Robert J. Kauffman

Making the `MOST' out of RFID technology: a research agenda for the study of the adoption, usage and impact of RFID

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology dramatically increases the ability of the organization to acquire a vast array of data about the location and properties of any entity that can be physically tagged and wirelessly scanned within certain technical limitations. RFID can be applied to a variety of tasks, structures, work systems and contexts along the value chain, including business-to-business logistics, internal operations, business-to-consumer marketing, and after-sales service applications. As industry adoption of RFID increases there is an emerging interest by academic researchers to engage in scholarly investigation to understand how RFID relates to mobility, organizational and systems technologies (MOST). In this paper, we explore RFID and propose a research agenda to address a series of broad research questions related to how RFID technology: (1) is developed, adopted, and implemented by organizations; (2) is used, supported, and evolved within organizations and alliances; and (3) impacts individuals, business processes, organizations, and markets. As with many technological innovations, as the technical problems associated with implementing and using RFID are addressed and resolved, the managerial and organizational issues will emerge as critical areas for IS research.

Discovering potential and realizing value from information technology investments

Abstract: Information technology (IT) value has been measured at various levels of analysis, yet few authors would contend that the search for value has reached a point where practitioners and theoreticians are satisfied with its outcomes. We present a new perspective that emphasizes the importance of understanding where potential value lies and how best to relate it contextually to the measurement of the firm’s realized value across multiple levels of analysis. We develop the idea that complementary assets (especially business process design and human capital) influence the firm’s realization of value, using concepts such as locus of value and value conversion contingencies. Expanding beyond earlier process models of IT value, which begin with IT expenditure, our analysis of IT value emphasizes the consideration of potential value for an IT investment both in ex ante project selection, and ex post investment evaluation. We illustrate and validate the application of our framework using IT investments in a variety of business domains.

Service-oriented technology and management: Perspectives on research and practice for the coming decade

Service-oriented technologies and management have gained attention in the past few years, promising a way to create the basis for agility so that companies can deliver new, more flexible business processes that harness the value of the services approach from a customers perspective. Service-oriented approaches are used for developing software applications and software-as-a-service that can be sourced as virtual hardware resources, including on-demand and utility computing. The driving forces come from the software engineering community and the e-business community. Service-oriented architecture promotes the loose coupling of software components so that interoperability across programming languages and platforms, and dynamic choreography of business processes can be achieved. Nevertheless, one of todays most pervasive and perplexing challenges for senior managers deals with how and when to make a commitment to the new practices. The purpose of this article is to shed light on multiple issues associated with service-oriented technologies and management by examining several interrelated questions: why is it appropriate now to study the related business problems from the point of view of services research? What new conceptual frameworks and theoretical perspectives are appropriate for studying service-oriented technologies and management? What value will a service science and business process modeling offer to the firms that adopt them? And, how can these approaches be implemented so as to address the major challenges that organizations face with technology, information and strategy? We contribute new knowledge in this area by tying the economics and information technology strategy perspectives to the semantic and design science perspectives for a broader audience. Usually the more technical perspective is offered on a standalone basis, and confined to the systems space - even when the discussion is about business processes. This article also offers insights on these issues from the multiple perspectives of industry and academic thought leaders.

Opening the Black Box of Network Externalities in Network Adoption

Recent theoretical work suggests that network externalities are a determinant of network adoption. However, few empirical studies have reported the impact of network externalities on the adoption of networks. As a result, little is known about the extent to which network externalities may influence network adoption and diffusion. Using electronic banking as a context and an econometric technique calledhazard modeling, this research examines empirically the impact of network externalities and other influences that combine to determine network membership. The results support thenetwork externalities hypothesis. We find that banks in markets that can generate a larger effective network size and a higher level of externalities tend to adopt early, while the size of a banks own branch network (a proxy for the opportunity cost of adoption)decreases the probability of early adoption.

The economics of mobile payments: Understanding stakeholder issues for an emerging financial technology application

Economic theory provides a unique vantage point from which to examine issues with respect to emerging technologies, where standards and adoption, business process changes and implementation outcomes, information security, investments and business value, and industry impact require care and consideration on the part of senior management strategists and financial services leaders. In this article, we examine a new technology application which is coming into its own around the world, in association with the revolution in wireless connectivity: mobile payments. Although there are likely to be nuances and surprises with this technology application, we caution the reader to recognize that many of the same economic forces will be at work as were with other financial services and related technology applications in the past. We apply a robust evaluative framework that permits identification of the relevant stakeholders and applicable theory in the analysis of consumer, firm, business process, market, industrial and social issues. Our findings are intended to guide senior managers in dealing with the economic aspects of mobile payments, and to help identify some important directions for the research.

Business Models for Internet-Based B2B Electronic Markets

Information technology (IT) has long been applied to support exchanges of goods, services, and information between organizations. With the advent of Internet-based business-to-business (B2B) electronic markets, however, real opportunities for online transactions have opened up. This paper develops an extended framework for studying business models of B2B electronic markets in terms of their roles and functions. Synthesizing prior research on electronic markets, interorganizational information systems, and adoption of network technologies, we reveal that B2B electronic markets offer basic market functions, as some researchers have indicated, and that the current functionality base for electronic markets is beginning to emphasize other capabilities that aim to satisfy management information and risk-management needs and enable technological adaptation and systems integration. The analytic framework is applied to a systematic study and classification of representative electronic markets to make sense of the landscape of the emerging on-line B2B marketplaces. Several potential impacts and characteristic development trends are identified, along with a variety of opportunities that B2B e-markets can exploit to create competitive advantage. The extension of prior evaluative frameworks builds a strong foundation that managers can rely upon to enhance their understanding of future developments in this arena.Information technology (IT) has long been applied to support exchanges of goods, services, and information between organizations. With the advent of Internet-based business-to-business (B2B) electronic markets, however, real opportunities for online transactions have opened up. This paper develops an extended framework for studying business models of B2B electronic markets in terms of their roles and functions. Synthesizing prior research on electronic markets, interorganizational information systems, and adoption of network technologies, we reveal that B2B electronic markets offer basic market functions, as some researchers have indicated, and that the current functionality base for electronic markets is beginning to emphasize other capabilities that aim to satisfy management information and risk-management needs and enable technological adaptation and systems integration. The analytic framework is applied to a systematic study and classification of representative electronic markets to make sense of the landscape of the emerging on-line B2B marketplaces. Several potential impacts and characteristic development trends are identified, along with a variety of opportunities that B2B e-markets can exploit to create competitive advantage. The extension of prior evaluative frameworks builds a strong foundation that managers can rely upon to enhance their understanding of future developments in this arena.

50th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Research on Information Systems: A Fiftieth-Year Survey of the Literature in Management Science

The development of the information systems (IS) literature inManagement Science during the past 50 years reflects the inception, growth, and maturation of several different research streams. The five research streams we identify incorporate different definitions of the managerial problems that relate to IS, the alternate theoretical perspectives and different methodological paradigms to study them, and the levels of the organization at which their primary results impact managerial practice. Thedecision support and design science research stream studies the application of computers in decision support, control, and managerial decision making. Thevalue of information research stream reflects relationships established based on economic analysis of information as a commodity in the management of the firm. Thehuman-computer systems design research stream emphasizes the cognitive basis for effective systems design. TheIS organization and strategy research stream focuses the level of analysis on the locus of value of the IS investment instead of on the perceptions of a system or its user. Theeconomics of information systems and technology research stream emphasizes the application of theoretical perspectives and methods from analytical and empirical economics to managerial problems involving IS and information technologies (IT). Based on a discussion of these streams, we evaluate the IS literatures core contributions to theoretical and managerial knowledge, and make some predictions about the road that lies ahead for IS researchers.

Limits to Value in Electronic Commerce-Related IT Investments

This paper extends the limits-to-value model of Davern and Kauffman to explore market and process-level factors that impact value flows to firms for their information technology (IT) investments. We characterize IT value in terms of potential value and realized value, and show how each is subject to different effects - limits to value - that diminish the benefits of the investment. Our typology identifies barriers specific to the valuation process (industry and organizational barriers), and to the conversion process (resource, knowledge and usage barriers). Following the development of our analytical framework from existing economic and organizational theories of IT valuation and technology adoption and diffusion, we analyze a series of case studies of Internet-based travel reservation systems in electronic commerce (EC). These cases provide evidence in support of the usefulness of the framework, and illustrate the extent of the difficulties faced by organizations in making their investments in EC systems pay off.

An Interdisciplinary Perspective on IT Services Management and Service Science

The increasing importance of information technology (IT) services in the global economy prompts researchers in the field of information systems (IS) to give special attention to the foundations of managerial and technical knowledge in this emerging arena of knowledge. Already we have seen the computer science discipline embrace the challenges of finding new directions in design science toward making services-oriented computing approaches more effective, setting the stage for the development of a new science—service science, management, and engineering (SSME). This paper addresses the issues from the point of view of service science as a fundamental area for IS research. We propose a robust framework for evaluating the research on service science, and the likely outcomes and new directions that we expect to see in the coming decade. We emphasize the multiple roles of producers and consumers of services-oriented technology innovations, as well as value-adding seller intermediaries and systems integrators, and standards organizations, user groups, and regulators as monitors. The analysis is cast in multidisciplinary terms, including computer science and IS, economics and finance, marketing, and operations and supply chain management. Evaluating the accomplishments and opportunities for research related to the SSME perspective through a robust framework enables in-depth assessment in the present, as well as an ongoing evaluation of new knowledge in this area, and the advancement of the related management practice capabilities to improve IT services in organizations.

An evaluative framework for research on the performance effects of information technology investment

Firms today invest enormous resources in information technology with the hope of gaining significant returnswhich will impact their performance. A growing body of research into the firm performance effects of IT investmenthas emerged and is sometimes referred to as IT business value research. The problem researchers face is identifyingrobust methods to gain insight into how IT business value is created. This paper reports on the state of IT businessvalue research by reviewing thirteen empirical studies. It also proposes a new evaluative framework to identifystrengths and weaknesses in this research. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations to improve thequality of future IT business value research.