Journal of Systems and Information Technology

Ganesh D. Bhatt; Ali F. Emdad

2010 Journal of Systems and Information Technology

doi: 10.1108/13287261011032625

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a model that tests the relationship between information technology (IT) infrastructure, customer focus, and business advantages. Design/methodology/approach – Customer focus is categorized into: customer responsiveness and product/service innovation. The data for the study are obtained from 116 executives from a number of business organizations. Findings – IT infrastructure is found to have a significant effect on customer responsiveness, but does not show any significant relationship with product/service innovation. IT infrastructure, customer responsiveness, and product/service innovation are found to be significantly related business advantages. Research limitations/implications – The research is useful for academic scholars and managers as the results of the study show the value of firm‐specific resources such as IT infrastructure in business advantages. The research is also useful as it finds support for the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm. Originality/value – The paper exemplifies how IT infrastructure can influence customer focus and thus affects directly and indirectly business advantages.

Paul Beynon‐Davies

2010 Journal of Systems and Information Technology

doi: 10.1108/13287261011032634

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the case of a major knowledge transfer project conducted over seven years within a region of the UK. Design/approach – As part of this project a large survey is conducted on an annual basis which aims to track eBusiness adoption amongst small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region and the effects of such adoption upon regional development. Findings – The paper presents findings from this longitudinal study and discusses these findings in terms of conceptions of eBusiness and the importance of developing more sophisticated instruments for assessing eBusiness maturity amongst SMEs. From the research there is clear evidence of the role of eBusiness adoption as a driver of regional development. The benefits from the initial Opportunity Wales programme are still materializing several years after the completion of the first three years of the seven year project. Research limitations/implications – This is a study of one region in Europe. Further regional cases are required to support the findings. Practical implications – The findings should help regional planners and national governments assess the value of eBusiness initiatives. Originality/value – This paper describes the case of a programme funded by the European Union involved with the transfer of eBusiness knowledge to SMEs conducted over the period April 2001 to September 2007 within a major region of the UK. The scope of the research project and its longitudinal nature make the study original.

Govindan Marthandan; Chun Meng Tang

2010 Journal of Systems and Information Technology

doi: 10.1108/13287261011032643

Purpose – To justify an increase in information technology (IT) spending and to understand utilization of limited organizational resources on IT, the correlation between IT and business performance has been of great interest to business managers. However, business managers face issues and challenges in finding out how and to what extent IT is able to deliver the intended benefits. The purpose of this paper is to examine IT evaluation issues and challenges faced by information systems (IS) researchers, IS specialists, and business managers. Design/methodology/approach – This paper begins by reviewing the disparate discussions in past literature on IT evaluation issues and challenges. It then provides a synthesis of the disparate discussions by identifying eight issues and challenges in IT evaluation. Findings – The eight issues and challenges identified are: evaluation scope, evaluation timing, unit of analysis, level of analysis, different perspectives, different dimensions, different measures, and underpinning theoretical frameworks. It concludes with some suggestions on ways to improve IT evaluation practices. Originality/value – This paper posits that before a pragmatic IT evaluation approach can be developed, it is necessary to first understand the issues and challenges faced by IS researchers, IS specialists, and business managers in IT evaluation. Having identified the eight issues and challenges, this paper provides pointers on what needs to be considered when conducting IT evaluation.

Husniza Husni; Zulikha Jamaludin

2010 Journal of Systems and Information Technology

doi: 10.1108/13287261011032652

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present evidence of the need to have a carefully designed lexical model for speech recognition for dyslexic children reading in Bahasa Melayu (BM). Design/methodology/approach – Data collection is performed to obtain the most frequent reading error patterns and the reading recordings. Design and development of the lexical model considers the errors for better recognition accuracy. Findings – It is found that the recognition accuracy is increased to 75 percent when using context‐dependent (CD) phoneme model and phoneme refinement rule. Comparison between context‐independent phoneme models and CD phoneme model is also presented. Research limitations/implications – The most frequent errors recognized and obtained from data collection and analysis illustrate and support that phonological deficit is the major factor for reading disabilities in dyslexics. Practical implications – This paper provides the first step towards materializing an automated speech recognition (ASR)‐based application to support reading for BM, which is the first language in Malaysia. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the knowledge of the most frequent error patterns for dyslexic children's reading in BM and to the knowledge that a CD phoneme model together with the phoneme refinement rule can built up a more fine‐tuned lexical model for an ASR specifically for dyslexic children's reading isolated words in BM.

Tanmoy Nath; Craig Standing

2010 Journal of Systems and Information Technology

doi: 10.1108/13287261011032661

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of information technology (IT) use in the supply chain. Given that the use of IT in the supply chain has been a popular topic of research it is timely to analyse the literature to identify patterns and key factors for success. Design/methodology/approach – A grounded theory approach is used to build a conceptual model using peer‐reviewed journal articles. The selection criteria are derived from the literature review and these are used to extract suitable articles from the online databases. The term “supply chain” is used with all the selection key words to make the search more specific and relevant to the expected search outcome. Findings – The drivers of IT use in the supply chain are related to three levels of complexity and organisational change. The first level (low) involves a less complex use of IT that is driven through a desire to reduce costs. The drivers are cost reduction, reduced lead and cycle times, increased operational capability and information quality improvement. The second level (medium) involves a medium level of complexity that is characterised by networking and collaboration. The drivers are better relationships and information accessibility. Level two requires the drivers for level one. The most complex level is aimed at organisational transformation. The drivers are market sharing expansion, risk sharing and reduction, high quality service and better decision making. Level three also requires the drivers for levels one and two. Research limitations/implications – The study identified that many organisations use IT in the supply chain (SC) without understanding the drivers of IT use and this impacted on their success. In addition, it found that drivers can be classified into a hierarchy of benefits. Practical implications – A lack of understanding of the drivers of IT use in the SC can be overcome by using the list of specific drivers and how these relate to organisational change. The manager's increased understanding of these factors should improve the success rate of IT investment in the SC by being more aware of how requirements relate to benefits and improvement. Originality/value – The study is the first of its kind to analyse a large number of research articles to determine the drivers of IT use in the supply chain.