For an organization to gain maximum benefits from a new information system (IS), individual users in the organization must use it effectively and extensively. To do so, users need to overcome many problems associated with their system use in order to integrate the new IS into their work routines. Much remains to be learned about the types of problems that users encounter in using the new system, in particular, the root causes of system use problems and how they relate to and co-evolve with the problems over time. In this study, we seek to develop a comprehensive and dynamic view of system use problems in organizations. Using a combined method of revealed causal mapping and in-depth network analysis, we analyze nine-month archival data on user-reported problems with a new business intelligence application in a large organization. Our data analysis revealed seven emergent constructs of system use problems and causes, including reporting, data, workflow, role authorization, users' lack of knowledge, system error, and user-system interaction. The seven constructs were found to interact differentially across two usage phases (initial versus continued) and between two types of users (regular versus power user). This study contributes to advancing our theoretical understanding of postadoptive IS use by focusing on its problematic aspect. This study also suggests useful methods for organizations to effectively monitor users' system use problems over time and thus guides organizations to effectively target mechanisms to promote the use of new technologies.
We theoretically and empirically investigate the relationship between information technology (IT) and firm innovation. Invoking absorptive capacity (ACAP) theory, we introduce and develop the concepts of three types of IT-enabled knowledge capabilities. Firm innovation is examined through two observable innovation outcomes: patents, and new product and service introductions. These innovation outcomes are often labeled as competitive actions aggressively undertaken by firms to gain market share or to achieve profitability. We use secondary data about IT-enabled knowledge capabilities and innovation outcomes of 110 firms. Our data results provide strong support for our main assertion that knowledge capabilities that are enhanced through the use of IT contribute to firm innovation. The study's findings suggest that the three types of IT-enabled knowledge capabilities have differential effects on firm innovation. This study substantially contributes to the information systems (IS) research, methodology, and practice in multiple ways.
Researchers in competitive dynamics have demonstrated that firms that carry out intense, complex, and heterogeneous competitive actions exhibit better performance. However, there is a need to understand factors that enable firms to undertake competitive actions. In this study, we focus on two antecedents of competitive behavior of firms: (1) access to network resources and (2) use of information technology (IT). We argue that while network structure provides firms with the opportunity to tap into external resources, the extent to which they are actually exploited depends on firms' IT-enabled capability. We develop a theoretical model that examines the relationships between IT-enabled capability, network structure, and competitive action. We test the model using secondary data, about 12 major automakers over 16 years from 1988 to 2003. We find that network structure rich in structural holes has a positive direct effect on firms' ability to introduce a greater number and a wider range of competitive actions. However, the effect of dense network structure is contingent on firms' IT-enabled capability. Firms benefit from dense network structure only when they develop a strong IT-enabled capability. Our results suggest that IT-enabled capability plays both a substitutive role, when firms do not have advantageous access to brokerage opportunities, and a complementary role, when firms are embedded in dense network structure, in the relationship between network structure and competitive actions.