Large Information Technology Research Articles

Role Perception and Role Performance: Moderating Effect of Competence Mobilization

Today’s organizations are largely being seen as role-based wherein different individuals are expected to work in interdependent teams. The present study seeks to understand the role of contextual factor (role perception) and individual characteristic (competence mobilization) on role performance. Using multi-source data, the empirical study examined the interaction effect by analyzing data collected from 176 employees of a large multinational information technology (IT) organization in India. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis provided support to establish that competence mobilization moderated the relationship between role perception and role performance. The findings of the study have been discussed at theoretical level for researchers and practical level for managers.

Factors associated with adoption of health information technology: a conceptual model based on a systematic review.

BackgroundThe Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) allocated $19.2 billion to incentivize adoption of the electronic health record (EHR). Since 2009, Meaningful Use Criteria have dominated information technology (IT) strategy. Health care organizations have struggled to meet expectations and avoid penalties to reimbursements from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Organizational theories attempt to explain factors that influence organizational change, and many theories address changes in organizational strategy. However, due to the complexities of the health care industry, existing organizational theories fall short of demonstrating association with significant health care IT implementations. There is no organizational theory for health care that identifies, groups, and analyzes both internal and external factors of influence for large health care IT implementations like adoption of the EHR.ObjectiveThe purpose of this systematic review is to identify a full-spectrum of both internal organizational and external environmental factors associated with the adoption of health information technology (HIT), specifically the EHR. The result is a conceptual model that is commensurate with the complexity of with the health care sector.MethodsWe performed a systematic literature search in PubMed (restricted to English), EBSCO Host, and Google Scholar for both empirical studies and theory-based writing from 1993-2013 that demonstrated association between influential factors and three modes of HIT: EHR, electronic medical record (EMR), and computerized provider order entry (CPOE). We also looked at published books on organizational theories. We made notes and noted trends on adoption factors. These factors were grouped as adoption factors associated with various versions of EHR adoption.ResultsThe resulting conceptual model summarizes the diversity of independent variables (IVs) and dependent variables (DVs) used in articles, editorials, books, as well as quantitative and qualitative studies (n=83). As of 2009, only 16.30% (815/4999) of nonfederal, acute-care hospitals had adopted a fully interoperable EHR. From the 83 articles reviewed in this study, 16/83 (19%) identified internal organizational factors and 9/83 (11%) identified external environmental factors associated with adoption of the EHR, EMR, or CPOE. The conceptual model for EHR adoption associates each variable with the work that identified it.ConclusionsCommonalities exist in the literature for internal organizational and external environmental factors associated with the adoption of the EHR and/or CPOE. The conceptual model for EHR adoption associates internal and external factors, specific to the health care industry, associated with adoption of the EHR. It becomes apparent that these factors have some level of association, but the association is not consistently calculated individually or in combination. To better understand effective adoption strategies, empirical studies should be performed from this conceptual model to quantify the positive or negative effect of each factor.

Improving IT incident handling performance with information visibility

In large internal information technology IT organizations, multiple teams are often involved in handling incidents, so these teams come to depend on one another. We hypothesize that the knowledge these teams have of the agreed upon and realized incident handling performance of themselves and other teams will impact their performance. We tested this hypothesis at a large financial institute, using log data from the IT service management application and a survey to measure the knowledge of teams. We found 1 a significant positive correlation between incident handling performance of a team and the knowledge a team has of its own performance; 2 no correlation between the knowledge of agreed upon performance and realized performance within a team; 3 that teams have very little knowledge of agreed upon or realized performance of other teams; and 4 that improving the knowledge a team has of the agreed upon and realized performance of that team and dependent teams results in higher incident handling performance. The results show that increasing information visibility within and across teams in large IT providers is one way to improve incident handling performance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Do too many goals impede a program? A case study of enterprise system implementation with multiple interdependent projects

Complex or large information technology (IT) implementations are typically managed as single programs composed of multiple projects. Program managers must be able to manage the interfaces of multiple interdependent projects to realize the goals of an IT implementation. However, the common problems of conflict and poor coordination often hinder the achievement of a program's goals. Part of this difficulty may lie in the structuring of the program goals themselves. Guided by Strategic Consensus Theory (SCT) and Realistic Group Conflict Theory (RGCT), we examine three enterprise system programs to study the relationship between the shared understanding of multiple or single program goals and conflict resolution and the coordination of programs in an attempt to explain a program's successful implementation. We find that a shared goal understanding as suggested by SCT is not sufficient to facilitate essential coordination. However, a superordinate goal as suggested by RGCT appears to resolve any discrepancies. The results imply that goals should be structured as superordinate requirements.

Knowledge management: an empirical analysis of reuse and productivity

This paper investigates the reuse of knowledge using real-world data gathered by a large information technology firm for internal purposes. Researchers have proposed that one reason that knowledge management system users contribute knowledge is because they are ‘similar’ to others. This data allows analysis of that issue based on geographic and functional organisation units. Other researchers have suggested that organisations ‘probably’ use the number of times a document has been accessed (‘number of accesses’) as a quantitative measure in knowledge management systems. The data substantiates that claim and investigates the relationship between the number of authors and the number of times a document has been accessed. Finally, researchers have suggested that the primary reason for development of knowledge management systems is to improve productivity. This research investigates the extent to which knowledge contributions are related to relevance, leveraging knowledge and gains in productivity.

The prediction of turnover intention by means of employee engagement and demographic variables in a telecommunications organisation

This study sought to determine the prediction of turnover intention by employee engagement and demographic variables in a large South African information and communication technology (ICT) organisation. Cross-sectional survey data was collected from the organisation. Using a sample of 2276 participants the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) was employed to measure employee engagement, while the Intention to Stay Questionnaire (ISQ) measured turnover intentions. Employee engagement was significantly negatively related with turnover intentions. A factor analysis conducted on the UWES indicated that activation accounted for 10% of the variance in turnover intentions. Age and tenure had statistically significant negative relationships with turnover intentions, whilst qualification and race had significant positive relationships with turnover intentions. The results also confirmed the predictive model of employee engagement as well as the impact of the demographic variables of race, age, tenure on turnover intentions. The study has practical implications in relation to its ability to contribute to human resources activities in the form of differentiated remuneration and retention strategies based on differences in age and tenure.

Surprising Recent Immigrant Wage Growth: Evidence from Information Technology Occupations

Information technology (IT) occupations have seen high rates of employment growth in recent years and employers have relied on foreign born workers to help fill labor shortages (Mithas and Lucas,Management Science, 2010). By 2011, about 21 % of IT workers in five of the largest IT occupations in the U.S. were foreign born (Bureau of the Census, American Community Survey, 2011). Our research explores the relative wage and salary earnings of college educated immigrant IT workers from 2006 to 2011. For several reasons, we initially expected that immigrant earnings in IT occupations would be less than native earnings. First, many immigrants, especially immigrant IT workers, have temporary visas (Kerr and Lincoln, Journal of Labor Economics, 2010). Second, recessions more adversely affect immigrants than natives (Orrenius and Zavodny, American Economic Review, 2010). Third, many immigrants may initially lack English language proficiencies (Chiswick and Miller, Journal of Population Economics, 2002). These factors suggest that immigrant IT workers should have lower earnings and be more adversely affected during cyclical downturns than native ITworkers. Surprisingly, our study shows that immigrants in IT occupations actually earned higher wages than natives in 2006, and that this advantage was maintained during the recession. Data are drawn from the American Community Survey (ACS) and includes 3 years to represent three phases of the current business cycle: 2006 is a boom year, 2009 is a recession year, and 2011 is a recovery year. The sample consists of 56,784 native and foreign born college graduates who are between 25 and 65 years of age and working full time in five IT occupations: computer systems analysts and computer scientists; operations and systems researchers and analysts; computer and peripheral equipment operators; programmers of machine tools; and computer and peripheral equipment operators. Excluded from the sample were those with imputed incomes, those not working at least 35 hours and those employed less than 50 weeks during the past year. Atl Econ J (2014) 42:115–116 DOI 10.1007/s11293-014-9411-9

Knowledge Management: An Empirical Analysis of Reuse and Productivity

This paper investigates the reuse of knowledge using real-world data gathered by a large information technology firm for internal purposes. Researchers have proposed that one reason that knowledge management system users contribute knowledge is because they are similar to others. This data allows analysis of that issue based on geographic location and functional business organization units. Other researchers have suggested that organizations probably use number of times a document has been accessed (number of accesses) as a quantitative measure in knowledge management systems. The data substantiates that claim and investigates the relationship between the number of authors and the number of times a document has been accessed. Finally, researchers have suggested that the primary reason for development of knowledge management systems is to improve productivity. This research investigates the extent to which knowledge contributions are related to relevance, leveraging knowledge and gains in productivity.

Bangalore information technology cluster

The information technology (IT) cluster in Bangalore, India has developed substantially since the liberalisation reforms introduced in 1991. This development has been underpinned by government support and a labour arbitrage strategy that seeks to carve out a share of the large IT services markets in Europe and the USA. More recently, however, these costs have been rising in India opening up opportunities for foreign IT service rivals in places such as Eastern Europe and China. With the labour arbitrage strategy waning, we believe the Bangalore IT cluster needs to realign its strategy towards higher-value exports and the growing domestic market. In order for such a strategy to work, a number of critical reforms are needed to allow the domestic IT services industry to adjust. Most, if not all, of these reforms require public sector support and it is here where the most intractable changes are necessary.

OUTSOURCING AND MARKET VALUE OF THE FIRM: TOWARD A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL

SUMMARYWe analyze the effect of buyer, contract, and vendor characteristics on abnormal stock returns among firms that have announced large scale Information Technology (IT) and Business Process outsourcing (BPO) contracts. We draw upon a comprehensive dataset on outsourcing announcements, augmented with data from public sources. Salient buyer factors examined include use of a wide range of organizational controls. On the vendor side, we examine the impact of vendor size, contract size and reputation. Our study shows that use of behavior controls, outcome controls (negative), vendor reputation, and industry of buyer firm affect market value. When limited to buyer related factors, use of behavior and clan controls is positively related to abnormal returns around IT outsourcing announcements. An interesting finding is that IT and BPO success require different sets of controls. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An investigation of the role of communication in IT projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore communication management in information technology (IT) projects and to identify barriers to communication, from both individual and organisational standpoints, and from distinctive stakeholders' points of view (project management office (PMO), project manager, IT and business personnel). Design/methodology/approach – A case-based research in a large IT service provider was conducted, mixing qualitative and quantitative data. A literature review shed light on different epistemological fields, and different aspects of communication in IT projects were analysed and different perspectives were brought together in a communication integrated framework (CIF). Several data collection methods were combined. Structured and unstructured interviews of 78 participants (PMO, IT and business personnel), PMO archival data, and survey-based research were performed in order to achieve triangulation. Findings – The contribution of the CIF to project communication management theory can be summarized as follows. First, the framework considers different perspectives, from the individual to the organisational, which affect communication during IT projects in the form of an integrated system approach. Second, the contingency perspective of different stakeholders are explored, particularly as regards the PMO, IT and business personnel. The case revealed an inconsistency: on the one hand, the importance of communication is exalted by all the analysed stakeholders, and on the other hand, the communication processes and practices proposed by the PMO and formalised in the company's project management (PM) methodology are neither followed nor prioritised by project managers. Research limitations/implications – This study was dependent on self-reported perceptions. It embraced IT projects, and new studies should be done for other types of projects. The focus is within a specific organisation and its characteristics conditioned the findings. Practical implications – CIF allows improving the assessment of the communication area in projects. An important managerial implication of this study is that the adoption of a standardised PM framework is not sufficient for the elimination of barriers to communication. The study suggests that firms should consider manners of developing the communication management process, as well as increasing the efficient use of performance report and communication tools to reduce detrimental conflict. Originality/value – The paper proposes a framework. CIF allows to considering different perspectives, from the individual to the organisational level that affect communication in IT projects.

Creating value through governing IT deployment in a public/private-sector inter-organisational context: a human agency perspective

Harnessing value from Information Technology (IT) has long been a focus of research, but evidence is lacking about how effective practice of Information Technology Governance (ITG) contributes to creating value for stakeholders in inter-organisational contexts. This is especially so for public/private sector partnerships. In this study we used ISO/IEC 38500:2008, the corporate governance of IT standard, to direct analysis of how ITG was practised in deployment of a large IT project in an inter-organisational public/private sector context. The findings demonstrate that ITG strategies related to human agency contribute to the realisation of value for participating stakeholders, particularly through pre-emptive stakeholder participation in evaluating IT functionality of the old system and iteratively in deployment of the new system. Further, our investigation shows that ISO/IEC 38500:2008 has merit as an analytical framework to objectively evaluate corporate governance of IT, although there is need for some enhancement.

Measuring sense of belonging among employees working at a corporate campus

PurposeThis study aims to explore the association between employees' sense of belonging and their perception of workplace physical attributes at a corporate campus, and the workplace planning and management strategies to support employee sense of belonging for the long‐term competitiveness and performance of organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe research site for this study is the corporate campus of a large information technology firm, Wipro Technologies, located in India. A workplace questionnaire designed by the International Workplace Studies Program (IWSP) at Cornell University was used. A total of 267 employees working at Wipro participated in this study.FindingsFactor analysis of the survey items identified five underlying factors that are related to workplace physical environment. Statistically significant correlations were identified among employees' sense of belonging and these factors about work environment. A statistically significant model comprising four of the factors was developed to predict employees' sense of belonging.Originality/valueThe paper presents a new model to link sense of belonging to perception of workplace physical environment. Workplace planning and management implications were discussed for organizations to incorporate physical and spatial measures in their workplace to effectively enhance employees' sense of belonging.

Data-Driven Analytical Tools for Characterization of Productivity and Service Quality Issues in IT Service Factories

In this article, we propose an analytical tool, named the Workload Profile Diagnosis ( WPD) method, to evaluate the performance and quality of incident management (IM) systems in information technology (IT) service factories. Based on the normalization of ticket assignment delay and resolution time by their respective service-level agreement, the method computes and plots the spreading of ticket data on a log-log chart. By comparing the actual and desired distribution values in specific areas, the WPD method diagnoses specific problems and issues in the performance of IM systems such as resource and skill allocation and abnormal behavior, and identifies opportunities for automated resolution or assignment of tickets, increases or decreases in the resources and skills needed, and ultimately aims to strike a better balance between productivity and service quality. In addition to an in-depth description of the WPD method, this article presents its application in the diagnostics of four service pools of a large IT service factory. An empirical study conducted in the IT service factory shows that most of the problems identified by the WPD method were indeed present in the service pools, therefore providing evidence of the validity of the WPD method. We conclude discussing how managers can use the method to detect and evaluate transformational opportunities to increase productivity and service quality in a systematic manner.

Borderless Bits: Electronic Globalization and its Social Consequences

The older forces of globalization based on materials-based trade and transport are commingling with the newer forces of global electronic networks and creating the emergent phenomenon of “electronic globalization.” Examples of activities influenced by such electronic globalization include the following: • With severe economic downturn from 2008, many consumers in the U.S. became delinquent in their credit card or loan payments. Call centers in India employ sympathetic, soft spoken, but firmly insistent collection agents who listen to the sob stories of delinquent Americans – and, unlike USA-based agents, usually manage to extract at least partial payments out of the hapless debtors. • Voice files containing dictated patient notes by doctors in the USA are sent electronically to medical transcription companies in India. At some locations in India, over 1000 people trained in listening to a variety of American accents, including ethnic ones, don headphones in front of a PC and transcribe the voice files into text. Strong knowledge of medical terminology and accuracy of transcription are critically important. Editors are employed to review every transcript. Normal files are turned around in 12 hours, while urgent or “STAT” files are often transcribed and sent back to USA within two hours. • Some of the large Indian information technology services companies have entire rooms or floors dedicated to specific USA clients such as Cisco Systems or EDS. With advanced network connectivity, dedicated staff in India provides 24X7 network maintenance and remote “help desk” services to customers in the USA and other global locations. The tech support people in India are able to “take control” of malfunctioning systems thousands of miles away, run sophisticated diagnostic tests, and fix the problems. • A consulting group in Scandinavia that provides design services to precision manufacturers in Europe sends the rough drawings and specifications of the designs it is working on to a team in Chennai, India. In 2 or 3 days, using Computer-aided Design (CAD), the Indian team sends back fully-dimensionalized CAD engineering drawings and even 3-D computer simulations of the prototypes back to the Scandinavian firm. As these examples show, the range of processes that are outsourced by electronic methods to low cost but appropriately skilled foreign workers is widening. Electronic globalization is

AIR TRANSPORT IN GHANA: SOME CLIMATIC CONSTRAINTS

Understanding a definite geographic context is essential for effective air transport management. To date, the consequences of changing weather conditions and climate on the transportation sector in Ghana has been grievous to the economy of the country. Unfortunately, the impact of climate change on the aviation industry has received very little attention in Ghanaian literature. Meanwhile, it is widely known that transport systems on the whole perform poorly under adverse weather and climatic conditions. This paper seeks to reflect a growing orientation in research and philosophy in the field of air transport and severe weather and climatic constraints. Understanding under-lying principles of climatic conditions and weather is essential to air navigation in Ghana. Clear air turbulence, ceiling and visibility, thunderstorms, electrical phenomenon, climate-induced seasonal variations, and vegetation are some of the threats to air transport across Ghana's airspace. Information is derived from literature surveys, workplace counts, and an aviation researcher. Overall, large information technology investments, consolidation, and re-structuring are all major issues that must be addressed by stakeholders ambitious to stay afloat and competitive in Ghana's airspace.

Conceptualising the Effect of the Black Economic Empowerment Score‐Card on IT Governance

AbstractAugmented concerns regarding Information Technology (IT) Governance have resulted in organisations continuing to relentlessly seek the right IT decision makers who make the right IT decisions as baselines for value generation in dynamic and competitive business arenas. As a result of the implementation of policies such as the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), the IT sector in post‐apartheid South Africa has increasingly seen signs of a rising number of Black IT professionals entering this sector. Organisations now find themselves with a growing number of influential Black decision makers whose decisions are seen to impact large IT investment spending. This article conceptualises the critical role that BEE scorecard has played towards the growth of this number and seeks to understand the influencing dynamics BEE has had towards IT Governance in South African organizations. The study explores BEE policy as a means of redressing past inequalities and then presents BEE challenges that influence IT Governance implementation. A conceptual framework that assesses the relationships between the variables, BEE and IT Governance is presented. The purpose of the framework is to shed insights regarding the strength of the relationship between these two variables both of which have a bearing on the success of businesses operating in South Africa. The framework has been tested using empirical quantitative research, which utilised questionnaires that targeted IT professionals. The findings show a weak association between BEE and successful IT Governance implementation. The results also reveal IT Governance maturity has advanced to well‐managed level 4. The human capital and diversity in the IT workforce lag behind in progress as a result of modest compliance by organisations towards BEE initiatives.

Organizational Misfits and the Origins of Brokerage in Intrafirm Networks

To extend research on the effects of networks for career outcomes, this paper examines how career processes shape network structure. I hypothesize that brokerage results from two distinct mechanisms: links with former coworkers and with friends of friends accumulated as careers unfold. Furthermore, I hypothesize that “organizational misfits”—people who followed career trajectories that are atypical in their organization—will have access to more valuable brokerage opportunities than those whose careers followed more conventional paths. I tested this hypothesis with career history data recorded longitudinally for 30,000 employees in a large information technology firm over six years and sequence-analyzed to measure individual-level fit with typical career paths in the organization. Network position was measured using a unique data set of over 250 million electronic mail messages. Empirical results support the hypotheses that diverse, and especially atypical, careers have an effect on brokerage through mechanisms rooted in social capital, even when accounting for endogeneity between networks and mobility. In theorizing about misfit from prototypical patterns, this paper offers a new, theory-driven application of sequence-analytic methods as well as a novel measure of brokerage based on interactions across observable boundaries, a complement to the structural constraint measure based on interactions across holes in social structure.

Career Ladders and the Origins of Brokerage in Intra-organizational Networks

While we have ample empirical evidence linking brokerage in intraorganizational social networks to a variety of benefits, we know less about its origins. In this study, I examine the role of individual career history in creating brokerage. I hypothesize that individuals who follow career trajectories that are atypical in the organization will show greater propensity to interact across organizational and social distance than equally mobile individuals whose careers followed more conventional paths. Furthermore, I argue that bridging ties result from two social-capital based mechanisms – links with former co-workers and with “friends of friends” – as well as from human capital. Career history is recorded longitudinally for 30,000 employees in a large information technology firm over seven years; network position is measured using a unique data set of over 150 million electronic mail messages. Empirical results support the hypotheses that diverse – and especially atypical – careers have a causal effect on brokerage through mechanisms rooted in social capital. Surprisingly, social capital explains all the variation in bridging; there appears to be no independent human capital effect.

Organizational Misfits and the Origins of Brokerage in Intra-Firm Networks

We have ample empirical evidence of the effect of brokerage in intraorganizational social networks on career outcomes, but we know less about how network structure originates as a result of career processes. In this paper, I argue that brokerage results from two distinct mechanisms – links with former co-workers and with friends of friends accumulated as careers unfold. Furthermore, I hypothesize that “organizational misfits” – individuals who follow career trajectories that are atypical in their organization – will have access to more valuable brokerage opportunities than individuals whose careers followed more conventional paths. Career history is recorded longitudinally for 30,000 employees in a large information technology firm over six years and sequence-analyzed to measure individual-level fit with typical career paths in the organization. Network position is measured using a unique data set of over 250 million electronic mail messages. Empirical results support the hypotheses that diverse – and especially atypical – careers have a causal effect on brokerage through mechanisms rooted in social capital, even when accounting for endogeneity between networks and mobility.