Taiwanese IT firms’ offshore R&D in China and the connection with the global innovation network

Although it is evident that technology is becoming increasingly globalized, resulting in the expansion of R&D internationalization by firms, despite this discernible trend, the substantial body of literature in this area is based mainly on the experience of the developed country. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of this issue by examining the R&D internationalization of a newly-industrializing country, Taiwan being a prime example, and its connection with the global production network. We begin with an examination of the literature on R&D internationalization and globalization, based upon which we propose a conceptual framework adapted from Dunning’s eclectic paradigm. In doing so, we set out to develop arguments based not only on the reasons why cross-strait R&D internationalization may be undertaken by Taiwanese information technology (IT) firms, but also the likely patterns of their R&D portfolios across the strait. Drawing on an original questionnaire survey and firm-level interviews, the paper presents and discusses empirical data on the cross-strait R&D deployment of Taiwanese IT firms. It then goes a stage further, using the ‘smiling curve’, to put forward a ‘holistic’ view of the cross-border innovation network in the IT hardware industry, in order to determine what cross-strait R&D internationalization means to the global production network.     

终端用户环境下的信息技术效用论

通过对效用和价值概念的剖析比较,以及效用价值论和劳动价值论两种理论体系的分歧与综合,提出终端用户环境下的信息技术效用评估。同时以IT最新发展趋势为依据,提出IT效用研究的意义在于克服信息技术悖论,同时促进IT以人为本。     

Facilitating enterprise application integration adoption: An empirical analysis of UK local government authorities

local government authorities (LGAs) are organised around operational structures with business processes spanning within departments and across other government organisations. In such an organisational setting, the harmonisation of Information Technology (IT) operations, integration of cross-departmental processes and the underlying Information Systems (IS) signifies a challenge in delivering integrated services. This paper attempts to explore enterprise application integration (EAI) adoption in the UK local government authorities (LGAs). Despite the hype of EAI adoption in private domain, its application in LGAs is inadequate as there is a lack of adoption models/frameworks that can be used by the public sector. The context of the study is to consider the transformation of IT infrastructure management and operations with EAI technologies. The empirical findings, generated through a detailed case analysis, manifestly exemplify that EAI predominantly acts as a ‘back-office’ technology that facilitates operations by developing a flexible and maintainable integrated IT infrastructure. Our proposed framework is believed to be imperative and unique as it provides a more systematic way to examine the adoption of integration technologies, extends the established norms for EAI adoption by utilising a prioritisation technique to classify the importance of factors. The contribution of the research extends the literature on EAI and identifies theoretical and practical opportunities that facilitate LGAs in their decision-making process to produce more robust proposals for EAI adoption.     

IT/IS implementation risks and their impact on firm performance

There has been considerable theoretical work on the role of information systems (IS) in creating competitive advantage and enhancing organizational performance. The literature identifies a consistent lack of success by organizations in achieving business benefits from their IS investments and in particular their difficulties in obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage. A great deal of debate appears to exist nowadays related to the participation of information technology (IT) risks to organizational performance. Previous research has dealt with the examination of the existing relationships between the implemented information technology and firm's performance variables. This research focuses on the IT impact on firm's non-financial IT risk. The research was conducted using questionnaires that were sent to world's five hundred largest corporations as they were published in the fortune magazine (European edition, No. 14, 2003) and to Greek companies. The results indicate that IT risk factors affect mainly coordination and partially information ability but not productivity. Furthermore, the most significant risk factors affecting business performance are management ability, information integrity, controllability and exclusivity.     

Scholarly research and information practices: a domain analytic approach

This paper deals with information needs, seeking, searching, and uses within scholarly communities by introducing theory from the field of science and technology studies. In particular it contributes to the domain-analytic approach in information science by showing that Whitley’s theory of ‘mutual dependence’ and ‘task uncertainty’ can be used as an explanatory framework in understanding similarity and difference in information practices across intellectual fields. Based on qualitative case studies of three specialist scholarly communities across the physical sciences, applied sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities, this paper extends Whitley’s theory into the realm of information communication technologies. The paper adopts a holistic approach to information practices by recognising the interrelationship between the traditions of informal and formal scientific communication and how it shapes digital outcomes across intellectual fields. The findings show that communities inhabiting fields with a high degree of ‘mutual dependence’ coupled with a low degree of ‘task uncertainty’ are adept at coordinating and controlling channels of communication and will readily co-produce field-based digital information resources, whereas communities that inhabit fields characterised by the opposite cultural configuration, a low degree of ‘mutual dependence’ coupled with a high degree of ‘task uncertainty’, are less successful in commanding control over channels of communication and are less concerned with co-producing field-based digital resources and integrating them into their epistemic and social structures. These findings have implications for the culturally sensitive development and provision of academic digital resources such as digital libraries and web-based subject portals.     

Product architecture,organizational capabilities and IT integration for competitive advantage

Increasingly, firms recognize the strategic implications of front-end product design for improving total cost effectiveness. Computer-aided design (CAD) is becoming firms’ competitive weapon beyond its traditional function as a product design tool. Yet, it is unclear how the full potential of IT system, particularly the usage patterns of 3D CAD system, may be realized through organizational capabilities. This paper presents a model of IT system configurations and CAD usage patterns. Next, a typology of IT system configurations is presented based on (1) the degree of CAD integration between assembly makers and suppliers and (2) the structure of product design information (i.e., product architecture). The product architecture of four electronic firms illustrates that information integration through organizational capabilities is more important than IT investment itself. The findings suggest that a Korean firm accomplishes a greater level of IT integration compared to the other two Japanese firms and thus attain better market performance. This study offers valuable insight on effective IT integration strategy for competitive advantage in the global market.     

企业联盟中IT整合能力对IT关系能力的影响

本文结合我国的企业联盟实践和相关理论,提出了IT能力的概念,并运用实证方法验证了IT整合能力对IT关系能力的影响。结构方程模型的结果表明,在IT整合能力中,IT集成能力正向影响IT管理能力;在IT关系能力中,IT与业务关系正向影响外部IT联系;且IT整合能力对IT关系能力具有正向影响,IT集成能力通过IT管理能力的部分中介作用正向影响IT关系能力;IT管理能力通过IT与业务关系的部分中介作用正向影响外部IT联系。该研究不仅为基于联盟的IT能力提供了理论基础,也对企业经理管理联盟中的IT活动具有一定的参考价值。     

互联网环境下IT资源和能力的绩效影响研究

基于IT资源和能力理论,建构互联网环境下IT对企业绩效的影响模型,借助于219家国内企业问卷调研数据,对此模型进行验证。发现IT资源与能力之间有重要的区分,IT安保能力是IT就绪度与IT应用能力的中介变量,IT应用能力间接通过研发创新,影响业务绩效。最后对其理论和实践意义进行探讨。     

Modularity and innovation in knowledge-intensive business services: IT outsourcing in Germany and the UK

Drawing on an empirical study of IT outsourcing in the UK and Germany, this paper explores the lessons for modularity that can be drawn from the outsourcing of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). Because of the inseparability of information and production technologies, IT outsourcing is frequently accompanied by wider transformations in clients’ production technologies. This results in the need for knowledge and organisational coordination in the form of the transfer of staff from the client and the retained IT organisation. Modularity is often presented as a design strategy that stimulates innovation. Our research findings challenge the generalisability of this claim when examining KIBS outsourcing. We show that intangibility of services exacerbates the conflicts between clients and suppliers, which may present obstacles to innovation.     

The user multifaceted expertise: Divergent effects of the website versus e-commerce expertise

Expertise is a key factor in user’s adaptation and evaluation of the IT artifact. To date however, research has widely disregarded the notion that expertise is multifaceted and, consequently, its effects should vary according to the facet measured. To address this gap, the present research shows the effects of a facet of expertise rarely studied – expertise with the artifact such as an e-commerce site (website expertise) – besides the effects of expertise with the artifact class (e-commerce expertise). It is stipulated that site expertise shapes the site use and acceptance differently and more profoundly than e-commerce expertise. The results show that users with low (vs. high) site expertise perceived the site as less easy to use, and their site acceptance was more (less) strongly influenced by the site information quality. Alternatively, e-commerce expertise played a different moderating role in the acceptance process, and users with low e-commerce expertise did not perceive the site as less easy to use. The results were replicated in a second study conducted in a different culture. The findings support the research main thesis that expertise is multifaceted and, therefore, considering the different facets is necessary to understand the process of user acceptance of the IT artifact.     

Antecedents and mediating role of IT service climate in IT service quality: A mixed methods study

Developing a strong and positive information technology (IT) service climate is important to ensure high-quality IT services. The influence of job resources and personal resources on the IT service climate and the mediating effect of the IT service climate on IT service quality were explored in this study qualitatively and quantitatively. Among the various job resource factors, we found that training, reward, and information system (IS) support can improve the IT service climate. Coworker support shows a non-significant effect on IT service climate. Among the personal resource factors, self-efficacy and hope have significantly positive effects on the IT service climate. Optimism and resilience do not appear to significantly affect the IT service climate. Our results confirm that the IT service climate is an important mediator in enabling certain antecedents to properly impact IT service quality. The IT service climate was found to fully mediate the effects of training, reward, IS support, and hope while partially mediating the effect of self-efficacy. The effect of the IT service climate on IT service quality is also strengthened by a high customer contact frequency. The results presented here may provide scholars and practitioners with a comprehensive, workable understanding of the IT service climate.     

企业信息化水平与竞争力关系的实证研究

人们对基于信息技术的企业竞争力提升并由此产生的投资效益提出质疑,针对该问题,本文选择中国企业信息化500强中的上市公司为样本,分析了企业竞争能力和信息化水平之间的关联性。研究发现企业信息化水平能正向地影响其竞争能力,规模越大的企业这种影响表现得越明显,并且这种影响有一定的时滞效应。     

开放创新联盟的IT价值共创研究初探——基于资源基础理论

以开放创新联盟为研究背景,以资源基础理论为理论基础,深入分析开放创新联盟IT价值共创的四层含义,分析IT价值共创的产生机制,构建开放创新联盟IT价值共创的理论模型。     

Exploring the impact of communication effectiveness on service quality,trust and relationship commitment in IT services

Most firms today are served by specialized IT service providers for the development and maintenance of their business information systems. During the IT service encounter, service providers and clients interact throughout the project, exchanging information, sharing knowledge and making critical decisions. From the IT service provider's viewpoint, it is important to raise the level of clients’ relationship commitment during this service encounter as their business continuity depends upon clients assessment. Intuitively, effective communication and effective service quality, mediated by trust, are critical factors in raising the level of relationship commitment. This study proposes an empirical model consisting of four critical antecedents of relationship commitment (communication effectiveness, technical service quality, functional service quality and trust) and then tests the model using data points solicited from two global firms. Study results revealed that trust is a strong mediator for relationship commitment while functional, rather than technical, service quality is a stronger mediator in forming the clients’ trust.     

Rethinking the market-technology relationship for innovation

This paper revisits the ‘what causes innovation — market pull or technology push?’ debate to argue that the conceptualisation is flawed and that the firm is the only ‘agent’ capable of innovative action. The paper differentiates between ‘use’, ‘need’ and ‘intended use’ to obtain greater precision with respect to the technology-market matching process that is fundamental to innovation. The validity of the approach is demonstrated through empirical examples. These examples also show the value of distinguishing between two types of market concept used by the innovating firm. These are the ‘reference market’ which is a traded product that is a principal source of ‘use’ ideas for the mental construction of the ‘innovation market’ concept. It is the latter that can be thought to guide the construction of innovative production technology.     

Aligning information technology and business strategy with a dynamic capabilities perspective: A longitudinal study of a Taiwanese Semiconductor Company

Strategic alignment involves the development and reconfiguration of information technology (IT) to support business strategies. This paper applies the dynamic capabilities perspective to analyze the strategic information system alignment process. The paper further argues the approach is constructive in understanding and overcoming difficulties in achieving and sustaining alignment. From a longitudinal case study of a semiconductor company in Taiwan, the results show an unaligned strategic information system (with an implemented IT strategy that varies from the intended IT strategy) impedes the development of IT. Path dependence, or the implications of prior IT decisions, is another barrier for alignment. A broader view of intended alignment, focusing on IT combined with clear business vision, can be beneficial for adding future IT resources. In addition, dynamic capabilities, which are critical for the creation and strength of IT resources, positively influence the alignment process and its future implementation success.     

Techno therapy or nurtured niches? Technology studies and the evaluation of radical innovations

This article contributes to recent discussions in technology studies about applying insights from technology studies to policy decisions about the development and management of technological innovations. It does so by examining two approaches that can be used by policy makers to manage radical technological innovations in mobility and transportation: strategic niche management (SNM) and the PROTEE approach. The SNM approach uses protective ‘niches’ to develop radical innovations, whereas the PROTEE method is grounded in the assumption that technological innovations have a better chance of success if made “vulnerable” by subjecting them to risks and oppositions from the outset. Both SNM and PROTEE have, so far, been applied to retrospective case studies. This paper examines their potential effectiveness in the monitoring of real time innovation projects by comparing their conceptualizations of ‘learning’ and ‘experimenting’. It argues that the two approaches can draw upon each other to achieve a more refined conceptualization of learning and experimenting and in dealing with the problem of change and obduracy in the development of innovation projects.     

Are patents signals for the IPO market? An EU–US comparison for the software industry

This study investigates empirically whether patents can be signals to financial markets, thus reducing problems of asymmetric information. In particular we study how patenting behaviour impacts on the way investors perceive software firms’ growth potential through an increase in the amount invested at the initial public offering (IPO) of firms in the US and Europe. This study performs regressions on the relationship of patent applications before IPO and the amount of money collected at the IPO, while controlling other factors that may influence IPO performance. We also attempt to account for a potential source of endogeneity problems that can arise for self-selection bias and simultaneity between the number of patent applications prior to going public and the amount of money collected at IPO. We find significant and robust positive correlations between patent applications and IPO performance. The signalling power of patenting is significantly different for US and European companies, and is related to the difficulty in obtaining a signal and its scarcity. An additional patent application prior to IPO increases IPO proceeds by about 0.507% and 1.13% for US and European companies, respectively. Results suggest that a less ‘applicant friendly’ patenting system increases the credibility of patents as signals and their value for IPO investors.     

Competition makes IT better: Evidence on when firms use IT more effectively

We study how technology upgrading through investment in information and communication technologies (IT henceforth) influences firm performance in the context of a developing country. We rely on a novel firm-level data set covering a large sample of Mexican manufacturing companies with detailed information on IT. We show that the impact of IT investment is only positive for firms that were exposed to an exogenous competitive shock due to the increase in competition from China after its WTO accession. We argue that incentives provided by competition are key in leading firms to make more effective use of the new information technologies. We also find evidence that these results are driven by the complementarity between IT investments and organizational or process changes within firms, specifically under the incentives of heightened international competitive pressures.     

IT engagement as a blessing and a curse? Examining its antecedents and outcomes in organizations

Information technology (IT) engagement is defined as a need to spend more time using IT. Practice-based examples show that IT engagement can have adverse effects in organizations. Although users can potentially get more work done through IT engagement, observations show that the users might jeopardize their well-being and hamper their work performance. We aimed to investigate this complexity in the research on IT engagement by examining its potential antecedents and outcomes in organizations. Considering the potentially mixed outcomes, we developed a model to examine the effects of IT engagement on personal productivity and strain. We also aimed to explain the antecedents of IT engagement by drawing on the collective expectations for IT use. In particular, we examined the extent to which normative pressure on IT use drives users’ information load and IT engagement. Finally, we sought to understand whether users’ attempts to avert dependency on IT use reduced their IT engagement. Several hypotheses were developed and tested with survey data of 1091 organizational IT users. The findings help explain the role of normative pressure as a key driver of IT engagement and validate the positive and negative outcomes of IT engagement in organizations.