CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2 Conversion Process
2.2.3 Usage barriers
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In addition, different strategic IT visions can affect the absorption of IT and business knowledge and thus reduce knowledge barriers. Schein (1992) identifies four major categories of strategic IT visions: automate, informate up, informate down, and transform. What is more, firms that possess a transformative IT vision can enhance their IT assimilation ability (Feeny et al., 1992) and view IT as a key driver or an integral element of their value proposition (Armstrong and Sambamurthy, 1999). That is to say, those firms that espouse a transformative strategic IT vision always take IT absorptive capacity and organizational learning more seriously (Armstrong and Sambamurthy, 1999). In 2002, Zahra and George (2002) summarized the work of past researchers (Lane and Lubatkin, 1998; Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998; Schilling, 1998;
Kedia and Bhagat, 1988) who use absorptive capacity in their analyses and offered a reconceptualization of this construct, defining constructs related to absorptive capacity that show a firm’s acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation capabilities, helping to explain firm potential and realized capacity and thus facilitating the creation of differential competitive advantage based on the latter.
Similarly, Ulrich (2009) also suggests that absorptive capacity involves exploratory, transformative, and exploitative learning capabilities, explaining interfirm discrepancies in profiting from external knowledge.
Overall, absorptive capacity, which involves different organizational learning capabilities, involves utilizing knowledge to resolve knowledge barriers and create an innovative organizational environment or learning mechanisms that enhances a firm's ability to gain and sustain competitive advantage (Tsai, 2001; Zahra and George, 2002).
2.2.3 Usage barriers
Even if an organization can conquer resource barriers and knowledge barriers in IT implementation, the overall success of its investment is still highly dependent on how well IT is embraced by potential adaptors (Chircu and Kauffman, 2000). The past literature also concludes that certain factors can cause a user to feel different about IT.
These factors include personal characteristics, user experience, user voluntariness, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, observability and convenience, and so on (Roger 1985, Davis et al. 1989, Moore and Benbasat 1991, Parasuraman et al., 1985; Chircu et al., 2000). Chircu et al. (2001) suggest that usage barriers are due to the usefulness and the usability of the system and the responsibilities associated with its use, which may result in hesitation on the part of users regarding the adoption of IT. Usage barriers are related to adopter perceptions, and unfavorable perceptions will result in users’ not adopting a technology (Roger 1985, Davis et al., 1989, Moore and Benbasat, 1991, Chircu and Kauffman, 2000),
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even though they are capable of acquiring the knowledge essential to use it.
Based on the previous literature, we know that there are many factors that can alter the intention to use an innovative technology. Devaraj and Kohli (2003) argue that the driver of IT impact is not the investment in the technology but instead the actual usage of that technology. Zhu and Kraemer (2005) describe value creation through use rather than simple adoption and penetration. Moving away from the typical focus on adoption, Zhu and Kraemer (2005) focus on the post-adoption stages and consider actual usage as a critical stage in the value creation process. Massetti and Zmud (1996) argue that EDI usage measurement consists of four facets: the volume, diversity, breadth, and depth of a firm's EDI initiatives. Zhu and Kraemer (2005) define e-business use as the extent to which e-business is being used to conduct value chain activities measured by the breadth of its use for different value chain activities and the depth of use percentage for each activity that has been transferred to the internet platform. Lee and Lee (2009) define different types of IT usage using three items: support for administrative, managerial, and training purposes. Overall, we can see that actual usage has often been identified as a key construct influencing the business value generated from IT (Devaraj and Kohli, 2003; Bhattacherjee and Hikmet, 2008). Therefore, our core research on usage barriers is intended to explore the degree of use of innovative IT. Thus, we focus on the usage factor itself to be our constructs of usage barriers.
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Research Model Industry Barriers Organizational Barriers
Network externalities
Industry characteristics of adopting new service innovation
Organizational characteristics ◎ ◎ ◎
Flanagin 2000
Social pressures ◎ ◎
Organizational features ◎
Perceived benefits
Organizational Size ◎
Decentralized Organizational Structure ◎ ◎
Organizational Performance ◎
Supply Chain Strategy Integration ◎
Inter-Organizational Factors ◎ ◎
Environmental Uncertainty ◎ ◎
Literatures
Table 2-1 The Literatures of Valuation Barriers
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Research Model Industry Barriers Organizational Barriers
Network externalities
Industry characteristics of adopting new service innovation
Competitive pressures
Organizational Features
Organizational culture
Business Alignment
Zhu et al.
2003
Technology competence
Firm Scope ◎
Firm size ◎
Consumer readiness
Competitive pressure ◎
Lack of trading partner readiness ◎
Zhu et al.2006
Network effects ◎ ◎
Expected benefits
Adoption costs ◎
Menor and Roth 2007
NSD process focus ◎ ◎
Market acuity
NSD strategy ◎
Literatures
Table 2-1 The Literatures of Valuation Barriers (Cont.)
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Research Model Resource Barriers Knowledge Barriers Usage Barriers IT knowledge IT operations IT objects Absorptive Capacity Actual Usage Armstrong and
Sambamurthy 1999
Senior Leadership Knowledge ◎
IT Infrastructure Sophistication ◎
Strategic IT visions ◎
Massetti and Zmud 1996
volume ◎
diversity ◎
breadth ◎
depth ◎
Bharadwaj 2000
Human IT resources ◎
IT infrastructure ◎
IT-enabled intangibles ◎
Tippins and Sohi 2003
IT Competency ◎ ◎ ◎
Organizational learning ◎
Zhu and Kraemer 2005
E-business Use ◎
Technology Competence ◎
Literatures
Table 2-2 The Literatures of Conversion Barriers
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Research Model Resource Barriers Knowledge Barriers Usage Barriers IT knowledge IT operations IT objects Absorptive Capacity Actual Usage Bhatt and
Grover 2005
IT business expertise ◎
IT infrastructure quality ◎
Intensity of organizational learning ◎
Molla and Licker 2005
Human/business resources ◎
Governance ◎
Technological resources ◎
Awareness ◎
Lee and Lee 2009
supporting administrative purposes ◎
Managerial purposes ◎
training purposes ◎
Ulrich 2009
Exploratory learning ◎
Transformative learning ◎
Exploitative learning ◎
Literatures
Table 2-2 The Literatures of Conversion Barriers (Cont.)
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