Investment In Communication Technologies Research Articles

Measuring the impact of information and communication technology investment on the profitability of Indian manufacturing MSME

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) investment on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) profitability in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a framework based on the ICT investment and firm size, measuring the impact on profit before depreciation, interest, tax and amortisation of MSME by taking a random sampling of 300 Indian MSME manufacturing firm’s secondary data from the Prowess database. This framework was analysed using the design of experiment (DoE) technique.FindingsThe study showed that ICT investment has a significant positive relationship with profitability. This study examines the different ICT investment levels to predict investment strategies and fine-tune profit targets. The critical finding is that ICT investment maximises profit at one million rupees. This discovery aids MSME leaders’ sustainable business decision-making.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has an explicit limit to the Indian context, where the firm requirements of countries are different, and these findings need to be validated with many operating variables and applied to more firms with more data. Even so, as a theoretical implication, this study took a novel approach to ICT adoption (through ICT investment) in the Indian MSME sector with guiding levels of ICT investment for each type of firm (i.e. micro, small and medium). This study opens new avenues for investigating researchers and stakeholders by exploring other factors responsible for ICT adoption.Practical implicationsThis study uniquely provides practitioners with the functional level of ICT investment for MSMEs in the Indian context. These finding guides top management to make strategic ICT adoption decisions with information symmetry. At the same time, these findings suggest financial institutions astern their credit programme to provide credit for ICT investment in MSMEs.Social implicationsThis study highlights the value of ICT as a practical resource for business owners that significantly makes MSMEs more informed and profitable, thus creating more jobs and incrementing the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).Originality/valueThis study offers unique empirical findings on how decision makers in MSMEs maximise profits through optimal ICT investment levels depending upon the firm size in an emerging economy like India. There is evidence in the study to conclude that ICT is a need of MSME and has implications for firm performance.

Industrial robots, and information and communication technology: the employment effects in EU labour markets

ABSTRACT This paper explores the effects of industrial robots and information and communication technology (ICT) on regional employment in European Union countries. The empirical analysis relies on a harmonised comprehensive regional dataset that combines business statistics and national and regional accounts data. This rich dataset enables us to provide detailed insights into the employment effects of automation and computerisation in EU regions for the period 2001–16. The results suggest relatively weak effects on regional total employment dynamics. However, industrial robots show negative employment effects in local manufacturing industries and positive employment effects in local non-manufacturing industries. While the negative effect is concentrated in particular local manufacturing industries, the positive effect has operated in local service industries. Information technology investments show positive employment effects in local manufacturing industries and some individual local service industries, while communication technology investments are shown to be irrelevant for employment dynamics. In contrast, software and database investments have had a predominantly negative association with local employment.

Knowledge management through information and communication technology investments: the story of Indian family firms

PurposeInformation and communication technologies (ICT) are indispensable tools for Knowledge Management (KM) practices in today’s knowledge-intensive and globally interconnected marketplace. This paper seeks to investigate the impact of family ownership on ICT investments in an emerging economy (EE) context.Design/methodology/approachThis empirical paper uses data from 300 large Indian listed firms with 2,650 observations in the period 2008–2017, to test its hypothesis.FindingsThe results indicate that family firms are not favourably inclined towards ICT investments for formalizing their KM practices. However, under certain contexts, such as higher foreign institutional ownership or business group affiliation, they are more willing to invest in ICT resources.Practical implicationsThis study establishes a nuanced understanding of how family firms approach ICT investments and KM practices. This research can help family owners/managers to commit sufficient resources on ICT projects.Originality/valueLiterature on KM has largely emanated from developed countries. This is one of the first papers from an EE context that studies the impact of family ownership on ICT investments and subsequent KM practices. In this way, this paper offers specific insights into the context of Indian family firms and offers some interesting findings that can contribute to the literature, policy and practice.

ICT, Energy Intensity, and CO2 Emission Nexus

The relationship between information and communication technology investment (ICT), environmental impacts, and economic growth has received increasing attention in the last 20 years. However, the relationship between ICT, energy intensity, environmental impacts, and economic growth was relatively neglected. In this paper, we aimed to contribute to the environmental literature by simultaneously analyzing the relationship between ICT, energy intensity, economic growth, Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and energy consumption for the period of 1990–2020 in G7 countries. We employed the Panel Quantile Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (PQARDL) method and Panel Quantile Granger Causality (PQGC) methods. According to the results of PQARDL method, energy consumption, ICT, CO2 emission, and energy intensity have effects on economic growth in the long and short run. According to the of PQGC methods allowing causality results for different quantiles, there is evidence of a bidirectional causality between ICT investment and economic growth for all quantiles and evidence of a unidirectional causality from ICT to energy consumption and from CO2 emissions to ICT investment and energy efficiency. Our results indicate that the governments of the G7 countries have placed energy efficiency and ICT investment at the center of their policies while determining their environmental and energy policies, since energy consumption is a continuous process.

Nonlinear impacts of information and communications technology investment on industrial structure upgrading: the role of marketization

ABSTRACT This paper employs the dynamic panel threshold model to estimate the industrial upgrading effect of information and communications technology (ICT) investment in view of the role of marketization. Based on provincial-level data from 2008 to 2016 in China, the empirical results show that under a better institutional environment of marketization, ICT investment has an increasing marginal effect on the upgrading of the industrial structure. This implies that the diminishing marginal effect of ICT investment is compensated by the promotion of marketization. Overall, with higher-quality development of the market economy, ICT investment will play a more active role in upgrading the industrial structure.

Financial technology revolution and banks' information and communication technology investment: evidence from an emerging economy

Financial technology revolution and banks' information and communication technology investment: evidence from an emerging economy

Financial technology revolution and banks' information and communication technology investment: evidence from an emerging economy

The main objective of this study is to investigate banks' perception of Fintech growth in Nigeria and how such growth affects their ICT investment decisions. Fintech has brought to the forefront th...

Towards smart(er) resilient cities. Evidences from Romanian urban areas

The investment in communication technologies has become increasingly prominent in cities, as they face a considerable pressure to become “smarter”. Connected technologies are able to collect and analyze data in real time, leading to predictive and adaptive decisions. However, being smart(er) does not necessary mean being more resilient; in fact, using sophisticated technologies may have some drawbacks that diminish the general resilience capacity of cities. The present paper aims to explore the relationship between resilience and smart city initiatives. The number of smart city projects is therefore firstly correlated with the resilience capacity (built on three dimensions: economic, socio-demographic, and environmental), then to the outcome resilience (calculated as the recovery following the recent economic crisis). The results show a clear connection between the most socially resilient cities, the share of employment in tertiary activities, and the implementation of smart city projects.

Reaching the Unheard Voices and Hinterlands in the Digital Era: An Assessment of the re-Engineering of Newsgathering in Africa

Historically, Africa is known to be backward in adoption of technology. History has it that Africa trailed behind in the use of new technology for newsgathering. Africa is the 2 nd largest continent after Asia with over 60% of its population living widely dispersed in hinterlands whose insecure terrains, inaccessibility, and distance from cities, make it impossible for journalist and media broadcasts to cover their socio-economic, cultural and political activities. In addition to these factors, scarcity of journalists, costs and conflicts, inability of media industries to train and/or recruit enough journalists, government indifference and pro-urban communication policy made newsgathering in African hinterlands almost impossible. However, the evolution and reign of Internet-based technologies, which enable citizens to contribute to news-making, and information gathering and exchange became a solution. Nevertheless, it is confronted with pro-urban middle class relevance due to epileptic power, poor network, low level of education and technology skills, and lack of formal framework for newsgathering in the hinterlands. This paper, therefore, explores the dynamics of newsgathering in the technologically-driven internet era, with a view to identifying inherent limitations in African hinterlands, and therefrom offers profitable recommendations. Geographically, the study considers African rural communities. Thematically, the paper is an investigation into the acquisition and use new information technologies particularly phones with internet facilities to generate and circulate news from African hinterlands, factors hindering the practice and possible ways of enhancing it. Periodically, the study covers the 21st century i.e. 2000 to date, which has witnessed ICTs massive penetration of the hinterlands and their use as primary medium of communication. In exploring the digitalisation of communication in rural Africa where majority of the population lives without regular or formal connection to organs and channels of governance and events in the entire world, this paper is significant to the extent that it assess and exposes the challenges modernisation is facing in trying to provide solution to the scenario. It explores areas of investments in media and communication in rural Africa, and attempts to provide viable alternatives to the problems hindering internet-mediated-technologies approach to newsgathering in rural Africa. It provides approaches to the democratisation of newsgathering and circulation, which opens up rural Africa to the global community and for participation in e-governance, global dialogue and discussions in every aspect of human development, rights and politics. This paper adopted logical inquiry, survey of literature and expost facto methods of data gathering. Central to these methods, extensive literature review was primarily adopted as data gathering processes. This is because of the wealth of literature, debates and criticism available on the new media, newsgathering, and the African experience particularly the hinterlands. This will explicate new areas of investments in communication technologies and provide valid framework for newsgathering across Africa, which will inevitably advance globalisation into and enhance development in African hinterlands.

The Impact of Information and Communication Technology Investments on the Performance of Lebanese Banks

Previous research on the relationship between investment in information and communication technology (ICT) and bank performance (BP) have been obviously disagreeing. This is because some posit a positive relationship and some argue to the contrary.Thus, this research contribute to the ongoing debate regarding the contribution of ICT to BP by looking at the impact of ICT investments on the performance of a sample of 50 Lebanese banks for the period 2009-2016.Secondary data were collected from the annual report for each bank. CAMELS model is chosen as the dependent variable, while ICT investments (adoption of automated teller machines (ATM), mobile banking (MB), internet banking (IB), telephone banking (TB), debit and credit cards (BC) and point of sale (POS) terminals) is the independent variable.Using multivariate OLS model, the results demonstrate that the application ATM, IB, TB and POS terminals does not significantly affect banks performance. However, the application of MB and offering BC to customers significantly and directly affects performance of banks in Lebanon. Thus, banks in Lebanon are recommended to find a way to increase interest of Lebanese consumers in MB applications and attract more customers by offering them a range of BC tailored to fit their preferences.

Research on the Relationship between Information Communication Technology Investment, Total Factor Productivity and Economic Growth: Literature Review and Prospects

Research on the Relationship between Information Communication Technology Investment, Total Factor Productivity and Economic Growth: Literature Review and Prospects

The People's Republic of China's Import Competition and Skill Demand in Japanese Manufacturing

This paper examines the hypothesis that manufacturing industries in Japan that have been exposed to import competition from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) experience greater skill upgrading (increased demand for skilled workers). Using an industry panel dataset over the period 1980–2010, we exploit variations of worker skill categories by occupation, paired with detailed information and communication technology investment data in the employment share regression. We find that while the PRC’s comparative advantages in exports have shifted from labor-intensive to more capital-intensive products, this has not resulted in substituting skilled workers in Japanese manufacturing. Rather, it has had the profound positive effect of raising overall demand for skilled workers. Most of the competition effects were felt among production workers, leaving middle-skilled workers largely unaffected.

The impact of doing business regulations on investments in ICT

Using industry-level data from 14 OECD countries and doing business indicators of the World Bank, we analyze how country-level regulations of business activities affect investments in information and communication technologies (ICT). We find that investments in ICT decrease with the costs of starting and operating a business and registering property. Investments increase with the strength of legal rights. We also find that investments in software increase with the ability of shareholders to sue managers for misconduct, and investments in communication technologies decline with the extent of director liability for self-dealing.

The Impact of Doing Business Regulations on Investments in ICT

Using industry-level data from 14 OECD countries and doing business indicators of the World Bank, we analyze how country-level regulations of business activities affect investments in information and communication technologies (ICT). We find that investments in ICT decrease with the costs of starting and operating a business and registering property. Investments increase with the strength of legal rights. We also find that higher minimum capital requirement reduces investments in software and the extent of director liability reduces investments in communication technologies.

Impact of Information and Communication Technology Investment on the on Productivity of Selected Sachet Water Companies in Oyo State

Impact of Information and Communication Technology Investment on the on Productivity of Selected Sachet Water Companies in Oyo State

TFP growth, technological progress and efficiencies change

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to apply a stochastic Frontier production model to Canadian manufacturing industries, to investigate the sources of total factor productivity (TFP) growth. As productivity (growth) appears to be the single most important determinant of a nation's living standard or its level of real income over long periods of time, it is important to better understand the sources of productivity growth. In Canada, TFP growth is the major contributing factor (relative to changes in capital intensity) to labour productivity growth, particularly in manufacturing sector. However, the TFP gap is also the main source of labour productivity gap between Canada and other industrialized (Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development) countries in recent years.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a stochastic Frontier production model is applied to Canadian manufacturing industries to investigate the sources of TFP growth. Using a comprehensive panel data set of 18 industries over the period 1990‐2005 and the approach proposed by Kumbhakar et al. and Kumbhakar and Lovell, TFP growth is decomposed into technological progress (TP), changes in technical efficiency, changes in allocative efficiency and scale effects.FindingsThe decomposition reveals that during the period under study, TP has been the main driving force of productivity growth, while negative efficiency changes observed in certain industries have contributed to reduce average productivity growth. In addition, the empirical results show that research and development expenditure, information and communications technology investment, as well as trade openness exert a positive impact on productivity growth through the channel of efficiency gains.Originality/valueThe author argues that the decomposition carried out in this study may be very helpful to elicit the correct diagnosis of Canada's productivity problem and develop effective policies to reverse the situation, thereby reducing Canada's lagging productivity gap.

The contribution of Information and Communication Technology investments to Greek economic growth: An analytical growth accounting framework

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investments are the driving force behind the resurgence of growth in the developed countries during recent years. They are also the main reason for the increased growth rates of Total Factor Productivity (TFP). In this paper, we examine whether these relationship also hold for Greece. We use a neoclassical growth accounting model to identify the sources of growth and more specifically the role of ICT investments. We find that the contribution of ICT investments has increased during the period 1988–2003, but that this contribution is still lower than in the United States. During 1996–2003, ICT capital services contributed 0.75 to the total growth rate. We also examine the role of ICT investments at the industry level; we find that ICT investments have most benefited the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services industries, and the Wholesale and Retail Trade industries. Finally, our results show that growth rates of TFP have also risen, a necessary condition to maintain the high growth rates of productivity in the future.

The role of life cycle concepts in the assessment of interorganizational alignment

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the alignment between the information‐processing needs and capabilities during interorganizational relationships through the lenses of both the product and the business relationships life cycle concepts, and the types of information exchanged.Design/methodology/approachThis paper follows up on a previous empirical study conducted in the automotive sector, investigating the electronic collaboration within the supply chain of a large European Automotive Supplier (EAS). Out of the 61 respondents from this previous study, four illustrative cases are selected to further investigate their information alignment, where each case involves one specific relationship between EAS and its business partners based on the supply chain collaboration classification provided by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA).FindingsThe conclusion is that the phenomenon is bimodal and requires that the different information‐processing needs and capabilities associated with each stage of both the product and the business relationships life cycles should be considered.Research limitations/implicationsThe small number of illustrative cases and the specificity of the chosen sector limit the generalizability of the results. Without considering the various types of information‐processing needs and capabilities as well as the stage of both product and business relationships life cycles, a biased conclusion could lead to inappropriate information and communication technology investments and business decisions.Originality/valueThe richness of the cases and the genuine integration of the life cycle concepts and the type of information with the notion of alignment help to identify some key aspects of interorganizational relationships.

The effect of hard and soft information and communication technologies investment on manufacturing business performance in Greece – A preliminary econometric study

This paper presents the results of the first empirical investigation of the effect of information and communication technologies (ICT) investment on business performance in Greece. It investigates the effect of both ‘hard’ ICT investment (in ICT hardware, software and networks) and ‘soft’ ICT investment (in ICT human resources, skills and organization) on firm output. It is based on data from big Greek industrial firms, which have been collected via a questionnaire-based survey conducted in cooperation with the Federation of Greek Industries (FGI). Using these data, econometric models of output have been constructed based on the microeconomic production theory. Our analysis shows that the Cobb–Douglas production function can adequately describe the output, as compared to the more general transcendental production function. Using this type of production function it has been found that hard ICT investment in Greece makes a positive and statistically significant contribution to firm output; however its output elasticity is lower than the one of the non-computer capital and much lower than the one of the labour. Also, from the dimensions-measures of the soft ICT investment we examined, it has been found that the existence of a separate ICT department has a positive and statistically significant effect on firm output, which is of considerable magnitude of about two thirds of the effect of the hard ICT investment. The possibility of an effect of firm size on the structural stability of the econometric models we employed was also investigated; it was found that for firms with total sales above about €20 million the structure of the models is reasonably stable, and therefore the conclusions drawn from them are valid, at least for the range of firm sizes that our data cover.

Contributing factors to information technology investment utilization in transition economies: An empirical investigation

Past research studies have identified multiple factors that affect the return on investments in information and communication technologies (ICT). We suggest that the efficiency of utilization of in...