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1 – 6 of 6Marie‐Claude Boudreau and Richard T. Watson
Because the web can be an influential medium for attracting and retaining customers, it is critical to examine the connection between web advertising and corporate strategy. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Because the web can be an influential medium for attracting and retaining customers, it is critical to examine the connection between web advertising and corporate strategy. This is particularly true for multinational organizations, which face the most complex organizational environment. The purpose of this paper is to propose that multinational organizations should be concerned with alignment of their strategy and web image because of the size and geographic spread of their operations.
Design/methodology/approach
This research paper reviews the fundamental global strategies that corporations can pursue (e.g. integration, transnational, national responsiveness) and then empirically examine the relationship between corporate global strategy and web advertising strategy for 20 multinational organizations.
Findings
The results show that misalignment between corporate global strategy and web advertising strategy is reasonably common. For two thirds of the companies in our sample, there was imperfect alignment.
Originality/value
The paper suggests three reasons why this can be, and offer a tool that enables organizations to recognize how they should handle design and content matters for the combination of corporate and national web sites.
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Keywords
Adela J.W. Chen, Marie‐Claude Boudreau and Richard T. Watson
There is a growing awareness by researchers and practitioners of organizations' ecological responsibilities. Past research in management suggests that it is important to develop…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a growing awareness by researchers and practitioners of organizations' ecological responsibilities. Past research in management suggests that it is important to develop ecological sustainability, a long‐missing piece of the sustainability puzzle, together with economic sustainability and social sustainability. However, little research has been conducted to explore how information systems (IS), as one of the defining technologies in human society, can help organizations develop ecological sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a conceptual model and propositions with regard to the roles of IS in the pursuit of ecological sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper focuses on how organizations are motivated to act in the same legitimate way (i.e. eco‐friendly way) and proposes institutional theory as a lens to better understand how IS can be leveraged to achieve the three milestones of ecological sustainability, i.e. eco‐efficiency, eco‐equity and eco‐effectiveness.
Findings
The model advocates that under different institutional pressures, IS can be leveraged to achieve eco‐efficiency, eco‐equity and eco‐effectiveness through automating, informating (up and down) and transforming organizations, respectively. Research limitations/implications – The paper calls for the incorporation of the dimension of natural environment into our framework for future investigation of the IS roles in organizations.
Practical implications
The paper highlights the importance for practitioners to understand the environmental impact of the IS that they design or use, and the roles that IS can play in facilitating the large‐scale learning about ecological sustainability.
Originality/value
The implications of this research for both practice and academia are discussed, with a brief outlook towards future research.
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Marie‐Claude Boudreau and Daniel Robey
Business process re‐engineering (BPR) promises to transform organizations by fundamentally altering their core processes, thereby achieving radical improvements in performance. As…
Abstract
Business process re‐engineering (BPR) promises to transform organizations by fundamentally altering their core processes, thereby achieving radical improvements in performance. As the number of actual re‐engineering projects increases, the rhetoric surrounding BPR has shifted to reflect greater cynicism and discomfort over its claims. In the absence of compelling and trustworthy evidence about the success of BPR projects, critics have exposed logical contradictions within BPR’s “manifesto” for revolutionary change and insinuated that BPR’s utopian rhetoric masks political motives. This paper contributes to this discussion in three ways. First we examine two difficulties affecting the evaluation of BPR programmes: defining what process re‐engineering really is, and determining whether BPR has been applied successfully. Second, we examine four fundamental contradictions inherent in BPR’s analysis of organizations: the fallacy of its “clean‐slate” assumption, the paradox of information technology’s role as an enabler of organizational change, the hypocrisy of employee empowerment, and the irony of employee commitment. Third we propose that such contradictions be addressed in both research and practice by employing theoretical perspectives that are prepared to accommodate contradictory phenomena, in contrast to the simplistic, deterministic logic guiding current investigations of BPR’s effectiveness. We suggest theories of organizational learning and organizational politics to understand and resolve the contradictions embedded within BPR.
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Rabiah Eladwiah Abdul Rahim and Azizah Abdul Rahman
The aim of this paper is to review the firm's resources, as identified by the researcher in previous environmental studies, from the theoretical lens of a resource‐based view…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to review the firm's resources, as identified by the researcher in previous environmental studies, from the theoretical lens of a resource‐based view (RBV). This will help to identify the firm's resources for the future Green IT studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The objective was first achieved by reviewing the environmental resources for the firm's performance. The approach uses literature reviews of environmental studies having related keywords in literature databases. Using content analysis approach, the authors selected ten empirical environmental studies and developed the typology of the firm's environmental resources. The frequently highlighted constructs are then discussed in the context of Green IT.
Findings
This review shows the importance of continuous innovation, stakeholder integration, shared visions and early adoption which were frequently highlighted in RBV studies. The literature studies concerning Green IT also point out the importance of these resources for Green IT performance. Drawing upon this, it is also believed that these firm resources identified from environmental literature are also applicable in Green IT context.
Research limitations/implications
Some limitations of this study have been encountered and are as follows: First, the search was performed within a limited time frame. Second, different search terms might have yielded more results. Third, the classification of the firm's resources might be different from the point of view of others. Nonetheless, the authors believe this review can be used as a guide for future integrative resource‐based Green IT studies. Future confirmatory studies could empirically validate these relationships. The role of mediating and moderating variables that could enhance Green IT practice can also be further investigated. This could contribute to the knowledge concerning the application of RBV in the Green IT context.
Originality/value
The paper helps to shed light on a firm's resources for environmental capability coming from different industries, which contributes towards an understanding of these theories from wider perspectives, including environmental sustainability, in the IT context.
Details