Varun Grover

Shaping agility through digital options: reconceptualizing the role of information technology in contemporary firms

Agility is vital to the innovation and competitive performance of firms in contemporary business environments. Firms are increasingly relying on information technologies, including process, knowledge, and communication technologies, to enhance their agility. The purpose of this paper is to broaden understanding about the strategic role of IT by examining the nomological network of influences through which IT impacts firm performance. By drawing upon recent thinking in the strategy, entrepreneurship, and IT management literatures, this paper uses a multitheoretic lens to argue that information technology investments and capabilities influence firm performance through three significant organizational capabilities (agility, digital options, and entrepreneurial alertness) and strategic processes (capability-building, entrepreneurial action, and coevolutionary adaptation). We also propose that these dynamic capabilities and strategic processes impact the ability of firms to launch many and varied competitive actions and that, in turn, these competitive actions are a significant antecedent of firm performance. Through our theorizing, we draw attention to a significant and reframed role of IT as a digital options generator in contemporary firms.

Re-examining perceived ease of use and usefulness

Recently, Adams, et al. (1992) presented the results of two studies designed to replicate previous work by Fred Davis (1989) regarding perceived usefulness, ease of use, and their influence on the usage of information technology. Specifically, these authors sought to: (1) evaluate the psychometric properties of the ease of use and usefulness scales, and (2) empirically examine the relationship between the constructs (or traits) of usefulness, ease of use, and reported levels of usage.

The effect of service quality and partnership on the outsourcing of information systems functions

Numerous corporations today are outsourcing specific information systems (IS) functions. The diversity of these outsourcing arrangements goes well beyond that associated with the more traditional facilities management. This paper examines outsourcing trends and reports the results of an empirical study on IS outsourcing. Overall IS outsourcing and its five component functions--namely, applications development, systems operations, telecommunications, end-user support, and systems planning and management--are examined for their relationships with outsourcing success. The effect of service quality of the provider and the ability of companies to build a partnership on these relationships are hypothesized and studied. Data from senior executives in 188 companies are gathered. Outsourcing success is found to be highly related to the degree of outsourcing of two functions, systems operations and telecommunications. The results indicate that transaction cost theory provides a good framework for IS outsourcing and that asset specificity of outsourcing transactions needs to be considered in any decision to outsource. Also, both service quality of the vendor and elements of partnership such as trust, cooperation, and communication are important for outsourcing success. Implications of the study for research and practice are discussed.

General Perspectives on Knowledge Management: Fostering a Research Agenda

We trace in pragmatic terms some of what we know about knowledge, information technology, knowledge management practice and research, and provide two complementary frameworks that highlight potential opportunities for building a research agenda in this area. The papers in this special issue are then discussed.We trace in pragmatic terms some of what we know about knowledge, information technology, knowledge management practice and research, and provide two complementary frameworks that highlight potential opportunities for building a research agenda in this area. The papers in this special issue are then discussed.

The implementation of business process reengineering

As more organizations undertake business process reengineering (BPR), issues in implementing BPR projects become a major concern. This field research seeks empirically to explore the problems of implementing reengineering projects and how the severity of these problems relates to BPR project success. Based on past theories and research related to the implementation of organizational change as well as field experience of reengineering experts, a comprehensive list of sixty-four BPR implementation problems was identified. The severity of each problem was then rated by those who have participated in reengineering in 105 organizations. Analysis of the results clearly demonstrates the central importance of change management in BPR implementation success. Resolutions of problems in other areas such as technological competence and project planning were also determined to be necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for reengineering success. Further, problems that are more directly related to the conduct of a project such as process delineation, project management, and tactical planning were perceived as less difficult, yet highly related to project success. This situation was also true for human resource problems such as training personnel for the redesigned process. These findings suggest that reengineering project implementation is complex, involving many factors. To succeed, it is essential that change be managed and that balanced attention be paid to all identified factors, including those that are more contextual (e.g., management support and technological competence) as well as factors that pertain directly to the conduct of the project (e.g., project management and process delineation). As one of the first pieces of empirical evidence based on a field study, this research emphasizes the importance of addressing BPR implementation within the broader context of organizational change in a complex sociotechnical environment.

Transaction cost framework in operations and supply chain management research: theory and measurement

Abstract Over the past decade, transaction cost theory (TCT) has received considerable attention from researchers in various disciplines of business. Unfortunately, the rich theoretical base of TCT has seen limited application in the operations and supply chain management research. This article seeks to change that by providing a cogent synthesis of TCT, its assumptions, constructs, and propositions. It also summarizes existing empirical work in management and other disciplines that draws from the TCT perspective and examines relationships in manufacturing organizations. A measurement model of transaction costs is subsequently presented using data from 203 manufacturing firms in the OEM electronics industry. Guidelines and recommendations for researchers are then presented regarding both the uses of the theory and its measurement. It is hoped that this study will stimulate work in the important areas of inter-firm relationships that draw from this rich but underutilized theoretical lens, and thereby add another perspective to the knowledge base in related areas of the operations and supply chain management fields.

The initiation, adoption, and implementation of telecommunications technologies in U.S. organizations

Despite the increasing pervasiveness of telecommunications technologies, very few studies have holistically attempted to examine their use in organizational contexts. This study approaches the use of these technologies from an innovation perspective. Literature on innovation is synthesized into a testable model and the results of a senior IS executive survey of 154 organizations is reported. Factors that enable initiation, adoption, and implementation of a set of 15 distinct telecommunications technologies are examined. Two factors in particular, environmental uncertainty and decentralization of decision making, show significant relationships with the usage of these technologies. The results provide useful insights into the usage of individual technologies and the contextual factors that enable diffusion of this important set of technologies in U.S. organizations.

Computer playfulness and anxiety: positive and negative mediators of the system experience effect on perceived ease of use

Perceived ease of use plays a critical role in predicting and determining a users decision to use an information system. Users perceive a system easier to use as they gain more knowledge and confidence through direct experience in using the system. Our research traced the link between system experience and ease of use via both positive (computer playfulness) and negative (computer anxiety) responses using a sample of 116 users of electronic spreadsheets. As expected, system experience was significantly related to perceived ease of use. Both computer playfulness and computer anxiety were found to be significant mediators of the effect that system experience has on ease of use. However, the effect was fully mediated only by computer anxiety, revealing that the negative side of user reaction is a more potent mechanism than the positive side, Moreover, the findings indicate that those interventions found to influence the mediating variable of computer anxiety should be used to effectively enhance ease of use perceptions.

Theoretical perspectives on the outsourcing of information systems

Critics have argued that the field of information systems (IS) lacks a coherent theoretical framework. This paper attempts to further the theoretical development of a critical and pervasive contemporary phenomenon, outsourcing of IS functions, by synthesizing four theoretical models (resource-based theory, resource-dependence theory, transaction cost theory and agency theory) that are useful for understanding determinants of a firms outsourcing strategy. From these theoretical models, a contingency model of outsourcing is developed which can be used to direct empirical research.

Technostress: technological antecedents and implications

With the proliferation and ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs), it is becoming imperative for individuals to constantly engage with these technologies in order to get work accomplished. Academic literature, popular press, and anecdotal evidence suggest that ICTs are responsible for increased stress levels in individuals (known as technostress). However, despite the influence of stress on health costs and productivity, it is not very clear which characteristics of ICTs create stress. We draw from IS and stress research to build and test a model of technostress. The person-environment fit model is used as a theoretical lens. The research model proposes that certain technology characteristics--like usability (usefulness, complexity, and reliability), intrusiveness (presenteeism, anonymity), and dynamism (pace of change)--are related to stressors (work overload, role ambiguity, invasion of privacy, work-home conflict, and job insecurity). Field data from 661 working professionals was obtained and analyzed. The results clearly suggest the prevalence of technostress and the hypotheses from the model are generally supported. Work overload and role ambiguity are found to be the two most dominant stressors, whereas intrusive technology characteristics are found to be the dominant predictors of stressors. The results open up new avenues for research by highlighting the incidence of technostress in organizations and possible interventions to alleviate it.