This study aims to contribute to the literature through the theoretical development and empirical investigation of the role of information technology use in organizational learning. We develop a theoretical framework that unpacks organizational learning into mechanisms and outcomes. The outcomes of organizational learning are distinguished at two levels: first-order and second-order. Based on the framework, we propose a research model set in the franchising context. We conceptualize franchisee use of IT provided by the franchisor as an important learning mechanism that impacts knowledge transfer effectiveness (first-order outcome) and absorptive capacity (second-order outcome). Further, the influence of IT use on financial performance is mediated through absorptive capacity. The model was tested on a sample of 783 independently owned real-estate franchisees using a comprehensive dataset comprised of primary and secondary data. The results indicate that IT use is an important learning mechanism for franchisees by impacting knowledge transfer effectiveness and absorptive capacity. In turn, absorptive capacity mediates the relationship between IT use and financial performance. The empirical support for the research model serves to affirm the underlying learning mechanismsÐoutcomes framework. The results are stable across the choice of statistical method and the operationalization of financial performance. Theoretical contributions, implications for practice, and limitations of the study are discussed.
Project failure in the information technology area is a costly problem, and troubled projects are not uncommon. In many cases, these projects seem to take on a life of their own, continuing to absorb valuable resources, while failing to deliver any real business value. While prior research has shown that managers can easily become locked into a cycle of escalating commitment to a failing course of action, there has been comparatively little research on de-escalation, or the process of breaking such a cycle. Through de-escalation, troubled projects may be successfully turned around or sensibly abandoned. This study seeks to understand the process of de-escalation and to establish a model for turning around troubled projects that has both theoretical and practical significance. Through a longitudinal case study of the IT-based baggage handling system at Denver International Airport (DIA), we gathered qualitative data on the de-escalation of commitment to a failing course of action, allowing us to inductively develop a model of the de-escalation process as it unfolded at DIA. The model reveals deescalation as a four-phase process: (1) problem recognition, (2) re-examination of prior course of action, (3) search for alternative course of action, and (4) implementing an exit strategy. For each phase of the model, we identified key activities that may enable de-escalation to move forward. Implications of this model for both research and practice are discussed.
This empirical study of Internet adoption in four Latin American countries delineates a gradual but progressive course of institutional actions and suggests a temporal ordering of the actions--including knowledge building, subsidy, knowledge deployment, innovation directive, and standard setting. The temporal model reveals how each country sustained the momentum of its evolving strategy, grew in competence to forge technological solutions, and gained access to the Internet. The four countries' original goals changed, but through experience they perceived new opportunities and established evolving Internet strategies that form the bases of new technological services provided at the national level.