The impact of industry contextual factors on IT focus and the use of IT for competitive advantage

How maritime logistic SMEs lead and gain competitive advantage by applying information technology?

The aim of this study was to examine the importance of information technology for logistics Small Medium Entreprise (SMEs) in Pakistan. It is the time of technological rapidness; especially after COVID-19, the word business has majorly transformed into a digital business. If an organization did not shift toward technology, it would be hard for it to even sustain in this rapid era. This study adopts the questionnaire after extensive literature review. A quantitative study was conducted among logistics SMEs in Pakistan to empirically verify what competitive advantages they are leading and gaining from information technology and how much information technology is important for their sustainability. The literature lacks information about the ways in which information technology has been integrated into logistics SMEs operating model, and more specifically, there is no information about IT valence, IT resource commitment, IT managerial commitment, and IT competency. The research is primarily quantitative in nature, where the data were collected via a close-ended questionnaire from 340 logistics SMEs in Pakistan. The independent variable of this research was information technology (i.e., IT valence, IT resource commitment, IT managerial commitment, and IT competency), whereas the dependent variable was competitive advantage. The study found that IT had a significant impact on the competitive advantage of logistics SMEs operating in Pakistan. All the variables related to IT had a significant impact on competitive advantage, which included IT valence, IT resource commitment, IT managerial commitment, and IT competency. This study helps managers and owners of logistics SMEs in decision-making, who can understand how much IT can enhance their performance and reduce their risks. This study has been specifically conducted with logistics SMEs operating in Pakistan, which means that there is much scope to be worked upon, i.e., by selecting companies operating in other countries and comparing them with current findings. This study observes the impact of information technology (i.e., IT valence, IT resource commitment, IT managerial commitment, and IT competency) on competitive advantage, and other independent variables can be studied to find the impact on competitive advantage.

Investigating the effects of leaders’ stewardship behavior on radical innovation: a mediating role of knowledge management dynamic capability and moderating role of environmental uncertainty

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the effects of leaders’ stewardship behavior (LSB) on followers’ radical innovation (RI). Followers’ knowledge management dynamic capability (KMDC) has been a mediating role, while environmental uncertainty (EU) acted as a moderating factor in the context of the textile and apparel industry in the developing country.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional quantitative study has been designed to evaluate the conceptual framework. Data were collected from the relevant stakeholders with a structured survey questionnaire – a total of 304 responses considered from industry–university collaborative leaders and followers. A partial least square-based structural equation modeling technique was applied to test the hypothesis using Smart-PLS 3.8 package program.

Findings

The result reveals that the KMDC has a significant mediating impact between LSB and RI. Similarly, the EU significantly moderates the relationship between KMDC and RI, especially as the intensity of environmental instability increases–decreases, LSB and adherents of KMDC is likely to enhance RI performances.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the current literature extending the scope of steward leadership behavior and the theory of knowledge-based view incorporating EU factors.

Practical implications

While industries have invested a lot of money and resources to improve the followers’ radical creative thinking, skills and abilities, this study provides specific implications for the textile industry managers, leaders, policymakers and practitioners to comprehend and implement the strategy of RI.

Originality/value

Overall, the current research contributes to the LSB literature by highlighting significant complementarities between KMDC and RI under the EU.

An empirical assessment of the relationship between Information Intensity and IT Leaders’ Role and Structural Power

Using the theoretical lens of the contingency approach to leadership, this study explores the relationship between the information intensity of the organization’s value chains and IT leaders’ role and structural power. Based on data obtained from a sample of 174 Australian IT senior executives, a multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) is used to empirically test for differences between the IT leader’s role and structural power in high and low information intensive organizations. Findings suggest that value chain information intensity significantly influences the importance of individual CIO roles as well as the combined operational (supply) and strategic (demand) groups of roles. However, the IT leaders’ structural power was found to be unrelated to the level of information intensity of the organization. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Mapping the Psychosocialcultural Aspects of Healthcare Professionals' Information Security Practices: Systematic Mapping Study

Background

Data breaches in health care are on the rise, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to mitigation efforts.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive framework for modeling and analyzing health care professionals’ information security practices related to their individual characteristics, such as their psychological, social, and cultural traits.

Methods

The study area was a hospital setting under an ongoing project called the Healthcare Security Practice Analysis, Modeling, and Incentivization (HSPAMI) project. A literature review was conducted for relevant theories and information security practices. The theories and security practices were used to develop an ontology and a comprehensive framework consisting of psychological, social, cultural, and demographic variables.

Results

In the review, a number of psychological, social, and cultural theories were identified, including the health belief model, protection motivation theory, theory of planned behavior, and social control theory, in addition to some social demographic variables, to form a comprehensive set of health care professionals’ characteristics. Furthermore, an ontology was developed from these theories to systematically organize the concepts. The framework, called the psychosociocultural (PSC) framework, was then developed from the various combined psychological and sociocultural attributes of the ontology. The Human Aspect of Information Security Questionnaire was adopted as a comprehensive tool for gathering staff security practices as mediating variables in the framework.

Conclusions

Data breaches occur often in health care today. This frequency has been attributed to the lack of experience of health care professionals in information security, the lack of development of conscious care security practices, and the lack of motivation to incentivize health care professionals. The frequent data breaches in health care threaten the mutual trust between health care professionals and patients, which implicitly impacts the quality of the health care service. The modeling and analysis of health care professionals’ security practices can be conducted with the PSC framework by combining methods of statistical survey, observations, and interviews in relation to PSC variables, such as perceptions (perceived benefits, perceived threats, and perceived barriers) or psychological traits, social factors, cultural factors, and social demographics.

Understanding the global diffusion of B2B E-commerce (B2B EC): An integrated model

Using institutional theory, this study offers an integrated framework that describes the diffusion of business-to-business e-commerce within a country. The model specifies the role of national institutional frameworks, international institutional pressures, and market complexity in business-to-business e-commerce diffusion. We test this model using archival, cross-sectional data from 146 countries for the period from 2013 to 2016. The study also compares the roles of these factors in business-to-business e-commerce diffusion across developed and developing countries. The results suggest that national institutional frameworks, international institutional pressures, and market complexity contribute positively to business-to-business e-commerce diffusion and that the influence of these variables varies according to the degree of a country’s development. Theoretical, research, and managerial implications of the study are also discussed.

The dynamics of IT-business strategic alignment: evidence from healthcare information systems implementation

Purpose

This study intends to reveal how to manage the dynamic process of information technology business (IT-business) strategic alignment; managing this alignment is an unknown yet critical issue that must be addressed by any firm trying to unleash the business value of their IT investments.

Design/methodology/approach

This study presents our case study of a healthcare organization after healthcare information systems (HIS) implementation and investigates the strategic alignment between the implemented HIS and the organizational strategy from a dynamic perspective.

Findings

Two different patterns of alignment (i.e. an IT-strategy–driven pattern and a business-strategy–driven pattern) are identified, and a process model of the IT-business strategic alignment is developed. Moreover, this study focuses on the social dimension of strategic alignment and examines the role of this dimension, which is critical and fundamental with respect to other dimensions, in achieving strategic alignment.

Research limitations/implications

This paper makes important theoretical contributions to the understanding of strategic alignment by taking a dynamic view of alignment, identifying different patterns of alignment, emphasizing the role of social alignment and developing a comprehensive process model.

Practical implications

From a managerial perspective, managers should periodically scrutinize the IT-business alignment patterns of their organizations and develop dynamic capabilities for strategic alignment.

Originality/value

While most of the literature on the dynamics of strategic alignment have focused on confirming the dynamics of strategic alignment and identifying the factors that create dynamics in alignment, this study examines IT-business alignment as a continuous process over time, thus providing a novel perspective. Moreover, while the role of social alignment and its impact on downstream performance remain unclear in the current literature, this study incorporates the social dimension of alignment to investigate the role of this dimension in achieving IT-business strategic alignment.

Information technology competency and organizational agility: roles of absorptive capacity and information intensity

Purpose

Scholars have examined the possible relationship between information technology (IT) and organizational agility. Although the general-level effect of IT is undisputed, empirical research on how different types of IT contribute to various aspects of organizational agility remains scarce. Therefore, this study aims to propose an integrated framework of internal capability and external environment to address this research gap.

Design/methodology/approach

This study investigates the potential mediating effects of absorptive capacity and the moderating effects of information intensity in the IT‒agility relationship. With a dataset comprising 165 organizations in China, this work provides empirical evidence that the effects of absorptive capacity and information intensity are multifaceted and nuanced, thereby revealing the latent mechanisms of IT competency and organizational agility.

Findings

Absorptive capacity partially mediates the effects of IT knowledge and IT operations on market capitalizing agility and fully mediates their effects on operational adjustment agility. However, no direct or indirect effects of IT objects are found on both types of organizational agility. Information intensity also positively moderates the effects of IT operations and IT objects on absorptive capacity. However, no significant moderation is found with regard to IT operations.

Originality/value

This study provides novel insights by demonstrating clearly the different mediating roles of absorptive capacity in the relationship among various types of IT competency and diverse aspects of organizational agility. This work also underscores the moderating role of information intensity in shaping absorptive capacity through IT competency.

Roles of dynamic capabilities and knowledge management strategies on organizational performance

The theoretical and practical impact of dynamic capabilities on organizational performance remains elusive. This study investigates the mediating role of a firm’s dynamic capabilities, measured by IT capability and environmental scanning. In addition, by proposing that knowledge management (KM) strategies play a crucial moderating role in the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation (EO), dynamic capabilities, and organizational performance, this study highlights the need for effective KM strategies to maximize organizational performance. A questionnaire was administered to Korean managers who understand and can answer overall characteristics of their organizations. Our study found that dynamic capabilities partially mediated the relationship between EO and organizational performance. In addition, our findings show that the relationship between EO and organizational performance is stronger when firms emphasize personalization KM strategies, while the firms focusing on codification KM strategies demonstrate a stronger relationship between IT capability and organizational performance.

Information technology capability, knowledge management capability, and organizational agility: The role of environmental factors

This study precisely investigates the relationship of information technology (IT) and knowledge management (KM) capabilities with organizational agility along with the moderating influence of external environmental actors on this linkage. A matched-pair field survey was conducted and pretested structured questionnaires were administered to accumulate primary responses from 300 business and IT personnel working in various Indian financial groups. The research findings encompass first, IT and KM capabilities are enablers of organizational agility, while KM capability is more effective on agility. Second, a more diverse and less hostile environment is required for IT and KM capabilities to have more positive influence on agility, yet the moderating effects of environmental factors are found to be more on IT–agility linkage than on KM–agility relationship. These inferences provide several implications for the business and IT executives to concentrate on leveraging both IT and KM capabilities for generating augmented organizational agility.

Does R&D create additional business value through IT?

Purpose

R&D indicates absorptive capacity, which may affect IT payoff. The purpose of this paper is to examine how R&D investment affects the relation between IT investment and firm performance and under what circumstances R&D intensity is more beneficial to IT returns. Such study has been lacking in R&D research and IT payoff literature.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual model for linking IT investment, R&D investment, environmental dynamism and firm performance was developed and tested by data collected from Chinese listed firms from 2007 to 2013, using fixed effects regression model.

Findings

The results show positive moderating effects of firm R&D investment and government R&D subsidies on the relation between IT investment and firm performance. Furthermore, the impact of firm R&D investment on IT payoff is stronger for firms in more dynamic environments. The findings suggest that R&D investment creates additional business value through interactions with IT, and complementarities between R&D and IT, as manifested in their interaction effect on firm performance vary across industry sectors.

Research limitations/implications

This paper indicates the importance of complementarities between R&D and IT, which should prove helpful to researchers and practitioners engaged in Chinese business.

Originality/value

This paper presents one of the first attempts at examining the moderating effect of R&D investment on the relation between IT investment and firm performance. Especially this study helps to understand under what circumstances R&D investment is more or less likely to be beneficial to IT returns.

How the effects of IT and knowledge capability on organizational agility are contingent on environmental uncertainty and information intensity

The significance of agility is widely accepted because agile organizations are more successful in changing and competitive environments. Although the relationship of information technology (IT) capability and knowledge capability with organizational agility has been documented, limited information is available on the extent to which these two capabilities affect organizational agility. Attempts to understand the effect of IT and knowledge capability on organizational agility in the presence of contextual factors have also been few. Based on data collected from 123 organizations in China, we examine the moderating effects of two contextual factors (environmental uncertainty and information intensity) on the relationship of IT and knowledge capability with organizational agility. We contribute to current knowledge by showing that environmental uncertainty positively moderates the effects of IT capability and knowledge capability on organizational agility and that information intensity positively moderates the effects of knowledge capability on organizational agility. IT capability and knowledge capability are more effective in the presence of high environmental uncertainty and information intensity. While we find that both IT and knowledge capabilities have positive effects on organizational agility, knowledge capability is more effective than IT capability.

Striving towards strategic alignment in SMEs: an empirical analysis

Purpose

Despite general awareness and acceptance of the benefit of strategic planning/alignment of IS strategy with business strategy, few efforts have been made to define and study the relationship. A review of literature has revealed that past studies have largely neglected the specific consideration of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) especially IT/software developing SMEs in India. The purpose of this research is to investigate the prevalence of strategic planning activity in Indian IT SMEs and its decisive influence on business performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey‐based approach was adopted to understand the prevalence of strategic planning activity in Indian IT SMEs and its crucial influence on business performance at all three levels of management. A short survey instrument was designed by reviewing the literature on strategic planning activity in software developing SMEs. A sample of 23 software developing SMEs in India was used.

Findings

A response rate of 88.8 per cent was achieved and included respondents at senior management, middle management, and lower level management across the software developing SMEs in India. The results indicate that the alignment of IS/IT strategy with corporate strategy has significant effect on performance of IT SMEs besides the general awareness of importance of strategic alignment in SMEs at all three levels of management.

Research limitations/implications

The limited number of software developing SMEs will affect the generalizability of the study to the entire SME population. To negate the limitations of this study, multiple multi‐level case studies will be conducted in SMEs in the next phase of research. This research would contribute by indicating some of the implications, for both decision makers and academia, of an extended IT capabilities viewpoint on strategic planning activity. Future study should focus on performing a global survey on strategic alignment practices in SMEs.

Originality/value

The novelty of the paper lies in conducting a comparative study on the strategic alignment practices at all three levels of management in Indian SMEs and measuring its impact on the performance of the firm.

Information Technology Implementation Prioritization in Supply Chain

The increasing rate of technology growth has resulted in decrease in cost of information. These technologies are helpful in coordinating the activities resulting in effective management of the supply chain. Literature shows that the use of Information Technology (IT) plays an important role in managing the processes of SCM. This has resulted in increasing use of IT in SCM. The computerization of SCM processes, if implemented in one go may result in failure. IT implementation prioritization in supply chain is a major issue before the planner as there is no clear cut formula to solve this problem. This paper considers components of SCM like material management, purchase management, production management, logistics and distribution and customer interface for IT implementation prioritization. Two multi-criteria decision making methods (MCDM) viz. analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and a technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) are used in this paper. The novelty of the paper lies in integration of AHP and TOPSIS methods for IT implementation prioritization. The weights of the criterions and the alternatives are calculated using AHP method which is used as an input for TOPSIS analysis for prioritization of IT implementation.