Organizational agility is a significant business capability. Though there have been numerous studies about the effects of information technology (IT) capabilities on organizational agility, there has been limited attention on the enabling effects of IT ambidexterity, namely, the dual capacity to explore and exploit IT resources and practices. We propose that IT ambidexterity enhances organizational agility by facilitating operational ambidexterity, and that the magnitude of facilitation depends on the level of environmental dynamism. We test these relationships utilizing data from a large-scale, matched-pair field survey of business and IT executives. The results confirm that a firm's IT ambidexterity does enhance its organizational agility through the mediated effects of operational ambidexterity, and that the dynamism of a firm's environment affects these relationships.
The effects of e-commerce institutional mechanisms on trust and online purchase have traditionally been understood in the initial online purchase context. This study extends this literature by exploring the role of e-commerce institutional mechanisms in the online repurchase context. In doing so, it responds to the emerging call for understanding the institutional context under which customer trust operates in an e-commerce environment. Specifically, this study introduces a key moderator, perceived effectiveness of e-commerce institutional mechanisms (PEEIM), to the relationships between trust, satisfaction, and repurchase intention. Drawing on the theory of organizational trust, and based on a survey of 362 returning online customers, we find that PEEIM negatively moderates the relationship between trust in an online vendor and online customer repurchase intention, as it decreases the importance of trust to promoting repurchase behavior. We also find that PEEIM positively moderates the relationship between customer satisfaction and trust as it enhances the customer’s reliance on past transaction experience with the vendor to reevaluate trust in the vendor. Consistent with the predictions made in the literature, PEEIM does not directly affect trust or repurchase intention. Academic and practical implications and future research directions are discussed.
This study develops a comprehensive model to predict and explain the use of collaborative technologies (CT) and the task performance of individual users as a result of using CT. The integrated model attempts to capture how the individual user's extent of use of CT is a function of both the technical features and the structures embedded within or created by the interactions among the technology, group, and organization. The model developed is tested using data collected from a national bank with 279 members working in 40 different workgroups. A hierarchical linear model (HLM) is used to test the hypotheses generated from the model. Results show that our integrated model provides a more complete explanation of the use of CT and task performance beyond those of the individual-level factors. The study is an early effort to develop an integrated theory to provide comprehensive insight into individual use of CT in a group or organizational context.
Existing research has long considered service quality as a primary determinant of user satisfaction with information technology (IT) service delivery. In response to the knowledge-intensive and collaborative nature of IT service delivery in the contemporary business context, we advance the theoretical understanding of user satisfaction by re-conceptualizing IT service delivery as a bilateral, relational process between the IT staff and users. Based on this reconceptualization, we draw on social capital theory to examine the antecedents of user satisfaction with IT service delivery. Specifically, we posit that two major dimensions of social capital, i.e., cognitive capital and relational capital, not only positively affect user satisfaction but also strengthen the established relationship between service quality and user satisfaction. Furthermore, we propose that the effect of the other dimension of social capital—structural capital—on user satisfaction is fully mediated through cognitive capital and relational capital. A field study of 159 users in four financial companies provides general empirical support for our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Whether and how firms can employ relative rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) to differentiate their brands from competitors in cyberspace remains a critical, puzzling issue in e-commerce research. By synthesizing relevant literature from cognitive psychology, marketing, and e-commerce, this study identifies key contextual factors that are conducive for creating brand positioning online via SERPs. In two experiments, the authors establish that when Internet users' implicit beliefs (i.e., schema) about the meaning of the display order of search engine results are activated or heightened through feature priming, they will have better recall of an unknown brand that is displayed before the well-known brands in SERPs. Further, those with low Internet search skills tend to evaluate the unknown brand more favorably along the particular brand attribute that activates the search engine ranking schema. This research has both theoretical and practical implications for understanding the effectiveness of search engine optimization techniques.
This research investigates the effectiveness of various trust-building strategies to influence actual buying behavior in online shopping environments, particularly for first-time visitors to an Internet store that does not have an established reputation. Drawing from the literature on trust, we developed a model of how trustbuilding strategies could affect trust and the consequences of trust. We investigated two trust-building strategies: portal association (based on reputation categorization and trust transference) and satisfied customer endorsements (based on unit grouping, reputation categorization, and trust transference).A series of two studies was conducted at a large public university in Hong Kong. The first study employed a laboratory experiment to test the model in an online bookstore environment, using a real task that involves actual book purchases. Of the two strategies investigated, satisfied customer endorsement by similar peers, but not portal association, was found to increase consumers' trusting beliefs about the store. This, in turn, positively influenced consumers' attitudes toward the store and their willingness to buy from the store, which ultimately led to actual buying behaviors. To gather further insights on the two Web strategies investigated, a second study was conducted using a questionnaire survey approach. Overall, the findings corroborated those in the first study. Specifically, it shows that endorsements by similar (local, nonforeign) peers, but not by dissimilar (foreign) peers, were effective means of developing trust among first-time visitors to online stores.
Text is the predominant form of organizational information. Comprehending text-based information requires intensive cognitive processing effort on the part of readers. Drawing on multimedia literature, this study identified a characteristic of multimedia presentations, namely complementary cues, which have the potential to improve the comprehensibility of organizational information. A set of hypotheses about the benefits of multimedia over text-based presentations was generated based on the theoretical perspective that we developed. These predictions were tested through a laboratory experiment using a simulated multimedia intranet. Results show that multimedia facilitates the retention and subsequent recall of explanative information but not of descriptive information. Explanative information is organized facts connected by their underlying functional relationships. Descriptive information consists of isolated facts without an explanation of the relationships between these facts. The ability to retain and recall explanative information, in turn, leads to a greater ability to make correct inferences about new organizational situations.
First impression bias refers to a limitation of human information processing in which people are strongly influenced by the first piece of information that they are exposed to, and that they are biased in evaluating subsequent information in the direction of the initial influence. The psychology literature has portrayed first impression bias as a virtually "inherent" human bias. Drawing from multimedia literature, this study identifies several characteristics of multimedia presentations that have the potential to alleviate first impression bias. Based on this literature, a set of predictions was generated and tested through a laboratory experiment using a simulated multimedia intranet. Half of the 80 subjects were provided with a biased cue. Subjects were randomly assigned to four groups: (1) text with first impression bias cue, (2) multimedia with first impression bias cue, (3) text without biased cue, and (4) multimedia without biased cue. The experimental task involved conducting a five-year performance appraisal of a department head. The first impression bias cue was designed to provide incomplete and unfavorable information about the department head, but the information provided subsequently was intended to be favorable of his performance. Results show that the appraisal score of the text with biased cue group was significantly lower than the text only (without biased cue) group. On the other hand, the appraisal score of the multimedia with biased cue group was not significantly different from the multimedia only (without biased cue) group. As a whole, the results suggest that multimedia presentations, but not text-based presentations, reduce the influence of first impression bias.
This paper reports a study that examined two types of exploratory computer learning methods: self-discovery vs. co-discovery, the latter of which involves two users working together to learn a system. An experiment was conducted to compare these two methods and the results were interpreted within a mental model framework. Co-discovery subjects were better than self-discovery subjects at making inferences about the capability and extended functions of the system. Furthermore, while working by themselves after an initial period of learning, they performed better in a similar, though more complex task than the one they encountered at the learning phase. Process tracing analysis showed that self-discovery subjects focused more on surface structures, such as detailed physical actions, for implementing the task. On the other hand, co-discovery groups focused more on relating lower level actions to higher level goals. Therefore, co-discovery subjects had a better understanding of the relationships between the physical actions and goals, and hence formed mental models with higher inference potential than self-discovery subjects.