Measuring the Big Data Readiness of Developing Countries – Index Development and its Application to Africa

2023 | Information Systems Frontiers | Citations: 0

Authors: Joubert, Anke; Murawski, Matthias; Bick, Markus

Abstract: The use of big data promises to drive economic growth and development and can th ... Expand

Abstract: The use of big data promises to drive economic growth and development and can therefore be a value-adding factor, but compared to private or public organisations, the country level is rarely investigated, and that is even more evident for developing countries. Another topic hardly ever considered in the big data research field is ‘big data readiness’, which means the level of preparation and willingness to exploit big data. We address these shortcomings in the literature and focus on the big data readiness of developing countries. Thus, the first research question is: what components are required for an index measuring big data readiness, and how can such an index be designed? We use a design science approach to develop the “Big Data Readiness Index” (BDRI), which is then applied to all African countries to answer our second research question: how do African countries perform in terms of the BDRI? Our analysis yields country rankings that show relatively high BDRI scores for coastal countries, such as South Africa, Kenya and Namibia, and for islands, such as Mauritius. Related implications for both research and policy are discussed. Collapse

Topics: big data missing data open data research and development telephone

Methods: design science cluster analysis hierarchical clustering literature study design process

Oppositional Logics and the Antecedents of Hybridization: A Country-Level Study of the Diffusion of Islamic Banking Windows, 1975–2017

2020 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Boone, Christophe; Özcan, Serden

Abstract: Little is known about when and where hybrid organizations diffuse. We argue that ... Expand

Abstract: Little is known about when and where hybrid organizations diffuse. We argue that neo-institutional perspectives, which stress the constraining role of market categories and institutional logics, have to be complemented with demand-side perspectives that stress the enabling force of economic incentives to explain the origins of hybrids. We develop theory to predict the country-level diffusion of hybrid forms in Islamic banking in the 1975–2017 period, during which many conventional banks invaded the domain of Islamic banking by starting to sell Islamic banking services, or so-called “Islamic windows.” Our findings underscore the relevance of simultaneously studying the impact of constraining and enabling forces. Consistent with neo-institutional theory, we find strong evidence that a lack of constitutive legitimacy of the window form—only in countries where Muslims make up a large share of the population—and the ideological polarization of local audiences reify the ideological boundaries between the oppositional banking logics, which in turn hampers the diffusion of windows in the focal country. At the same time, however, it appears that the failure of local credit markets and country-level economic globalization, the latter even more in countries with a Muslim majority, provide potent economic incentives for the diffusion of windows. By stressing the role of utilitarian incentives and material exchange as drivers of hybridization, we bridge the gap between neo-institutional and more rationalist approaches of institutional change. Collapse

Topics: database system website digital media social identity

Methods: hazard function descriptive statistic robustness check regression analysis method likelihood-ratio test

Theories: institutional theory dominant logic

Smartphone Addictions: A Review of Themes, Theories and Future Research Directions

2020 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Richard, Boateng; Nyamadi, Makafui; Asamenu, Immaculate

Abstract: This research work presents a literature review on "Smartphone Addiction" (SA). ... Expand

Abstract: This research work presents a literature review on "Smartphone Addiction" (SA). The papers used for this review were retrieved from AIS (All Repositories), Elsevier, Wiley Online, Tailor and Francis and JSTOR databases using the phrase "Smartphone Addiction". In all, 13 AIS top conferences and 31 peer-reviewed journals searched from 2007 to July 2018 returned 1572 papers. This paper details the findings based on the literature assessment of 128 publications. In terms of context and geographical gaps, Asia leads the chart with 39 articles representing 30.5percent and Africa recorded only 1 paper used for this work. Online data collection with global focus had 37 articles representing 28.9percent and quantitative methodology was adopted by 91 articles representing 71.1percent. SA research was more at the micro and meso levels. This review has demonstrated that literature offers several perspectives on SA but failed to establish a causal theory or a model that fully accounted for urge and craving phenomena from an IS design principle perspective to mitigate SA. Also, smartphones are devices (artifacts) that enable users to access and become addicted to applications such as video games, SNSs, emails, etc. Future research should, therefore, focus more on addictive activities and applications on these devices. Collapse

Topics: smartphone addiction mobile system database system smartphone

Methods: literature sample survey mixed method literature study design science

Theories: uses and gratification theory flow theory expectation confirmation theory

A usability assessment of e-government websites in Sub-Saharan Africa

2018 | International Journal of Information Management | Citations: 0

Authors: Verkijika, Silas Formunyuy; De Wet, Lizette

Abstract: E-government holds enormous potential for improving the administrative efficiency ... Expand

Abstract: E-government holds enormous potential for improving the administrative efficiency of public institutions, encouraging democratic governance, and building trust between citizens/private sector and governments. However, most e-government initiatives to date have failed to attain their full potential, because they are increasingly plagued by usability issues. Consequently, there have been increasing calls for evaluating the usability of e-government websites, as they are widely considered to be the primary platform for government interaction with citizens. This study, therefore, seeks to contribute to extant knowledge by evaluating the usability of egovernment websites from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This is particularly important as little is known about the usability of e-government websites in the region, and worst still, it is the least advanced region in terms of egovernment development. This study evaluated a total of 279 e-government websites from 31 SSA countries. The findings showed that most e-government websites in SSA were characterised by poor usability. The average usability score for the websites was 36.2%, with the most usable website having a score of only 64.8%. The study also showed that the usability of e-government websites was positively associated with the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) and the E-Participation Index (EPI). Collapse

Topics: government system website usability

Methods: usability testing theoretical contribution survey triangulation

Legitimacy and the Benefits of Firm Formalization

2017 | Organization Science | Citations: 14

Authors: Assenova, Valentina A.; Sorenson, Olav

Abstract: Entrepreneurs in many emerging economies start their firms informally, without r ... Expand

Abstract: Entrepreneurs in many emerging economies start their firms informally, without registering with the state. We examine how informality at the time of founding affected the performance of 12,146 firms in 18 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings indicate that entrepreneurs who registered their firms at founding enjoyed greater success in terms of sales and employment. But these benefits varied widely across countries. Consistent with the idea that legitimation processes account for these benefits, countries in which people trust their government more had larger advantages associated with being formal. Collapse

Topics: organizational productivity

Methods: survey descriptive statistic data transformation parametric test two sample t-test with equal variance

The Structure of Political Institutions and Effectiveness of Corporate Political Lobbying

2015 | Organization Science | Citations: 4

Authors: Choi, Seong-Jin; Jia, Nan; Lu, Jiangyong

Abstract: This paper investigates how the structure of political institutions influences t ... Expand

Abstract: This paper investigates how the structure of political institutions influences the effectiveness of corporate political lobbying by shaping the “veto points” and “entry points” that lobbying firms encounter and require, respectively, when attempting to influence public policies; in so doing, this study deepens our understanding of the strategic implications of institutional environments. Using large-sample and cross-country firm-level data, we find that the influence of firms’ lobbying activities on public policies is weakened when there are tighter constraints generated as a result of greater political (partisan) competition and more subnational government tiers. We find that the negative association between the effectiveness of lobbying and political (partisan) competition is particularly pronounced in countries with lower electoral accountability and that the negative association between the effectiveness of lobbying and subnational government tiers is particularly pronounced in more centralized political systems. Collapse

Topics: accounting logistics management database system

Methods: hierarchical linear modeling survey propensity score method parametric test Student's t-test

Organizational Control, Incentive Contracts, and Knowledge Transfer in Offshore Business Process Outsourcing

2015 | Information Systems Research | Citations: 18

Authors: Liu, Ying; Aron, Ravi

Abstract: We study the determinants of output quality in offshore business process outsour ... Expand

Abstract: We study the determinants of output quality in offshore business process outsourcing (BPO). Firms can exert control over output quality through incentives formally written into contracts and allow both clients and providers to manage the offshore agents creating a dual governance mechanism. We use a combination of two data sets, a cross sectional data set of 139 processes and a balanced panel data set comprising 21 processes with 36 observations per process, to investigate the impact of different factors on the quality of output of offshore BPO providers. Our findings point to the strong moderating effect of process codifiability on the dual governance mechanism. Process codifiability is not only associated with higher output quality, it also moderates the functioning of the dual governance mechanism and determines when the managerial efforts of the client and provider are substitutes and when they are complementary. We show that contractual incentives tied to quality are generally associated with a higher quality of output. Finally, we show that the use of process-level inter-organizational information systems also has a positive impact on the output quality of offshore BPO providers. Collapse

Topics: offshoring business process management interorganizational system outsourcing business process management system

Methods: longitudinal research cross sectional research time series analysis theory development autocorrelation analysis

Theories: organizational theory

Learning to Carry the Cat by the Tail: Firm Experience, Disasters, and Multinational Subsidiary Entry and Expansion

2014 | Organization Science | Citations: 0

Authors: Oetzel, Jennifer M.; Oh, Chang Hoon

Abstract: We investigate whether firm experience with discontinuous risks, particularly hi ... Expand

Abstract: We investigate whether firm experience with discontinuous risks, particularly high-impact disasters that are episodic and difficult to anticipate, moderates the relationship between disasters, foreign entry, and expansion decisions. Using a panel data set with 57,500 observations from 106 large European multinational corporations and their subsidiaries operating across 109 countries from 2001 to 2007, we find that although discontinuous risk was negatively related to firm entry and expansion, firms that had experience with high-impact disasters were more likely to expand in countries experiencing disasters. Collapse

Topics: terrorist incident natural hazard database system risk management decision making

Methods: descriptive statistic robustness check regression analysis method longitudinal research statistical hypothesis test

Theories: resource based view of the firm

Factors Influencing e-Government Maturity in Transition Economies and Developing Countries: A Longitudinal Perspective

2011 | ACM SIGMIS Database | Citations: 0

Authors: Ifinedo, Princely

Abstract: This study examines the influences of relevant environmental factors on E-govern ... Expand

Abstract: This study examines the influences of relevant environmental factors on E-government (E-gov) maturity in transition economies and developing countries (TEDC). Countries from Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin American and South Asia were selected for the study. Prior research has investigated E-gov growth, development, and diffusion across both the developed and developing worlds. While such a focus is useful for comparative analyses at a global level, it is however argued that more useful information will emerge to enrich insight when research efforts particularly focus attention on issues in emerging parts of the world. Very few researchers have studied the factors influencing E-gov maturity in TEDC and with the approach employed in this present research. Using relevant theoretical frameworks, this research identified and examined the impact of 9 environmental factors of socio, political, economic, and technological dimensions on E-gov maturity in TEDC. A 5-year panel data consisting of 320 observations or data points was used in conjunction with the ordinary least squares (OLS) technique. This research also provided analyses for each of the selected sub-regions to enhance insight. Overall, the results showed that the availability of quality human resource, technological infrastructure, innovative capacity, wealth, rule of law, and transparency levels are important factors that positively impact E-gov maturity in TEDC. The implications of the study's findings for research and policy making are discussed. Future research avenues are also highlighted. Collapse

Topics: human resource management digital divide government system

Methods: longitudinal research regression analysis method cross sectional research nonparametric test theory development

Theories: economic theory contingency theory

ICT Investment Impacts on Future Levels of Democracy, Corruption, and E-Government Acceptance in Emerging Countries

2007 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Soper, Daniel

Abstract: Structuration theory and the theory of network society are used to guide an inve ... Expand

Abstract: Structuration theory and the theory of network society are used to guide an investigation of the extent to which ICT investments in emerging countries impact future levels of democracy, corruption, and egovernment acceptance. Using structural path modeling and data from fifty emerging economies, this paper finds that an emerging country’s acceptance of the e-government paradigm is contingent upon its levels of corruption and institutionalized democracy, which in turn are contingent upon the country’s ICT investment levels. The specific details and implications of these findings for policy-makers are discussed. Collapse

Topics: IT investment government system missing data information technology infrastructure database system

Methods: data imputation Markov chain Monte Carlo

Theories: structuration theory