Information Technology Entrepreneurship Research Articles

Successful IT Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: The Contingent Role of Mentorship

ABSTRACT This paper principally explores the determinants of successful information technology entrepreneurship in Nigeria’s IT sector. It further examines the moderating effect of mentorship (either by an IT practitioner or a non-IT practitioner) in the correlation between the independent variables of interest and dependent variable. Literature from the developed markets underscores a positive relationship between training and successful entrepreneurship. However, such relationship is seldom explored within the context of developing markets such as Nigeria. Thus, this paper explores the impact of specific factors such as IT-focused entrepreneurial training, being born by entrepreneur parents, business school training, faith in a supernatural and mentorship on IT entrepreneurial success A quantitative research design involving a web-based survey was used to collect data among 297 participants. All collected data were screened and analyzed using binary logistic regression and Exploratory Factor Analysis. The results showed that IT entrepreneurs who are born by entrepreneur parents are more likely to succeed than those without such family backgrounds. Also, the attendance of a business school is a significant predictive factor for IT entrepreneurial success in Nigeria. Surprisingly, no significant correlation exists between formal education in the IT field and IT entrepreneurial success. Further, no significant moderating effect of mentorship was present. This implies that IT entrepreneurs in Nigeria need to harness the benefits of entrepreneurial family background and business school education to sustainably grow their businesses and become successful. Also, committed federal government backing is needed to introduce innovative entrepreneurial initiatives to improve competence among IT entrepreneurs in Nigeria. General business/management training is needed besides conventional IT training as the former is a better predictor of success among IT entrepreneurs. Finally, trainings need to focus on building competencies for relationship management to aid access to resources for innovation and growth. Future studies should consider a qualitative approach to investigating the mediating impact of mentorship on IT entrepreneurship success in Nigeria.

Estrutura de governança e política pública de apoio a arranjos produtivos: um estudo no setor de tecnologia da informação da Bahia

Este artigo visa compreender como a estrutura de governança escolhida pelos empresários de Tecnologia da Informação (TI) na Bahia é capaz de influenciar determinadas características da política pública de apoio a arranjos produtivos no estado. Como forma de chegar ao objetivo proposto desenvolveu-se os seguintes passos: i) Caracterização das estruturas de governanças das empresas no arranjo de TI da Bahia; ii) Exame da bibliografia e documentos da política pública que revelem o estímulo a qualquer uma das estruturas de governança; iii) Analise da influência da estrutura de governança dos empresários de TI sobre as características do apoio concedido pela política pública. A pesquisa contou com o apoio do arcabouço teórico da Nova Economia Institucional (NEI), especificamente na Economia dos Custos de Transação (ECT), nos estudos de Oliver Williamson (1985, 1990, 1996). Por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e análise de questionários foi possível chegar aos resultados previstos. Como resultados é possível afirmar que a política pública baiana estimulou, em especial, transações desenvolvidas por meio de contratos (híbridas) e mecanismos de preço (mercado). Concluiu-se que a estrutura de governança dos empresários de TI foi capaz de estimular a política pública de apoio a arranjos produtivos na Bahia.

Association of the Meaningful Use Electronic Health Record Incentive Program With Health Information Technology Venture Capital Funding

Although the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act has accelerated electronic health record (EHR) adoption since its passage, clinician satisfaction with EHRs remains low, and the association of HITECH with health care information technology (IT) entrepreneurship has remained largely unstudied. To determine whether the passage of the HITECH Act was associated with an increase in key measures of health care IT entrepreneurship. This economic evaluation of venture capital (VC) activity in the US from 2000 to 2019 examined funding trends in health care IT, EHR-related companies, and all VC investments before and after the passage of HITECH. A difference-in-differences analysis compared investments in health care IT companies with those of companies in 3 categories: general health care (non-IT), IT (non-health care), and all US VC transactions. Data were analyzed from September 2018 to August 2019. Venture capital funding received by US companies before and after the HITECH Act. Venture capital investment in health care IT companies and the proportion of those investments going to seed-stage companies, a proxy for very early-stage entrepreneurship and innovation. The data included 70 982 investments, of which 9425 (13.3%) were seed stage, 10 706 (15.1%) were early stage, and 50 851 (71.6%) were growth stage. After passage of the HITECH Act, investment in both health care IT companies and EHR-related companies increased at a rate much faster (13.0% and 11.4%, respectively) than VC as a whole (6.9%). In addition, the proportion of investments going to seed-stage health care IT companies increased compared with both overall VC investments and non-IT health care investments. Health care IT companies saw increased probabilities of transactions being seed-stage of 5.1% (SE, 2.2%; 95% CI, 0.8% to 9.3%; P = .02) compared with the entire sample of VC transactions and 13.6% (SE, 1.9%; 95% CI, 9.9% to 17.2%; P < .001) compared with non-IT health care VC transactions. Health care IT had essentially 0 increased probability of a transaction being seed stage compared with IT companies outside health care (-0.8% probability; SE, 2.4%; 95% CI, -5.4% to 3.9%; P = .75). Although widespread clinician dissatisfaction with EHR systems remains a challenge, the HITECH Act's incentive program may have catalyzed early-stage entrepreneurship in health care IT, suggesting an important role for incentives in promoting innovation.

Motivate Students to Information Technology Entrepreneurship and Business Development

Motivate Students to Information Technology Entrepreneurship and Business Development

Awakening the Dormant Dream

This paper addresses an under-investigated thematic area of Information Technology (IT) personnel turnover literature: IT Entrepreneurial Turnover. It introduces the concept of entrepreneurial mind-shift in order to shed light on the conditions that influence turnover behavior for nascent IT entrepreneurs. The study follows a grounded theory methodological approach and utilizes two different sets of data. The first data set comes from interviews with 62 IT entrepreneurs, and the second comes from the quotes of over 200 famous authors/entrepreneurs. The analysis of data revealed the types of perceptual shifts IT professionals experience when they realize that they are ready to quit their salaried job and start a new business. The results of the study show that after certain types of 'disrupting events' or the gradual completion of a phase, nascent entrepreneurs start perceiving things through a new lens. In their eyes, the creation of a new venture seemed more feasible than ever before. The introduction of the entrepreneurial mind-shift construct has implications for both research and practice. First, it enriches the stream of literature that brings the concepts of IT personnel turnover and entrepreneurship together. Second, it is a practical tool for all stakeholders involved in the IT Entrepreneurial Turnover process.

Ending the Mending Wall: Herding, Media Coverage, and Colocation in IT Entrepreneurship

The advent of the Internet and the maturation of the Information Technology (IT) industry has significantly decreased transaction and coordination costs. However, there is still a strong preference for being geographically proximal, notably when accessing capital markets for innovation activities (like the formation of funding ties between venture capitalists (VCs) and new IT ventures). While VCs prefer to support co-located entrepreneurs, significant evidence suggests that the funding of non-local IT entrepreneurs does occur. In this work, we investigate how trends in the form of herding and media coverage, which are not specific to the entrepreneur but pertain to the technology sector the entrepreneur operates in, may influence VCs to reach across geographic boundaries. Using a series of matched sample methodologies, results suggest that the influence of media is significantly stronger for VCs considering funding non-co-located, as opposed to co-located, IT entrepreneurs. However, and strikingly, support for the effect of herding is notably weaker. Managerial and policy implications, particularly for technology entrepreneurs and policy-makers seeking to support such innovators, are discussed within.

Ending the Mending Wall: Herding, Media Coverage, and Co-Location in IT Entrepreneurship

The advent of the Internet and the maturation of the Information Technology (IT) industry has significantly decreased transaction and coordination costs. However, there is still a strong preference for being geographically proximal, notably when accessing capital markets for innovation activities (like the formation of funding ties between venture capitalists (VCs) and new IT ventures). While VCs prefer to support co-located entrepreneurs, significant evidence suggests that the funding of non-local IT entrepreneurs does occur. In this work, we investigate how trends in the form of herding and media coverage, which are not specific to the entrepreneur but pertain to the technology sector the entrepreneur operates in, may influence VCs to reach across geographic boundaries. Using a series of matched sample methodologies, results suggest that the influence of media is significantly stronger for VCs considering funding non-co-located, as opposed to co-located, IT entrepreneurs. However, and strikingly, support for the effect of herding is notably weaker. Managerial and policy implications, particularly for technology entrepreneurs and policy-makers seeking to support such innovators, are discussed within.

Beyond Net Neutrality: Policies for Leadership in the Information, Computing, and Network Industries

Net neutrality has been a contentious policy debate for more than a decade in the US and elsewhere. The basic policy goal, shared by proponents and opponents alike, is to maintain robust and open networks so that information technology entrepreneurs can thrive by continually innovating and serving consumers. Regrettably, net neutrality as practiced in the US is failing. In this paper we offer a framework that addresses the public-interest concerns and controversies motivating today’s net neutrality conflicts and that provides consumers and service providers a way forward with new possibilities. Our approach offers a process for allowing industry players to evolve, new entrepreneurs to disrupt the status quo, and monopoly power to be quickly addressed without counterproductive governmental constraints on innovation.

Business models and opportunity creation: How IT entrepreneurs create and develop business models under uncertainty

AbstractHow can entrepreneurs develop business models for markets in which the technology is constantly changing—or create business models for markets that do not exist? These are fundamental questions for information technology (IT) entrepreneurs, and for information systems (IS) scholars who seek to develop a theoretical understanding of business models. The case study presented in this paper addressed these questions, demonstrating how a small software firm developed its business model over a 15‐year period in cloud gaming markets. Based on the empirical findings, a preliminary theoretical model is presented. The aim of the model is to increase scholarly understanding of how business models are created and developed in markets in which the future directions of a technology are uncertain. It demonstrates the ways in which a business model may evolve through reassessment and development phases, which can be seen as transition elements linking old and new business models.

Men and women in IT entrepreneurship: consolidating and deconstructing gender stereotypes

Information technology (IT) plays a major role in entrepreneurship as a source of innovation and for the development of e–business activities. Recent initiatives, namely in Europe and the USA, encourage women to develop IT and web businesses. However, the gender imbalance remains, mainly due to persistent stereotypes (Clayton et al., 2012; Gupta et al., 2013). The main purpose of our research is to investigate whether stereotypes concerning gender and IT entrepreneurship are perpetuated or undermined amongst generation Y. Assuming that social differences between women and men are socially constructed, we adopted a constructionist and structurationist view to explain how gender stereotypes are broken down or reinforced. We conducted empirical research with male and female students participating in an entrepreneurial competition for entry into a business incubator. Our study suggests that subtle gendering processes, which we term 'gender stereotyping moves', can affect the stability of gender stereotypes. A typology of consolidation and deconstruction moves is provided, and two illustrations of structuring moves in practice are discussed.

Understanding it Entrepreneurial Intention: An Information Systems View

IT (Information Technology) entrepreneurs have been contributing greatly to economic growth and job creation. Despite this, IT entrepreneurship remains understudied in business research. In particular, studying IT entrepreneurial behavior has been ignored in both Information Systems (IS) and entrepreneurship disciplines. This study for the first time empirically examines IT entrepreneurial behavior and its antecedent factors from the IS discipline. The findings suggest that two key IS constructs, personal innovativeness in IT (PUT) and computer self-efficacy (CSE), respectively, have direct and indirect influences on IT entrepreneurial intention. As the first step of a research effort, this study calls for more empirical studies on IT entrepreneurial behavior from the IS discipline. The study concludes with discussion of the limitations and suggestions for future research.

Using a Capability Perspective to Sustain IT Improvement

A firm’s dependency on the information technology (IT) function is increasingly central to its ability to innovate. The IT function must balance this need for change with sustaining consistent, highly reliable operation of all existing services. A firm’s ability to rapidly change IT is impeded by its legacy portfolio of applications and infrastructure because changes need to be very carefully managed and understood in order to avoid unintended consequences leading to system failure and process breakdown. The change imperative for IT is urgent and often determines how IT is valued by the rest of the firm. Improving the IT function’s agility requires improvement in IT capabilities, which can be categorized into three broad classes: technology, process, and competency. This article identifies the critical success factors for creating sustainable change for each of these three capability classes. It draws on the practical experience of the authors and leverages appropriate standards that provide grounding for change within the IT function of the firm, along with the roles and tasks that will be involved in this change agency. The article is of primary benefit for IT executives seeking to sustain an ongoing, systematic transformation of the IT function to enable IT entrepreneurship and agility. Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. Demosthenes (384–322 BC) Statesman and orator

How high growth economies impact global information technology departments

By the very nature of information technology (IT), change and dynamism have always been significant drivers on its path to further development—and it has traditionally been the Western countries leading these. Now the picture is changing. The new high growth economies of the world (also known as BRIC countries) are increasingly pressing forward as active IT development drivers. Internal IT organizations of international companies are experiencing these global shifts firsthand and are facing changes in their traditional roles. This exploratory research is aimed at clarifying the context of the impact of high growth economies on such IT departments of Western-rooted enterprises. Forty-six interviews were conducted with IT managers, HR managers and expatriates emphasizing the importance of intercultural interaction, maturing IT economies, change in IT landscape and entrepreneurship.

Exploring IT entrepreneurs' dynamic capabilities using Q‐technique

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the dynamic capabilities required of information technology (IT) entrepreneurs for facing globalized challenges.Design/methodology/approachUsing a methodological approach that combines Q‐technique and questionnaire survey, the author collected 98 statements obtained from interviewing ten IT entrepreneurs. A total of 44 out of 98 critical statements were extracted as Q‐samples based on purposive sampling. Subsequently, 20 experts used Q‐technique in terms of the sample the 44 statements to generate a revised questionnaire to investigate 500 Taiwan IT‐based companies.FindingsAccording to the responses of the 281 valid copies of questionnaire received, market‐oriented sensitivity, the ability to absorb knowledge, social‐networking capability, and the integrative ability to communicate and negotiate are the dynamic capabilities required of IT entrepreneurs.Research limitations/implicationsAs for the restrictions, the expansive nature of the IT industry prevented the author from addressing any specific sector of the industry, and no minimum capitalisation of IT companies was set for the sample‐collecting process.Practical implicationsThe results can be used by IT entrepreneurs of SMEs in the self‐assessment of capabilities and the development of dynamic capabilities during their start‐up and growth phases. They can also be applied to nurturing successors and cultivating new entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThis study clarifies the intrinsic dynamic capabilities of IT entrepreneurs, and identifies the required components of such capabilities and their priorities. The results can be used in managerial decision‐making and personnel training, both of which help entrepreneurs in building competitive advantages.

How High Growth Economies Impact Global Information Technology Departments

By the very nature of information technology (IT), change and dynamism have always been significant drivers on its path to further development – and it have traditionally been the western countries leading these. Now the picture is changing. The new High Growth Economies (HGE) of the world (also known as BRIC countries) are increasingly pressing forward as active IT development drivers. Internal IT organisations of international companies are experiencing these global shifts first hand and are facing changes in their traditional roles. This exploratory research is aimed at clarifying the context of the impact of high growth economies on such IT departments of western-rooted enterprises. 51 interviews were conducted with IT managers, HR managers and expatriates emphasizing the importance of intercultural interaction, maturing IT economies, change in IT landscape and entrepreneurship.

Sustaining Innovation in Information Technology Entrepreneurship with a Sufficiency Economy Philosophy

The use of a sustainable innovation strategy, as employed by the information technology entrepreneurships outlined in this study, has led to firm sustainability. By applying the Sufficiency Economy Principle, the original model of the Innovation Strategy Tetrahedron (IST) is augmented with sustainability. Key premises for a sustainable innovation strategy include: a concern for societal and environmental impacts, fair competition and equality of stakeholder treatment as well as building long-term customer relationships with integrity, appropriate use of resources, diversification to reduce risk, and timely entrance into different market cycles. In this paper, we analyze three firms using our proposed model: the Sustainable Innovation Strategy Tetrahedron (SIST). The analysis showed that during turbulent times, the entrepreneurs with a sustainable innovation strategy were not best-in-class in terms of profitable performers; however, they had three sustainability approaches in common: to scale innovation up from within and scale innovation out through networking; to scope up on core competences in short waves of innovation and scope out for new, long waves of innovation; and to speed up innovation in a fast market cycle and maintain moderate speed in a slow cycle. The result of each firm's SIST is shown using mixed reality technology in a three-dimensional model. The visual representations reveal that the superior firm sustained its innovation through balancing scale, scope, and speed strategies.

BUILDING LEGITIMACY FOR IT INNOVATIONS: ORGANIZING VISIONS AND DISCURSIVE STRATEGIES OF LEGITIMACY.

The concept of an organizing vision, developed in work by Swanson and Ramiller, provides a valuable perspective to examine institutional processes that underlie diffusion of complex information technology (IT) innovations among organizations. Our understandings of the key functions performed by organizing visions “ interpretation, legitimation and mobilization ” however, are very limited, as are the specific actions engaged in by innovation entrepreneurs. The research presented in this paper begins to address this need by developing a conceptual framework through which to examine the legitimation function performed by an organizing vision and the discursive strategies IT entrepreneurs may engage in to promote the legitimization of an innovation. The framework builds upon a taxonomy of legitimacy and legitimation strategies by Suchman (1995). In addition, to adapt this taxonomy to the context of IT innovations we draw on the work by Ramiller and Swanson (2003) on critical receptions of executive response to organizing visions of IT. 20 discursive strategies for gaining and maintaining legitimacy of IT innovations are identified, categorized according to the type of legitimacy supported - pragmatic, moral or cognitive. A case study of an IT innovation in healthcare, computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems, is employed to illustrate how IT entrepreneurs utilize these strategies. 142 press releases issued by vendors of CPOE software, hardware and services from 1998 to 2005 were content-analyzed and examples of each strategy are presented. This work contributes to elaboration of the organizing vision concept and offers insight into the specific discursive strategies used by IT entrepreneurs.