Editorial

Citation

Ali, M. and Irani, Z. (2010), "Editorial", Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 23 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeim.2010.08823caa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Volume 23, Issue 3

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Volume 23 Number 3, 2010, of Journal of Enterprise Information Management. This issue covers a variety of contributions that span the theoretical and practical.

Cull and Eldabi propose the use of a new hybrid modelling methodology, which is an original idea, on existing tools and methodologies. Key authors in the literature recommend against the trend of developing a brand new methodology so existing tools from each end of the scale were combined to provide a solution which is capable of modelling IS and BP. This paper reports on a case study in a manufacturing company where users were surveyed to see which are the notations that are most common in modelling based on two main categories (behavioural and informational). Research outcomes showed that there is no prevailing set of standards used for either of these categories, while most users feel the need to use more than one approach to model their system at any given time. Many companies face problems when trying to model the behaviour of human workers in the business processes. Existing techniques are mostly designed at modelling information systems or business processes, and rarely attempt to integrate both.

Coakes et al. then present results from a large comprehensive global survey of knowledge management (KM). The question that their paper looks to answer is: how can a KM strategy be developed that will enable its successful management in organisations of many sectors and sizes? In light of the observed developments since the previous knowledge management surveys, the authors redefine the KM function, and how it should be performed. The research instrument is a global, online-hosted survey answered by nearly 700 participants. Hypotheses on the KM management process in contemporary organisation, emphasising the importance of strategy, cover this work. It is demonstrated that in many organisations technology has failed to have much impact on the way knowledge is transferred and shared.

Ozkan et al. investigate, through theoretical constructs (the technology acceptance model, the theory of reasoned action) and an empirical analysis, the critical factors that may ensure consumer adoption of these facilities. This research study mainly uses the deductive approach to consider secondary sources and primary data where hypotheses have been developed in order to demonstrate the findings. An initial literature review revealed six issues that are considered critical for e-payment considerations. An anonymous and self-administered survey based on the research model was developed and e-mailed to respondents. A total of 155 questionnaires were coded and analysed using SPSS to analyse the hypotheses. The research proved that the perceived importance of the critical factors was correlated through security, trust, perceived advantage, assurance seals, perceived risk and usability. The results demonstrate that three of the critical factors were necessary (security, advantage, web assurance seals) and three were relatively sufficient (perceived risk, trust and usability) through customer intentions to adopt an e-payment system. It is believed that the findings represent an important contribution to the further adoption of e-payment facilities, and indeed the design of general e-commerce systems.

Aydin et al. then investigate the action readiness (the state, condition or quality of being ready) and mindset (habits, opinions or perceptions which affect a person’s attitudes) of organisations for IT offshoring. The research method applied has explorative research characteristics and consisted of two phases. The first phase includes the conduct of interviews with the project managers of 12 organisations in home and offshore countries and the second phase is concerned with in-depth analysis of projects in three organisations. By adopting a process research approach, the authors take into account the dynamics of IT offshoring projects in terms of five essential aspects:

1. 1.

   the way of working culture;

2. 2.

   method use;

3. 3.

   IT activities;

4. 4.

   IT governance; and

5. 5.

   knowledge sharing.

The findings indicate that to a greater extent organisations have realised readiness for method use and a mindset for IT activities, and that the overall improvements regarding these aspects have been modest in the last two years. On the other hand, the mindset for dealing with cultural difference has increased while the readiness for flexible working, tracking of requirements change, efficient division of work and systematic communication is still inadequate. As the findings are concerned with a small sample and particular industries, they are limited in nature. The authors recommend that more research is needed to update the findings in other industries with a larger sample. This would help in achieving stronger external validity.

Nazimoglu and Ozsen present an empirical investigation for defining and analysing risks within information technologies (IT) in service delivery. After defining service delivery, some specific risks that appear in IT service delivery and the relationships between risks are defined. The objective of study is to advance the understanding of risks and effects on the specific processes within the delivery of IT services. Risks have been determined by reviewing processes in IBM, by taking the Information Technologies Infrastructure Library (ITIL) as a basis, which is a standard in IT, and with the help of the Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) Metrics Model. The ITSM Model is actually used for finding delay times for specific processes. According to observations and interviews with employees at IBM, the risk level is defined by the percentage of impact of specific risks. Specific risks are taken from the ITSM Metrics Model, and observation is realised in IBM service delivery. ITIL is used to decide on the most risky processes for IT delivery. Following that selection and observations, the effects of these risks on the most risky processes in ITIL is discussed. The result shows that the risk with most impact on all processes is “dissatisfied customers”. The second most impacting risk is “delayed solutions”, and the third is “low employee morale”. The remainder of the study gives the necessary explanations about ITIL and the background of IBM service delivery, as well as the possible sources and analysis of IT service delivery risk and concluding remarks.

Next, Ramrattan and Patel set out to examine the contextual issues relating to the problem of developing web-based information systems for emergent organisations. The study employs an action research approach to understand and develop an analytical development tool for web developers. It postulates that existing methods are inadequate in coping with sudden and unexpected changing characteristics within the organisation. The theory of deferred action is used as the basis for the development of an emergent analytical development tool. Many tools for managing change in a continuously changing organisation are susceptible to inadequacy. The insights proposed are believed to assist designers in developing functional and relevant approaches within dynamic organisational contexts.

Then, Domm et al. examine the critical success factors of ERP implementations in Belgian SMEs and identify those success factors that are specific to a SME environment. The authors conduct a survey of the literature to discover and classify critical those success factors that potentially applicable to small and medium-sized enterprises. Then, through a survey and a multiple case study within four Belgian companies, they investigate which of these critical success factors apply to SMEs. The results show that most of the success factors found in the literature apply to SMEs. Nevertheless, distinct differences were found as well. Some factors, such as a clear scope definition and a standardised infrastructure, are not regarded as critical success factors for SMEs. Moreover, they add, SMEs tend to rely relatively heavy on the input of consultants, who are used as a source of knowledge and experience. Moreover, SMEs need to be able to adjust their businesses quickly to be able to exploit their niche to the fullest extent. The authors claim that, for SMEs, it is particularly important to recognise the elements of a a successful ERP implementation.

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

Maged AliCo-Editor for this issue (maged.ali@brunel.ac.uk)

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