Editorial

Citation

Irani, Z. (2012), "Editorial", Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 25 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeim.2012.08825baa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Volume 25, Issue 2

The second issue commences with the research paper by Tripathi et al., entitled “Interoperability adoption among government and corporate portals in India: a study”. The authors in this paper examined the position of interoperability of Government and Corporate portals in technological adoption space in India in terms of three critical dimensions: data integration, process integration and communication integration. The authors conducted this exploratory study through a survey questionnaire from 300 portals of Government departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in India. In addition to this survey, the authors collected data from the portals of Indian companies and compared the results to those of the Government portals. These results illustrate that the majority of Government portals in India have initiated integration. Second, the portals of Indian companies are performing better than the portals of Government and PSUs for achieving an interoperable position. Third, there is high dispersion in level of integration of Government portals in India. The portals with the lowest level of integration in Government in India will determine when Government will actually attain full horizontal integration and hence achieve an interoperable portal as there is high dispersion in level of integration of Government portals in India. The authors claim that this research is the first of its kind to examine the position of interoperability in technological adoption space in India. The results lead to a number of recommendations for achieving interoperability for Government portals in India.

The above research paper is followed by another paper by Groznik and Maslaric, entitled “A process approach to distribution channel re-engineering”. The authors proposed a methodology for distribution network re-engineering, as for the last few decades there has been a growing interest in making more integrated business decisions across larger segments of the logistics and distribution networks. Moreover, the authors developed a research methodology to assist distribution networks reengineering, due integrating logistic processes within the distribution supply chain. The emphasis of this methodology is on business processes modeling and reengineering in distribution network. The empirical findings substantiate that distribution network reengineering needs to be balanced, methodological process that integrates business process reengineering in combination with information technology. In addition, the case study findings presented illustrate that the proposed methodology has resulted in considerable cost savings and enhancing effectiveness of distribution networks. The authors claim to have extended the reengineering theory and information technology into a supply chain context. Moreover, this research is among the first empirical papers that specifically investigates the relationship between reengineering, information technology and distribution channel management practices; thus, filling an important gap in the supply chain literature.

Then we have Giannakis focusing on the “The intellectual structure of the supply chain management discipline: a citation and social network analysis”. This research employs a combination of a Social Network Analysis and Citation Analysis among ten academic journals related to supply chain phenomena. Furthermore, it examines the structure of their network and the role that each of the journals performs, to explore the way that the supply chain management (SCM) discipline has evolved over the last 20 years, to identify the forms of sources used by SCM researchers and the changes that took place. Citations between and within journals are analysed using social network analysis metrics, in order to examine how the field of SCM has been shaped over time, by describing how communication patterns between and among members of its social network have changed. The analysis of the empirical findings reveals the current structure of the network, the level of cohesion of the discipline and the similarities and differences amongst the journals. However, this is limited to the last 20 years to reflect the growth of the academic discipline of supply chain management, but can be extended beyond this period to examine its extended problem domain. The study confirms the inter-disciplinary nature of supply chain phenomena and the opportunity for research in SCM to acquire central role in the study of inter-organisational systems.

Thereafter, we have Gallagher and Gallagher presenting their research work entitled “Organizing for post-implementation ERP – a contingency theory perspective”. The authors in this paper present their understanding of post-implementation organizational choices – when subject matter experts (SMEs) were retained and returned. The authors aim to understand these choices relative to the goals of their project. This research conceptually builds upon prior qualitative research, but is still exploratory in nature. The authors report on findings from an on-line survey conducted with 65 organisations i.e. sample of small, medium and large firms. The authors identified that the hybrid structure was utilised most often. This research is exploratory in nature; hence, it may not be projectable to a larger population, thus, future research should supplement this study with more industry user groups, expand the sample size, and utilise more advanced statistical methods. The authors highlight that previous research studies have focused on successfully implementing ERP, nevertheless, neglecting the post-implementation design. Based in this argument, the authors claim to contribute to a growing body of work with regard to post-implementation design, taking into consideration SMEs and reporting structure, goals, and measures of success utilising contingency theory as our backdrop.

Finally, Kannabiran presents his research work entitled “Enablers and inhibitors of advanced information technologies adoption by SMEs: an empirical study of auto ancillaries in India”. This paper explores and evaluates the influential factors enabling or inhibiting adoption of advanced IT in the Indian auto ancillary SMEs. In order to identify and evaluate the enabling and inhibiting factors, the author carried out a detailed survey among registered Indian auto ancillary SMEs during 2010. The data collected were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and multivariate regression to evaluate the influence of enablers and inhibitors of advanced IT adoption by the auto ancillary SMEs. Their findings highlighted that the level of advanced IT adoption in auto ancillaries is low with only 17 per cent of SMEs have adopted technologies. A number of enabling and inhibiting factors were identified from the empirical findings. Despite the positive external IT environment and recognition of benefits, advanced IT adoption by SMEs in the auto ancillaries is limited by lack of financial capabilities and in-house IT human resources. For advanced IT adoption in this sector, the author stresses the need for a new approach such as “software as service” or “cloud computing” that eliminates the need for high investments as well as in-house IT manpower. The author asserts that the findings will be useful to SMEs in general but also to policy-makers to bring about effective policies and support strategies for SMEs. The author also accentuates that this is one of the early papers that brings out the enablers and inhibitors of advanced IT adoption by auto ancillaries in India.

Zahir Irani, Yogesh DwivediEditors