Weiyong Zhang

Six Sigma and information systems project management: A revised theoretical model

Previous information systems (IS) research has significantly improved the success rate of IS projects, but the result is still far from satisfying. The effort to advance IS project management theories continues. One notable effort is Ravichandran and Rai (2000). Based on quality management principles, they developed a model (the R&R model) describing a quality-oriented organizational system that leads to software development quality performance. This study analyzed Six Sigma to propose major revisions to the R&R model. Six Sigma is a recent approach to quality management with proven effectiveness. The analysis of Six Sigma suggested that several constructs in the R&R model need to be respecified, leading to the definition of a new quality-oriented organizational system. More importantly, the revised model posits that the new organizational system leads to IS project success that can be measured by organizational performance improvement. This study contributes to the literature and provides practical guidance to IS project managers.

Effectuation and causation in new internet venture growth

– Research on new internet venture growth is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap by developing and testing a theoretical model that links venturing principles (effectuation or causation) to new internet venture growth through resource bundling (pioneering or stabilizing). , – The proposed theoretical model is developed upon the entrepreneurship literature and resource-based view. Empirical data are collected from entrepreneurs and top executives in China via a survey. The Baron and Kenny (1986) mediation model assessment procedure is used to analyze the data. , – Both effectuation and causation are positively associated with new internet venture growth. Effectuation leads to pioneering resource bundling, which in turn contributes to new internet venture growth. Causation also contributes to new internet venture growth, but through stabilizing resource bundling. , – This research helps link the theory of effectuation to resource-based theory by revealing resource bundling as the mediator between effectuation, causation, and new venture growth. Moreover, the authors provide empirical evidence of the importance of resource bundling with entrepreneurial strategic decision logics to the growth of new internet ventures in transitional economies. , – Entrepreneurs and managers of new internet ventures should leverage both venturing principles to support growth. Internet ventures generally are creative and innovative in nature, hence favor effectuation. But it will be unwise to ignore causation, which also leads to growth. , – This is an original empirical research guided by theories. It is a novel insight to identify the mediating effect of resource bundling. This study likely will inspire more scholarly research on the subject. It also lays a solid foundation for further inquiry such as complementarities between effectuation and causation.

The impact of technology type and life cycle on IT productivity variance

IT productivity paradox and IT productivity variance are two distinctive but highly related issues. We defined IT productivity variance and focused our effort on it in this paper.Through literature review we summarize prevailing explanations to IT productivity variance, we then further identify and contrast three underlying theoretical frameworks that guide empirical studies. The effort reveals the necessity of the contingency approach, which augments existing research.We posit that three contextual factors, level of performance measurement, technology type, and technology life cycle, have significant impact on the relationship between IT investment and firm performance. We propose a contingency model with several research propositions.The potential contribution to both the literature and practice of this research is discussed. The relationship between IT investment and performance improvement has been a classic research subject. In earlier research it was characterized as the famous IT productivity paradox. Decades of research effort later, many IS/IT researchers no longer consider this relationship paradoxical, but it remains a challenge to fully explain IT productivity variance, that is, a large portion of unexplainable performance variance observed in empirical studies. In this paper, we take a theory development approach to this important issue. Our effort focuses on examining the theoretical foundation of IT productivity variance. Through literature review, we identify and contrast three prevailing theoretical perspectives to suggest the plausibility of a contingency approach. Contextual factors can significantly affect the relationship between IT investment and performance improvement. We identified three such factors that were not thoroughly examined: level of performance measurement, technology type, and technology life cycle. We subsequently propose a contingency model in light of these factors, and develop a set of research propositions. Our effort is a first-step toward bridging a major gap in the literature. The proposed model, while awaiting empirical validation, can provide useful guidance to practicing managers.

Entrepreneurial environment, market-oriented strategy, and entrepreneurial performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the correlations among entrepreneurial environment, market-oriented strategies, and entrepreneurial performance. Design/methodology/approach – Entrepreneurial environment is measured by institutional environment and industrial environment. A survey of 176 large Chinese automobile firms is conducted. The structural equation model is applied to perform analysis. Findings – The uncertainty of the institutional environment is positively related with market-oriented strategies and market-oriented strategies are positively related with firms’ performance. The stronger the uncertainty of the industrial environment is, the larger impact that market-oriented strategies have on firms’ performance will be. There is no distinct positive relationship between the uncertainty of industrial environment and firms’ market-oriented strategies. The hypothesis, that the stronger the uncertainty of institutional environments is, the larger the impact that market-oriented strate...

Impacts of supply chain planning and integration on mass customization

Purpose Effective mass customization (MC) depends on accurately identifying customer needs and procuring appropriate components from supply base to manufacture the required product configurations in a timely manner. In essence, effective MC for a focal firm is contingent on effective supply chain management. However, extant literature is not very clear on how supply chain (SC) planning and integration activities affect MC. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap by examining the impacts of SC-planning and SC-integration on MC. Design/methodology/approach Organizational information processing theory is used to link SC-integration with MC ability, and a link is hypothesized between SC-planning and SC-integration. The structural equation model is then analyzed using data from 262 manufacturing plants. Findings It is found that SC-integration fully mediates the relationship between SC-planning and MC-ability. Research limitations/implications The SC-integration measure is from a focal manufacturer’s standpoint, rather than the standpoint of the entire SC. Practical implications The results indicate that using a SC perspective in planning activities helps a focal firm integrate with key stakeholders along the SC, which subsequently helps the firm mass customize. Practitioners should recognize the added importance of SC-planning and SC-integration if they want to mass customize. Originality/value This study provides a theoretical foundation for the relationship between SC-integration and MC. It also provides a more comprehensive conceptualization of SC-integration, which includes supplier integration, customer integration, as well as internal functional integration which was neglected in many previous studies.

Developing an employee turnover risk evaluation model using case-based reasoning

All enterprises are concerned with employee turnover risk due to the significant impact on their effectiveness and competitiveness. Evaluation of the risk is a frequent topic in the literature. However, the majority of past work has not incorporated the advancement of modern information technology, particularly in the era of Internet of Things (IoT). In this paper, we propose to use an artificial intelligence method, case-based reasoning (CBR), to develop a multi-level employee turnover risk evaluation model. The proposed model adopts multiple CBR techniques including case representation, organization and management, and retrieval and matching to evaluate employee turnover risk. Specifically, we employ an object-oriented method in case knowledge expressing, utilize relational database in case organization and management, and follow a tree-hash algorithm to retrieve the best cases. Both theoretical and practical implications of the proposed model are discussed.