The Value of Centralized IT in Building Resilience During Crises: Evidence from U.S. Higher Education’s Transition to Emergency Remote Teaching

2023 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 0

Authors: Park, Jiyong; Son, Yoonseock; Angst, Corey

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations, including higher education institut ... Expand

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations, including higher education institutions, to rapidly adjust their operations. In the face of the pandemic, most higher education institutions shut down their campuses and transitioned to emergency remote teaching mode. This study examines digital resilience in higher education institutions through the conceptual lens of disaster response management, by assessing the role played by the centralized governance of information technology (IT) investments. We posit that centralized IT helps organizations maintain customer satisfaction with services during a crisis (e.g., student satisfaction with classes during COVID-19) by facilitating the organization-wide transition to an emergency operational mode and supporting its service operations. Consolidating data on IT investment, governance, and course evaluations from 463 U.S. higher education institutions from 2017-2020, we show that centralized IT helped organizations adapt better to the pandemic in terms of maintaining student satisfaction. Moreover, we found that centralized IT investments geared toward facilitating organizational coordination and providing instructional and technical support played a pivotal role in enabling ERT and improving student ratings during the crisis. These results are corroborated by interviews with CIOs of U.S. higher education institutions. Additional analyses also suggest that the effectiveness of centralized IT governance is contingent upon organizational size, dissimilarity of local units, and the strategic role of the CIO. We also discuss theoretical extensions toward digital resilience as well as practical implications. Collapse

Topics: IT investment pandemic IT centralization covid 19 Chief Information Officer

Methods: qualitative interview experimental group robustness check survey longitudinal research

Does IT Matter to Acquisitions? The Impacts of IT Distance on Post-Acquisition Performance

2022 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 0

Authors: Lee, Kyunghee; Han, Kunsoo; Animesh, Animesh; Pinsonneault, Alain

Abstract: Although researchers have examined the role of dyadic dynamics (i.e., interactio ... Expand

Abstract: Although researchers have examined the role of dyadic dynamics (i.e., interactions between the acquirer and the target firm) in the success of acquisitions, little attention has been devoted to the role of information technology (IT). In this study, we extend this literature by examining how pre-acquisition IT distance (i.e., the difference between the enterprise IT systems of the two firms that reflects the system incompatibility and resulting costs of system integration) affects the acquirer’s post-acquisition performance. To measure IT distance, we used a word-embedding technique to map each firm’s IT systems portfolio to a low-dimensional embedding space and calculate the distance between the firms in that space. Using data on U.S. firms’ acquisition activities over seven years, we found that IT distance is negatively associated with the acquirer’s post-acquisition performance. Also, the adverse effect of IT distance is stronger for acquisitions motivated by operational synergies, compared to those seeking non-operational synergies. This finding supports our fundamental premise that IT distance disrupts post-acquisition synergy creation, and more so when the combined firm has a greater need for tight integration to create acquisition synergies. This research contributes to the merger and acquisition (M&A) literature in management and IS by introducing a novel concept of IT distance and by theorizing and empirically examining its performance implications in acquisitions. The findings of this study can inform practitioners on how to devise IT strategies in corporate acquisitions to mitigate IT risks and achieve greater post-acquisition performance. Collapse

Topics: system integration Oracle database enterprise information system value creation IT decentralization

Methods: survey word2vec descriptive statistic word embedding theory development

Mine, Yours, … Ours? Managing Stakeholder Conflicts in an Enterprise Blockchain Consortium

2022 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Ziolkowski, Rafael; Schwabe, Gerhard

Abstract: When major corporations build and manage own platforms, most of the conflicts ar ... Expand

Abstract: When major corporations build and manage own platforms, most of the conflicts are resolved internally. With the rise of blockchain systems, also blockchainbased platforms are increasingly tried out, which are governed in a decentralized fashion. But moving from hierarchical efficiency to a democratic inclusiveness, in which blockchain proponents believe, is difficult: the variety of included actors raise a variety of conflicts, when platform users become platform complementors or even owners. To manage these conflicts, it is necessary to analyze each actor in detail. This paper reflects on the developments within an ongoing enterprise blockchain consortium in a small European country in the automotive domain from a governance perspective. We portray the consortium’s stakeholder conflicts, propose solutions for these conflicts and relate them to literature on blockchain governance. Our findings contextualize several theoretical stances, emphasizing the importance of the organizational over the technological embedment in blockchain governance. Collapse

Topics: blockchain quality management IT planning IS management systems development life cycle

Methods: qualitative interview action research literature study theoretical contribution focus group

Early Exploration of MOOCs in the U.S. Higher Education: An Absorptive Capacity Perspective

2021 | ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Huang, Peng; Lucas, Henry C.

Abstract: Advanced information technologies have enabled Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC ... Expand

Abstract: Advanced information technologies have enabled Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which have the potential to transform higher education around the world. Why are some institutions eager to embrace this technology-enabled model of teaching, while others remain reluctant to jump aboard? Applying the theory of absorptive capacity, we study the role of a university's educational IT capabilities in becoming an early MOOC producer. Examining the history of MOOC offerings by U.S. colleges and universities, we find that prior IT capabilities, such as (1) the use of Web 2.0, social media and other interactive tools for teaching and (2) experience with distance education and hybrid teaching, are positively associated with the early exploration of MOOCs. Interestingly, we also find that the effect of educational IT capabilities is moderated by social integration mechanisms and activation triggers. For example, when instructional IT supporting services are highly decentralized, educational IT capabilities have a greater impact on the probability of a university offering a MOOC. In addition, for colleges facing an adverse environment, such as those experience a decline in college applications, the effect of IT capabilities on the exploration of MOOCs is much stronger. Collapse

Topics: online learning system information technology capability IT decentralization digital innovation logistics management

Methods: longitudinal research survey logistic regression factor analysis robustness check

Theories: absorptive capacity theory unified theory of acceptance and use of technology

Managing Tensions between Architectural Debt and Digital Innovation: The Case of a Financial Organization

2021 | HICSS | Citations: 7

Authors: Rolland, Knut H; Lyytinen, Kalle

Abstract: In recent years, Information System (IS) scholars have increasingly explored the ... Expand

Abstract: In recent years, Information System (IS) scholars have increasingly explored the malleability and recombinability of digital artifacts that facilitate innovation and change. In this paper, we focus on how architectural debt thwarts evolvability of complex IT architectures and systems founded on them. We conduct a case study in a major Scandinavian financial institution and explore their how they managed architectural debt during fast paced service innovation. Our analysis suggests that the firm’s capability to innovate depended on software developer’s ability to work across multiple syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic knowledge boundaries whilst addressing architectural debt. The paper offers two contributions. First, we add to the nascent body of socio-technical research on technical debt by illustrating how architectural debt cuts across multiple developer teams and architecture layers making it hard to identify and resolve. Second, we expand studies of digital innovation by identifying two interconnected tensions faced when innovators have to evolve complex IT architectures that lay the foundation for artefact malleability. We tie how the tensions are addressed to the firm’s capability to manage architectural debt. Collapse

Topics: innovation management digital innovation enterprise architecture IT governance systems development

Methods: case study qualitative interview design methodology theory development narrative analysis

COMMITMENT TO IT INVESTMENT PLANS: THE INTERPLAY OF REAL EARNINGS, MANAGEMENT, IT DECENTRALIZATION, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

2021 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 0

Authors: Xue, Ling; Mithas, Sunil

Abstract: How does real earnings management (REM) influence the extent to which firms real ... Expand

Abstract: How does real earnings management (REM) influence the extent to which firms realize their IT investment plans? To answer this question, we study the association between firms’ engagement in REM and the extent of commitment to planned investments in IT infrastructure. We also study the extent to which this association is moderated by IT decentralization, and, in turn, how such a moderating relationship is influenced by other corporate governance mechanisms such as institutional ownership and takeover threats. We document three important findings based on our analyses of data on 2,884 U.S. firms over the period 1998–2009. First, we find a negative association between engagement in REM and IT infrastructure investment commitment, suggesting potentially negative consequences of REM for realizing IT investment plans. Second, we find that IT decentralization weakens the negative association between REM and IT investment commitment (ITIC), implying that decentralized IT governance mechanisms can serve as a potential antidote to negative effects of REM on IT investments. Finally, we find evidence that other corporate governance mechanisms, such as institutional ownership and takeover threats, can complement IT decentralization to further mitigate the negative association between REM and ITIC. Together, these findings provide new insights on how REM, IT decentralization, and other corporate governance mechanisms influence actual IT investments of firms. Our work here, which focuses on deviations from one’s own IT investment plans, makes a novel contribution by extending prior work which has so far focused only on deviations from industry norm in IT investments. Collapse

Topics: IT decentralization IT investment corporate governance information technology infrastructure database system

Methods: robustness check Compustat descriptive statistic probit regression data transformation

Examining the Effects of Interfirm Managerial Social Ties on It Components Diversity: An Agency Perspective

2018 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 5

Authors: Xue, Ling; Yang, Ke; Yao, Yuliang

Abstract: The article presents a study on the effects of interfirm managerial social ties ... Expand

Abstract: The article presents a study on the effects of interfirm managerial social ties (IMST's) on information technology (IT) components diversity. Topics include the positive relationship between IMST's and IT components diversity, specifically for firms with centralized IT decision making, and the tendency for corporate decision makers with more diversified social connections with IT suppliers to recruit IT suppliers in a way that increases diversity of IT components and jeopardizes a firm's overall IT standardization endeavor. Collapse

Topics: decision making database system information technology infrastructure workstation communication service infrastructure

Methods: descriptive statistic instrumental variables estimation Compustat data transformation factor analysis

Theories: agency theory

Absorptive Capacity and the Adoption of MOOCs in Higher Education: The Role of Educational IT

2015 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Huang, Peng; Lucas, Henry

Abstract: Advanced information technologies have enabled the development of Massive Open O ... Expand

Abstract: Advanced information technologies have enabled the development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which have the potential to transform higher education. Why are some schools able to more easily embrace this technology-based model of teaching, while others are reluctant to jump aboard? Applying the theory of absorptive capacity, we examine the role of a school’s educational IT – including its investments in both IT capabilities and IT governance structures – in becoming a MOOC producer. Using a unique longitudinal dataset that combines the complete history of MOOC adoption by US colleges and universities, and their use of educational IT, we find that prior educational IT capabilities such as 1) the use of Web 2.0, social media and other interactive tools for teaching, and 2) the school’s prior experience with distance education and hybrid teaching are positively associated with MOOC adoption. We also find that the contribution of educational IT capabilities to MOOC adoption is moderated by IT governance practices. When the provision of educational IT supporting services are highly decentralized, educational IT capabilities have a greater impact on the probability of a school adopting a MOOC than when these services are primarily provided by the central IT organization. We discuss the implications for research and practice. Collapse

Topics: online learning system information technology capability IT decentralization IT governance logistics management

Methods: survey longitudinal research factor analysis robustness check proportional hazards model

Theories: absorptive capacity theory

Discriminating IT Governance

2015 | Information Systems Research | Citations: 77

Authors: Tiwana, Amrit; Kim, Stephen K.

Abstract: The information technology (IT) governance literature predominantly explains fir ... Expand

Abstract: The information technology (IT) governance literature predominantly explains firms’ IT governance choices, but not their strategic consequences. We develop the idea that a firm’s IT governance choices induce adeptness at strategically exploiting IT only when they are discriminatingly aligned with its departments’ knowledge outside their specialty. Discriminating means that governing the two undertheorized classes of IT assets—apps and infrastructure—requires “peripheral” knowledge in different departments. Analyses of data from 105 firms support our middle-range theory. Collapse

Topics: IT governance mobile application strategic agility information technology infrastructure IT manager

Methods: statistical hypothesis test econometric modeling theory development instrumental variables estimation survey

Theories: organizational theory

A model to support IT infrastructure planning and the allocation of IT governance authority

2014 | Decision Support Systems | Citations: 2

Authors: Thompson, Steven; Ekman, Peter; Selby, Daniel; Whitaker, Jonathan

Abstract: Information technology (IT) requires a significant investment, involving up to 1 ... Expand

Abstract: Information technology (IT) requires a significant investment, involving up to 10.5% of revenue for some firms. Managers responsible for aligning IT investments with their firm's strategy seek to minimize technology costs, while ensuring that the IT infrastructure can accommodate increasing utilization, new software applications, and modifications to existing software applications. It becomes more challenging to align IT infrastructure and IT investments with firm strategy when firms operate in multiple geographic markets, because the firm faces different competitive positions and unique challenges in each market. We discussed these challenges with IT executives at four Forbes Global 2000 firms headquartered in Northern Europe. We build on interviews with these executives to develop a discrete-time, finite-horizon Markov decision model to identify the most economically-beneficial IT infrastructure configuration from a set of alternatives. While more flexibility is always better (all else equal) and lower cost is always better (all else equal), our model helps firms evaluate the tradeoff between flexibility and cost given their business strategy and corporate structure. Our model supports firms in the decision process by incorporating their data and allowing firms to include their expectations of how future business conditions may impact the need to make IT changes. Because the model is flexible enough to accept parameters across a range of business strategies and corporate structures, the model can help inform decisions and ensure that design choices are consistent with firm strategy. Collapse

Topics: IT investment information technology infrastructure IT governance decision support enterprise information system

Methods: qualitative interview simulation case study stochastic model Markov decision process

Theories: portfolio theory