IT Enabled Research Articles

IT Enabled Engineering Asset Management: A Governance Perspective

Engineering asset lifecycle management requires a variety of information as well as operational technologies to keep their asset base in running condition In theory these technologies are used in collection, storage, and analysis of information spanning asset lifecycle processes; providing decision support capabilities through analytic conclusions arrived at from analysis of data; and in providing an integrated view of asset management through processing and communication of information that also allows for the basis of asset management functional integration. In doing so, these technologies not only provide for the control of asset lifecycle tasks, but also contribute to the overall advise on effective asset management though the critical role that they have in decision making. However, even though operational technologies depend a lot on information technologies for their smooth functioning, yet due to their specialized nature these operational technologies are not considered as part of the overall organizational information technology infrastructure. Consequently, when it comes to governance of information technologies, operational technologies are not accounted for. This paper provides a framework for governance of information technologies utilized for asset lifecycle management. It concludes that information technologies should not be taken as technical constructs, these are at the core of strategic alignment, value delivery, resource management, and risk management. Governance of information technology, therefore, calls for understanding and accounting for the whole information technology base and enabling infrastructure of the organization.

A Method for Recruitment of Lead users from Virtual Communities to Innovate IT Enabled Services for Consumers in Global Markets

Contemporary information technologies enable firms to re-think and innovate with their service offerings. The difficult challenge with new service development (NSD) is how to engage the potential new service users in firm’s NSD activities. The lead user method has been a promising approach to tackle this problem. However, the finding and recruiting of the lead users has been found very arduous for the firms. The paper designs and tests a method for identifying and contacting the lead users, and employs laddering interviewing for subsequent data collection. The data consists of 55 laddering interviews conducted in Finland and Hong Kong. Our findings demonstrate that the proposed method can be considered effective. The results of the study show that with the proposed method we can facilitate design activities between new service developers and potential new service users. Our study also reveals interesting differences in the data sets regarding how interviewees provide reasoning for their potential service use. This finding provides basis for future research in understanding how culture affects new service development.

Knowledge management practices in Indian industries – a comparative study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study Knowledge Management (KM) implementation in Indian manufacturing, IT and IT Enabled Services (ITES) and power generation and distribution companies. Various dimensions of KM, namely: process, leadership, culture, technology, and measurement are compared across the three industries to understand the differences in KM practices.Design/methodology/approach – Samples comprised 17 responses from ITES, 32 from manufacturing and eight from power generation and distribution organizations. Convenient sampling scheme was used. The paper reports the findings of the difference in KM practices with respect to the organizations' use of the above mentioned dimensions across the three industries.Findings – The raw mean score of various dimensions for ITES is the highest followed by manufacturing, and power generation and distribution on all except the leadership dimension. However, one way ANOVA results indicate that no significant difference is found for KM process, cultur...

‘Unionising’ the new spaces of the new economy? Alternative labour organising in India’s IT Enabled Services–Business Process Outsourcing industry

This paper explores the lived experiences and aspirational social constructions of call centre work and employment in India’s high profile IT Enabled Services–Business Process Outsourcing (ITES–BPO) industry; the ways in which they differ from those previously documented amongst call centre workers in the Global North (specifically the UK); and the consequences of that geographical reconfiguration of offshored call centre work for the replicability in India of workplace collective bargaining strategies successfully developed in some UK call centres. These issues are analysed using new empirical evidence from a regional survey of 511 non-unionised ITES–BPO workers and 42 in-depth interviews in India’s National Capital Region. Based on this analysis, the paper then discusses the operation, outcomes and ongoing challenges faced by the newly formed ‘Union for ITES Professionals’ (UNITES Pro) in developing an alternative occupational organising model better suited to the particular needs, motivations and preferences of India’s young, mobile, call centre workers. The empirical analysis presented in the paper is located, therefore, within wider debates on the role of geographical context in shaping possibilities for organising white-collar service workers at different ends of global service chains in the new economy.

IT—Enabled Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management and information technology are two areas of research, which have attracted a lot of attention in academic and practitioner’s camps over the last decades. The discussion related to the deployment of information technology and electronic commerce in supply chain management has fostered a discussion about information technology enabled supply chains. The authors pinpoint, there is a lack of research which integrates this highly inconsistent and fragmented field. In this paper, the authors attempt to present a critical summary of the discussion of information technology enabled supply chain and supply chain management and attempt to provide a framework that helps managers and practitioners to tackle this phenomenon. It can be stated that management of information technology enabled supply chain is a complex process and that top managerial support is always welcome. Finally, we present limitations of the study and highlight some ideas for future research in this area.
 
 Keywords: Marketing, supply chain management, information technology

Global Outsourcing of IT and IT Enabled Services: A Framework for Choosing an (Outsourcee) Country

Global market for outsourcing of IT functions took off in late 1980s and for the last five years, global market for IT as well as IT Enabled Services has been growing steadily. IT functions include IS analysis, IS design, IS development, IS implementation and management of entire data centers. IT enabled service, also called Business Process Outsourcing, include functions like call centers, accounting, payroll, employee benefits, tax preparation, radiology analysis, films and cartoons production, and even research and development. Outsourcing location can be onshore, near shore, offshore or far shore. Outsourcing industry has been inventing itself in a myriad ways. This is a conceptual paper providing an outsourcing scope framework and also a model for selecting an outsourcing destination country.