In this study, the performance of 40 U.S. firms that own business method patents was compared wit... more In this study, the performance of 40 U.S. firms that own business method patents was compared with the performance of their matched sample nonpatenting competitors in order to explore patent-protected IS-enabled sustained competitive advantage. The ownership of these patents was not found to be a significant contributor to sustained competitive advantage when measured by financial and market share performance. However, the results can be used to guide much needed future research on this topic.
Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Apr 1, 2013
ABSTRACT The growing importance of computer-related software patents awarded in the United States... more ABSTRACT The growing importance of computer-related software patents awarded in the United States and around the world is a topic that continues to generate discussion. Given the global environment, the question of why organizations from one country seek patent protection from another country is of concern to both organizations and researchers. To better understand the strategic rationale motivating non-US firms to seek software patents in the US, an exploratory multi-case study involving three German firms was conducted. Results of this study suggest that, at a minimum, obtaining US software patents is a strategic necessity. Firms were also found to use software patents for protection against infringing activities, as well as providing a possible means for strengthening competitive advantage. We provide possible explanations for the patenting strategy of the firms in our study by employing a configuration approach using Miles and Snow's strategy topology. Recommendations for future research and integration with existing theories are also presented.
In today's global economy organizations are increasingly resorting to culturally diverse groups o... more In today's global economy organizations are increasingly resorting to culturally diverse groups of individuals to cope with the challenges of a global market. Often, group decision support systems (GSS) are utilized in the process. The performance of these technology-assisted meetings might be subject to the impact of the conflict management style that group members adopt and the cultural backgrounds of the participants. This study examines the possibility that cultural diversity may have a moderating effect on the relationship between the collaborative conflict management style and group performance in a distributed GSS (DGSS) environment
Virtual teams are temporally and geographically dispersed groups, which may have members from var... more Virtual teams are temporally and geographically dispersed groups, which may have members from varied cultures and backgrounds. Such diversity may cause intra-group conflicts in virtual teams. We analyzed the contents of the transcripts of GSS-based virtual teams and identified the conflict episodes and the approaches followed to resolve intra-group conflicts. The conflict episodes that occurred in the early phases of decisionmaking were separated from those taking place in the choice phase. The results revealed that conflicts in the choice phase of decision-making were detrimental to global virtual teams. We also found that groups following an integrative conflict resolution style had better performance than those following other conflict resolution approaches, such as a distributive style. While the results contribute towards the understanding of conflict in groups, the area warrants further research.
Virtual teams cut across organizational cultures, national cultures, and functional areas, thereb... more Virtual teams cut across organizational cultures, national cultures, and functional areas, thereby increasing group heterogeneity, which may result in increased conflict among team members and less effective performance of the team. Our study explored the relationships that might exist among the heterogeneity of the virtual teams, their collaborative conflict management style, and their performance outcomes. The paper reports the findings of a laboratory experiment in which homogeneous and heterogeneous virtual teams, consisting of subjects from the USA and India, worked independently on a decision task involving the adoption of a computer use fee by an online university. Team members, used a web-based group decision support system (GDSS) that allowed them the opportunity to discuss task options, critique suggestions, and vote on the result. The data analyses suggested that collaborative conflict management style positively impacted satisfaction with the decision making process, perceived decision quality, and perceived participation of the virtual teams. There was weak evidence that links a group's heterogeneity to its collaborative conflict management styles.
... Permissions & Reprints. Understanding it adoption decisions in small business... more ... Permissions & Reprints. Understanding it adoption decisions in small business: integrating current theories. ... 1.3. Empirical applications of the TPB and TAM. 1.3.1. Small business research. Both TPB and TAM have been applied in the small business context. Harrison et al. ...
Due to the potential benefits that electronic commerce (e-commerce) may provide to small to mediu... more Due to the potential benefits that electronic commerce (e-commerce) may provide to small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the fact that a small number of SMEs are currently using it, the major contribution of this paper is the development of an instrument to study the initial adoption of e-commerce in SMEs in Chile. This instrument could also help other developing countries to determine the e-commerce adoption intention. The instrument is developed by using Ajzens Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) that suggests the steps to elicit important constructs from a target population. A detailed explanation of the elicitation process is offered and the final instrument is presented.
The phenomenon of globalization and the increasing availability of collaborative technologies suc... more The phenomenon of globalization and the increasing availability of collaborative technologies such as group support systems (GSS) have prompted multinational organizations to use cross-national virtual teams for various tasks. Such virtual teams are usually composed of members of different backgrounds and nationalities who may have differences in opinions, beliefs and orientations. This diversity of team members may enhance the level of group conflict. Unless effectively managed, intragroup conflict has the potential to make group decision making less effective. Using content analysis of group discussions in a set of experimental groups, we identify the positive and negative orientations of each group's comments, assess intragroup conflict, and examine its impact on group agreement and satisfaction. The paper also examines the influence of the number of threads in the decision making discussion on the perceived participation. The preliminary results are encouraging and the area warrants more research.
Interorganizational knowledge sharing is critical to knowledge intensive collaborations between o... more Interorganizational knowledge sharing is critical to knowledge intensive collaborations between organizations. Despite a proliferation of literature on knowledge sharing, most studies focused on such practice within an organization. The question of how to achieve effective interorganizational knowledge sharing remains unanswered. This study intends to answer this research question using the results from a case study of a software implementation project. Collaboration between software vendors and clients in information systems development/implementation projects require considerable amount of knowledge exchange between the partners. Differences in organizational culture, knowledge domain, as well as other critical factors, pose major challenge for interorganizational knowledge sharing. To be able to observe the impact of these critical factors on interorganizational knowledge sharing, the knowledge sharing processes between organizations should first be thoroughly explored. While effectiveness of knowledge sharing may be viewed from different theoretical disciplines, we draw our analysis based on organizational learning perspective.
The growing utilization of global virtual teams with members of different cultural backgrounds ne... more The growing utilization of global virtual teams with members of different cultural backgrounds necessitates investigating whether the performance of culturally diverse virtual teams would differ from the performance of culturally homogeneous ones. Conflict management styles have been found to be of crucial importance for the success of virtual teams. This research-in-progress paper advances a model that links the collaborative conflict management style and the cultural diversity of virtual teams to their performance. A research design for testing the hypotheses is described.
Journal of Computer Information Systems, Mar 1, 2004
The adoption of information technology (IT) has been widely studied in the industrialized world. ... more The adoption of information technology (IT) has been widely studied in the industrialized world. Particularly, the adoption of electronic commerce (ecommerce) has been a hot topic among researchers in the MIS community in recent years. However, only a tiny fraction of these studies have been devoted to developing countries and an even smaller portion of them have focused on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Due to the potential benefits that ecommerce may provide to SMEs and the fact that a small number of SMEs are currently using ecommerce, the objective of this study is the development of an instrument to study the initial adoption of ecommerce in SMEs in Chile. This instrument could also help other developing countries to determine the ecommerce adoption intention. The instrument is developed using Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior that suggests the steps to elicit important constructs from a target population. A detailed explanation of the elicitation process is offered and the final instrument is presented.
The Theory of Planned Behavior is used to predict a variety of behaviors, but its use in dealing ... more The Theory of Planned Behavior is used to predict a variety of behaviors, but its use in dealing with predicting e-commerce intentions in smallto-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and in developing countries is limited. We use the TPB to model intentions to adopt e-commerce among 212 managers/owners of SMEs in Chile. Hierarchical regression results show that the subjective norm and attitude constructs positively and significantly predict intentions, but the perceived behavioral control construct does not. Results can be used by developing countries, especially those in Latin America, to encourage the adoption of e-commerce among SMEs.
Journal of Computer Information Systems, Mar 1, 1997
The primary purpose of this paper is to report the findings from senior executives concerning how... more The primary purpose of this paper is to report the findings from senior executives concerning how universities can help small businesses. Background research on information systems and small business, education aspects, and content analysis is given. The methodology of data collection and analysis is addressed. Finally, a discussion of results as well as suggestions for future research is given.
ABSTRACT E-commerce is a strategy for rapid growth, especially by small and medium sized business... more ABSTRACT E-commerce is a strategy for rapid growth, especially by small and medium sized businesses (SMEs). However, the adoption rate of e-commerce by SMEs in Latin America is still undersized. The authors compare the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA) using structural equation modeling to determine which is better at predicting e-commerce adoption intentions among 210 SME managers/owners in Chile. Contrary to previous research with American respondents, the study does not find significant differences between the two theories. Thus, academics should select the more parsimonious model (TRA) to study e-commerce adoption issues in developing countries.
The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used to explain and predict small business executives’ d... more The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used to explain and predict small business executives’ decisions to adopt information technology (IT). These theories were tested in a multiphase field study involving 162 small businesses (25 ≤ n ≤ 200 employees) from a broad set of industries considering a variety of ITs. Results indicate strong support for a decision process based on attitude (perceived positive and negative consequences for the firm), subjective norm (social expectations), and perceived control (resources to overcome obstacles) regarding IT adoption. Additional variables such as firm and individual executive characteristics had no unique effect on adoption decisions. However, as business size increased, so did the importance of expectations from the (social) environment, while the importance of intra-firm consequences and control over potential adoption barriers declined.
Organizations have encountered risks of all types dealing with information systems (IS) and infor... more Organizations have encountered risks of all types dealing with information systems (IS) and information technology (IT). However, managing risks in the COVID-19 environment is not something organizations have encountered in the past, at least to the extent. This paper identifies a number of IS/IT-related risks focusing on the current coronavirus environment. Suggestions are provided for managers on how they might recognize and minimize these risks.
In this study, the performance of 40 U.S. firms that own business method patents was compared wit... more In this study, the performance of 40 U.S. firms that own business method patents was compared with the performance of their matched sample nonpatenting competitors in order to explore patent-protected IS-enabled sustained competitive advantage. The ownership of these patents was not found to be a significant contributor to sustained competitive advantage when measured by financial and market share performance. However, the results can be used to guide much needed future research on this topic.
In this study, the performance of 40 U.S. firms that own business method patents was compared wit... more In this study, the performance of 40 U.S. firms that own business method patents was compared with the performance of their matched sample nonpatenting competitors in order to explore patent-protected IS-enabled sustained competitive advantage. The ownership of these patents was not found to be a significant contributor to sustained competitive advantage when measured by financial and market share performance. However, the results can be used to guide much needed future research on this topic.
Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Apr 1, 2013
ABSTRACT The growing importance of computer-related software patents awarded in the United States... more ABSTRACT The growing importance of computer-related software patents awarded in the United States and around the world is a topic that continues to generate discussion. Given the global environment, the question of why organizations from one country seek patent protection from another country is of concern to both organizations and researchers. To better understand the strategic rationale motivating non-US firms to seek software patents in the US, an exploratory multi-case study involving three German firms was conducted. Results of this study suggest that, at a minimum, obtaining US software patents is a strategic necessity. Firms were also found to use software patents for protection against infringing activities, as well as providing a possible means for strengthening competitive advantage. We provide possible explanations for the patenting strategy of the firms in our study by employing a configuration approach using Miles and Snow's strategy topology. Recommendations for future research and integration with existing theories are also presented.
In today's global economy organizations are increasingly resorting to culturally diverse groups o... more In today's global economy organizations are increasingly resorting to culturally diverse groups of individuals to cope with the challenges of a global market. Often, group decision support systems (GSS) are utilized in the process. The performance of these technology-assisted meetings might be subject to the impact of the conflict management style that group members adopt and the cultural backgrounds of the participants. This study examines the possibility that cultural diversity may have a moderating effect on the relationship between the collaborative conflict management style and group performance in a distributed GSS (DGSS) environment
Virtual teams are temporally and geographically dispersed groups, which may have members from var... more Virtual teams are temporally and geographically dispersed groups, which may have members from varied cultures and backgrounds. Such diversity may cause intra-group conflicts in virtual teams. We analyzed the contents of the transcripts of GSS-based virtual teams and identified the conflict episodes and the approaches followed to resolve intra-group conflicts. The conflict episodes that occurred in the early phases of decisionmaking were separated from those taking place in the choice phase. The results revealed that conflicts in the choice phase of decision-making were detrimental to global virtual teams. We also found that groups following an integrative conflict resolution style had better performance than those following other conflict resolution approaches, such as a distributive style. While the results contribute towards the understanding of conflict in groups, the area warrants further research.
Virtual teams cut across organizational cultures, national cultures, and functional areas, thereb... more Virtual teams cut across organizational cultures, national cultures, and functional areas, thereby increasing group heterogeneity, which may result in increased conflict among team members and less effective performance of the team. Our study explored the relationships that might exist among the heterogeneity of the virtual teams, their collaborative conflict management style, and their performance outcomes. The paper reports the findings of a laboratory experiment in which homogeneous and heterogeneous virtual teams, consisting of subjects from the USA and India, worked independently on a decision task involving the adoption of a computer use fee by an online university. Team members, used a web-based group decision support system (GDSS) that allowed them the opportunity to discuss task options, critique suggestions, and vote on the result. The data analyses suggested that collaborative conflict management style positively impacted satisfaction with the decision making process, perceived decision quality, and perceived participation of the virtual teams. There was weak evidence that links a group's heterogeneity to its collaborative conflict management styles.
... Permissions & Reprints. Understanding it adoption decisions in small business... more ... Permissions & Reprints. Understanding it adoption decisions in small business: integrating current theories. ... 1.3. Empirical applications of the TPB and TAM. 1.3.1. Small business research. Both TPB and TAM have been applied in the small business context. Harrison et al. ...
Due to the potential benefits that electronic commerce (e-commerce) may provide to small to mediu... more Due to the potential benefits that electronic commerce (e-commerce) may provide to small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the fact that a small number of SMEs are currently using it, the major contribution of this paper is the development of an instrument to study the initial adoption of e-commerce in SMEs in Chile. This instrument could also help other developing countries to determine the e-commerce adoption intention. The instrument is developed by using Ajzens Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) that suggests the steps to elicit important constructs from a target population. A detailed explanation of the elicitation process is offered and the final instrument is presented.
The phenomenon of globalization and the increasing availability of collaborative technologies suc... more The phenomenon of globalization and the increasing availability of collaborative technologies such as group support systems (GSS) have prompted multinational organizations to use cross-national virtual teams for various tasks. Such virtual teams are usually composed of members of different backgrounds and nationalities who may have differences in opinions, beliefs and orientations. This diversity of team members may enhance the level of group conflict. Unless effectively managed, intragroup conflict has the potential to make group decision making less effective. Using content analysis of group discussions in a set of experimental groups, we identify the positive and negative orientations of each group's comments, assess intragroup conflict, and examine its impact on group agreement and satisfaction. The paper also examines the influence of the number of threads in the decision making discussion on the perceived participation. The preliminary results are encouraging and the area warrants more research.
Interorganizational knowledge sharing is critical to knowledge intensive collaborations between o... more Interorganizational knowledge sharing is critical to knowledge intensive collaborations between organizations. Despite a proliferation of literature on knowledge sharing, most studies focused on such practice within an organization. The question of how to achieve effective interorganizational knowledge sharing remains unanswered. This study intends to answer this research question using the results from a case study of a software implementation project. Collaboration between software vendors and clients in information systems development/implementation projects require considerable amount of knowledge exchange between the partners. Differences in organizational culture, knowledge domain, as well as other critical factors, pose major challenge for interorganizational knowledge sharing. To be able to observe the impact of these critical factors on interorganizational knowledge sharing, the knowledge sharing processes between organizations should first be thoroughly explored. While effectiveness of knowledge sharing may be viewed from different theoretical disciplines, we draw our analysis based on organizational learning perspective.
The growing utilization of global virtual teams with members of different cultural backgrounds ne... more The growing utilization of global virtual teams with members of different cultural backgrounds necessitates investigating whether the performance of culturally diverse virtual teams would differ from the performance of culturally homogeneous ones. Conflict management styles have been found to be of crucial importance for the success of virtual teams. This research-in-progress paper advances a model that links the collaborative conflict management style and the cultural diversity of virtual teams to their performance. A research design for testing the hypotheses is described.
Journal of Computer Information Systems, Mar 1, 2004
The adoption of information technology (IT) has been widely studied in the industrialized world. ... more The adoption of information technology (IT) has been widely studied in the industrialized world. Particularly, the adoption of electronic commerce (ecommerce) has been a hot topic among researchers in the MIS community in recent years. However, only a tiny fraction of these studies have been devoted to developing countries and an even smaller portion of them have focused on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Due to the potential benefits that ecommerce may provide to SMEs and the fact that a small number of SMEs are currently using ecommerce, the objective of this study is the development of an instrument to study the initial adoption of ecommerce in SMEs in Chile. This instrument could also help other developing countries to determine the ecommerce adoption intention. The instrument is developed using Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior that suggests the steps to elicit important constructs from a target population. A detailed explanation of the elicitation process is offered and the final instrument is presented.
The Theory of Planned Behavior is used to predict a variety of behaviors, but its use in dealing ... more The Theory of Planned Behavior is used to predict a variety of behaviors, but its use in dealing with predicting e-commerce intentions in smallto-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and in developing countries is limited. We use the TPB to model intentions to adopt e-commerce among 212 managers/owners of SMEs in Chile. Hierarchical regression results show that the subjective norm and attitude constructs positively and significantly predict intentions, but the perceived behavioral control construct does not. Results can be used by developing countries, especially those in Latin America, to encourage the adoption of e-commerce among SMEs.
Journal of Computer Information Systems, Mar 1, 1997
The primary purpose of this paper is to report the findings from senior executives concerning how... more The primary purpose of this paper is to report the findings from senior executives concerning how universities can help small businesses. Background research on information systems and small business, education aspects, and content analysis is given. The methodology of data collection and analysis is addressed. Finally, a discussion of results as well as suggestions for future research is given.
ABSTRACT E-commerce is a strategy for rapid growth, especially by small and medium sized business... more ABSTRACT E-commerce is a strategy for rapid growth, especially by small and medium sized businesses (SMEs). However, the adoption rate of e-commerce by SMEs in Latin America is still undersized. The authors compare the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA) using structural equation modeling to determine which is better at predicting e-commerce adoption intentions among 210 SME managers/owners in Chile. Contrary to previous research with American respondents, the study does not find significant differences between the two theories. Thus, academics should select the more parsimonious model (TRA) to study e-commerce adoption issues in developing countries.
The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used to explain and predict small business executives’ d... more The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used to explain and predict small business executives’ decisions to adopt information technology (IT). These theories were tested in a multiphase field study involving 162 small businesses (25 ≤ n ≤ 200 employees) from a broad set of industries considering a variety of ITs. Results indicate strong support for a decision process based on attitude (perceived positive and negative consequences for the firm), subjective norm (social expectations), and perceived control (resources to overcome obstacles) regarding IT adoption. Additional variables such as firm and individual executive characteristics had no unique effect on adoption decisions. However, as business size increased, so did the importance of expectations from the (social) environment, while the importance of intra-firm consequences and control over potential adoption barriers declined.
Organizations have encountered risks of all types dealing with information systems (IS) and infor... more Organizations have encountered risks of all types dealing with information systems (IS) and information technology (IT). However, managing risks in the COVID-19 environment is not something organizations have encountered in the past, at least to the extent. This paper identifies a number of IS/IT-related risks focusing on the current coronavirus environment. Suggestions are provided for managers on how they might recognize and minimize these risks.
In this study, the performance of 40 U.S. firms that own business method patents was compared wit... more In this study, the performance of 40 U.S. firms that own business method patents was compared with the performance of their matched sample nonpatenting competitors in order to explore patent-protected IS-enabled sustained competitive advantage. The ownership of these patents was not found to be a significant contributor to sustained competitive advantage when measured by financial and market share performance. However, the results can be used to guide much needed future research on this topic.
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Papers by Peter Mykytyn