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) hold the promise to integrate patient data residing across disparate information systems in various hospitals to improve care coordination, patient engagement, and provisioning of real-time information to physicians. This research posits that collaboration is the key to HIE’s success. Drawing from the extant literature on collaboration, we discuss collaboration-related challenges that healthcare IT leaders are facing and provide normative guidelines that they can implement during the HIE initiation phase as well as the maintenance phase.

Impact of Information Technology (IT) Security Information Sharing among Competing IT Firms on Firm’s Financial Performance: An Empirical Investigation

Traditionally, IT firms closely guard the management and control of critical information assets. A group of IT firms, however, adopted a different approach and formed an organization with the goal of sharing critical IT security information with industry peers (firms in the same industry that do not directly compete) and competitors to more effectively manage IT security. The inherent vulnerability in sharing critical information with other (potentially competing) firms presents an interesting, coopetition paradox for firms. Drawing from the theoretical foundations of the relational view of the firm that resolves the coopetition paradox, we conducted an empirical test to determine whether security information sharing impacts firms financial performance. Our findings suggest that IT firms engaged in interfirm security information sharing outperform their industry peers in terms of operational costs and overall profitability.

Erratum to A multi-level analysis of factors affecting software developers' intention to reuse software assets: An empirical investigation [Inform. Manage. 44 (2007) 613-625]

Erratum to ‘‘A multi-level analysis of factors affecting software developers’ intention to reuse software assets: An empirical investigation’’ [Inform. Manage. 44 (2007) 613–625] Vidhya Mellarkod , Radha Appan , Donald R. Jones *, Karma Sherif c a Area of Information Systems and Quantitative Sciences, Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA b Department of Computer and Information Science, Nance College of Business, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44130, USA c Information System, Jesse H. Jones School of Business, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX 77004, USA www.elsevier.com/locate/im Available online at www.sciencedirect.com