DOI: 10.4018/JOEUC.2020100107
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Business Analytics/Business Intelligence and IT Infrastructure:Impact on Organizational AgilityXiaoFeng Chen, Western Washington University, USA
Keng Siau, Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA
ABSTRACT
This is an empirical research investigating the impact of business analytics (BA) and businessintelligence(BI)use, IT infrastructureflexibility,and their interactionsonorganizationalagility.Synthesizingthesystemstheoryandawareness-motivation-capabilityframework,theauthorsproposethatBA-Use,ITinfrastructureflexibility,andtheirinteractionssignificantlyinfluenceorganizationalagility.TheresultsshowthesignificantassociationofBAuseandITinfrastructureflexibilitywithorganizationalagility.TheresultsalsosuggestthatBAusemaydemandcorporationstobuildamoreflexibleITinfrastructure.However,thedatadoesnotrevealtheproposedinteractionbetweenthetwodriversoforganizationalagility.
KEywORdSBusiness Analytics, Business Intelligence, IT Infrastructure Flexibility, Organizational Agility, Strategic Value
INTROdUCTION
Businessanalytics(BA)andbusinessintelligence(BI)havebeencreditedforbettermanagementdecisionsinbusiness.Businessintelligence(BI)becameapopularterminthe1990s(Chenetal.,2012).Inthe2000s,businessanalytics(BA)wasintroducedtoemphasizetheanalyticcomponentinBI(Davenport,2006;Adeborna&Siau,2014).BAhasaverysubtledistinctionfromBIintoday’sliterature.Sometime,theunifiedtermBI&Aisused(Chenetal.,2012).WeviewBAandBIastwosynonymousterms.Inthisstudy,weusethetermBAthroughoutthepaperbecauseitismorecommonlyusedinthecurrentliteratureanditreflectstheuniquecharacteristicoftheinformationsystems.Organizationshavespentmillions,ifnotbillions,ofdollarsandsometimesmadesignificantorganizationalchangestoimplementBA.BAispopularinpractice.However,empiricalstudiesonBAanditsbusinessvaluearerelativelyscarceinacademicresearchcomparedtostudiesonanalyticalandmathematicalmodeling,statisticalmethods,andminingalgorithms(Jourdanetal.,2008).Althoughthelast15yearshavewitnessedariseinthenumberofempiricalstudiesonthebusinessvalueofBA,only3%ofpriorBAstudiesempiricallyinvestigatedtheimpactofBA-Use(Trieu,2016).Inthisstudy,wetheorizethatBAusehasadirectimplicationonorganizationalperformancebasedonthesynthesisofsystemstheory,awareness-motivation-capability(AMC)framework,andextantISresearch.
Basedontheliteraturereview,wetheorizethattheorganizationalagility(OA)perspectiveisapromisinglensforstudyingthesignificanceofBAinorganizationalperformance(Chen&Siau,2012).OAwasdefinedastheorganizationalabilitythatcanbemeasuredbyfactorsfromtwodimensions:the
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dimensionofdetectingandthedimensionofrespondingtoopportunitiesandthreats(Nevo&Wade,2010;Sambamurthyetal.,2003).However,ourliteraturereviewalsoshowsthatthedefinitionwaspresentedwithouttheoreticaljustificationsonwhythetwodimensionspossessfactorsthataffectOA.ArethereotherfactorsfromotherdimensionsthatmayalsoaffectOA?WhileinvestigatingthebusinessvalueofBA-UsethroughthelensofOA,wealsowanttocloselyexaminethetheoreticalfoundationoftheOAdefinitionthathasbeenusedintheISfield.Theresearchquestionsofthisstudyinclude:(1)IsthereatheoreticalfoundationforthecurrentOAdefinition?(2)WhatistheroleofBA-UseinconvertingBAassetsintoBAimpacts?(3)HowBA-UseandITflexibilityinfluenceeachotherandinteractwitheachothertoinfluencetheOA?Inthisstudy,weusethesystemstheoryandAMCframeworktoelaborateonwhytheOAdefinitionshouldincludetheorganizationalabilitytodetectandrespondtoopportunitiesandthreats.WealsoproposethattheexistingOAdefinitionmayneedtobeexpandedtoincludethemotivationdimension.ChenandSiau(Chen&Siau,2012)proposed,andthisstudyfurtherelaborates,thatBA-UseandITinfrastructureflexibility(IIF)aretwoenablingcomponentsthatcanhelptoimproveOA.Inthisstudy,accordingtothesystemstheory,wetheorizethatBA-UsewillinteractwithIIFtoaffectanorganization’sagility.BasedontheAMCframework,wefurtherproposethatinthenewdata-drivenworld,BA-UserequiresflexibleITinfrastructurefororganizationstobeandremainagile.
TheresultsshowthatbothBA-UseandIIFhaveasignificantimpactonOA.TheresultsalsoshowthatBA-UseisadrivingfactorforimprovingIIF,andBA-UsehasasignificantinfluenceonorganizationalagilitythroughIIF.However,thedatadoesnotshowtheinteractioneffectbetweenBA-Use and IIF on OA. This study contributes to the academic research in a number of ways.First, although OA has been defined as “an organization’s detecting and responding ability toopportunitiesandthreatswithspeed”(Nevo&Wade,2010;Sambamurthyetal.,2003)andtestedintheISliterature,nopriorstudyhasprovidedatheoreticalexplanationonwhyOAshouldbedefinedbytheorganizationalabilitiesinthedetectingandrespondingdimensions.Thisstudyusesanewperspective,AMCframework,toprovidetheoreticalsupportforthetwoexistingdimensionsofOAdefinitionandproposesapossiblemodificationoftheOAdefinitiontoincludethethirddimension:motivation.Second,thisstudyprovidestheoreticalfoundationstoanswerthefundamentalquestionofwhyBAisimportantinthebusinesscontext.Third,itprovidestheoreticalsupportstoconnectIIFwithOAfromanewperspective:AMCframework.Andfourth,throughthelensoftheAMCframework,itconnectsBA-UsewithITinfrastructureandproposesandempiricallysuggeststhatinthenewdata-drivenenvironment,BA-UsedemandsamoreflexibleITinfrastructurethroughwhichBA-UseexertsastronginfluenceonOA.Practicalcontributionsofthestudyincludes(1)thattheresultsprovidesupportsforBAmanagerstojustifytheirrequestsforresourcestoimplementBAsystems;(2)strategicplannersneedtoconsiderBA-Useasacrucialassetinthestrategicblueprintforimprovingandenhancingorganizationalcompetitiveadvantage;and(3)inthenewdata-drivenenvironment,buildinga flexible IT infrastructure is crucial forOAbecauseBA-UsedemandsaflexibleITinfrastructureandbothBA-UseandIIFhavedirectinfluenceonOA.
Thepaperisorganizedasfollows.Section2presentsanddiscussesthetheoreticalbackground.Section 3 describes the research model. Section 4 presents the literature review and hypothesisdevelopment.Section5describes the researchmethod.Section6puts forward themeasurementanalysisresults.Section7presentsthestructuralmodelanalysisresultsanddiscussesthefindings.Section8highlightstheresearchcontributions.Section9discussesthelimitationsoftheresearchandsuggestspotentialfutureresearchdirections.
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THEORETICAL BACKGROUNd
Systems Theory and Organizational Agility (OA)Thesystemstheorydefinesthatsystemsarecompositethingsandthatsystemspossesspropertiesthatarederivedfromtheinteractionamongthecomposingcomponents(Ackoff,1971;Checkland,1981).Thesystemstheoryassertsthat(1)theworldismadeupofthings;(2)thingspossessproperties;and(3)eachpropertyisrepresentedbysomevalueatanypointintime(Nevo&Wade,2010,p.165).Extendingthesystemstheory,NevoandWade(2010)proposed“somesystempropertiesmaybepropertiesoftheircomponentsbutwithnewvalues”while“othersystempropertiesarenewinthesensethatnoindividualcomponentpossessestheminisolation.”(Nevo&Wade,2010,p.166).Thelattersystempropertiesarecalledemergentproperties(Nevo&Wade,2010).Thevalueofemergentpropertiesisdeterminedbyboththecomposingcomponentsandtheirrelationships(Nevo&Wade,2010).
MostOAdefinitionsintheinformationsystems(IS)literatureexplicitlyorimplicitlydefinesOAasanorganization’sabilitiestodetectandrespondtoopportunitiesandthreatswithspeed(e.g.,Lietal.,2008;Lu&Ramamurthy,2011;Sambamurthyetal.,2003;Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011).OneoftherepresentativeOAdefinitionsis“theabilitytodetectandrespondtoopportunitiesandthreatswithease,speed,anddexterity”(Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011,p.464).However,notheoreticaljustificationintheliteraturewasgivenonwhyOAisdefinedbythetwodimensions.InconjunctionwiththeintroductionoftheAMCframeworkbelow,weexplainwhyOAshouldincludethetwodimensionsofabilitiesandshouldanotherdimensionofabilitybeadded.SincethereisnosinglecomponentthatcandefineOA,weproposethatOAisanemergentproperty.Therefore,thevalueofOAcomesfromitscomposingcomponents.SinceOAisanemergentproperty,wecannotignoretheinteractioneffectofthecomposingcomponentsaccordingtothesystemstheory.Therefore,inthisstudy,wealsoexaminetheinteractioneffectoftheOA’scomposingcomponentsonOA.
Awareness-Motivation-Capability (AMC) FrameworkChen(1996)firstintroducedtheAMCframework.Competitivedynamicsresearchershaveusedittostudytheantecedentsofcompetitiveactions.TheAMCperspectivesuggeststhatthreebehavioraldriversinfluenceafirm’sdecisiontoact:awareness,motivation,andcapability(Chen,1996).ThedefinitionofOAandtheliteratureindicatethattheessenceofOAistorespondtoopportunitiesandthreatswithspeed.Respondingisanaction.Therefore,itisgoingtobeinfluencedbythethreebehavioral drivers as suggested by the AMC framework. The original AMC framework did notexplicitlydescribe thedynamicsof the threedrivers.ChenandMiller(2015)furtherrefinedtheAMCframework.Theyindicated thatforanorganization to takeaction, itmustbeawareof theopportunitiesandthreats,motivatedtoreact,andcapableofreacting.Itimpliesthatawarenessisthepremisetomotivation,thentocapabilitybuildingbeforetakingaction.BecauseOAisaboutanorganization’sabilitytotakeactionwithspeed,basedontheAMCframework,weproposethatOAshouldbedeterminedbytheawareness,motivation,andcapabilitydriversforaction.
Synthesizing the systems theoryandAMCframework,we theorize thatOA is anemergentsystempropertywhosevalueisdeterminedbyitscomposingcomponentsandtheirinteractions.Wefurtherproposethatdetectingabilityispartoftheawarenessdriverandrespondingabilityispartofthecapabilitydriver.Becauseawarenesscanhelpanorganizationtointentionallybuilditscapability,detectingabilitywillhaveadirect influenceonanorganization’scapabilitybuilding.Therefore,detectingabilitywillinfluenceanorganization’sabilitytotakeactionthroughcapability.ThecurrentOAdefinitiononlyemphasizesthefactorsfromthedetectingandrespondingdimensions.FromtheAMCperspective,anOAdefinitionshouldbebroadenedtoincludethecomponentfromthemotivationdriver.Therefore,weproposeaslightlymodifiedOAdefinitionas“theabilitytodetectandtobemotivatedtorightfullyrespondtoopportunitiesandthreatswithease,speed,anddexterity”.Becausebothawarenessandcapabilitydriversmeasureanorganization’sabilityandcanbebuiltbyITassets,
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thisstudyfocusesonhowfactorsinthesetwodriversinfluenceOA.Specifically,weproposethatBA-Useinanorganizationisoneofthefactorsthatinfluenceanorganization’sdetectingability.ITinfrastructureflexibilitycanimproveanorganization’scapabilitytorespond.WeproposethatBA-UseandIIFaretwodirectinfluentialfactorsonOA;BA-UsewillinfluenceIIFinthenewdata-drivenenvironment.BecauseBA-UseisoneofthedetectingfactorsofOAandIIFisoneoftherespondingfactorsofOA,theywillinteractwitheachothertoinfluenceOA.
RESEARCH MOdEL
Drawingonsystemstheory,AMCframework,andcurrentliteratureonBA,ITflexibility,OA,andcompetitiveperformance, this studyhasdevelopeda researchmodelas shown inFigure1.Thisresearchmodelisfurtherexplainedbelowintheliteraturereviewandhypothesisdevelopment.
LITERATURE REVIEw ANd HyPOTHESIS dEVELOPMENT
Organizational Agility (OA)OAhasbeendefinedintheinformationsystemsliteratureastheorganizational“abilitytodetectandrespondtoopportunitiesandthreatswithease,speed,anddexterity”(Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011,p.464).Theliteratureshowedthattwodimensionsdeterminedagility:theabilitytodetectopportunitiesandthreatsandtorespondwithspeed(Lietal.,2008;Lu&Ramamurthy,2011;Sambamurthyetal.,2003;Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011).Accordingtothesystemstheory,wetheorizethatOAisnotonlydeterminedby the twodimensionsbut also the interactionof the twodimensions.TheAMCframeworkindicatesthattotakeaction,anorganizationneedstobeawareofopportunities/threats,thenbemotivatedtotakeaction,andultimatelyhavethecapabilitytotakeaction.Therefore,capabilityisthepremisetorespond.
Sambamurthyetal.(Sambamurthyetal.,2003)theoreticallyarguedthatOAcomprisedthreeinterrelated capabilities: customer agility, partner agility, and operational agility. Furthermore,Sambamurthyetal.(Sambamurthyetal.,2003)definedcustomeragilityas“theco-optingofcustomers
Figure 1. Conceptual model
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intheexplorationandexploitationofopportunitiesforinnovationandcompetitiveactionmoves”(p.245).Theirdefinitionofcustomeragilitynarrowlyrelatestotheco-creationofnewideas,products,andservices.Weviewcustomeragilityinabroadersenseasanorganization’sabilitytosenseandrespondtocustomerchangesindemandforproductsandservices.BasedonVenkatraman&Henderson(1998)’sresearch,partneragilityisdefinedasthe“abilitytoleveragetheassets,knowledge,andcompetencies of suppliers, distributors, contract manufacturers, and logistics providers throughalliances,partnerships,andjointventures”(Sambamurthyetal.,2003,p.245).Operationalagilityconcernstheabilityofanorganization’soperationalprocessestoinnovateandcompetewithspeed,accuracy,andcost-effectiveness.TallonandPinsonneault(2011)devisedasetof indicatorswithwhichtomeasurethethreecapabilitiesofOA.Webasedourmeasurementindicatorson(Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011).
ResearchondynamiccapabilityfromthestrategicmanagementfieldprovidesthetheoreticalfoundationonwhyOA,whichhasbeenstudiedintheISfieldfordecades,isacriticalcompetitivefactorandasourceofcompetitiveadvantage(e.g.,Sambamurthyetal.,2003).ThesestudiesdemonstratetheroleofOAincreatingstrategicbusinessvalues.WechooseOAasthedependentvariableinthis study to illustrate the strategic values of the two studied IS/IT components by theoreticallyconnectingBA-UseandITinfrastructurewiththestrategicallyimportantorganizationalproperty:organizationalagility.
BA-Use and its Impact on OAInthisresearch,weadoptaninclusivedefinitionofBAasdefinedbyWatson(Watson,2009,p.491)“abroadcategoryofapplications,technologies,andprocessesforgathering,storing,accessing,andanalyzingdatatohelpbusinessusersmakebetterdecisions.”ThisdefinitionindicatesthatBAhasthreecomponents.Thefirstistheapplicationcomponent,whichanalyzesthedatatoproduceinsights/newknowledgesothatspecificbusinessprocessescanusetheinsights/newknowledgetoincreasebusinessvalue.Thesecondisthetechnologycomponent,whichhelpstocollect,store,anddeliverinformation.Thethirdisthehumanprocesscomponent,whichempowersuserstoeffectivelyandefficientlyretrievedataanddeliveritasinformation,thushelpingwiththegenerationofknowledgeandthemakingofbetterdecisions(Laursen&Thorlund,2010).Inthisstudy,BA-UsereferstotheextentusersinanorganizationemploythebroadBAapplicationandtechnologyforbetterdecisions.Thisincludestheuseofreportingandquerycapabilitiesforreports,applicationofstatisticalmethodsinanalyzingdata,andemploymentofdataminingcapabilityforidentifyingpatterns(Lee&Siau,2001).
ManypriorresearcheffortsonthebusinessvalueofBAhavefocusedprimarilyonexploratoryresearch:formaltheoryandliteraturereviews(Jourdanetal.,2008).Since2008,BAresearchhasblossomed. Chen et al. (2012) outlined the key emerging research areas. Although those areasarecritical inadvancingBA, they focuson theapplicationsand technologycomponentsofBA,includingtheareasof(big)dataanalytics,textanalytics,webanalytics,networkanalytics,andmobileanalytics.Sincethen,therehasbeenaconsiderableamountofresearchonspecificBAapplicationsand technologies. However, research from management and strategy perspectives, especially onthe business value of BA for organizational performance, is relatively underexplored. In the ITimpactliterature,findingsaremixedregardingtheimpactsofgeneralITonorganizationalagility.Forexample,Chakravartyetal.(2016)andLuandRamamurthy(2011)foundthatITcapabilitiespositivelyinfluenceorganizationalagility,whereasLiuetal.(2013)andSwaffordetal.(2008)foundthereisnodirectlinkbetweenITcapabilitiesandorganizationalagility.Ghasemaghaeietal.(2018)foundthepositiveimpactofdataanalyticscompetencyondecisionmakingperformance.Throughinterviewswiththestakeholdersintheminingindustry,Zeshanetal.(2019)foundthatBAbenefitstheindustrythroughimprovingefficiencyandproductivityamongothers.BAsystemshavebeenconsideredtobestrategicinformationtechnologiesinmanyorganizations.Nevertheless,howBAsystemscontribute toorganizationalcompetitivestrengthandhowBA-UseconvertsBAsystemsintoBAimpactsareunder-researchedsubjects in thecurrentBAliterature. Integrating the three
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mostpopularITbusinessvaluemodelsfrom(Schrven,2013;Soh&Markus,1995),Trieu(2016)proposedaBAbusinessvalueframeworkforclassifyingpriorBAresearch.Itwasaprocessmodelthatdescribedachainofoutcomesandtheirrelationships.ThechainincludesBAinvestment,BAassets,BAimpacts,andorganizationalperformance.Eachdownstreamchainelementwasavaluethatanupstreamchainelementcreatedthroughabusinessprocess.Forexample,BAinvestmentscreatedBAassetsthroughtheBAconversionprocess,andBAassetscreatedBAimpactsthroughtheBA-Useprocess(Trieu,2016).AccordingtoTrieu(2016),only3%ofpriorresearchinvestigatedBAimpactthroughBA-Use.ItfurtherdemonstratesBA-UsewasunderstudiedintheBAvalueliterature.
OurreviewofpriorstudiesrevealsthatmostofthepriorstudiesonBAvalueeitherwerenotempiricalstudiesorfocusedonBAapplicationsandtechnologies(e.g.,Abbasietal.,2012;Chaeetal.,2014;Huetal.,2012;Popovicetal.,2014).TherearesomerecentBAusestudiesthatinvestigateBAuseasadependentvariable(e.g.,Daradkeh,2019).FewofthepriorBAvaluestudiesempiricallyinvestigatedBAimpactsfromaBA-UseperspectiveandtreatedBA-Useasanindependentvariableforbusinessperformance(e.g.,Akteretal.,2016;Elbashiretal.,2008;Ghasemaghaeietal.,2017;Popovicetal.,2012;Sangari&Razmi,2015;Shollo&Galliers,2016).Elbashiretal.(2008)investigatedtheimpactofBA-Useonbusinessprocessperformanceandorganizationalperformance.ItwasoneofthepioneerstudiesthatempiricallyinvestigatedthevalueofBA-Use.However,Elbashiretal.(2008)measuredtheperceivedimpactofBA-Useonbusinessprocessesandorganizationalperformancewhenthesystemswerefirstimplemented.ItdidnotaddresstheimpactofhowtheBAsystemswereused.Ghasemaghaeietal.(2017)investigatedtheimpactoftheuseofdataanalyticsonOA.TheyfoundthatthelinkbetweentheuseofdataanalyticsandOAissignificantlymoderatedbythefitbetweentaskandtechnology,personandtechnology,anddataandtechnology.ThisfindingprovidesthebaseforustoinvestigateothermoderatingvariablesonthelinkbetweenBA-UseandOA.SomerecentempiricalstudiesthatinvestigatetheroleofBAsystemsfromthemanagerialperspectiveinclude(Popovicetal.,2012;Sangari&Razmi,2015;Shollo&Galliers,2016).However,thesestudiesdonotaddresshowcomplementaryresources,especiallyothertechnologicalresources,interactedwithBA-UseandthecontributionofBA-Usetoanorganization’scompetitiveperformance.ThelimitednumberofempiricalstudiesonBAbusinessvalue,especiallyonhowBA-UseconvertsBAsystemsintoBAimpacts,madeitchallengingformanagerstojustifytheirrequestsforresourcestoinitiateandimplementBAprojectsandtopromotetheuseofBAforbusinessoperationalefficiencyandorganizationalperformanceatthestrategiclevel.Therefore,althoughtherearenumerousBAstudies,thereisstillaneedforaconceptualfoundationthathelpstounderstandthevalueofBAsystems,toconnecttheoreticallyBA-Usewithbusinessprocessandorganizationalperformance,andtofindoutthefactorsthataffecttheimpactofBA-Useonorganizationalperformance(Ghasemaghaeietal.,2017).ThisisbecausepriorBAstudiesmainlyfocusedonwhatBAimpactswere,butdidnotaddressthequestionofhowBAsystemswereconvertedintoBAimpactsthroughBA-Use.Thisstudyisoneattempttobuildthefoundation.ItaimstoinvestigatethesignificanceofBAbytheoreticallyandempiricallydemonstratinghowandwhyBA-UsecanhelporganizationsandwhatotherorganizationalresourcesaffectthebenefitsofusingBAinorganizations.
ThepurposeofBAsystemsistogather,store,access,andanalyzedata,whichincludesdataaboutcustomers,partners,operations,andotherenvironmentchangeinformation.Fordecisionmaking,wearguethattheuseofBAinorganizationswillhelptoincreaseOAbyimprovinganorganization’sabilitytodetectthechangesreflectedinthedatainBAsystems.ThereisalsoempiricalevidenceofBA’scontributiontoOAincurrentISresearchonthetopic.Forexample,(Ghasemaghaeietal.,2017)directlyfoundthemoderatedimpactofBA-Useonorganizationalagility.Theconstructofinformationmanagementcapability(IMC)fromMithasetal.(2011)isencompassingandincludescapabilitiesthatBAprovides.Mithasetal.(2011)foundsignificantpositiveinfluencesofIMConthreeorganizationalcapabilities:performancemanagementcapability,customermanagementcapability,andprocessmanagementcapability,whichcanbemeasuredbyproposedOAofcustomer,partner,andoperation(Sambamurthyetal.,2003).
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StrategicITalignmentliteraturealsoprovidessupportforthepositiveeffectofBA-UseonOA.Forexample,studieshaveshownknowledgecreation,sharing,andusetobeenablersofstrategicITalignment(Preston&Karahanna,2009;Siauetal.2010,Nahetal.2005).DuetoknowledgesharingbetweenbusinessandITexecutives,anorganizationcanrespondquicklytochangesinmarketplacesand,thus,increaseanorganization’sagility.Knowledgecreation,sharing,andusearetheargumentsforthepositiveeffectofstrategicITalignmentonagility(Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011).SinceBA-Usecancreateanenvironmentforgenerating,sharing,andusingnewlyfound/createdknowledge,BA-UsecanhelpincreaseOA.Therefore,wepostulatethatBA-Usecanenhanceanorganization’sagilitytodetectchanges:
H1:BA-Usewillpositivelyinfluenceanorganization’sagility.
IIF and its Impact on OAFlexibilityisthedegreetowhichathingismalleable.Flexibilitywasviewedasoneofthefirm’scapabilitiesthatinfluenceafirm’sspeedtoactorrespond(e.g.,Tiwana&Konsvnski,2010).Studieshaveshownthatflexibilityisakeyantecedentofagilityinabusinesscontext(e.g.,Lietal.,2008;Tiwana&Konsvnski,2010).
ITinfrastructurewasconsistentlydefinedinliteratureasasetofsharedITresourcesthatareafoundationforenablingcommunicationacrossanorganizationandenablingpresentandfuturebusinessapplications(Byrd&Turner,2001;Duncan,1995).ITinfrastructuremayinclude(1)platformtechnology(e.g.,hardwareandoperatingsystems);(2)networkandtelecommunicationtechnologies;and(3)dataanddatamanagementsystems(Duncan,1995).IIFreferstothedegreetowhichthefirm’sITresourcesaremalleable(Duncan,1995).ThedefinitionofIIFfromByrd&Turner(2001)emphasizesITinfrastructure’sabilitytoeasilyandreadilysupportawidevarietyofhardware,software,andcommunicationtechnologies,todistributeinformationtoanywhereinsideanorganizationandbeyond,andtosupportthedesign,development,andimplementationofaheterogeneityofbusinessapplications.TherearefourkeycomponentsofIIF:connectivity,compatibility,modularity,andITpersonnelcompetency(Byrd&Turner,2001;Duncan,1995).Mostcommonlyacceptedtechnical(static)dimensionsofIIFareconnectivity,compatibility,andmodularity.
BecausecontemporaryorganizationsaremostlyIT-enabled,organizationalcapabilitiesareofteninseparablefromIT(Pavlou&ElSawy,2010).Today,organizationalactionsarerarelyexecutedwithoutinformationtechnology.Sambamurthyetal.(Sambamurthyetal.,2003)theoreticallyarguedthat thereshouldbeapositive relationshipbetween IIFandOA.TheAMCframeworksuggeststhattotakeaction,anorganizationmusthavethecapabilitytodoit inadditiontotheawarenessof opportunity and threat, and motivation to take action. Flexible IT infrastructure can help anorganizationquicklyandeconomicallyintegrateandreconfigureinternalandexternalIT-enabledresourcestorespondtoever-changingrequestsfromfunctionallinesofbusiness.Priorresearch(ElSawy&Pavlou,2008;Raietal.2006)alsoempiricallysupportstheviewofthepositiveroleofIIFinintegratingandreconfiguringinternalandexternalresourcestorespondtochanges.Therefore,wecanviewaflexibleITinfrastructureaspartoftheorganizationalcapabilitytorespondtochangesintheIT-enabledbusinessenvironment.Becausecapabilityisthedriverfortakingactionwithspeed,whichisOA’srespondingdimension,aflexibleITinfrastructurecanbenaturallyconnectedwiththerespondingdimensionofOA.
ScholarsinISfieldhavestudiedIIFasanindependentvariableaswellasamoderator(Byrd&Turner,2001;Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011;Tiwana&Konsvnski,2010).However,directinvestigationoftherelationshipbetweenIIFandOAisscarcealthoughthereisadirectlinkbetweenflexibilityandagilityingeneral(e.g.,Tiwana&Konsvnski,2010).WeonlyfoundafewinvestigationsofthiskindinISfield(Bhattetal.,2010;Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011).TheothersstudiedvariousaspectsofITinfrastructure,butnottheIIFonOA(e.g.,Leeetal.2015).Kumar(2004)proposedthatthereal
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valuesofIIFlieintheflexibleinteractionbetweenanITinfrastructureanditsorganizationalcontext.ThisstudyextendsthatpropositionbyspecifyingtheorganizationalcapabilitythatIIFcontributes.ThisstudyemphasizesthatIIFisoneoftwocontributingfactorsthatcanimproveOA.Basedonacasestudy,Richardsonetal.(Richardsonetal.,2014)proposedthatanITplatformbasedonopensourcetoolscouldleadtohigherlevelsofcustomer,operational,andpartneragility.TheopensourceITplatformimpliedbetterconnectivityandmorecompatibilityamongsubsystems.Therefore,thestudyof(Richardsonetal.,2014)canbeviewedassupportingthepositiveimpactofIIFonOA.
Synthesizingthesystemtheory,AMCframework,andpriorISresearch,weproposethatIIFisacriticalcontributortoanorganization’sagilitytorespondtochangesincompetitiveenvironmentswhetherthechangesoriginatefromcustomers,partners,oroperations.Therefore,theoreticalargumentsandISliteraturesuggestthefollowinghypothesis:
H2:ITinfrastructureflexibilitywillpositivelyinfluenceorganizationalagility.
The Relationship Between IIF and BA-UseTheAMCframework suggests that three forcesdriveanorganization to takeaction: awareness,motivation,andcapability.Itfurthertheorizesthattotakeanaction,anorganizationmustfirstbeawareofthechangesoftheenvironmentandwithinitsownoperationtobemotivatedtotakeaction,andthenitmusthaveorbuildtherequiredcapabilitybeforetakingaction(Chen,1996;Chen&Miller,2015).WediscussedabovethatBA-Usecancontributetoanorganization’sabilitytodetectchanges.Therefore,itcanhelpincreaseanorganization’sawareness.TheabovediscussionalsoshowsthatIIFisoneofthekeyorganizationalcapabilitiesintheIT-enabledbusinessenvironmentfororganizationstoactquicklyandeconomically.
Inaddition,BAisaninformationsystemthatisbuiltonanITinfrastructure.Thus,wecanconnectBA-UsefromtheawarenessforcewithIIFfromthecapabilityforcefororganization’sactions.Also,BA-Userequiresuserstobeabletoaccessavarietyofdatasourcesanddistributedatatodifferentusersanddatainterfaces,suchaswebbrowsersondesktopcomputers,smallscreensonmobiledevices,orsenddataproducedintheBAsystemstootherinformationsystems.Thereby,BA-UsedemandsaflexibleITinfrastructuretofacilitatetheintegrationofexistingandnewdatasourcesanddistributingthegeneratedinformationtouserswheneverandwhereveritisneeded.AflexibleITinfrastructurecanprovidegoodconnectionsandcompatibleresourcesamongsubsystems(Bharadwaj&Bendoly,2007).Insummary,increasedBA-UsewilldriveorganizationstobuildmoreflexibleIT.Therefore,weproposethatBA-UseinanorganizationdemandshigherIIF:
H3:BA-UsewillpositivelyinfluenceITinfrastructureflexibility.
Thesystemstheorysuggeststhatthevalueofanemergentpropertyofasystemisdeterminedbythevaluesofcomposingcomponentsandtheinteractionsofthecomposingcomponents.OAisanemergentpropertyofanorganization.Itsvalueisdeterminedbythevaluesofthecomposingcomponents from two dimensions: detecting and responding as well as the interactions of thesourcecomponents.WepostulatethatBA-Use,oneofthedetectingcomponents,andIIF,oneoftherespondingcomponents,willinteractwitheachothertoinfluencethevalueofOA.
FromtheAMCperspective,wehavetheorizedthatbothBA-UseandIIFmayhaveadirectpositiveinfluenceonOA.BasedontheaboveargumentregardingtherelationshipbetweenBA-UseandIIF,wedemonstratehowBA-UsemayalsopositivelyinfluenceITinfrastructureflexibility.Asaresult,wecantheoreticallyproposethattheeffectofBA-UseonOAmaybefacilitatedthroughIIF.Thus,wealsoproposethatIIFmediatestheeffectofBA-UseonOA.Therefore,ourfourthhypothesisis:
H4:BA-UseanditsimpactonOAismediatedbyITinfrastructureflexibility.
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Moderatedmediationstudiesshowthatthereisapossibilitythatanindependentvariablemayinteractwithitsmediatortoinfluencethedependentvariable(Preacheretal.,2007).Inthecurrentstudy,weproposedthatIIFmaybeamediatorfortheindependentvariableBA-UseandthedependentvariableOA.Therefore,fromthemoderatedmediationperspective,thereisapossibilitythatBA-UsemayinteractwithIIFtoinfluenceOA.Fromtheperspectiveofthesystemtheory,wealsoargueabovethatOAisanemergentpropertyofanorganization.ThevalueoftheemergentsystempropertyOAisdeterminedbythevaluesofthecomposingdimensionsandtheirinteractions.Therefore,thefactorsfromthetwocomposingdimensionsmayinteractwitheachothertoinfluencethevalueofOA.Whenstudyingtheimpactofbusinessanalyticsonorganizationalagility,fromthedynamiccapabilityperspective,Ghasemaghaeietal.(2017)arguedthatbothOAandbusinessanalyticsuseareafirm’sdynamiccapabilities.OAisahigherorderofdynamiccapabilityandbusinessanalyticsuseisalowerorderofdynamiccapability.TheyproposedthatbusinessanalyticsusewouldincreaseOA.Thefitperspectivesuggeststhatorganizationaloutcomesaretheresultsoffitbetweentwoormorefactors(Goodhue&Thompson,1995).Fromthefitperspective,theyalsotheorizedthatthefitbetweenanalyticstoolsanddata,tasks,andpeoplemayinfluencethedirectrelationshipbetweenbusinessanalyticsuseandOA.Therefore,thefitvariablemaymoderatetherelationshipbetweenbusinessanalyticsandOA.TheirdatasupportthemoderationeffectofthefitvariablesontherelationshipbetweenbusinessanalyticsuseandOA.WearguethatIIFisoneoftheorganization’sITresources,whichhasacloserelationshipwithBA-Use,whichisataskperformedbybusinessusers.Thus,thefitbetweenthesetwowillhaveaconsequenceonOA.Therefore,combiningthethreeperspectivesofmoderatedmediation,systemtheory,andfit,wepostulatethattheBA-UseandIIFmayinteractwitheachothertoinfluencetheoutcomeofOA.Basedontheargumentsabove,weproposethefollowinghypothesisfortheinteractiontermbetweenBA-UseandIIFonOA:
H5:ITinfrastructureflexibilitymoderatestherelationshipbetweenBA-UseandOrganizationalAgility.
RESEARCH METHOd
Survey Instrument developmentAcross-sectionalsurveystudywasemployedtotesttheresearchmodel.Thisstudyusestheexistingsurveyinstrumentswheneveritispossible.Weexaminedtheexistingmeasurementscalesaccordingtowellrecognizedandstandardscaledevelopmentprocedure,suchastheprocedureproposedby(Churchill, 1979). The instrument for BA-Use was developed in this study following the sameprocedureproposedby(Churchill,1979).Allotherinstrumentsusedinthisstudyareadaptedfromexistingmeasures.AppendixAliststhesurveyinstrumentsinthisstudy.
Scale for BA-UseBurton-JonesandStraub(2006)proposedthatsystemusageisanactivitythatinvolvesthreeelements:auser,asystem,andatask.Theyrecommendedconceptualizingsystemusagewithtwostages.Thefirstisthedefinitionstageandthesecondistheselectstage.AccordingtoBurton-JonesandStraub(Burton-Jones&Straub,2006),thesystemusagecanbecapturedbytwosub-constructs:cognitiveabsorption that represents the extent to which a user is absorbed, and deep structure usage thatrepresentstheextenttowhichfeaturesinthesystemthatrelatetothecoreaspectsofthetaskareused(Burton-Jones&Straub,2006,p.236).Theysuggestthattheselectstagesshouldincludetwosteps:Step1: Selecttheelementsofusagethataremostrelevanttotheresearchmodelandcontext.Step2: Selectmeasuresforthechosenelementsthataretiedtootherconstructsinthenomologicalnetwork.
Webelievethatcognitiveabsorptionismorerelatedtoindividualtaskperformancethantheextenttowhichasystemisusedbyauser.WeareinterestedinwhichBAsystemcomponentsa
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userisusingsothatwecangaugetheextenttowhichaBAsystemisusedinanorganization.Thus,ourmeasurementindicatorsforBA-Usearemostlyinthedeepstructureusagecategory.WefirstselectedfeaturesofBAinformationsystemsthatwouldbeusedbyusers.ThenwecombinedtheselectedfeatureswithcorrespondingtaskstomeasuretheextentofBA-Useinanorganization.Theselectedfeatureswerebasedonthecommonfunctionalitiesoutlinedbyindustrialgroups,suchasthefunctionalitiespresentedinthereportprovidedbyThe Data Warehousing Institute(Eckerson,2009).WefurtherrefinedthefeaturesandtheinstrumentwithhelpfromseveralacademicresearcherswhohaddonevariousstudiesonBAandtaughtBAclassesinuniversities.Aconveniencesampleof22businessandITstaff fromvarious industriesand threeacademicISresearcherspre-testedthequestionnaire.Then,wefurtherrefinedthemeasurementscalebasedontheirsuggestions.Wealsousedpilotstudytoensurethesurveywebsitewasfunctioningasexpected.ThemeasurementreliabilityandvalidityofthisinstrumentarediscussedintheMeasurementAnalysisResultssection.
Scale for IIFIIFhasbeenmeasuredasasecondordervariableintheliterature.TherearethreedimensionsinIIF.ThethreedimensionsofIIFareconnectivity,hardwarecompatibility,andITmodularity.TheIIF instrumentwas adapted fromDuncan (1995),Tallon&Pinsonneault (2011), andTiwana&Konsvnski(2010).
Scale for OASambamurthyetal.(2003)firsttheoreticallyproposedthattherearethreedimensionsofOA.TallonandPinsonneault(2011)devisedasetofeightindicatorstoassesstheOA.TheOAinstrumentwasadaptedfromTallon&Pinsonneault(2011)’ssurveyinstrument.
Participants and data CollectionThepopulationofinterestforthisstudyisbusinessleaderswhosecompaniesareusingBA.18,000seniorbusinessleaderswereselectedfromU.S.companiesthathadatleast20milliondollarsinannualrevenue.TheseseniorbusinessleadersincludeCEOs,CFOs,CTOs,CIOs,VPsforbusinessfunctions,andseniorbusinessdirectorsormanagers.Wereceivedemailaddressesalongwithotherinformation, suchas the titleofacontact inacompany, thecompanyname,and thecompany’sannualrevenuethroughacommercialdirectmarketingcompany,ConsumerBase,LLC.AllemailsfromConsumerBaseare100%opt-inand100%guaranteeddeliverablewithin30daysofpurchase.
Qualtrics.comwasusedtohostoursurvey,whichisaleadingweb-basedmarketingresearchprovider.Theinitialinvitationemailandseveralroundsofremindingemailsweresentouttotheselectedexecutives.Thedatacollectionperiodwasonemonth.
Tables1and2displaytheindustryandcompanyinformationoftheparticipantsinthisstudy.
Sample Size and data Analysis TechniqueAtotalof237completedentrieswerecollectedduringthefourweekdatacollectionperiod.Twenty-onecaseswereeliminatedfromthesamplebecausetheywereeitherincompleteresponsesortheorganizationswerenotusinganyBAsystem.Onesubjectselected”1”andanothersubjectselected”7”forallthequestions.Thesetwosubjectswereremovedfromthesampletoo.Ourfinalsamplesizeinthisstudyis214.
PartialLeastSquares(PLS)wasemployedinthisstudytoassessthemeasurementmodelandthestructuralmodel.PLSisappropriateforthisstudybecauseitisvariance-basedandplacesminimalrestrictionsonmeasurementscales,samplesizes,andresidualdistributions(Chinetal.,2003).WechosePLStechniqueoverthecovariance-basedSEMtechniquebecauseofthesample-sizerequirementforeachtechnique.Kline(2005)suggestedthatthedesiredsamplesizewouldbe20timesthenumberoffreeparametersforcovariance-basedSEManalysis.Thesamplesizerequiredforourmodelcouldreachmorethan700(7firstorderconstructs,2secondorderconstructs,andatotalof35indicators)
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ifthecovariance-basedSEMtechniquewasused.TheruleofthumbforminimumsamplesizeforthePLStechniqueis10timesthelargestnumberofstructuralpathsdirectedataparticularconstructinthestructuremodel(Hairetal.,2013).Thelargestnumberofstructuralpathsintheresearchmodelis3.Therefore,theminimumsamplesizeforthisstudyis30usingPLS.Followingthesuggestionsfrom(Faulelal.,2007),aprioripoweranalysiswasconductedtodeterminethesamplesizeforthisstudywiththefollowingcriteria:effectsizeof0.30(medium),alphaof0.05,andpowerof0.95.Thecalculatedsamplesizeis134fortwo-tailt-tests.Thesamplefromoursurveyis214andissufficientforthePLSanalysis.SmartPLS,aPLSsoftwaredevelopedby(Ringleetal.,2005),wasusedforthePLSanalysis.
Table 1. Industries represented by participants
Industry Number of Subjects
Percentage
Basicmaterial(basicresources,chemicals) 5 2.3%
Consumergoods(auto&parts,foodbeverage,personal&householdgoods) 22 10.3%
Consumerservices(media,retail,travel&leisure) 7 3.3%
Education(K-12andhighereducation) 4 1.9%
Financials(banks,financialservices,insurances) 31 14.5%
Government(federalandlocalgovernments) 7 3.3%
Healthcare 39 18.2%
Industrials(construction&materials,industrialgoods&services) 22 10.3%
Oil&Gas 4 1.9%
Technology(software&computerservices,technologyhardware&equipment) 46 21.5%
Telecommunications 3 1.4%
Utilities 1 0.5%
Professionalservices 18 8.4%
Manufacturing 5 2.3%
Total 214 100%
Table 2. Number of employees in participants’ companies
Number of employees Number of Subjects Percentage
Missingdata 2 0.9%
1–49 26 12.1%
50–499 53 24.8%
500orMore 133 62.1%
Total 214 100%
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MEASUREMENT ANALySIS RESULTS
Common Method Bias and Multicollinearity CheckCommonmethodbiasisapotentialprobleminresearch,especiallyinsurveyresearch(Podsakoffetal.2003).Severalposthocstatisticalanalysescanhelptodetermineifthereisanexceedinglycommonmethodvarianceindata.Partialcorrelationmethodisamethodtocheckcommonmethodbiasindata(Podsakoffetal.2003).FollowingthepracticeofPavlou&EISawy(2006)forthismethod,weaddedthehighestfactorfromtheprincipalcomponentanalysistothePLSmodelasacontrolvariableondependentvariables.Thisfactordidnotproduceasignificantchangeinexplainedvarianceinthedependentvariablesinthemodel.Correlationanalysiscanalsohelptodetermineifthereisanexcessivecommonmethodvarianceindata(Bagozzietal.,1991).Table3presentsthecorrelationmatrixofthemainconstructsaswellastheaveragevarianceextracted(AVE)inthisstudy.Bagozzietal.(1991)suggestedthatacorrelationthatis>0.9wouldindicateevidenceofcommonmethodbias.Thehighestcorrelationamongthesecondorderconstructsis0.67andthatisbetweenoperationalagilityandcustomeragility,whichislessthanthethresholdssuggestedbyBagozzietal.(1991).Thisanalysisalsosuggestsnoexcessivecommonmethodbiasinthedata.ThethirdmethodweemployedtotestifthereisacommonmethodbiasinthedataisHarman’sone-factortest.WeperformedHarman’sone-factortestinSPSS.Thetotalvarianceexplainedbythesinglefactorfromthetestis30%.Itindicatesthereisnoexcessivecommonmethodbiasexistinginthedata.
Multicollinearitymayalsobeanissuewhenasurveymethodisusedforaresearch.Weobtainedthevarianceinflatedfactor(VIF)forBA-UseandIIFfromSmartPLS3.TheVIFvalueforBA-Useis1.15andIIFis1.16,indicatingverylowmulticollinearityissue.
Measurement Reliability and ValidityWeusedSmartPLS(Ringleetal.,2005)toperformtheconfirmatoryfactoranalysis.Basedontheloadingscoresoftheindicators,wedroppedseveralindicatorsfromtheIIFscale.TheCronbach’sAlphavaluesforallconstructs,exceptforPartnerAgility,areabovetherecommendedthresholdvalueof0.7(Kline,2005;Nunnally&Berbstein,1994).TheCronbach’sAlphaforPartnerAgilityis0.61,whichisstillacceptable(Robinsonetal.,1991).Furthermore,theconstruct,aswellasallotherconstructs,hasacompositereliabilityscoreabove0.83.Thecompositereliabilityscoresare
Table 3. Constructs’ Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and correlation
AVE SQRT of AVE
Construct Correlation
BA-Use C-agility O-Agility P-Agility IT Connectivity
IT Hardware Compatibility
IT Modularity
0.61 0.78 BA-Use 1.00
0.66 0.81 C-Agility 0.28 1.00
0.66 0.81 O-Agility 0.24 0.67 1.00
0.72 0.85 P-Agility 0.27 0.58 0.65 1.00
0.61 0.78 ITConnectivity 0.26 0.43 0.31 0.32 1.00
0.65 0.80 ITHardwarecompatibility
0.28 0.40 0.36 0.37 0.72 1.00
0.71 0.84 ITModularity 0.37 0.28 0.28 0.29 0.58 0.52 1.00
C-Agility=Customer AgilityO-Agility=Operational AgilityP-Agility=Partner Agility
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abovetherecommendedthresholdvalueof0.7(Nunnally&Berbstein,1994).Thesescoresindicatethatmeasurementscalesarereliable.
Allthekeptindicatorshaveloadingscoresof0.6orhigherontheircorrespondingconstructsandhaveatleastonemagnitudelowerscoresonotherconstructs.Table3presentstheAVEvaluesandconstructscorrelationsforallthefirstorderconstructsintheproposedmodelafterwedroppedtheindicatorsthatcausediscriminantandconvergentvalidityissuesfortheirtheoreticalconstructs.
FromTable3,wecanseethatthesquarerootsofallconstructs’AVEarelargerthananycorrelationamonganypairoflatentconstructs.
Fromtheanalysisabove,wecanassumethatthemodifiedmeasurementscaleforallfirst-orderconstructsinthisstudyhasdiscriminantandconvergentvalidity.Therefore,wecancontinuewithourmodelassessments.
STRUCTURAL MOdEL ANALySIS RESULTS ANd dISCUSSIONS
ThefullstructuralmodelwasassessedusingSmartPLS(Ringleetal.,2005).Themodelwasestimatedwithcompanysizeandindustryascontrolvariables.Companysizewasoperationalizedbyannualrevenueandemployeenumber.WefirstperformedPLSAlgorithmtestsinSmartPLStoobtainthepathcoefficients.Then,thesignificanceofdirectandindirectimpactsofvariablesinthemodelweretestedusingbootstrappingwith5000resamplesanda95%confidenceintervalassuggestedbyVanceetal.(Vanceetal.,2015)and“bias-correctedbootstrapthathavetheleastbiasedconfidenceintervals,greatestpowertodetectnonzeroeffectsandcontrasts,andthemostaccurateoverallTypeIerror”assuggestedbyChinetal.(Chin,2010).HenselerandChin(2010)recommendedatwo-stageapproachtoinvestigatetheinteractioneffectofamodel.Wefollowedtherecommendationtoinvestigatetheinteractioninthisresearch.TheresultedpathcoefficientsandsignificanceswithcontrolledcompanysizeandindustryaredisplayedinFigure2andTable4.Thenumberintheendogenousvariables,suchasITInfrastructureFlexibilityandOrganizationalAgilityinFigure2,istheR2value.
BA-Use and OAFromthesystemstheoryperspective,wetheorizethatOAisanemergentsystemproperty.OAmeasureshowquicklyanorganizationcanactinabusinessenvironment.AccordingtotheAMCframework,thethreedriversofactionareawareness,motivation,andcapability.Therefore,theantecedentsofOA,measuringtheabilityofanorganizationtoquicklyact,shouldcomefromthreedimensions:(1)detectingchangesinbusinessenvironment,(2)respondingtothechanges,and(3)beingmotivatedtotakeactions.BA-Usehelpsdecisionmakersgainmoreinsightsaboutchangesintheiroperationsandexternalenvironments.Thiscontributestotheawarenessbehaviordriverthathelpsdetermineanorganization’sactions,whichmatcheswellwiththedetectingchangesdimensionofOA.Therefore,thisstudyproposesthatBA-UseisoneofthecontributingcomponentsonthedetectingdimensionofOA.ThePLSresultsinFigure2showthatthepathcoefficientforthedirectimpactofBA-UseonOAis0.175andthatissignificantatthe0.05significantlevel(p = .017).Hypothesis1(H1)issupportedinthisstudy.
SohandMarkus(1995)definedtheITimpactasastateanorganizationachieves.DuetotheIT asset, new products/services are created, business processes have been redesigned for betterperformance,anddecision-makingandcoordinationandflexibilityhavebeenimproved.WearguethatalthoughSohandMarkus(1995)’sdefinitionofITimpactiscomprehensive,animportantaspectofoutcomes,agility,shouldbeincluded.AsdiscussedintheliteraturereviewsectionofIIF,agilityisdifferentfromflexibility.Flexibilitydoesnotnecessarilyleadtoagility(Lietal.,2008;Tiwana&Konsvnski,2010).ThepurposeofcoordinationandflexibilityistoachieveOA.Therefore,wedefineITimpactas“astateanorganizationachieves,inwhichduetotheITasset,newproducts/servicesarecreated,businessprocesseshavebeenredesignedforbetterperformance,decision-makingandagilityhavebeenimproved”.Aswediscussedintheliteraturereviewsection,althoughthereare
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priorstudiesthatempiricallyinvestigatedtheBAimpacts(e.g.,Elbashiretal.,2008),Trieu(Trieu,2016)andourownliteraturereviewfoundonlyoneempiricalstudy(Ghasemaghaeietal.,2017)thatexaminedtherelationshipbetweenBAinvestmentandOAthroughBA-Use,andnoempiricalstudyonBAenabledOAandorganizationalperformancethroughacompetitiveprocess.ThisstudyprovidesthesecondempiricalsupportthatBAassetcanhelpbuildOAthroughBA-Use.
AlthoughTrieu(Trieu,2016)indicatedthatthereisnopriorempiricalstudythatexaminedtherelationshipbetweenBAimpactsandimprovedorganizationalperformancethroughacompetitiveprocess,therearesomestudiesthatbrieflymentionedtherelationship(e.g.,Lauetal.,2012).WespeculatethatoneofthereasonsforthelackofsuchstudiesintheliteraturemaybeduetothelackofempiricalstudiesthatshowBA-UseenhancedOA(i.e.,aBAimpact).Sambamurthyetal.(2003)theoreticallyarguedthatOAisacriticalcontributortobusinesscompetitiveadvantage.ThestrategicandITbusinessvalueliteraturehastheoreticallyjustifiedandempiricallydemonstratedthedirectrelationshipbetweencompetitiveadvantageandorganizationalperformance(e.g.,Vannoy&Salam,2010).Fromthisdiscussion,thereisaclearconnectionfromBA-UseenhancedOAtocompetitive
Figure 2. Test Results of Full Structural Model NOTE: The result for H4 regarding the mediation effect of IIF is not shown in this figure.
Table 4. Summarizes the results of hypothesis testing
Hypothesis Independent Variable
Mediator Moderator Dependent Variable
Path Coefficient
Hypothesis Supported?
H1 BA-Use N/A N/A OA 0.175* Yes
H2 IIF N/A N/A OA 0.368** Yes
H3 BA-Use N/A N/A IIF 0.357** Yes
H4 BA-Use IIF N/A OA 0.132(a)** Yes
H5 BA-Use N/A IIF OA 0.004(b)NS NO
N/A=Not ApplicableNS=Not Significanta=Total Indirect Path Coefficientb=Moderation Path Coefficient
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advantage,thentoorganizationalperformance.ThelackofstudiesexaminingtherelationshipbetweenBAimpactsandimprovedorganizationalperformancethroughacompetitiveprocessispartiallyduetothelackofstudiesinvestigatingBA-Useenhancedcompetitiveimpacts,suchasBA-UseenhancedOA.ThisstudyhelpstoinitiatetheresearchthatinvestigatestheBAvaluethroughthecompetitiveprocess.
With the theoretical justificationandempirical support from this study,wedemonstrate thestrategic value of BA-Use and argue that BA-Use should be treated as a critical component ofan organization because of its contribution to OA, a key contributor to competitive advantage(Sambamurthyetal.,2003;Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011).
IIF and OAIIFhasbeenextensivelystudiedinISresearchasanindependentvariable(Kumar,2004;Sambamurthyetal.,2003;Tiwana&Konsvnski,2010)aswellasamoderator(Tallon&Pinsonneault,2011).Bhattetal.(2010)isoneofthefewstudiesthatinvestigatedtheIIFandorganizationalresponsiveness,whichweviewasoneantecedentdimensionofOA.TheAMCframeworkshowsthattotakeactions,organizationsnotonlyneedtobeawareofopportunitiesandthreatsbutalsoneedthecapabilityforquickactions.TheoriesandempiricalstudiessuggestthatIIFcanhelpincreasetheorganizationalcapabilitytotakecompetitiveactionsbyenablingorganizationstoquicklyintegrateandreconfigureits internalandexternal resources(e.g.,EISawy&Pavlou,2008;Pavlou&ElSawy,2010;Raietal.2006;Sambamurthyetal.,2003).ThistheoreticallysuggeststhatIIFisacriticalpartofanorganization’scapabilityintoday’sIT-enabledorganizations.Thisstatementisempiricallysupportedbythedatainthisstudy.ThePLStestresultsinFigure2showthatthereisasignificantimpactofIIFonOA:thepathcoefficientis0.368,whichissignificantatthe0.01significantlevel(p<0.01).
Together,withthefindingontherelationshipbetweenBA-UseandOA,thisstudylendssupporttotheclaimthatITstillmatters(Kumar,2004).AlthoughsomeITcomponentsmaybecommoditizedandnotscarceanymore,theIIFisnotjustasimplecombinationofthosecomponents.ITinfrastructureisnotjustablackbox.ThedimensionsofIIFclearlyshowthatmanycharacteristicsofIIFcannotbebought.TheyneedtobecarefullycultivatedsothatotherorganizationalcapabilitiescanbenefitfromaflexibleITinfrastructure.ThissuggeststhataflexibleITinfrastructureisastrategicresourcethatcanhelpimproveanorganization’sbusinessperformancebyenhancingitsOA.
BA-UseandIIFcanexplain22%ofthevarianceinOA.AlthoughtheexplainedvarianceofOAisnotveryhigh,theimpactofBA-UseandIIFissignificantonOA.ThesefindingsareinlinewiththeexpectationthatOAisacomplexemergentsystempropertywhosevalueisinfluencedbymany factors from the twodimensions,detectingand responding,which include factors suchasIT,organizational,management,businessprocess,andothers.BA-Useisoneofthefactorsinthesensing/directingdimensionandIIFisoneofthefactorsintherespondingdimension.ThefindingsofthisstudyshowtheimportantrolesofBAandITinfrastructureinenablinganagileorganization.
Relationships Between BA-Use and IIF—Mediation and Moderation AnalysesBAsystemsareIT-enabledinformationsystems.OneofthekeysuccessfactorsofBAsystemsisitsabilitytoaccessandintegrateavarietyofdatasources,thenanalyzingtheintegrateddatatoproduceinsightsthatcanhelpdecisionmakersformbetterdecisions.Therefore,themoreBAisusedinanorganization,themoreitdemandsaflexibleITinfrastructuretohelptoquicklyintegrateheterogeneousdatasources.AnotherkeyfactorforthesuccessofBAsystemsisitsabilitytoshareresultswithwhoeverneedsthemanddeliverresultstowherevertheyareneeded.So,BA-UsedemandsamoreflexibleITinfrastructuretobebuilttofacilitatetheaccuratedeliveryofinformationtodecisionmakerswhereitisneededandwhenitisneeded.ThesetwodemandsfromBA-UsemayinfluenceanITdepartment’sfocusonbuildingamoreflexibleITinfrastructure,andtheresultsofthisstudysupportthisproposition.ThedirecteffectofBA-UseonIIFissignificant:thecoefficientis0.357,whichissignificantat0.01level(p<0.01).Thehypothesis3(H3)inthisstudyisthefirstpropositioninthe
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literaturethatconnectsIIFwithBA-Use.Althoughonly13%ofvarianceinIIFcanbeexplainedbyBA-Use,theimpactofBA-UseonIIFissignificant.ThesmallexplainedvarianceofIIFbyBA-UseisunderstandablesinceIIFisaffectedbymanyotherfactorsbecauseanorganization’sIIFisnotjustresponsivetoBA-Use.ThisfindingshowsthatflexibleITinfrastructureisnotonlyakeycontributorforOAbutalsoanimportanthelperforBA-Use.ChenandSiau(Chen&Siau,2012)testedtheimpactofIIFonBA-Use.TheresultsofthatstudyalsoshowthesignificantimpactofIIFonBA-Use.TheseresultsdemonstrateamutualinfluencebetweenIIFandBA-Use.ItisimpossibletodeterminethenatureofthereciprocalrelationshipbetweenIIFandBA-Usewiththecross-sectionaldatafromthisstudy.AlongitudinalstudywillbeneededtofindhowIIFandBA-Useinfluenceeachother.Butthemediatingeffectmayshedsomelightonthenature,whichisdiscussedbelow.
OurresearchmodelimpliesthatthereisamediationeffectofIIFontherelationshipbetweenBA-UseandOA.WealsoprovideatheoreticalexplanationonhowIIFmaymediatetheBA-UseandOArelationship.ThebootstrapmethoddevelopedbyPreacherandHayes(2008)wasimplementedinSmartPLS3.0fortestingmediation.BecausethedirecteffectofBA-UseonOAwassignificant,weaddedthemediatingvariableIIFandtestedthemodelusingthebootstrappingmethodinSmartPLS3.0toobtaintheindirecteffectofBA-UseonOAthroughIIF.ThesummaryresultsofmediationtestsarepresentedinTable5.ThereisasignificantindirecteffectofBA-UseonOAthroughIIF:theindirectpathcoefficientis0.13,whichissignificant(p<0.01).AccordingtoHairetal.(2014),iftheindirecteffectissignificant,theVarianceAccountedFor(VAF)shouldbecalculatedtodeterminethestrengthofthemediation.VAFiscalculatedusingthisformula:VAF=indirecteffect/totaleffect*100(Hairetal.,2014).Accordingto(Hairetal.,2014),aVAFvalueofgreaterthan80%isfullmediation,avaluebetween20%and80%ispartialmediation,andavaluelessthan20%indicatesnomediation.TheVAFforthemediationeffectofIIFonBA-UseandOAis43%.TheresultindicatesthatIIFonlypartiallymediatestheeffectofBA-UseonOA.Aspartofapost-testprocess,wealsoexaminedthemediationeffectofBA-UseonIIFandOA.TheindirecteffectofIIFonOAthroughBA-Useisinsignificant:theindirectpathcoefficientis0.061,p=0.058.ItindicatesthereisnomediatingeffectthroughBA-Use.ThecalculatedVAF,14.2%,alsoindicatesthereisnomediatingeffectofBA-UseonIIFandOA.BA-UseisoneoftheOA’sdetectingfactorsandIIFisoneoftherespondingfactors.ThesetestresultsindicatethatthetwodimensionsofOAmayexertmajorinfluencesonOAontheirown,butnotnecessarilythrougheachother.However,thepartialmediatingeffectofIIFontherelationshipbetweenBA-UseandOAindicatesthatBA-Use’seffectonOAmaybepartlyduetotheimprovedIIF.ThismayindicatethatBA-UseencouragesorganizationstoimprovetheirIIF.ThisresultalsosupportstheawarenessdriverisapremisetothecapabilitydriverintheAMCframeworkandprovidesthefirstempiricallinksamongtheactionenablersoftheAMCframework.
Fromtheperspectivesofmoderatedmediation,fittheory,andsystemtheory,wetheorizedthattheinteractiontermbetweenBA-UseandIIFmayinfluencetheorganizationaloutcomeOA.TheproposalsuggestsapossiblemoderationeffectofIIFontherelationshipbetweenBA-UseandOA.WetestedtheinteractionrelationshipinSmartPLS3.0.ThesummaryresultsarepresentedinTable6.
Following the recommendations from (Henseler & Chin, 2010), we tested the moderationeffectusingatwo-stagecalculationmethod,whichfirstcalculatesthelatentvariablescoresofthelatentpredictor(IIF)andlatentmoderatorvariable(BA-Use)fromthemaineffectmodelwithoutthe interaction variable. Then, these latent variable scores are used to calculate the interactionvariablebymultiplyingthescoresofthepredictorandmoderator.Then,theeffectsonOAoftheinteractionvariable,thepredictor,and,themoderatorareanalyzed(Hairetal.,2014;Ringleetal.,2005).Althoughtheoretically,thereisapossiblemoderatingeffectofIIFontheBA-UseandOArelationship,thedatafromthisstudydoesnotsupporttheclaimwiththetwo-stagemethod.OnepossibleexplanationmaybethatoursurveyinstrumentonlyincludedthreestaticcomponentsofIIF:connectivity,compatibility,andmodularity.ThedynamiccomponentofIIF:ITpersonnelcompetency(Byrd&Turner,2001;Duncan,1995)wasnotincluded.TheBA-Use’simpactonOAmaybemoresensitivetoITpersonnelcompetencysinceBA-UseinvolveswithnewITresourcesandpotentially
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newprocedures.ITpersonnelcompetencyhaspotentialtoimproveusers’effectivenessandefficiencytouseBAforobtainingnewdata,analyzingthedatatoproduceusefulinformation,andhelpingthemmakebetterdecisionsregardinghowtorespondtoopportunitiesandthreats.Futurestudiesmayfurthertestthisassumptionwhendataisavailable.
RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS, LIMITATIONS, ANd FUTURE RESEARCH
Theoretical and Conceptual ImplicationsThis study is one of the few empirical studies that investigate the importance of BA from theperspectiveofBA-Use.ItemployssoundtheoreticallensestopositthatITandIScomponentscanbekey contributors toOA.Moreover, it uses empirical tests tovalidate thosepropositions.Thetheoreticalcontributionsofthisresearcharemanifold.
First,itisthefirststudythatutilizetheAMCperspectivetotheoreticallyjustifytheproposalthattheessentialdimensionsofOAincludedetectingandresponding.WealsoproposethepotentialmodificationoftheOAdefinitiontoincludethemotivationcomponent.FuturestudiesmaytesttheinfluenceonOAwithfactorsfromthemotivationdriverofanaction.ThroughthelensofOA,wealsotheoreticallyproposedandempiricallytestedtheeffectofBA-UseonOA.ThisisalsooneoftheveryfirstempiricalstudiestoinvestigatetheimpactofBA-UseonOA.ItprovidesatheoreticalfoundationfortheadvancementofBA’simportance.ThistheoreticalfoundationshowswhyorganizationsneedtobeBA-based.ThisresearchencouragesmoreempiricalresearchonthesignificanceofBA,especiallythestrategicimpactsofBA.TheoriginaldefinitionofITandBAimpactsincludetheoutcomesof(1)newproducts/services,(2)redesignedbusinessprocesses,(3)betterdecision-making,and(4)improvedcoordinationandflexibility(Soh&Markus,1995).WeproposethatthedefinitionofITimpactmayberedefinedbychangingthefourthelement:improvedcoordinationandflexibilitytoIT-enabledOA.Thereasonsfortheproposalinclude(1)OAistheultimategoalofcoordinationandflexibility.Therefore,OAreflectsoncoordinationandflexibility;(2)theothercomponentsofthe
Table 5. Mediation test results
Effects Path Path coefficient Mediator p-value VAF Mediating
effect
Direct BA-Use→OA 0.175* N/A .017 N/A N/A
Indirect BA-Use→IIF→OA 0.132** IIF <.01 43% Partial
Direct IIF→OA 0.368** N/A <.01 N/A N/A
Indirect IIF→BA-Use→OA 0.061NS BA-Use .058 14% No
N/A=Not ApplicableNS=Not Significant**Significant at p < .01*Significant at p < .05
Table 6. Moderation test results
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable Moderator Moderating
Path Coefficient p-value Moderating effect
BA-Use OA IIF 0.004NS 0.918 NO
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definitionconceptuallydefinehigherlevelsofbusinessgoals.Therefore,itisappropriatetousethemorestrategicconceptinthedefinition.
Second,followingtheguidelinesfordevelopingameasurementforsystemusage,wedevelopeda survey instrument for BA-Use that measured the user’s activity with different features of BAsystems.Weselectedthefeaturesaccordingtotherecommendationsofindustryexpertsandacademicresearchers.Thefinalinstrumentisvalid,reliable,andreadyforuseinfutureresearch.
Third, by theorizing that IIF couldhelp the respondingdimensionofOA,we suggested analternativewayofviewingITinfrastructureasastrategiccomponentfororganizations.ThroughthelensesofOAandtheAMCframework,weassertedthatflexibleITinfrastructurewasanessentialpartofanorganization’srespondingcapability.Fromthisstudy,itisclearthatIIFisamajorantecedenttoOAintoday’sIT-enabledorganizations.SinceOAhasadirectimpactonorganizationalperformance(Sambamurthyetal.,2003),itcanbearguedthatIIFhasstrategicimplicationsfororganizations.
Fourth, thefindingsfromthisstudysuggested thatBA-Usemayencourageorganizations toimprovetheirIIFbecauseBA-UsehasasignificantimpactonIIFandBA-Use’simpactonOAmaybepartiallyduetoIIF.TheresultsfurthershowthatthereisamutualinfluenceeffectbetweenBA-UseandIIFalthough,withthecross-sectionalsurveydata,wecannotmakeanyconclusionregardingthe nature of the reciprocal relationship between BA-Use and IIF and how they influence eachother.ThemediatingeffectofIIFalsoshowstheimportanceofIIFintoday’sIT-enabledoperationenvironment.ThenewlyfoundrelationshipcouldhelprenewtheinterestinstudyingtheinfluencesofITinfrastructureonbusinessorganizationsandnewtechnologicalphenomena.ItseemsthatMISresearchershaveignoredthetopicofITinfrastructureinthelastdecadealthoughtheperiodhaswitnessedrapidtechnologicaladvancementsandchanges.
Fifth,althoughthedatadoesnotsupportourmoderatingeffectsofIIFontheBA-UseandOArelationship,itpresentsaninterestingquestionforfuturestudies.Webelievethatthereisatheoreticalfoundationforthishypothesis.Itisnotsupportedbythedata,mostlikelybecauseIIFdatadoesnotincludetheinformationaboutthedynamiccomponentofIIF.However,thiscanbetestedinfuturestudies.
Finally,weextendedtheexistingresearchonITvaluebyprovidinginsightsonhowBAandIIFcouldbeconnectedwithOAandwhytheyshouldbetreatedasstrategicassets.Thisstudyanswersthecalltopromotestudiesonspecificinformationsystemsandtheiridiosyncraticeffects(Mukhopadhyayetal.,1995).Italsoanswersthecallforstudies“tounlockthemysteriesofanincreasinglyimportant,butcomplex,setofrelationshipsbetweenITinvestmentsandfirmperformance”(Sambamurthyetal.,2003,p.256).WebelievethatITvalueresearchisatopicthatrequirestheconstantattentionofISresearchersforMIStostayrelevant.
Practical ImplicationsInadditiontoresearch,thisstudyhasimplicationsforpractice.First,itprovidesinsightsintohowBAinteractswithotherorganizationalresourcestoenhanceOA.BAcancreatevalueswiththerightconditions.Asaninformationsystem,thevaluesofBAarebuiltonITinfrastructure.ThisstudyshowsthattoeffectivelyuseandpromoteBA,organizationsshouldpaymoreattentiontobuildaflexibleITinfrastructuresothattheirorganizationalagilitycanbeoptimallyimproved.AsforthesignificantimpactofBA-UseonOA,itshowsthatBAneedstobeviewedasapartoftheorganization’sstrategicassets.WithoutBA-Use,anorganization’sagilitymaysuffer.
Second,thefindingsremindorganizationalexecutivesthatITinfrastructureisnotonlyavaluableplatformthathelpstoenablecommunicationinternallyandexternallyandtoenablepresentandfuturebusinessapplications,butITinfrastructureisalsoastrategiccomponentbecauseitcancontributetoOA.AttentionshouldbeallocatedtovariousareasofITinfrastructure,suchasIIF,tofullytakeadvantageofITtoenhanceanorganization’sagility.
Third,althoughpriorresearchshowedinconsistentresultsofimplementingBAsystems,thisstudysuggestedthatBAhadstrategicvaluesbecauseofitscontributiontoOAthroughIIF.Some
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companiesmaynothavegarneredthefruitsfromtheirinvestmentsinBAbecausetheyhavenotcreatedtherightconditionsforimplementingandusingBAsystems.BusinessleadersneedtocontinuallyinvestigatethefactorsaffectingtheperformanceoftheirBAsystemsandprovideresourcestotackletheproblemsandissuesthathinderthesuccessfulimplementationofBAsystems.
Limitations of this Study and Future ResearchThisstudyusedcross-sectionaldatafromonepointintime.Thisdoesnotprovidehistoricalinformationonhowtheindependentvariables(IIFandBA-Use)impactthedependentvariable(OA)overtime.ThereisareciprocalrelationshipbetweenIIFandBA-UsefromthedataasreflectedbytheresultsofthisstudyandChenandSiau(2012).Thecross-sectionalsurveydatacannotanswerthequestionofhowIIFandBA-Useinfluenceeachother.Futurestudiesmaycollectdataatdifferentpointsintimetohelpustounderstandthenatureofthereciprocalrelationship.ThisstudysupportstheclaimthatIIFandBAhavestrategicvaluesbecausetheyaremajorantecedentstoOAthatdirectlyimpactstrategiccapabilities.ButtoanswerthequestionofwhetherIIFandBAcanhelpOAinalongrun,alongitudinalstudyisrequiredtocomparetheimpactsofIIFandBA-UseonOAovertime.Thiscross-sectionaldesignalsomakesitnecessarytotreattheresultswithcautionbecausecausalitycannotbeinferredfromcross-sectionaldata.Butasolidcross-sectionalstudyprovidesastrongfoundationforfuturelongitudinalstudies.
Asinglesubjectfilledupaquestionnaire.Thismaysuggest that theresultsaresubjectedtocommonmethodbias.Weusedstatisticaltests,suchasHarman’sOne-Factortest,partialcorrectionanalysis,andcorrelationanalysis,astheposthocteststocheckforcommonmethodbias.Theresultsshowthatcommonmethodbiasinthisstudyisminimal.Futurestudiescoulduseamatched-pairdesignthatusestwoinformantsfromeachorganization.Forexample,onecanbeatechnicalexecutiveandtheothercanbeabusinessfunctionexecutivetofurtheralleviatecommonmethodbias.
Themodelinthisstudyisgeneralanditisnotrestrictedtoaspecificbusinessactivity.Therefore,webelievethatthismodelisgeneralizabletovariousaspectsoforganizationalactivities,butitwillbebettertohaveotherindependentstudiestoverifytheclaim.Futureresearchcanlookatspecificbusinesscontexts.Forexample,futureresearchcanstudythemodelinoperationorcustomrelationshipmanagementtoverifyorfalsifythemodelinaspecificbusinesscontext.
Duetothespacelimitation,thisstudyonlypresentstherelationshipbetweenBA-UseandOAasawhole.FuturestudiesmayinvestigatespecificaspectsofBAsystems,suchasdatavisualization,predictivedatamining,andprescriptivedatamining,andtheirinfluencesondifferentaspectsofOA,suchascustomeragility,operationalagility,andoperationalagility.
ThisstudysuggeststhatIIFmayplayacriticalroleinenablingOAandmediatingeffectontheBA-UseandOArelationship.WerecommendthatfutureresearchinvestigateapproachestoandwaysofbuildingflexibleITinfrastructure.ThisincludesinvestigatinghowtocreateITinfrastructurethatfacilitatesconnectionandincreasescompatibilityamongsubsystems,andhowtomakesubsystemsmoremodularsothattheycanswapinoroutquickly.
ThenewfoundrelationshipbetweenIIFandBA-Usealsosuggeststhatitisnecessarytoconductmore research on how organizations should build their IT infrastructure with the technologicaladvancementsofthelastdecade.Theseadvancementsincludecloudcomputing,socialnetworking,ubiquitouscomputingthroughmobiledevicesandsensors(Siau&Zhen,2002,2006),distributedandBigDatadatabases,theInternetofThings,artificialintelligence,andaugmentedreality(Wang&Siau,2019;Hyderetal.2019;Siau2018;Siauetal.2018;Siau&Wang2018).TheliteraturereviewshowsthatveryfewstudiesinthelastdecadehavefocusedontheeffectsofthesetechnologicaladvancementsonITinfrastructureorviceversa.WehavenotfoundastudythatinvestigateswhetherthesetechnologicaladvancementswarrantnewITinfrastructureorifexistingITinfrastructureissufficienttosupportthem.Wesuggestthattimeisripetore-examinetheITinfrastructureanditsrelationshipwithnewtechnologyadvancementsandnewbusinessrequirements.
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Xiaofeng Chen is an Associate Professor of MIS in the Department of Decision Sciences at the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University. He earned his MS in Computer Sciences and PhD in Business Administration (Concentration in Management Information Systems) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). His research interests include IS security, business intelligence and analytics, design science research, and IT business value. He has publications in Information & Management, Journal of Database Management, Journal of Computer Information Systems, International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) conference proceedings.
Keng Siau is Chair of the Department of Business and Information Technology (BIT) at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Professor Siau received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of British Columbia in 1996. His M.S. and B.S. (honors) degrees are in Computer and Information Sciences from the National University of Singapore. The University of British Columbia and the National University of Singapore are consistently ranked as two of the top 50 universities in the world (e.g., QS World University Rankings, Times Higher Education World University Rankings). Prior to joining Missouri University of Science and Technology in June 2012, he was Edwin J. Faulkner Chair Professor and Full Professor of Management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). He was also Director of the UNL-IBM Global Innovation Hub. Professor Siau is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Database Management and served as the North America Regional Editor of the Requirements Engineering journal (2010-2016). He also served as the Vice President of Education for the Association for Information Systems (AIS has over 4000 members in more than 100 countries) and served as the AIS representative on the Board of Partnership for Advancing Computing Education (PACE) from July 2011-June 2014 (i.e., 3-year term). PACE charter members are Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Association for Information Systems (AIS), Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), IEEE Computer Society (IEEE), National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT), and Computing Research Association. Professor Siau has more than 250 academic publications. According to Google Scholar, he has more than 11,000 citation counts. His h-index and i10-index, according to Google Scholar, are 52 and 128 respectively. Professor Siau is consistently ranked as one of the top information systems researchers in the world based on h-index and productivity rate. In 2006, he was ranked as one of the top ten e-commerce researchers in the world (Arithmetic Rank of 7, Geometric Rank of 3). In 2006, the citation count for his paper “Building Customer Trust in Mobile Commerce” is ranked in the top 1% in the field as reported by Essential Science Indicators. His research has been funded by NSF, IBM, and other IT organizations. Professor Siau has received numerous teaching, research, service, and leadership awards. He received the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Distinguished Teaching Award and the College of Business Administration Distinguished Teaching Award in 2001. He was awarded the Organizational Leadership Award in 2000 and Outstanding Leader Award in 2004 by the Information Resources Management Association. He received the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Business Administration Research Award in 2005. He is a recipient of the prestigious International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Outstanding Service Award in 2006, IBM Faculty Awards in 2006 and 2008, and IBM Faculty Innovation Award in 2010.
Vannoy,S.A.,&Salam,A.F.(2010).Managerialinterpretationsoftheroleofinformationsystemsincompetitiveactionsandfirmperformance:Agroundedtheoryinvestigation.Information Systems Research,21(3),496–515.doi:10.1287/isre.1100.0301
Venkatraman,N.,&Henderson,J.C.(1998).Realstrategiesforvirtualorganizing.Sloan Management Review,40,33–48.
Wang,W.,&Siau,K.(2019).ArtificialIntelligence,MachineLearning,Automation,Robotics,FutureofWork,andFutureofHumanity–AReviewandResearchAgenda.Journal of Database Management,30(1),61–79.doi:10.4018/JDM.2019010104
Watson,H.J.(2009).Tutorial:Businessintelligence-past,present,andfuture.Communications of the Association for Information Systems,25,487–510.doi:10.17705/1CAIS.02539
Zeshan,H.,Siau,K.,&Nah,F.(2019).Artificialintelligence,machinelearning,andautonomoustechnologiesinminingindustry.Journal of Database Management,30(2),67–79.doi:10.4018/JDM.2019040104