The Value of Centralized IT in Building Resilience During Crises: Evidence from U.S. Higher Education’s Transition to Emergency Remote Teaching

2023 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 0

Authors: Park, Jiyong; Son, Yoonseock; Angst, Corey

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations, including higher education institut ... Expand

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations, including higher education institutions, to rapidly adjust their operations. In the face of the pandemic, most higher education institutions shut down their campuses and transitioned to emergency remote teaching mode. This study examines digital resilience in higher education institutions through the conceptual lens of disaster response management, by assessing the role played by the centralized governance of information technology (IT) investments. We posit that centralized IT helps organizations maintain customer satisfaction with services during a crisis (e.g., student satisfaction with classes during COVID-19) by facilitating the organization-wide transition to an emergency operational mode and supporting its service operations. Consolidating data on IT investment, governance, and course evaluations from 463 U.S. higher education institutions from 2017-2020, we show that centralized IT helped organizations adapt better to the pandemic in terms of maintaining student satisfaction. Moreover, we found that centralized IT investments geared toward facilitating organizational coordination and providing instructional and technical support played a pivotal role in enabling ERT and improving student ratings during the crisis. These results are corroborated by interviews with CIOs of U.S. higher education institutions. Additional analyses also suggest that the effectiveness of centralized IT governance is contingent upon organizational size, dissimilarity of local units, and the strategic role of the CIO. We also discuss theoretical extensions toward digital resilience as well as practical implications. Collapse

Topics: IT investment pandemic IT centralization covid 19 Chief Information Officer

Methods: qualitative interview experimental group robustness check survey longitudinal research

Manufacturers’ IT-Enabled Service Innovation Success as a Multifaceted Phenomenon: A Configurational Study

2021 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Brosig, Christoph

Abstract: Manufacturers employ information technology (IT) resources to improve existing ... Expand

Abstract: Manufacturers employ information technology (IT) resources to improve existing services and develop new services. Digital servitization literature has been exploring mechanisms to achieve success in IT-enabled service innovation. Research indicates thatmanufacturers' IT-enabled service innovation is a multifaceted phenomenon of organized complexity driven by a few factors. The knowledge-based view and the organizational control theory offer two theoretical starting points to explain how IT capabilities, organizational control mechanisms, and the innovativeness of services result in success of IT-enabled service innovation. This paper deductively derives a configurational research model to explain manufacturers' IT-enabled service innovation success. The outlook describes the steps to be taken to test the research model: data collection, data transformation, and set-theoretic analysis using a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The intended results contribute to digital servitization and information systems research to explain mechanisms of IT-enabled service innovation success while offering advice to manufacturers undergoing digital servitization. Collapse

Topics: business process innovation innovation management organizational control information technology capability IT centralization

Methods: theoretical contribution personal interview survey design qualitative interview qualitative comparative analysis

Theories: organizational control theory

Centralized IT Decision Making and Cybersecurity Breaches: Evidence from U.S. Higher Education Institutions

2020 | Journal of Management Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Liu, Che-Wei; Huang, Peng; Jr, Henry C. Lucas

Abstract: Despite the consensus that information security should become an important consi ... Expand

Abstract: Despite the consensus that information security should become an important consideration in information technology (IT) governance rather than the sole responsibility of the IT department, important IT governance decisions are often made on the basis of fulfilling business needs with a minimal amount of attention paid to their implications for information security. We study how an important IT governance mechanism—the degree of centralized decision making—affects the likelihood of cybersecurity breaches. Examining a sample of 504 U.S. higher-education institutions over a four-year period, we find that a university with centralized IT governance is associated with fewer breaches. Interestingly, the effect of centralized IT governance is contingent on the heterogeneity of a university’s computing environment: Universities with more heterogeneous IT infrastructure benefit more from centralized IT decision making. In addition, we find the relationship between centralized governance and cybersecurity breaches is most pronounced in public universities and those with more intensive research activities. Collectively, these findings highlight the tradeoff between granting autonomy and flexibility in the use of information systems and enforcing standardized, organization-wide security protocols. Collapse

Topics: IT security IT centralization IT governance IT security threat data security

Methods: hazard function instrumental variables estimation survey descriptive statistic longitudinal research

IT Centralization, Security Outsourcing, and Cybersecurity Breaches: Evidence from the U.S. Higher Education

2017 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Liu, Che-Wei; Huang, Peng; Lucas, Henry C.

Abstract: Prior research on information security management often considers information se ... Expand

Abstract: Prior research on information security management often considers information security as an operational decision instead of a strategic decision, and there is a lack of empirical research that uses archival data to examine cybersecurity breaches. We study how two important strategic decisions with regard to information systems – IT centralization, and the outsourcing of information security – affect the likelihood of cybersecurity breaches by using a sample of 505 U.S. higher education institutions over a 4-year period. We find that a university with centralized IT decision making is associated with fewer cybersecurity breaches. Interestingly, the effect of centralized IT governance is contingent on the complexity of a university’s computing environment – schools with sophisticated IT infrastructure benefit more from centralized governance. In addition, we find that correcting for the self-selection bias, universities that opt for outsourcing their information security have a lower likelihood of suffering from a cybersecurity breach. Collapse

Topics: IT security outsourcing IT centralization data security IT governance

Methods: survey descriptive statistic hazard function longitudinal research robustness check

Whose Talk is Walked? IT Decentralizability, Vendor versus Adopter Discourse, and the Diffusion of Social Media versus Big Data

2015 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 18

Authors: Miranda, Shaila; Kim, Inchan; Wang, Dawei (David)

Abstract: Discourse plays a central role in organizing vision and computerization movement ... Expand

Abstract: Discourse plays a central role in organizing vision and computerization movement perspectives on IT innovation diffusion. While we know that different actors within a community contribute to the discourse, we know relatively little about the roles different actors play in diffusing different types of IT innovations. Our study investigates vendor versus adopter roles in social media and big data diffusion. We conceptualize the difference between the two IT innovations in terms of their decentralizability, i.e., extent to which decision rights pertinent to adoption of an organizational innovation can be decentralized. Based on this concept, we hypothesized: (1) adopters would contribute more to discourse about the more decentralizable social media and influence its diffusion more than would vendors; (2) vendors would contribute more to discourse about the less decentralizable big data and influence its diffusion more than would adopters. Empirical evidence largely supported these hypotheses. Collapse

Topics: digital innovation big data social media innovation management diffusion of innovation

Methods: longitudinal research autocorrelation analysis descriptive statistic theoretical contribution literature study

Discriminating IT Governance

2015 | Information Systems Research | Citations: 77

Authors: Tiwana, Amrit; Kim, Stephen K.

Abstract: The information technology (IT) governance literature predominantly explains fir ... Expand

Abstract: The information technology (IT) governance literature predominantly explains firms’ IT governance choices, but not their strategic consequences. We develop the idea that a firm’s IT governance choices induce adeptness at strategically exploiting IT only when they are discriminatingly aligned with its departments’ knowledge outside their specialty. Discriminating means that governing the two undertheorized classes of IT assets—apps and infrastructure—requires “peripheral” knowledge in different departments. Analyses of data from 105 firms support our middle-range theory. Collapse

Topics: IT governance mobile application strategic agility information technology infrastructure IT manager

Methods: statistical hypothesis test econometric modeling theory development instrumental variables estimation survey

Theories: organizational theory

How Information Technology Governance Mechanisms and Strategic Alignment Influence Organizational Performance: Insights from a Matched Survey of Business and It Managers

2015 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 0

Authors: Wu, Ping-Ju Shelly; Straub, Detmar W.; Liang, Ting-Peng

Abstract: Previous research has proposed different types for and contingency factors affec ... Expand

Abstract: Previous research has proposed different types for and contingency factors affecting information technology governance. Yet, in spite of this valuable work, it is still unclear through what mechanisms IT governance affects organizational performance. We make a detailed argument for the mediation of strategic alignment in this process. Strategic alignment remains a top priority for business and IT executives, but theory-based empirical research on the relative importance of the factors affecting strategic alignment is still lagging. By consolidating strategic alignment and IT governance models, this research proposes a nomological model showing how organizational value is created through IT governance mechanisms. Our research model draws upon the resource-based view of the firm and provides guidance on how strategic alignment can mediate the effectiveness of IT governance on organizational performance. As such, it contributes to the knowledge bases of both alignment and IT governance literatures. Using dyadic data collected from 131 Taiwanese companies (cross-validated with archival data from 72 firms), we uncover a positive, significant, and impactful linkage between IT governance mechanisms and strategic alignment and, further, between strategic alignment and organizational performance. We also show that the effect of IT governance mechanisms on organizational performance is fully mediated by strategic alignment. Besides making contributions to construct and measure items in this domain, this research contributes to the theory base by integrating and extending the literature on IT governance and strategic alignment, both of which have long been recognized as critical for achieving organizational goals. Collapse

Topics: IT alignment IT governance organizational productivity strategic management information systems strategy

Methods: self reported survey archival research survey partial least squares regression statistical power analysis

Theories: resource based view of the firm

Understanding the IT/business partnership: A business process perspective

2014 | Information Systems Frontiers | Citations: 0

Authors: Siurdyban, Artur

Abstract: From a business process perspective, the business value of information technolog ... Expand

Abstract: From a business process perspective, the business value of information technologies (IT) stems from how they improve or enable business processes. At the same time, in the field of strategic IT/business alignment, the locus of discussion has been how IT/business partnerships enhance the value of IT. Despite this apparent relationship, the business process perspective has been absent from the IT/business alignment discussion. In this paper, we use the case of an industrial company to develop a model for understanding IT/business partnerships in business process terms. Based on our findings, we define these partnerships by allocating responsibilities between central IT and the local business during two stages of a process lifecycle: formation and standardization. The significance of the findings lies in how the model’s configuration leads to different types of IT units’ process centricity. This in turn affects the ability of the company as a whole to transform its operations with IT. Collapse

Topics: business process management system support organizational context IS management digital innovation

Methods: case study qualitative coding qualitative interview personal interview theory development

It Centralizaton And Enterprise-Wide It Capabilities And Outcomes: A Public Sector Study

2013 | European Conference On Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Markus, Lynne

Abstract: IT capabilities, including IT governance, are widely believed to affect the valu ... Expand

Abstract: IT capabilities, including IT governance, are widely believed to affect the value organizations derive from IT. This paper focuses on what may be an important strategy for building enterprise-wide IT capabilities in large decentralized organizations: undertaking an IT centralizing reorganization to concentrate authority for IT activities and decisions at the headquarters level of an enterprise. IT centralizing reorganizations are theorized to change an organization’s IT governance in ways that promote capability development and enable enterprise-wide IT initiatives such as IT consolidation and outsourcing. These ideas are explored through a multi-method study of US state governments. Collapse

Topics: enterprise information system outsourcing information technology capability IT centralization IT governance

Methods: theory development mixed method qualitative interview

Theories: management theory

SECRETLY SAAS-ING: STEALTH ADOPTION OF SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE

2012 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Zainuddin, Eruani

Abstract: Despite the wealth of research in innovation adoption, most studies assume innov ... Expand

Abstract: Despite the wealth of research in innovation adoption, most studies assume innovation adoption to be a top-down process that is conducted with the knowledge of top management and all organizational units held responsible for managing the innovation function. Little is known about innovation adoption that is conducted in antithesis to these assumptions, or stealth adoption – i.e., innovation adoption by organizational unit managers conducted without the knowledge of top management and key internal stakeholders. We identify stealth adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) as the phenomenon of interest. We examine the organizational conditions in which stealth adoption would occur. We elaborate on organizational conditions using the structural and relational embeddedness perspectives. The primary outcome of our work is a multilevel conceptual model describing the structural and relational conditions that encourage stealth adoption. We also incorporate formal control mechanisms into this conceptual model. Collapse

Topics: software as a service innovation management IS maturity decision making organization structure

Methods: conceptual modelling literature study qualitative interview survey