Competitive Information Technology Research Articles

An Integrated Framework for Addressing the Challenges and Strategies of Technology Adoption: A Systematic Review

While the rapid growth of information technology (IT) adoption has not lessened, insufficient attention has been directed towards the major themes and sub-themes of IT adoption challenges. Consequently, this study consists of a systematic literature review of the challenges of technology adoption based on a total of 235 peer-reviewed articles from the business and management literature between 2012-2022. Our longitudinal study provides an integrated framework for matching IT challenges to organizational strategies for transforming IT practices and processes. The results of the review broaden scholarly understanding of the importance of strategic IT agility, the need to keep pace with competitive information systems and IT environments. The findings enhance understanding of the pre-change and post-change processes of IT adoption, expanding knowledge on adoption success and organizational strategies for achieving IT strategic agility. Three key contributions include closing gaps not explored in comparative studies, adopting a unified approach with an integrated research model, and strategies to enhance an organization's absorptive IT capacity and agility. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2024-08-03-025 Full Text: PDF

Unlocking the Competitive Advantage: An Internal and External Analyses of PTIDM as a Small Enterprise in Indonesia

This study analyzes the internal and external factors affecting a small enterprise in Indonesia that distributes information technology (IT) products and services. Utilizing qualitative research methods, the authors collected primary data through interviews with the owners and employees of the company and secondary data through the library and online sources. The internal analysis found that the company's resources can be categorized as intangible and tangible, including skills and knowledge of IT, high-quality products, free consultation services, a loyal customer base, financial resources, and a dedicated physical office. The external analysis applied Porter's Five Forces framework and revealed high threats of new entrants, substitutes, and buyers' bargaining power, as well as a high rivalry among competitors. Recommendations to improve the company's competitiveness and profitability include focusing on intangible resources, diversifying the supplier base, pursuing growth opportunities, and seeking external funding. This study provides valuable insights for small enterprises operating in the highly competitive IT industry in Indonesia.

Agile project portfolio management as a strategic enabler in the Brazilian marketplace: five case studies and one substantive theory

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to present an empirical framework for changes, communication and team restructuring developed through a substantive theory that defines the relationships between Agile adoption and organizational strategies in the Brazilian marketplace, providing assertive propositions.Design/methodology/approachThe research analysed five case studies of private companies in the Brazilian market, adopting the grounded theory (GT) method to examine the relationships between the categories. There was consistency in the reality of 22 participatory interviews with experts in Agile in the five case studies. The excellent integration between the chosen methodological approach and the organizations' characteristics reinforces a strategy focused on mixed methods.FindingsAs a result, the authors deploy an empirical framework, displaying new strategies that generate structural changes, obtaining Agile information technology (IT) project portfolio management (PPM) practices and strategies with superior performance. The necessary responses through organizational structural changes are observed, making it possible to notice changes in routines and contingencies.Research limitations/implicationsSome limitations should be pointed out for this study. The case studies were carried out in private companies in Brazil, and cultural aspects must be considered if one wants to generalize. Furthermore, to underline the effects of time, a longitudinal study would have to be employed to improve the interpretation of the results. Another limitation applies to the framework proposed in our study and its reality-simplifying nature. Models and theories with these visible generic characteristics compromise understanding specific situations.Practical implicationsThe authors strongly recommend that teams focus on communication among stakeholders to increase the ability to adopt Agile and create valuable knowledge inside the organizations, architecting process innovation.Originality/valueThe forged strategic Agile substantive theory contributes to the competitive Brazilian IT company departments. The need for velocity in organizing teams, accomplishing changes and efficient communication challenges connecting value creation with project results.

Information Technology Adoption Dynamics for SMEs in the Manufacturing Sector of Namibia

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for employment, technological advancements, and competitive advantages in developed and developing countries. SMEs face intense competition from large corporations; therefore, to be competitive and sustainable, there is a need to adopt information technology (IT). However, SMEs have fewer financial resources, lower technical expertise, and lack of management skills. They are likely to be less prepared and may even be unable to deal with information technology adoption dynamics. Therefore, though there is a significant contribution by IT to business, many studies show unsuccessful IT implementations and slow adoption rates by SMEs. This paper uses a qualitative research approach to find out to what extent SMEs in the manufacturing understand IT, whether they have adopted IT and identify IT adoption dynamics in Namibia. Findings reveal that internal factors like top management, resources, end-users and external factors like competitive pressures, IT consultants, and government influence the SMEs in IT adoption.

Big data analytics adoption: A case study in a large South African telecommunications organisation

Background: Big data analytics (BDA) offers a frontier of opportunities across all industries enabling improvements in marketing, customer service and product development. The adoption process for BDA is often challenging for organisations, given the complexities associated with it. Objective: The objective of this study was hence to understand factors that influence the BDA adoption process in organisations. The technology–organisation–environment framework was combined with factors from a Big Data Adoption model and used as a foundation for the study. Method: A case study research strategy was performed on a large telecommunication organisation. Themes were identified which provided rich explanations into the factors influencing the BDA adoption process in organisations. Results: Five technological factors were confirmed to influence the BDA adoption process. These were: (1) relative advantage, (2) complexity, (3) compatibility, (4) trialability and (5) data quality. Four organisational factors were confirmed to influence the BDA adoption process. These were: (1) top management support, (2) human resource expertise, (3) business and information technology (IT) alignment and (4) organisation size. Five environmental factors were confirmed to influence the BDA adoption process. These were: (1) competitive pressure, (2) data privacy, (3) vendor support, (4) IT fashion and (5) regulatory requirements. Two factors were confirmed as influencing an organisations’ ability to move from intention to adopt BDA to actual deployment. These were: (1) complexity tolerance and (2) paradigm shifts. Conclusion: This study provided evidence that organisations that have a high tolerance for complexity are more likely to move rapidly from intention to adopt BDA to actual deployment and effectively reduce the deployment gap.

The effects of business systems leveraging on supply chain performance: Process innovation and uncertainty as moderators

Rooted in the profit-seeking motives of social exchange theory, this study aims to investigate the factors that facilitate leverages of firm’s business systems and their sharing of information with group members, as well as the impacts of business systems leveraging (BSL) on information sharing and supply chain performance. Simultaneously, the moderating effects of uncertainty and the degree of process innovation on the relationship between BSL and supply chain performance are also estimated. The analytical results indicated that proactive technological orientation, information technology (IT) connectivity, supply chain member pressure, and member relationship quality encourage firms to combine their business systems with those of other business partners. Interestingly, in a situation where there is high demand and an uncertain supply, the impact of BSL on supply chain performance is low, while the moderating effect of process innovation on the relationship between BSL and supply chain performance is significant. Finally, it is suggested that firms implementing BSL work to upgrade their technology maintain tight relationships with supply chain partners and create innovation in all aspects of their business processes in order to survive in the highly competitive IT environment.

Girija V. Nachnani and A.M. Swaminathan. Information technology exports and regional development in the leading states: A shift-share analysis of India

India has adopted a balanced growth strategy driven by its large internal market, which entails making a major commitment to the endogenous development model. Previously, the country’s development plans were built around the supply-side and import substitution approach. In the early 1980s, the economy of India experienced structural changes, as the gross domestic product growth rate steadily increased, and then in the early 1990s, the country leapfrogged into a development policy centred on information technology, which led to the development of a globally competitive information technology (IT) sector. IT has helped states in India to develop through intersectoral linkages with several services and the multiplier effect. This makes it interesting to review the impact of growth of IT on development in states where IT development is prominent. As states have not been equal beneficiaries, a shift-share analysis was carried out to arrive at these imbalances for the period 2004/05-2008/09 and 2009/10-2013/14. The results of a shift in the share show that regional variations in software exports can largely be attributed to a regional component. In addition, the results of ordinary least squares estimation point out that existing infrastructure is overstressed, namely that there is excessive pressure on teledensity, a shortage of power and a large population, which is making it difficult for regions to sustain a high level of specialization.

The Twenty-Fifth Annual John Marshall International Moot Court Competition in Information Technology and Privacy Law: Brief for the Respondent (Best Brief)

Co-authored by Jennifer Simmen Lewin and Jerome C. Pandell. A best brief winner analyzing information privacy torts such as Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage, False Light and Invasion of Privacy in a modern-day social networking context.

Consumer Switching and Competition Strategy in IT-Enabled Markets

My dissertation studies consumer switching and competition in information technology (IT)-enabled markets, using the wireless telecommunications industry as a testing field. The first chapter examines the impact of a public policy, mobile number portability (MNP), on market competition. The second chapter investigates how investment in customer acquisition would affect business performance of wireless operators, and how the adoption of new technology would complement marketing strategy and enhance firm's competitive advantage. The third chapter analyzes asymmetric effects of MNP across firms and countries

Cyber War and Deterrence Stability: Post-START Nuclear Arms Control

Nuclear deterrence and cyber war are often discussed as separate worlds of research and military-strategic practice. To the contrary, a certain degree of overlap between nuclear deterrence and cyber conflicts is a plausible expectation for several reasons. First, future deterrent challenges will include regional nuclear arms races accompanied by competition in information technology and other aspects of advanced conventional command-control and precision strike systems. Second, cyber-attacks may be used against opposed nuclear command-control systems and weapons platforms as well as against infrastructure for the purpose of mass disruption during a crisis or war. Third, cyber capabilities support escalation dominance or escalation control, depending on the objectives of states and on the transparency of identification for cyber friends and foes.

The impact of industry force factors on resource competitive strategies and hotel performance

This study integrates the Porter's five forces and resource-based approach measuring U.S. hotel performance. The results show that hotels with the advantage of low customer bargaining power and low threat of new hotel entrants exhibit the strong human resource and information technology (IT) strategies. In contrast, hotels with the advantage over existing competitors do not exhibit any significant competitiveness of brand image, human resource, and IT strategies. This dues to different hotels define competitors with various criteria such as proximity and price. Competitive human resource and IT strategies indicate the increase of hotel performance, while competitive brand image strategy has no influence on hotel performance. The competitiveness of brand image strategy may overlap with implementing human resource and IT strategies.

Information technology architecture as a competitive advantage-yielding resource: a theoretical perspective

The implementation and utilisation of an organisational architecture, specifically Information Technology Architecture (ITA), can enable better management of Information Technology (IT) resources. Whereas predecessors of the ITA tend to focus more on systems development, data sharing, and systems integration efforts within the organisation, this particular organisational architecture tends to focus more on the governance of IT resources within the organisation. We propose that the ITA is an IT resource that enables firms to achieve competitive advantage. Therefore, we endeavour to theoretically analyse the ITA's ability to yield a competitive advantage through the mediation of IT resources. We establish the ITA as competitive advantage-yielding IT resource. Additionally, this study applies the theories of complementarities and resource-based view. Ten propositions are advanced to help guide future research.

The New Face of War: How War Will Be Fought in the 21st Century

From the Publisher: As American and coalition troops fight the first battles of this new century -- from Afghanistan to Yemen to the Philippines to Iraq -- they do so in ways never before seen. Until recently, information war was but one piece of a puzzle, more than a sideshow in war but far less than the sum total of the game. Today, however, we find information war revolutionizing combat, from top to bottom. Gone are the advantages of fortified positions -- nothing is impregnable any longer. Gone is the reason to create an overwhelming mass of troops -- now, troop concentrations merely present easier targets. Instead, stealth, swarming, and zapping (precision strikes on individuals or equipment) are the order of the day, based on superior information and lightning-fast decision-making. In many ways, modern warfare is information warfare. Bruce Berkowitz's explanation of how information war revolutionized combat and what it means for our soldiers could not be better timed. As Western forces wage war against terrorists and their supporters, in actions large and small, on several continents, The New Face of War explains how they fight and how they will win or lose. There are four key dynamics to the new warfare: asymmetric threats, in which even the strongest armies may suffer from at least one Achilles' heel; information-technology competition, in which advantages in computers and communications are crucial; the race of decision cycles, in which the first opponent to process and react to information effectively is almost certain to win; and network organization, in which fluid arrays of combat forces can spontaneously organize in multiple ways to fight any given opponent at any time. America's use of networked, elite ground forces, in combination with precision-guided bombing from manned and unmanned flyers, turned Afghanistan from a Soviet graveyard into a lopsided field of American victory. Yet we are not invulnerable, and the same technology that we used in Kuwait in 1991 is now available to anyone with a credit card and access to the Internet. Al Qaeda is adept in the new model of war, and has searched long and hard for weaknesses in our defenses. Will we be able to stay ahead of its thinking? In Iraq, Saddam's army is in no position to defeat its enemies -- but could it defend Baghdad? As the world anxiously considers these and other questions of modern war, Bruce Berkowitz offers many answers and a framework for understanding combat that will never again resemble the days of massive marches on fortress-like positions. The New Face of War is a crucial guidebook for reading the headlines from across our troubled planet.

Information Technology, Core Competencies and Sustained Competitive Advantage

The value of information technology (IT) in today’s organizations is constantly debated. Researchers and practitioners have examined organizations to try to discover causal links between competitive advantage and IT. This paper presents and details a model that depicts a possible connection between competitive advantage and IT. Furthermore, this paper attempts to show how one major component of the overall IT resources, the IT infrastructure, might yield sustained competitive advantage for an organization. More precisely, IT infrastructure flexibility is examined as an enabler of "core competencies" that have been closely related to sustained competitive advantage in the research literature. The core competencies enabled by IT that are the focus of this study are mass customization and time-to-market. By showing that IT infrastructure flexibility acts as an enabler of these competencies, the relationship to sustained competitive advantage is demonstrated.

Local and Global Competition in Information Technology

We examine the implications of changing competitive dynamics in global information and communications technology (ICT) markets for government demand-steering policies whose goal is local rents. Both computing and telephony are undergoing changes in global industry structure and changes in the nature of competition. The convergence of computing and telephony and the rapid technological change (and accompanying technological uncertainty) driving this convergence reinforce trends toward vertical competition. The emergence of global ICT markets lowers entry barriers, likely encouraging government-supported local entrants into global ICT markets. There are, however, strongly offsetting disadvantages. The underlying economics of ICT markets under vertical competition will work to reinforce the dominant position of U.S.-based incumbents in many segments. The prospects for exports, command of rent-related standards, and large rents from exports are not very bright. We expect to see far more demand-steering attempts than successes. J. Japan. Int. Econ., December 1999, 13(4), pp. 336–371. Landau Economics Building, Department of Economics-6072, Stanford, California 94305-6072; and International Computer Services Research, Stanford Computer Industry Project, Landau Economics Building, SIEPR 144, Stanford, California 94305-6016. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: L5, F110.

The Market and beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology in the Japanese System

The Market and beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology in the Japanese System

The Market and beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology in the Japanese System

The Market and beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology in the Japanese System

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Real World Economics Christopher Huhne Privatisation and Deregulation in Global Perspective Dennis Gayle and Jonathan Goodrich (eds.) The Market and Beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology in the Japanese System Martin Fransma Managing on the Edge: How Successful Companies use Conflict to Stay Ahead. Richard Pascale The Strategic Management of Technological Innovation R. Loveridge and M. Pitt, (Eds) The Economics of Human Resource Management D. J. B. Mitchell and M. A. Zaidi (eds.) Training Matters Helen Rainbird Mismatch and Labour Mobility Fiorella Padoa‐Schioppa (ed.) Current Issues in Labour Economics D. Sapsford and Z. Tzannatos (Eds.) Labour Economics (second edition) J. E. King Scheming for Youth? A Study of YTS in the Enterprise Culture D. Lee, D. Marsden, P. Rickman and J. Duncombe Women & Men in Britain 1990 Equal Opportunities Commission

The Market and Beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology in the Japanese System

The Market and Beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology in the Japanese System

Book Review: The Market and Beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology in the Japanese System

Book Review: The Market and Beyond: Cooperation and Competition in Information Technology in the Japanese System