Sebastián Bruque

Determinants of information technology competitive value. Evidence from a western European industry

Abstract Information technology (IT) management is currently one of the most exciting issues in business administration. Business managers and researchers have made a big effort trying to find the reasons that explain the relationship between IT and organizational structure, evolution, or performance. This study focuses on the relationship between IT implementation and competitive advantage, analyzing the circumstances under which IT influences the competitive advantage of pharmaceutical distribution companies in Spain. The results show that intangible factors of an internal nature explain the effect of the technology, but also there are other factors relating to the organization and to the specific business environment that strongly affect the competitive impact of IT.

Ownership Structure, Technological Endowment and Competitive Advantage: Do Democracy and Business Fit?

A The current study provides a model that aims to explain the origin of the competitive advantage of organizations in terms of the ownership structure. We have also studied the interactions between IT use and ownership structure. To reach these objectives, we have classified the organizations in two groups using the cooperative character criterion. The results show that cooperative firms achieve a superior competitive advantage regardless of the amount of IT that the firms use. The study is focused on the Spanish Pharmaceutical Distribution Industry.The current study provides a model that aims to explain the origin of the competitive advantage of organizations in terms of the ownership structure. We have also studied the interactions between IT use and ownership structure. To reach these objectives, we have classified the organizations in two groups using the cooperative character criterion. The results show that cooperative firms achieve a superior competitive advantage regardless of the amount of IT that the firms use. The study is focused on the Spanish Pharmaceutical Distribution Industry.

Global Information Technology Management and Organizational Analysis: Research Issues

Abstract There are numerous studies in the management literature that analyze specific aspects of the implementation of information technology (IT) in organizations. Meanwhile, the global IT management area has emerged as a dynamic field of investigation of IT impact in a global environment. However, after reviewing the management /international business literature and the global IT literature, we detect the need to integrate the theoretical frameworks of both streams in order to advance in this field. As a result, we connect the areas of advance in IT general management with the main lines of research in global IT management. The synthesis of both fields allows us to suggest new areas of research that we discuss in the final section.

Genetic Fuzzy Rule-Based meta-scheduler for Grid computing

The growing interest in grids technologies for the solving of large-scale computational problems leads related framework improvement. One of the challenging problems in Grid computing is the efficient resources utilization and allocation of tasks, i.e. scheduling problem. Fuzzy Rule-Based Systems (FRBSs) have recently proved to be a competitive alternative for the development of scheduling systems, outperforming extensively used scheduling strategies such as EASY Backfilling or Greedy. However, FRBSs-based schedulers performance strongly depends on their data bases quality and a major effort is still required for the knowledge acquisition process improvement. This paper presents a fuzzy rule-based meta-scheduler incorporating a new genetic approach for the learning process. Concretely, the suggested learning strategy is inspired by classical rule evolution strategies, Pittsburgh and Michigan approaches. Experimental results show that further accuracy in the learning process of fuzzy meta-schedulers can be achieved without significantly increasing the associated computational effort.

Learning of Fuzzy Rule-Based Meta-schedulers for Grid Computing with Differential Evolution

Grid computing has arisen as the next-generation infrastructure for high demand computational applications founded on the collaboration and coordination of a large set of distributed resources. The need to satisfy both users and network administrators QoS demands in such highly changing environments requires the consideration of adaptive scheduling strategies dealing with inherent dynamism and uncertainty. In this paper, a meta-scheduler based on Fuzzy Rule-Based Systems is proposed for scheduling in grid computing. Moreover, a new learning strategy inspired by stochastic optimization algorithm Differential Evolution (DE), is incorporated for the evolution of expert system knowledge or rules bases. Simulation results show that knowledge acquisition process is improved in terms of convergence behaviour and final result in comparison to other evolutionary strategy, genetic Pittsburgh approach. Also, the fuzzy meta-scheduler performance is compared to other extended scheduling strategy, EASY-Backfilling in diverse criteria such as flowtime, tardiness and machine usage.

Towards an Adoption Model of Grid Information Technology in the Organisational Arena

Grid technologies are becoming of increasing interest in science and technology around the world. But little work has analysed these technologies in the organisational arena. The current work centres on this area of knowledge, and is justified by the expectation that the emergence of these technologies has generated in the business world. We analyse the determinant factors of the adoption of these technologies by organisations, and propose an adoption model that integrates contributions from two of the most relevant models used in studies of IT adoption: (1) Premkumars contingent model; and (2) Daviss technology acceptance model (TAM)

Drivers and consequences of an innovative technology assimilation in the supply chain: cloud computing and supply chain integration

Cloud Computing are innovative technologies that are being applied in the main business functions in the supply chain. This study aims to reveal the determinant factors (drivers and a relevant outcome) of the level of use or assimilation of Cloud Computing in the supply chain. In order to test three hypotheses we conducted an empirical study in 484 companies from sectors in an intermediate position in the supply chain. The data gathering method consisted of a telephone survey using a computerised system (CATI). We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the hypotheses. The empirical study reveals that Advanced Manufacturing Technologies pursuing the internal efficiency of the supply chain (Intra-organisational IT) and IT for capabilities in e-business/e-commerce seeking external connection of the supply chain with other companies (Inter-organisational IT) are drivers of Cloud Computing assimilation. Furthermore, supply chain integration is one of the major consequences of Cloud Computing assimilation in the supply chain.