Corporate Strategy Changes and Information Technology Control Effectiveness in Multibusiness Firms

2020 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 9

Authors: Tanriverdi, Hüseyin; Kui Du

Abstract: We develop a theory to explain why, how, and under what conditions corporate str ... Expand

Abstract: We develop a theory to explain why, how, and under what conditions corporate strategy changes negatively affect a multibusiness firm’s ability to design and effectively operate IT controls, and lead to the emergence of IT control material weaknesses (IT MW). Corporate strategy changes such as diversification, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and divestitures alter a firm’s complicatedness by adding or removing business units. These changes can also affect the firm’s complexity by altering the degree of interrelatedness among the firm’s businesses. We hypothesize that corporate strategy changes that affect the firm’s complexity are more likely to increase IT MW than those that only affect the firm’s complicatedness. Complexity-altering corporate strategy changes are likely to disrupt all three types of IT controls: IT controls over technology, IT controls over business processes, and IT controls over people’s behaviors. We hypothesize that the changes are likely to disrupt the IT controls over people much more than IT controls over technology or business processes. Complexity-altering corporate strategy changes are also likely to affect the design effectiveness of the IT controls much more than the operating effectiveness of the IT controls. We find support for these ideas in a longitudinal study of 2,477 publicly traded U.S. firms. Results also indicate that the internal control material weaknesses (IC MW)that emerge following corporate strategy changes are primarily due to IT MWrather than non-IT MW. The proposed theory and the findings have important implications for research and practice. Collapse

Topics: strategic management business process management corporate governance Sarbanes–Oxley Act IS effectiveness

Methods: robustness check proportional hazards model longitudinal research theory development autocorrelation analysis

Contextualized Relationship Between Knowledge Sharing and Performance in Software Development

2015 | Journal of Management Information Systems | Citations: 22

Authors: Ozer, Muammer; Vogel, Doug

Abstract: We study how the knowledge that software developers receive from other software ... Expand

Abstract: We study how the knowledge that software developers receive from other software developers in their company impacts their performance. We also study the boundary conditions of this relationship. The results of our empirical study indicate that receiving knowledge from other software developers in the company is positively related to the performance of the knowledge-receiving software developers. Moreover, this relationship was stronger when the software developers had high rather than low task autonomy, when they had high- rather than low-quality social exchanges with their supervisors, and when the software development firms used formal knowledge utilization processes. Theoretically, these results contribute to a better understanding of the processes through which software developers utilize the knowledge that they receive from their peers in the firm. Practically, they show software development firms how emphasizing the task, social, and institutional dimensions of the software development process can help them increase knowledge utilization and performance in software development. Collapse

Topics: software developer systems development knowledge utilization task productivity knowledge sharing

Methods: instrumental variables estimation survey design survey chi squared test regression analysis method

Theories: task closure theory social exchange theory

The business value of information technology as measured by technical efficiency: Evidence from country-level data

2009 | Decision Support Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Lin, Winston T.

Abstract: The value of information technology (IT) in a business production process has lo ... Expand

Abstract: The value of information technology (IT) in a business production process has long been a debatable issue. Explanation of the so-called “productivity paradox” has been one of the central topics in this arena. Much work has focused on firm-level analyses. This paper investigates IT contribution at a country level, using production theory in microeconomics. It negates the relationship between IT value and productivity based on grouping of countries, when the individual analytical method is applied and technical efficiency is used as the performance criterion. Findings obtained by applying stochastic production frontiers to a comprehensive country-level panel data set suggest that the IT contributions, as determined by the increase or decrease in the technical efficiency, to individual countries differ in magnitude from a production frontier to another, but are robust. It also shows that IT spending does not necessarily improve technical efficiencies of individual countries, regardless of whether they are developed or developing countries, and that given technological changes, the so-called productivity paradox may exist in a country, no matter whether it is a developed or developing nation. Finally, the significant implications of the findings are presented. Collapse

Topics: IT investment productivity IS value information system use organizational value

Methods: longitudinal research literature study specification error test nonparametric test Wilcoxon signed-rank test

Theories: economic production theory

Expertise and Collaboration in the Geographically Dispersed Organization

2007 | Organization Science | Citations: 24

Authors: Wai Fong Boh; Yuqing Ren; Kiesler, Sara; Bussjaeger, Robert

Abstract: The knowledge-based view of the firm has led to greater theoretical interest in ... Expand

Abstract: The knowledge-based view of the firm has led to greater theoretical interest in how organizations integrate knowledge resources embedded in their employees' expertise. We examine the knowledge-integration problem in geographically dispersed professional organizations in which experts work in project teams. From consideration of coordination costs and local ties, we argue that (1) the organization will develop specialized expertise within local sites, (2) managers avoid crossing geographic boundaries to staff a project unless bringing on a distant expert helps meet customer requirements, (3) cross-site connections help less-needed members participate in dispersed projects, and (4) dispersed projects that have a better match of expertise generate higher net earnings. We tested these hypotheses using archival data and interviews in a geographically dispersed professional service organization. We examined how managers staffed 493 local and dispersed projects over a five-year period, and the financial outcomes of these projects. Managers created dispersed projects comparatively rarely; they did so when scarce expertise from other sites was needed to match customers' project requirements. Dispersed projects garnered higher net earnings than local projects when there was a better match of scarce expertise to project requirements. However, a curvilinear relationship was observed, such that a very high percentage of dispersed experts on a project increased coordination costs and reduced net earnings. Our study extends the knowledge-based view by showing how considerations of coordination costs and social ties affect knowledge integration in the geographically dispersed organization. The study also shows, empirically, the managerial trade-offs that encourage or discourage dispersed collaboration. Collapse

Topics: virtual teamwork IT supported collaboration decision making database system financial performance

Methods: qualitative interview regression analysis method ordinary least square ethnography specification error test

Theories: knowledge based theory of the firm