Editorial

Citation

Irani, Z. (2010), "Editorial", Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 23 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeim.2010.08823baa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Volume 23, Issue 2

Vol. 23 No. 2 starts off with an interesting viewpoint from Amir Sharif, where the viewpoint discusses the emerging IT platform of cloud computing. This paper identifies where and how this has developed in terms of the collision between internet and enterprise computing paradigms – and hence why cloud computing will be driven not by computing architectures but more fundamental ICT consumption behaviours. The approach has been based upon the discussion and recent developments of Software as a Service (SaaS) and associated ICT computing metaphors and is largely based upon the contemporary discussions surrounding the impact of social, open source and configurable technology services. It is suggested that whilst cloud computing and SaaS are indeed innovations within ICT, the real innovation will come when such platforms allow new industries ways of doing business, connecting with and engaging with people to emerge. The implications of the paper are in brings together some of the recent discussions within the popular as well as business and computing press on social networking, open source and utility computing.

An interesting case from Jordan of a failed ERP system is discussed by Hawari and Heeks. This study moves beyond factor lists to make use of an overall “design-reality gap” model. The model is applied to a case study of ERP failure in a Jordanian manufacturing firm, analysing the situation both before and during ERP implementation through a mix of interviews, observation and document analysis. The research finds sizeable gaps between the assumptions and requirements built into ERP system design, and the actual realities of the client organisation. It is these gaps – and the failure to close them during implementation – that underlie ERP project failure. The research shows the relevance and applicability of the design-reality gap model to understanding ERP failure. Further research can be undertaken applying the model to other ERP cases, including case studies of success. The paper draws interesting conclusions about good practice in ERP implementation relating to both risk identification and risk mitigation, which must be based on closing design-reality gaps. It offers examples of both specific and generic actions that help to achieve this. But it also notes limitations existing in some developing country contexts that may continue to constrain the effective use of enterprise resource planning systems. The study seeks originality through providing a new model for understanding ERP project success and failure, and for practical risk mitigation. The design-reality gap model aims to be comprehensive but also contingent; sensitive to the specific conditions of any individual client organisation.

Ribeiro and Fernandes explore agile methods in construction through the use of a case enquiry. Agile methods have proven successful in increasing customer satisfaction and decreasing time and cost to market under uncertain conditions. Key characteristics of agile methods are lean, flexibility and highly iterative development with a strong emphasis on stakeholder involvement. Today construction firms in general and SMEs in particular are surviving in a drastic competitive environment in which they are facing more and more challenges. Additional innovation is needed in the construction sector, with increased participation from more competitive SMEs. Therefore, the main contribution of this paper is to enhance the capacity of SMEs to address the challenge of today’s market competition more effectively through a novel model to prioritize available management systems. To achieve this, the paper looks at ways by which SMEs are managed, based on the empirical data collected from 12 case studies. It presents the empirical findings drawn from the case studies. Finally, the adoption of agile methods is subjectively assessed as to its potential contribution for improving the business processes of the small and medium construction firms. The research methodology used is that of interpretative case study and grounded theory based on a strong empirical foundation, on which new theoretical insight into knowledge management as an autonomous action is developed. Case study research is one of the most widely-used research methods in qualitative research. The grounded theory method develops theory from data collected through direct contact with research situations. The SMEs under assessment are analyzed, by interviewing top company managers. The informants were selected as a sample of the managers mostly involved in the running of the company. This paper produces significant implication for research, emphasizing that construction firms need to be aware of the advantages of new management paradigms and practices. The analysis shows that SMEs in the construction sector have to internalize agile values into their business processes to reap the benefits of agile methods. It also reveals that existing practices show some kind of agile flavours.

The article written by Ulf Melin discusses whether an enterprise system (ES) is a part of an organization’s administrative paradox. The questions raised here is which role the ES has in organizing, focusing aspects of flexibility and stability. This study is a qualitative, longitudinal, case study of how an ES maintains and even reinforces existing administrative organizational structures. The theoretical lens used is mainly structuration theory. This article argues that an ES can take the part of an organization’s administrative paradox. An administrative paradox is argued two sides of the same coin when coordinating organizations – the concurrent striving for flexibility and stability. The case study shows how the administrative paradox becomes present in an organization implementing and using and ES. The case also provides valuable insights on how the studied organizations tries to deal with standardization/stability and flexibility that can be valuable for other system users or implementers to learn from, as well as the analysis as a whole. This paper claims originality through combining structuration theory and theories covering the administrative paradox, and aspects of coordination to analyze and discuss the implementation and use of an ES.

A survey on integrated information systems and competitive advantage is undertaken by Vincenzo Morabito, Marinos Themistocleous and Alan Serrano. Using a large-scale survey where responses were obtained from CIOs and senior business executives, Morabito et al. provide robust evidence of the “IT organizational assimilation capacity” mediating role and propose a model. Based on the theoretical proposition that IT business value is generated by the deployment of IT and complementary organizational resources, the authors develop a research model and propose hypotheses. These are tested from 466 managers in Italian companies. The 466 questionnaires were analyzed in two steps. In the first step, a series construct validation using factor analysis was performed in order to validate the scales. In the second step, a series of analyses using linear regression were performed between the two independent variables and the dependent variable to validate the mediator function of the IT organizational assimilation capacity. Data suggest that most firms have not merged IS integration with the right complementary organizational resources. The findings also support the notion that competitive advantage does not arise from replicable resources but from complex, firm-specific and intangible resources and capabilities. The findings help to explain why some firms struggle while others flourish with the same ITs, and why IT-based advantages tend to dissipate so rapidly. The proposed model can be used complimentary to the requirements methods offered by the IS development methodologies, to mitigate their inherent defects in addressing social, organizational and other non-technical issues, when developing a new IS.

Finally, Alsudairi and Dwivedi present a multi-disciplinary profile of outsourcing research that will act as a valuable reference point for those conducting research in this area. Within the last few years a large number of studies have appeared on IT/IS outsourcing related issues but scattered in a number of distantly related publishing outlets that may hamper the use of such published resources and repetition of research conducted by various researchers. This provided the motivation for the research, to analyze the exiting research for categorizing and synthesizing it in meaningful manner. This paper therefore aims to conduct a systematic survey of the literature pertaining to research on IS/IT outsourcing. The research aim was accomplished by extracting information on a number of relevant variables by conducting a review of 315 articles on IS/IT outsourcing published between 1992 and 2008. The analysis is then presented by listing and illustrating subject category, journals, year of publications and country, frequently published authors, productive institutions, the trend of collaborative nature (co-author analysis) of research, the impact/influence of published research; topics/research issues and utilized methods, and the challenges and limitations of existing research. Results of this research may have implications for both private and public sector organizations interested in outsourcing IS/IT services and applications, and various stakeholders of academic publishing (namely, researchers, journal editors, reviewers and universities) research on IS/IT outsourcing. The primary value of this paper lies in extending the understanding of evolution and patterns of outsourcing research.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue, and hope to receive your valuable contributions for the following issue.

Zahir IraniEditor (Zahir.irani@brunel.ac.uk)