Management information systems and strategic performances: The role of top team composition

Organizations adopt sophisticated management information systems, which provide top managers with an ample range of information to achieve multiple strategic performances. However, organizations differ in the extent to which they improve their performance. This paper analyzes the role of top management team in the relationship between management information systems and strategic performance. Using data collected from 92 top management teams, it analyses how different team compositions interact with a sophisticated management information system, and how this interaction affects strategic performances, which are focused on cost reduction and flexibility. The findings show how the effect of management information system on strategic performance (focused on flexibility) is moderated by top management team diversity.     

Identifying strategic management information systems planning parameters using case studies

The management information systems (MIS) literature reveals a list of parameters essential for the successful implementation of an IS planning process. Some studies stress the importance of integrating the corporate objectives of a firm into the IS planning process. Other studies discuss the importance of performing an analysis of competitors, or determining the stage of maturity a firm has reached, or the framework used for setting information technology investment priorities. Yet others state that the choice of methodology that will be utilized to develop the IS plan will be crucial to the success of that plan. The objective of this paper is to develop a holistic conceptual model that combines the above parameters into a framework that fully integrates the corporate objectives of a firm into every aspect of the planning process. Three large multi-national courier companies with regional headquarters in Singapore were studied over an eight-month period while undergoing an extensive MIS planning process. Based on these studies, a model based on general systems theory that views the IS planning process in a holistic framework firmly rooted in the view that a firm's corporate objectives must drive the entire process.     

Analyzing inter-organizational systems from a power and interest perspective

Inter-organizational systems (IOS) are Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based systems that enable organizations to share information and to electronically conduct business across organizational boundaries. Especially since the increasing availability of the Internet, there have been less technological barriers to implement IOS. However, that does not imply that IOS possibilities are implemented successfully in all occasions: other barriers may remain. Innovation is not only a technical process of ‘solving problems’; it also involves economic and political processes in which interests are articulated, alliances are built and outcomes are struggled over. To explore this observation, this paper presents a model that helps to describe and analyze IOS from a power and interest perspective of multiple parties. To illustrate this model, eight case studies of IOS are discussed, of which one is in more depth. After that, we will put the findings of the analysis in a broader perspective. The paper concludes with the assertion that the scope for the design of an effective IOS depends on a combination of technical, economic and social factors, which are intertwined. The model may help users to assess and discuss these factors.     

技术能力与创业绩效:基于战略导向的解释

技术创业型公司拥有雄厚的技术能力,然而这并不意味着这些公司也具备相当的竞争优势。技术能力转化为竞争优势的过程中是受到多方面因素影响的,其中一个重要的组织因素就是公司的战略模式定位。创新导向的战略可以为公司长期生存带来竞争优势,而市场导向的战略却是短期内组织生存的根本。因此技术创业型公司必须权衡公司的创新导向战略和市场导向战略。同时我们也认为,风险资本的介入也对这个转化过程具有重要影响。本文通过对三家典型技术创业型公司的案例研究来解释有关理论假设。     

Reflections on knowledge management from a critical systems perspective

This paper considers some significant aspects of knowledge management (KM) from a critical systems thinking (CST) point of view. CST prides itself on theoretical awareness and methodological sophistication, and these are the traits brought to bear in analysing the organisational models and well-known concepts used in KM. The results call into question the idea that the Japanese version of KM is best seen as resting upon an organic model and the notion that the Eastern tradition of thought has a monopoly on recognising the significance of tacit knowledge. The need for a prolonged dialectical debate between KM and CST is established.     

Understanding expert systems applications from a knowledge transfer perspective

Expert systems (ESs) were introduced more than two decades ago, but their effectiveness and success are still in debate. This paper attempts to make a contribution to the better understanding of ES applications from a knowledge transfer perspective. This paper argues that an ES application is knowledge transfer that uses Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Underpinned by knowledge transfer theories and through a series of empirical investigations of ES projects in agriculture, this study recognises the importance of human interactions in the ESs implementation process. Based on the evidence collected, a number of key players are examined. They are knowledge provider/sender, knowledge engineer, knowledge extensionist and knowledge recipient. This paper represents a first attempt to acknowledge the role of a knowledge extensionist in the ICT-based knowledge transfer process. The name ‘extensionist’ is borrowed from earlier literature and describes an actor whose role is an intermediary in supporting transferring knowledge towards the knowledge user. Findings demonstrate the significant contributions made by extensionists towards the success of ESs applications. It is argued that the rigidity and limitations of ESs in ICT-based knowledge transfer can be significantly reduced with the involvement of close human interactions with the knowledge recipient.     

Beyond deregulation: Designing the information infrastructure

Abstract

The United States and Japan lead the world in information technology. Yet they occupy opposite ends of the spectrum with respect to planning for the development of the information infrastructure—the central nervous system of a democratic society. While the Japanese expend great resources on centralized planning and monitoring the impact of the information society, United States officials are engaged in a mammoth deregulation exercise intended to dismantle government involvement in the competitive marketplace. While this policy may be appropriate for a period of technological innovation, it may be less efficacious in the period of consolidation, merger, and acquisition which usually follows.     

基于租金视角的战略联盟竞争优势机理分析

理论界对战略联盟竞争优势的研究历时已久,其中,具有代表性的支撑理论有交易费用理论、资源基础理论、核心能力理论以及动态能力理论等。但是我们发现,一方面以企业为研究对象的这些支撑理论如果应用在战略联盟中,则需要调整;另一方面,这些分析彼此独立,缺乏一个统一的分析框架。因此,本文试图从租金的角度对战略联盟竞争优势机理做一个综合的分析,揭示战略联盟形成竞争优势的过程,为企业实施战略联盟提出有益建议。     

Dimensions of quality and accessibility: Selection of human information sources from a social capital perspective

This study focuses on how the accessibility and quality of co-workers in organizations affect their use as information source. Prior research has produced inconsistent findings concerning these factors’ respective influence on source selection. In this article, we argue that one potential reason for this lies in the lack of coherent definitions of accessibility and quality. To bridge this gap, we unpack these concepts into their underlying dimensions, based on insights derived from social capital theory, more specifically Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) contribution, to uncovering the multidimensionality of social capital. We empirically test the dimensionality of accessibility and quality, as well as the relative influence of these concepts on human information source selection, in a scenario experiment within an organization. Findings support the proposed dimensionality, and lead to the conclusion that both quality and accessibility influence the selection of human information sources, although quality exerts a slightly stronger influence.     

基于项目群管理的南水北调工程战略层际关系研究

项目是项目型公司实现其战略的载体,项目群在企业战略和项目架起了一座桥梁,通过对项目型企业组织结构的分析,指出项目型公司的战略管理需要增加一个项目群战略层际,并结合南水北调工程详细地分析了基于项目群视角的大型工程战略管理层际观,进一步探讨了项目群战略层的研究内容和结构功能.     

公共信息转变为国家战略资产的途径

公共信息是现代国家的战略资产之一,其重要性就像土地、劳动力和资本一样。本文从公共信息作为国家战略资产的特征出发,在简要界定公共信息的基础上,提出公共信息转变成国家战略资产的四个主要途径:一是公共信息公开;二是统筹规划、整合服务,以民众为中心,保证公共信息的主动发布;三是加强公共信息的立法,尽快制定《信息公开法》;四是提高国家和公众的信息能力,全面开展信息能力教育与培训。     

Promoting the continuing usage of strategic information systems: The role of supervisory leadership in the successful implementation of enterprise systems

Organizations face significant challenges in capturing value from their investments in strategic information systems such as enterprise systems (ES). Managers are a powerful source of influence shaping the post-adoption attitudes and behaviors of users and the success of ES. However, the extant IS literature has focused primarily on the role of top management and theoretical explanations of the role of supervisors in fostering continuing usage of ES are lacking. Drawing on transformational leadership theory and the IS continuance (ISC) model, this paper conceptualizes a theoretical model differentiating the influence mechanisms through which different types of leadership behaviors influence the success of ES. Data collected from 192 users of ES confirms our theorization. We find that transformational leadership behaviors of supervisors influence users’ evaluations of satisfaction and perceived usefulness, while their transactional leadership behaviors influence users’ ES continuance intention by moderating the effects of user satisfaction and perceived usefulness on ES continuance intention. This study advances research on the role of leadership behaviors of supervisors in capturing value from enterprise systems. The research also contributes to practice by suggesting effective strategies for promoting continued usage of mission critical systems such as enterprise systems and delivering value from firms’ IT investments.     

Knowledge creation in strategic alliances based on an evolutionary perspective: a mathematical representation

From the resource-based view, strategic alliances can be defined by a long-term cooperative arrangement between two or more independent firms that exchange and share resources to gain market power and competitive advantage. Since knowledge has become the critical element for firms to achieve competitive advantage, one goal of strategic alliances can be realized by acquiring knowledge through partners. In this paper, the process of knowledge creation in strategic alliances is explained and clarified based on an evolutionary perspective. In addition, a mathematical representation is used to show how knowledge is created in strategic alliances, why firms are willing to create and share knowledge by entering into alliances, and what conditions are required to achieve successful knowledge creation under such arrangements.     

"战略投资型"民营集团公司战略控制模式研究

本文在分析“战略投资型”民营集团公司特点的基础上，提出了一种适合该类集团公司的战略控制模式，并详细分析了该模式中对子公司进行战略管理的几个关键流程，探讨了该战略控制模式的优点和局限性．指出了实际应用时应注意的问题。     

Knowledge management: An information science perspective

Knowledge management (KM) is an emerging field of specialization in a number of professions, including Information Science (IS). The different professions are contributing to and influencing the developments in KM in their own ways. However, it is argued here that IS is not contributing to the advancement of KM as much as it should for a number of apparent reasons. The main purpose of the paper is to call on the members of the IS profession to take a more proactive and visible role in advancing KM by showing that KM is a natural and long-awaited development in IS and that a number of circumstances have made KM to be an area of emphasis in IS whose time has come. The paper also aims at contributing towards achieving a consensus among IS professionals on conceptualization, goals, and scope of KM in IS. The recommendations of the paper focus on how the profession could proactively be involved in advancing KM.     

Knowledge transfer: an information theory perspective

Personalization and codification are two dominant knowledge transfer (KT) mechanisms found in organizations and organizational networks. This paper proposes a theoretical model of KT that explains organizations’ choice of KT mechanisms in terms of the tacitness of knowledge being shared and the corresponding information content. Shannon’s entropy, an information theoretical concept, has been used to define the constructs of tacitness and information content and explain their influence on the choice of the corresponding KT mechanisms. Contributions of the paper include (a) use of information content as a predictor of the choice of KT mechanisms, (b) development of an expression for tacitness, and an intuitive explanation of the tacit-explicit continuum, (c) characterization of product variety in terms of information content, and (d) development of a KT theoretical model that can be operationalized for predicting the choice of KT mechanisms in real-life situations.     

Event-triggered adaptive fault-tolerant control for nonlinear systems fusing static and dynamic information

In this paper, a novel event-triggered adaptive fault-tolerant control scheme is proposed for a class of nonlinear systems with unknown actuator faults. Multiplicative faults and additive faults are taken into account simultaneously, both of which may vary with time. Different from existing results, our controller fuses static reliability information and dynamic online information, which is helpful to enhance the fault-tolerant capability. With the aid of an event-triggering mechanism, an actuator switching strategy and a bound estimation approach, the communication burden is significantly reduced and the impacts of the actuator faults as well as the network-induced error are effectively compensated for. Moreover, by employing the prescribed performance control technique, the system tracking error can converge to a predefined arbitrarily small residual set with prescribed convergence rate and maximum overshoot, which implies that the proposed scheme is able to ensure rapid and accurate tracking. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

信息技术战略性应用与新型组织设计

企业管理者承担着消除不确定性和模糊性的双重协调任务,信息技术战略性应用通过影响企业的内外部协调成本决定了企业边界的变化,进而对组织设计产生影响。传统的组织结构在不确定性消除方面是以牺牲柔性应对顾客差异化需求为代价,信息技术战略性应用条件下的新型组织更好地兼容了专业化分工和顾客的差异化需求,进而形成独特的竞争优势。