Anxiety and Involvement

Information systems (IS) are implemented within a social context consisting of economic, political, cultural and behavioural factors which differ greatly between societies and countries. Failure to take account of such differences can inhibit adoption of information technology (IT) and increase the risks of failure for system implementations. Developing societies are particularly vulnerable to such risk as their social contexts exhibit considerable differences, not only from the developed nations but also among themselves. This study examined the computer anxiety and involvement with personal computers (PCs) of six groups of computer-using students from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Tanzania and Thailand. Differences in comuter anxiety were found to exist between some of the groups, which was probably attributable to demographic factors. Differences were found to exist between the PC involvement of some of the groups which could be attributed to cultural factors. Implications for research and practice are drawn.

A Web-Based Data Warehouse Planning - A Large-Scale Project Management Information System in Taiwan

This chapter describes a data warehouse planning project to develop a large-scale management information system for a Taiwan government agency in managing a nationwide multi-billion science and technology project management and control process. The planning and consulting period lasted through the time period of 1997 and 1998. The outsourcing and implementation tasks are expected to continue through 2000. In this chapter, we present the framework and model of the data warehouses developed by the committee during the planning and consulting stage. Our focus is on the data design and module design for a multi-dimensional database system. The data design aims to provide an integral model for the internal and external data sources. A core view of the multi-dimensional database is developed. The module design attempts to give an analytic model of the field, division, project, and agent performance along the dimension hierarchies. Actual versus budget and actual versus forecast analysis along with the time series analysis and ad hoc analysis are supported in the systems.

Critical Strategies for Information Systems Development Projects

Despite enormous progress in the methodologies and technologies used in the development and implementation of Information Systems (IS), IS failure continues to plague the efforts of many companies. According to a recent report, up to 90 percent of all IS projects fail to achieve their goals, 80 percent are late and over-budget, and 40 percent are abandoned (Clegg et al., 1997). Since information systems are becoming increasing critical for the strategic operations of organizations, the high rate of failure for IS projects is of great concern to both organizational management and IS professionals. Developing and implementing successful international IS have proven to be even more difficult due to such factors as the diversity and disagreement among the participants (Mantelaers & Van Den Berg, 2000). However, with an increasing number of firms expanding into international markets, the need to develop and implement IS which cross national boundaries and span diverse cultures is rapidly growing (Palvia, 1998). Adding to the importance of developing successful international IS is the realization that they constitute an essential tool for assisting organizations in coping with the increased competition associated with global markets. Thus, there is an urgent need to acquire knowledge about whether the factors found to be critical for developing successful IS in one country are also applicable to developing international IS involving countries with different cultural norms.

ICT Diffusion and Strategic Role within Italian SMEs

Information System literature is rich in studies concerning the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on organizations. This chapter, however, focuses on a specific context: small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). It presents an up-to-date picture of the ICT employed and of the activities ICT support within Italian SMEs. Moreover, it provides results regarding the relationship between ICT and SME strategy. Data were collected through a survey on IT managers of 143 SMEs placed in Northern Italy. Research results highlighted relevant differences on how small and medium size organizations employ ICT in order to influence or support their strategy.

European Electronic Service Infrastructure Building - Drifting into the Future?

Delivery of electronic services requires a service infrastructure including organisational solutions for logistics and client-organisation interactions. We report a study covering three years of efforts by nine cities in eight European countries in developing such solutions. We found twelve distinct “crises,” situations where goals, environment, and actors changed, and the process was found in a stage of improvisation. The overall process was largely unstructured and improvised. Stabilising factors were central government policies (national, EU), the general technical development, and market demands. The Web was in practice a “cuckoo in the nest,” intruding in ever more activities and introducing unexpected new demands. Web projects were seen as technical projects; more important success factors pertaining to users and organisation were largely neglected. There was typically an infrastructure link missing, a body competent of managing the whole process of bundling services from different service providers.

Behind the Celtic Tiger

Like most of its counterparts in the developed world, in the last ten years the Irish economy has become highly dependent on information technology (IT), both as a source of export earning and as a means for businesses enhance their competitive performance. Indeed, given its unusually high dependence on IT-based industries, Ireland is particularly exposed to the need to maximise the benefits accrued from information technology. The country is now, in absolute terms, the world’s second largest supplier of software, with over 40% of all packaged software sold in Europe originating in Ireland (IDA Ireland, 1999). Nearly one third of all personal computers sold in Europe are manufactured in Ireland, with many major manufacturers having their European bases in Ireland. Ireland has also developed a thriving indigenous IT industry. Iona, Kindle and CBT are but the best known of the 600 small, medium and large Irish IT companies operating at the current time. The IDA presently estimate that, on average, Irish IT company start-ups occur at the rate of three per week (Brown, 1999).

Big-Bang ERP Implementation at a Global Company

Dead Sea Works is an international multi-firm producer of Potash and other chemicals whose sales for 1998 were about $500 million. In 1996, the Information Systems group convinced top management to pursue a big-bang ERP implementation of SAP R/3. To reduce project risk, risk management was practiced. First, only modules that matched the functionality of the then-existing systems were targeted, avoiding as much as possible software modifications and process reengineering. Second, a steering committee was set up to handle conflict resolution and set priorities throughout the project and top users were given responsibility with implementing modules within their respective functions. R/3 went into production on July 1, 1998, six months ahead of schedule and without exceeding the $4.95 million budget.

Undergraduate Global IT Education - An Experiential Approach Using the Concept of Fit

There are special considerations which are important when developing and teaching a course on information systems for international business, especially when the course is designed for undergraduates. This chapter demonstrates how to position and organize a global information systems course for undergraduates which will 1) be appropriate to the way undergraduates learn, 2) include the skills they need at this stage in their career and 3) create an affective change in their perspective. The primary approach used to produce these results is to demonstrate the importance of alignment between global strategies, organizational structures, the configuration of IS departmental areas, organizational information infrastructures, and national/organizational culture, as well as, alignment between national concerns, national information infrastructures and national information policy.

Growth and Consolidation in the Spanish-Speaking E-Commerce Market

This case aims to analyze, in some detail, the major challenges in the widespread adoption of electronic commerce in the Spanish-speaking population. The case also provides a general overview of related issues in global e-commerce, specifically: language, localization, currency, cultural difference, export controls, payment methods, taxation issues, consumer protection, and legal issues. The case includes a description of the strategies followed by companies entering the Latin American market in order to illustrate some of the major cross-border issues. The case clearly exemplifies how localization involves a considerable financial investment and commitment. The chapter illustrates that while Latin America initially attracted many investors by offering one of the world’s fastest growing online populations, the market was not large enough to accommodate all the new entrants.

Trajectories and Strategies in Global Software Outsourcing Relationships

Global software outsourcing (GSO) is the outsourcing of software development to sub-contractors outside the client organisation’s home country. India remains the unquestioned leader, registering average annual growth of more than 40% over the last decade and developing some US$3.6bn-worth of software for foreign clients in 1999/2000 (Heeks, 2000). Advice for potential GSO clients counsels starting small, starting at home, and starting with programmers (McFarlan, 1996). Many client organisations have followed this advice, putting a toe into the GSO waters through small-scale body shopping: for example, having Indian sub-contractor staff come over to the client site to complete a minor, non-critical piece of coding/conversion work.