Despite the importance of investing in information technology, research on business value of information technology (BVIT) shows contradictory results, raising questions about the reasons for divergence. Kohli and Devaraj (2003) provided valuable insights into this issue based on a meta-analysis of 66 BVIT studies. This paper extends Kohli and Devaraj by examining the influences on BVIT through a meta-analysis of 303 studies published between 1990 and 2013. We found that BVIT increases when the study does not consider IT investment, does not use profitability measure of value, and employs primary data sources, fewer IT-related antecedents, and larger sample size. Considerations of IT alignment, IT adoption and use, and interorganizational IT strengthen the relationship between IT investment on BVIT, whereas the focus on environmental theories dampens the same relationship. However, the use of productivity measures of value, the number of dependent variables, the economic region, the consideration of IT assets and IT infrastructure or capability, and the consideration of IT sophistication do not affect BVIT. Finally, BVIT increases over time with IT progress. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Senior executives continue to be concerned about factors influencing the business effect of information technology (IT). Prior research has argued that business--IT strategic alignment facilitates business effect of IT and that contextual factors affect business--IT alignment. However, the role of knowledge considerations in the relationship between contextual factors and alignment, and the role of IT projects in the relationship between alignment and business effects of IT, have not been explicitly examined. Therefore, this paper pursues the following two research questions: (1) Based on knowledge considerations, how do planning behaviors (specifically, IT managers' participation in business planning and business managers' participation in IT planning) and top management knowledge of IT mediate the effects of two contextual factors--organizational emphasis on knowledge management and centralization of IT decisions--on business--IT strategic alignment? (2) How do aspects of IT projects (specifically, quality of IT project planning and implementation problems in IT projects) mediate the relationship between business--IT strategic alignment and business effects of IT? Results from a survey of 274 senior information officers indicate that organizational emphasis on knowledge management and centralization of IT decisions affect top managers' knowledge of IT, which facilitates business managers' participation in strategic IT planning and IT managers' participation in business planning, and both of these planning behaviors affect business--IT strategic alignment. Moreover, the results indicate that quality of IT project planning and implementation problems in IT projects mediate the relationship between business--IT strategic alignment and business effect of IT. These findings highlight the importance of considering the planning and implementation of IT projects when examining the effects of business--IT strategic alignment, and highlight the importance of considering...
This paper examines the evolution of portfolio of controls over the duration of outsourced information systems development (ISD) projects. Drawing on five cases, it concludes that many findings from research on control of internal ISD projects apply to the outsourced context as well, but with some interesting differences. The portfolios of control in outsourced projects are dominated by outcome controls, especially at the start of the project; although the precision and frequency of these controls varies across projects. Behavior controls are often added later in the project, as are controls aimed to encourage and enable vendor self-control. Clan controls were used in only two of the cases--when the client and vendor had shared goals, and when frequent interactions led to shared values. In general, the outsourced projects we studied began with relatively simple controls but often required significant additional controls after experiencing performance problems. Factors influencing the choice and evolution of controls are also examined.
Prior research examines several knowledge management processes, considering each as universally appropriate. Instead, we propose that the context influences the suitability of a knowledge management process. We develop a contingency framework, including two attributes of the organizational subunit's tasks: process or content orientation, and focused or broad domain, and links knowledge management processes to them: internalization for focused, process-oriented tasks: externalization for focused, content-oriented tasks; combination for broad, content-oriented tasks; and socialization for broad, process-oriented tasks. The empirical research was done at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), based on several interviews and survey data from 159 individuals across 8 subunits. The results supported the contingency frame-work. All the knowledge management processes except externalization had a positive impact in the expected cell. At the overall level, combination and externalization, but not internalization and socialization, affect knowledge satisfaction. Some implications for practice and research are identified.
Commitment to an information systems (IS) development project is widely believed to affect the eventual success of the system. Problems arising from low commitment have also been described. However, there has been little research on the factors that influence the level of commitment to an IS project. This paper provides some initial insights into the determinants of commitment based on a longitudinal study of an IS project that was stopped and then restarted on several occasions over a 17-year period (1975-1992). The paper draws four types of determinants - project, psychological, social, and structural - from the organization behavior literature and uses them to explain six decisions that were made during the 17-year period. A comparison of these six decisions suggests that project determinants play a central role during the initial commitment decision, but the other determinants assume greater importance in later stages. Moreover, it seems that in this case study, project and psychological determinants affected the decision to increase commitment, whereas social and structural determinants influenced the decision to withdraw commitment to the project Some implications for practice and future research are examined.
Information systems researchers commonly describe variance and process strategies for studying information system development (ISD) as alternatives that may be difficult to reconcile. In this paper, we argue that it is possible to reconcile these two strategies, despite the clear differences that exist between them. Some possible methods of combining variance and process strategies are examined, the most powerful of which jointly applies these strategies while maintaining their distinct forms. This method is used in this paper, with variance strategy being implemented using levels of participation of key actors and process strategy being implemented using sequences of actions. Based on empirical analysis of 50 ISD projects, five clusters of ISD processes are examined. Results show that projects that are similar based on levels of participation are also similar based on event sequences, thus indicating that variance and process strategies can be reconciled. The insights that variance strategy, process strategy, and joint application provide into each cluster are examined.