How do computers contribute to business performance and economic growth? Even today, most people who are asked to identify the strengths of computers tend to think of computational tasks like rapidly multiplying large numbers. Computers have excelled at computation since the Mark I (1939), the first modern computer, and the ENIAC (1943), the first electronic computer without moving parts. During World War II, the U.S. government generously funded research into tools for calculating the trajectories of artillery shells. The result was the development of some of the first digital computers with remarkable capabilities for calculation—the dawn of the computer age. However, computers are not fundamentally number crunchers. They are symbol processors. The same basic technologies can be used to store, retrieve, organize, transmit, and algorithmically transform any type of information that can be digitized—numbers, text, video, music, speech, programs, and engineering drawings, to name a few. This is fortunate because most problems are not numerical problems. Ballistics, code breaking, parts of accounting, and bits and pieces of other tasks involve lots of calculation. But the everyday activities of most managers, professionals, and information workers involve other types of

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Beyond Computation: Information Technology, Organizational Transformation and Business Performance

Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises (SMEs) face tremendous challenges in their attempt to pursue technological innovations. This paper argues that co‐opetition strategy—simultaneous pursuit of compe...

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Co-opetition and Technological Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Multilevel Conceptual Model

In 1992, DeLone and McLean suggested that the dependent variable for information systems (IS) research is IS Success. Their research resulted in the widely cited DeLone and McLean (D&M) IS Success Model, in which System Quality, Information Quality, Use, User Satisfaction, Individual Impact, and Organizational Impact are distinct, but related dimensions of IS success. Since the original IS Success Model was published, research has developed a better understanding of IS success. Meanwhile, comprehensive and integrative research on the variables that influence IS success has been lacking. Therefore, we examine the literature on the independent variables that affect IS success. After examining over 600 articles, we focused our attention on integrating the findings of over 140 studies. In this research, we identify 43 specific variables posited to influence the different dimensions of IS success, and we organize these success factors into five categories based on the Leavitt Diamond of Organizational Change: ...

Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Independent Variables

With big data growing rapidly in importance over the past few years, academics and practitioners have been considering the means through which they can incorporate the shifts these technologies bring into their competitive strategies. To date, emphasis has been on the technical aspects of big data, with limited attention paid to the organizational changes they entail and how they should be leveraged strategically. As with any novel technology, it is important to understand the mechanisms and processes through which big data can add business value to companies, and to have a clear picture of the different elements and their interdependencies. To this end, the present paper aims to provide a systematic literature review that can help to explain the mechanisms through which big data analytics (BDA) lead to competitive performance gains. The research framework is grounded on past empirical work on IT business value research, and builds on the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities view of the firm. By identifying the main areas of focus for BDA and explaining the mechanisms through which they should be leveraged, this paper attempts to add to literature on how big data should be examined as a source of competitive advantage. To this end, we identify gaps in the extant literature and propose six future research themes.

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Big data analytics capabilities: a systematic literature review and research agenda

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to aggregate previous research that adopts the resource‐based view (RBV) to examine whether information technology (IT) and organizational resources have significant effect on firm performanceDesign/methodology/approach – A framework that includes direct and indirect‐effect models is proposed A meta‐analysis was conducted on 42 published empirical studies to examine how different factors in the RBV affect firm performanceFindings – First, it was found that the mediated model that includes organizational capabilities as mediators between organizational resources and firm performance can better explain the value of IT than the direct‐effect model without organizational capabilities Second, technology resources can improve efficiency performance but may not enhance financial performance directly Third, internal capabilities affect performance but it is external capabilities that affect financial performanceResearch limitations/implications – The limitation of meta

A resource‐based perspective on information technology and firm performance: a meta analysis

https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/matnat/ifi/INF3280/v15/pensumliste/additionalliterature/eikebrokkolsen2007competencyfactorsebusinesssuccess.pdf

An empirical investigation of competency factors affecting e-business success in European SMEs

Understanding cloud computing adoption issues

Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs are increasingly implementing enterprise resource planning ERP systems. Compared to large enterprises, SMEs differ in a number of inherent characteristics, which are likely to impact the ERP system implementations. The purpose of this study is to explore these influences of the SME context on the ERP system implementation process. SME characteristics are synthesised from relevant literature and the influences of the contextual factors on various activities across the ERP life cycle are investigated. The study presents findings from a multiple case study of four SMEs. The ownership type of the companies and limited resources were identified as the most influential contextual factors. Among the ERP life-cycle phases, the implementation phase was affected most by the SME context. The case studies also illustrate the need for a more nuanced view on what should be considered general characteristics of SMEs; for example, regarding the level of IS knowledge, business processes, and market characteristics.

ERP system implementation in SMEs: exploring the influences of the SME context

Mobile internet, cloud computing, big data technologies, and significant breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have all transformed education. In recent years, there has been an emergence of more advanced AI-enabled learning systems, which are gaining traction due to their ability to deliver learning content and adapt to the individual needs of students. Yet, even though these contemporary learning systems are useful educational platforms that meet students’ needs, there is still a low number of implemented systems designed to address the concerns and problems faced by many students. Based on this perspective, a systematic mapping of the literature on AI-enabled adaptive learning systems was performed in this work. A total of 147 studies published between 2014 and 2020 were analysed. The major findings and contributions of this paper include the identification of the types of AI-enabled learning interventions used, a visualisation of the co-occurrences of authors associated with major research themes in AI-enabled learning systems and a review of common analytical methods and related techniques utilised in such learning systems. This mapping can serve as a guide for future studies on how to better design AI-enabled learning systems to solve specific learning problems and improve users’ learning experiences.

AI-enabled adaptive learning systems: A systematic mapping of the literature

Recent studies indicate that e-government initiatives have not held their promise of improving government services. The majority of efforts to benchmark e-government have had central government as the unit of analysis. This study employs the MeGAP-3 (The Municipal E-Government Assessmen Project) assessment tool to assess the status of municipal e-government in the Agder region in southern Norway, an area with high Internet penetration and mature information and communication technology (ICT) use. MeGAP-3 proved effective in providing a relative positioning of these Norwegian municipalities, but we argue that country specific assessment indicators are needed to complement the tool and enable cross-country comparisons by relative scores. Surprisingly, the results show that the sophistication of local government web sites was fairly low. A series of qualitative interviews were con1 Flak et al.: Local E-Government in Norway: Current Status and Emerging Issues Published by AIS Electronic Library (AISeL), 2005 42 • L. S. Flak, D. H. Olsen & P. Wolcott ducted to explore the factors that shape the development of municipal egovernment. The evidence suggests that the dominant stakeholder in development is the bureaucratic administration rather than citizens or politicians. This group has a strong focus on internal efficiency and cost reduction. The majority of respondents report cost reduction as the major driver behind egovernment development. However we also identified a more citizen-centric approach that stresses the need for improving access and service quality for citizens. The study outlines a number of areas where further research will be needed to fully understand the development of e-government in Norway.

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Dag H. Olsen

Papers

An empirical investigation of competency factors affecting e-business success in European SMEs

Understanding cloud computing adoption issues

ERP system implementation in SMEs: exploring the influences of the SME context

AI-enabled adaptive learning systems: A systematic mapping of the literature

Local E-Government in Norway: Current Status and Emerging Issues