THE DARK SIDE OF DIGITAL PLATFORMS: UNDERSTANDING SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES' DEPENDENCE ON THIRD-PARTY PLATFORMS

2023 | European Conference On Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Asadullah, Ahmad; Faik, Isam; Lim, Shi Ying

Abstract: The digital platform business model has evolved and become a dominant form of e ... Expand

Abstract: The digital platform business model has evolved and become a dominant form of economic interaction worldwide. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) had to shift their business to platforms to survive in this new market. While existing studies show the positive side of SMEs' use of platforms, there has been little research on the dark side of their participation in the platform economy, particularly their high dependence on platforms. We conducted a qualitative study to examine the mechanisms of dependence and its repercussions on SMEs' performance. Our findings suggest that SMEs' dependence on platforms arises from high importance, low discretion, and limited substitutability. We also find that, beyond their dependence on single platforms, SMEs generally become dependent on an oligopolistic system of dominant platforms. This dependence heightens the power asymmetry between platforms and SMEs. We highlight major manifestations of this power asymmetry, including the platform's ability to restrict access to resources and to prioritize different stakeholders' interests in their ecosystem. Collapse

Topics: electronic commerce digital platform business-to-consumer website electronic business

Methods: qualitative interview field study computational algorithm personal interview theory development

Theories: resource dependency theory

Corporate Trade War Uncertainty and Patent Bubble

2023 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Yang, Xu; Hu, Nan; Liang, Peng

Abstract: This paper draws upon resource dependence theory and investigates how trade pol ... Expand

Abstract: This paper draws upon resource dependence theory and investigates how trade policy uncertainty affects firm strategic innovation management in China. Adopting a machine learning approach called Word2Vec from computational linguistics, we construct and validate a measure of firm-level managers' perceived trade war uncertainty (TWU). We find that TWU has a positive effect on the number of total patent applications, but this positive effect is totally driven by low-quality patents instead of high-quality patents. Moreover, we document that firms have stronger incentives for such strategic innovation behavior when the underlying firms are more financially constrained, and/or when the management is more myopic. In addition, we open the behavioral black box of firms' strategic innovation and demonstrate that patents can be employed opportunistically to meet government policies to further attract more government subsidies. Collapse

Topics: innovation management armed conflict missing data accounting database system

Methods: word2vec machine learning longitudinal research time series analysis regression analysis method

Theories: resource dependency theory

Does it Pay to Have CIOs on the Board? Creating Value by Appointing C-Level IT Executives to the Board of Directors

2022 | Journal of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Bandodkar, Nikhil; Grover, Varun

Abstract: In an increasingly digital world, C-level information technology experts (CITEs ... Expand

Abstract: In an increasingly digital world, C-level information technology experts (CITEs) such as CIOs and CTOs are playing an increasingly indispensable role in leading IT initiatives. Despite this, recent research shows a lack of oversight by the board of directors over the IT function due to the "IT confidence gap" of directors with no IT expertise. This has resulted in the emergence of a recent trend of appointing CITEs to the board of directors. However, there is little research on whether such appointments result in value creation for the appointing firms. We use perspectives from agency and resource dependence theories to examine two value impacts of CITE director appointments to address this question. We suggest that CITE director appointments create signaling value by enhancing the firm's ability to signal their intention to institute more effective oversight of the IT function and subsequently accumulate value in the form of share price reaction to appointment announcements. Correspondingly, CITE directors' human and relational capital application also creates substantive value in the form of firm financial performance over a longer duration. Using an event study and hierarchical linear modeling, our analysis of 334 CITE director appointments largely supports our contention that the human and relational capital of CITE directors and their appointment in firms facing IT-related contextual conditions results in both a positive share price reaction and better firm financial performance over the long term. We conclude that appointing CITE directors with the appropriate capital under certain contextual conditions leads to firm value creation. Collapse

Topics: human resource management organizational value value creation IT manager database system

Methods: longitudinal research propensity score method event study descriptive statistic post-hoc analysis

Theories: agency theory signaling theory resource based view of the firm resource dependency theory

A Theoretical Discussion of Consumers’ Willingness to Disclose Personal Information Despite Privacy Concerns

2022 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Bulgurcu, Burcu

Abstract: The widespread adoption of digital technologies has dramatically increased the ... Expand

Abstract: The widespread adoption of digital technologies has dramatically increased the concerns over invasion of consumers' information privacy. Several studies show that despite the increasing concerns over invasion of privacy, consumers seldom engage in activities to protect their personal information. Why does privacy remain an elusive concept in practice even though it is widely discussed? This article adopts a resource dependency perspective (Emerson 1962;Pfeffer and Salancik 1978) to explain the reasons of the discrepancy between consumers' privacy attitudes and their actual behaviors. In particular, this paper explains the power-dependency asymmetry in the consumer-firm relationship and explores the mechanisms that foster consumers' dependency on the firm. The dependency asymmetry in a consumerfirm relationship is proposed to enhance the consumers' willingness to self-disclose personal information or allow the firm to intrude into their privacy through new invasive technologies. Collapse

Topics: privacy resource allocation

Theories: resource dependency theory social exchange theory

Competitive Brokerage: How Information Management Capability And Collaboration Networks Act As Substitutes

2021 | Journal of Management Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Andrade-Rojas, Mariana Giovanna; Kathuria, Abhishek; Konsynski, Benn R.

Abstract: IT-based information management and collaboration networks are both important so ... Expand

Abstract: IT-based information management and collaboration networks are both important sources of competitive information. Despite anecdotal evidence, limited research examines their contemporaneous impact on firms' ability to compete effectively. We take an information asymmetry perspective to examine the mechanisms through which the firm's information management capability and the structure of its collaboration network influence the structure of its competition network in product markets. We argue that taking a brokerage position in competition networks has a positive influence on a firm's performance. We then explain how the firm's information management capability and its position in collaboration networks each have a direct positive influence on its brokerage position in the competition network. Finally, we propose that information management capability and a central position in collaboration networks act as substitutes. We empirically test our model using a longitudinal competition network, a longitudinal collaboration network, and longitudinal secondary data about firms' information management capability, drawn from 262 firms over a 15-year period. Our findings, robust to endogeneity concerns and alternative model specifications, reveal the direct and substitution effects of information management capability and collaboration networks on competition networks. This research contributes to the information systems and strategy literatures by offering insights into how IT enables firms to design competitive strategies by facilitating analyses of competitors' information, and how the information gained by firms as they collaborate can enhance their ability to compete. Collapse

Topics: organizational productivity information management strategic management database system IS value

Methods: longitudinal research computational algorithm descriptive statistic statistical hypothesis test Compustat

Theories: lemon market theory resource dependency theory

How Boards of Directors Can Contribute to Governing IT

2021 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Caluwe, Laura; De Haes, Steven; Wilkin, Carla; Huygh, Tim

Abstract: Digital transformation is becoming ubiquitous as organizations increasingly rely ... Expand

Abstract: Digital transformation is becoming ubiquitous as organizations increasingly rely on IT to create business value. As a result, IT strategy is increasingly intertwined with organizational strategy, with risks as IT becomes progressively more important, requiring both management and governance. Given boards of directors are ultimately accountable for strategic decision-making and control, these changes charge boards with accountability for governing digital assets. Whilst board-level IT governance should enable better organizational performance, research suggests that the value created by the board in governing IT depends on the roles they play. In exploring these roles, we use the more mature research domain of corporate governance to develop improved understanding of the type of board roles and the importance assigned by a board to governing IT. Collapse

Topics: IT governance corporate governance digital transformation IT risk management risk management

Methods: qualitative content analysis literature sample

Theories: stewardship theory resource dependency theory

Assimilation of business intelligence: The effect of external pressures and top leaders commitment during pandemic crisis

2021 | International Journal of Information Management | Citations: 6

Authors: Chaubey, Akriti; Sahoo, Chandan Kumar

Abstract: The business intelligence (BI) has been often touted as a game-changer especiall ... Expand

Abstract: The business intelligence (BI) has been often touted as a game-changer especially during the pandemic crisis. Although most managers are familiar with BI and agree that, it should be operationalized across their organi­ zations. The BI is not well assimilated throughout adopting organizations. Rooted in institutional and upper echelon theories, this study proposes a theoretical model aimed toward explaining BI assimilation. We surveyed 174 respondents occupying leadership positions from174 auto-components manufacturing firms in India to gather data. The findings suggest that normative and mimetic (but not coercive) factors significantly influence top leader’s commitment to the BI initiatives. We found that the commitment of the top leaders influences the assimilation of BI via acceptance and routinization. Our study is an attempt to address the previous research calls related to BI assimilation. The findings of the study inform the information management scholars via theorybased research on phenomena related to post-adoption BI diffusion during a pandemic crisis. Practitioners can utilize the results of our study to design their policies that help assimilate BI such that forecasted benefits can be fully realized during an uncertain time. Collapse

Topics: pandemic information management decision making enterprise resource planning national culture

Methods: survey theory development literature study instrumental variables estimation regression analysis method

Theories: institutional theory organizational theory contingency theory resource dependency theory organizational behavior theory

Project leaders as boundary spanners in open source software development: A resource dependence perspective

2021 | Information Systems Journal | Citations: 25

Authors: Dong, John Qi; Götz, Sebastian Johannes

Abstract: Digital social innovation is important for addressing various social needs, espe ... Expand

Abstract: Digital social innovation is important for addressing various social needs, especially from those who are economically disadvantaged. For instance, open source software (OSS) is developed by mass collaboration on digital communities to provide software users free alternatives to commercial products. OSS is particularly valuable to meet the needs of numerous disadvantaged users for whom proprietary software is not affordable. While OSS projects are lack of formal organizational structure, project leaders play a significant role in initiating and managing these projects and eventually, influencing the degree to which the developed software is used and liked by users. Drawing on resource dependence theory, we investigate the impacts of two team-level characteristics of OSS project leaders (ie, size and tenure) on how well the developed software can address users' needs, with regard to the quantity of software being used by users and the quality of software to users' satisfaction. Further, from a resource dependence perspective, we examine the moderating role of project leaders' network ties in shaping the contingency of these effects. By using a large-scale dataset from 43 048 OSS development projects in SourceForge community, we find empirical evidence corroborating our theory. Taken together, our findings suggest the boundary-spanning role of project leaders in developing digital social innovation. Collapse

Topics: innovation management boundary spanning user requirement IT project social capital

Methods: descriptive statistic cross sectional research statistical hypothesis test archival research ordinary least square

Theories: resource dependency theory

Partnering for prosperity: small IT vendor partnership formation and the establishment of partner pools

2021 | European Journal of Information Systems | Citations: 1

Authors: Findikoglu, N. Melike; Ranganathan, Chandrasekaran; Watson-Manheim, Mary Beth

Abstract: Small IT vendors increasingly establish intra-industry collaborative arrangement ... Expand

Abstract: Small IT vendors increasingly establish intra-industry collaborative arrangements with other technology providers. Despite the criticality of this strategy, there is little research that provides insights into partnership formation. Our study attempts to close this gap.Building on resource dependency theory (RDT) and resource-based view (RBV), we posit that, depending on external market and internal resource considerations, small IT vendors either supplement or complement their IT resources and capabilities via partnerships. When seeking to expand the scope of their resource portfolio by accessing dissimilar resources, vendors are engage in complementary partnerships (goal: improving the scope of IT resources). However, if they seek to expand the scale of their portfolio, they engage in supplementary partnerships (goal: extending the scale of IT resources). Using a qualitative approach, we examine the partnership formation practices of seven small IT firms. We propose a conceptual framework with five constructs that illustrate dynamics underlying these IT service partnerships, i.e., External market considerations, Internal resource configurations, Partner considerations, Partnership exploration, and Partnership development. We find variations in partnership practices depending on the supplementary or complementary nature of resources being sought. We also find small IT vendors form and manage partner pools to mitigate risks associated with partnerships. Collapse

Topics: systems development electronic mail outsourcing user experience enterprise application integration

Methods: qualitative interview personal interview field study theory development qualitative coding

Theories: resource based view of the firm resource dependency theory

Critical Success Factors Affecting Implementation of Cloud ERP Systems: A Systematic Literature Review with Future Research Possibilities

2021 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Huang, Qian; Rahim, Mahbubur; Foster, Susan; Anwar, Misita

Abstract: The implementation of Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning systems (Cloud ERP) is ... Expand

Abstract: The implementation of Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning systems (Cloud ERP) is always challenging, which requires a variety of risks to be taken into consideration to ensure the success of the implementation. The assessment of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in on-premise ERP implementations has been well documented but this research has not carried through to Cloud ERP implementations. Therefore, the contribution of this paper is to provide research and practice with identification and analysis of 35 CSFs through a systematic literature review. Drawing from the literature, we found security, project management, and communication are the top three widely cited CSFs during implementation. We also identify critical gaps in current research, such as inconclusiveness of findings related to CSFs and a lack of discussion on the nature of criticality of those CSFs. Furthermore, the attributes of CSFs are investigated in order to explore CSFs in a more logical and systematical way. Collapse

Topics: enterprise resource planning cloud computing enterprise resource planning implementation project management on-premises software

Methods: structured literature research literature sample literature study qualitative content analysis synthesis

Theories: contingency theory social capital theory strategic choice theory resource dependency theory