A Model of Intraorganizational Knowledge Sharing

Prior research has reported different knowledge management processes, considering each universally applicable. This article proposes that context influences company knowledge sharing policies and practices and their effectiveness. Through a literature review, a model of intraorganizational knowledge sharing is proposed. Within this model, three organizational antecedents of knowledge sharing policies and practices are included, namely: top management knowledge values, an innovation business strategy, and perceived environmental uncertainty. Further, top management knowledge values and knowledge sharing policies and practices are hypothesized to lead to knowledge sharing effectiveness. The model was constructed by taking into account industrial contexts in Taiwan, and was examined using survey data collected from companies in Taiwan. The results showed that top management knowledge values and innovation business strategy are positively and significantly associated with knowledge sharing policies and practices, which in turn lead to knowledge sharing effectiveness. Finally, this article identifies and discusses implications for international information management.

Voluntary Turnover of Information Systems Professionals

This investigation examines the motivating factors associated with voluntary turnover decisions of information systems (IS) professionals within the context of two different cultures—Singapore and New Zealand. The narrative inquiry approach was employed to interview 35 IS professionals. Ninety-seven turnover episodes were identified, including 42 in Singapore and 55 in New Zealand. The findings indicate that there exist universal turnover factors which are culturally independent. However, there are also factors that are culturally sensitive, which should be considered by managers when dealing with an international workforce.

Mission-Critical Group Decision-Making

Review on group decision support systems (GDSS) indicates that traditional GDSS are not specifically designed to support mission-critical group decision-making tasks that require group decision-making to be made effectively within short time. In addition, prior studies in the research literature have not considered group decision preference adjustment as a continuous process and neglected its impact on group decision-making. In reality, group members may dynamically change their decision preferences during group decision-making process. This dynamic adjustment of decision preferences may continue until a group reaches consensus on final decision. This article intends to address this neglected group decision-making research issue in the literature by proposing a new approach based on the Markov chain model. Furthermore, a new group decision weight allocation approach is also suggested. A real case example of New Orleans Hurricane Katrina is used to illustrate the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed approaches. Finally, the article concludes with the discussion on the proposed approaches and presents directions for future research.

An Empirical Study of Factors Affecting RFID's Adoption in Taiwan

RFID technologies represent a common standard for data storage and retrieval that could improve collaboration and data sharing between non-competing organizations. With the advent of RFID (radio frequency identification), organizations have the opportunity to rethink how their organization will be. Unlike companies in the United States and Europe which are mandated by large retailers or government departments, most Taiwan companies are investing in RFID without pressure. The article explores the factor affecting radio frequency identification adoption applications in Taiwan. Its objective is to summarize the ways in which organizations are thinking about their possible uses in a wide variety of companies and industries. An empirical investigation (n=134) found seven factors affecting RFID adoption within Taiwan. They are operation efficiency, manufacturing efficiency and supply chain efficiency, organization context, investment cost, market environment, and technology characteristic. By providing insight into these important factors, this article can help further understanding of their role in the adoption and use of RFID. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Culture and Consumer Trust in Online Businesses

The importance of consumer trust to the success of online businesses is well documented in the literature. Given the global nature of online transactions, an important question is whether trust and trust formation differ across cultures. This study compared Hong Kong and U.S. consumer trust in online businesses. Specifically, the study examined security and privacy risks related to the purchase of products as well as services. The results show that significant differences exist between consumers from the two countries regarding the perceived level of online business risks and the formation of trust via the transference process. These findings reiterate and underscore the significance of including national culture in studies of trust in e-commerce. The results also have potential implications for online businesses as well as third party certification and assurance services.

Project Quality of Off-Shore Virtual Teams Engaged in Software Requirements Analysis

The off-shore software development companies in countries such as India use a global delivery model in which initial requirement analysis phase of software projects get executed at client locations to leverage frequent and deep interaction between user and developer teams. Subsequent phases such as design, coding and testing are completed at off-shore locations. Emerging trends indicate an increasing interest in off-shoring even requirements analysis phase using computer mediated communication. We conducted an exploratory research study involving students from Management Development Institute (MDI), India and Marquette University (MU), USA to determine quality of such off-shored requirements analysis projects. Our findings suggest that project quality of teams engaged in pure off-shore mode is comparable to that of teams engaged in collocated mode. However, the effect of controls such as user project monitoring on the quality of off-shored projects needs to be studied further.

A Variable Precision Fuzzy Rough Group Decision-Making Model for IT Offshore Outsourcing Risk Evaluation

Risks evaluation is critical for the success of IT offshore outsourcing. Based on fuzzy group decisionmaking (FGDM) and variable precision fuzzy rough set (VPFRS), this article proposes a new integrated model, variable precision fuzzy rough group decision-making (VPFRGDM), to evaluate the risk in IT offshore outsourcing. This model can improve the capability to handle potential errors fairness and efficiency of risk evaluation, and is verified by a numerical case.

The Information System Strategies of MNC Affiliates

This article applies a technology-organization-environment framework to evaluate the determinants of the global information systems (GIS) strategies of foreign affiliates. The results indicate that IT maturity, parent resource dependency, cultural distance, restrictive regulations, and local competition are significant determinants of GIS strategy. We also find that the integration-responsiveness model can be applied to explain GIS strategies and their implementation. These findings provide additional insight into the complex relationship between headquarters and affiliates in GIS management. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for both research and practice.

Within-Culture Variation and Information Technology

This study examines within-culture variance in the influence of values on perceptions and use of information technology (IT). Based on cross-cultural research, the authors suggest cultural values influence technology acceptance and use. Specifically, this chapter argues masculinity/femininity and individualism/ collectivism directly influence personal innovativeness with IT, computer anxiety, and computer self-efficacy and have a mediated effect on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and use of IT. Overall, analysis provides support for the research model. Results suggest masculinity/femininity influences computer self-efficacy, computer anxiety, and personal innovativeness with IT. The authors also offer implications for research and practice.

Development of a Scale to Measure Information Technology Capability of Export-Focused SMEs in China

This chapter addresses the conceptual and measurement issues related to the study of information technology capability (ITC) in small to medium businesses that focus on exports. The authors review the concept of ITC and its components and reports on the construction and psychometric assessment of a measure of ITC. The authors develop a multi-dimensional scale showing strong evidence of reliability and validity in samples from export-focused SMEs based in Mainland China. Finally, this chapter demonstrates nomological validity by examining the relationship between ITC and export-focused SMEs’ performance.