Web services innovation research: Towards a dual-core model

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2005.04.004Get rights and content

Abstract

The paper is based on the rationale that existing enterprise process integration technologies are unlikely to be able to tackle problems with the growth and complexity of current e-business practices. In order to clarify our understanding of Web Services adoption we propose a dual-core model that treats such innovation at a strategic level according to its peculiar characteristics. We question the validity of using two prevailing innovation theories: Tornatzky and Fleischer's contextual framework, and Swanson's innovation typology respectively. We argue that simply applying either of these theories would miss important attributes of Web Services; if we use both then it would be too complex leading to poor generalizability. We therefore, compose a synthetic viewpoint, on the basis of Web Services primary characteristics, in order to obtain a thorough understanding of innovation research. We also suggest that adoption of IS innovation may reflect a pattern in terms of the scope of e-business enablement across organizations. The argument is exemplified through the diffusion of Web Service innovation.

Introduction

Information Systems (IS) are still generally viewed as proprietary within organizations where they used to buy or lease their own hardware, wrote or licensed their own applications, and hired systems professionals for implementation and maintenance (Hagel & Brown, 2001). IS has been used to facilitate the operations of individual companies, tie together far-flung supply chains, and increasingly link business to the customers they serve, and these have totally transformed business processes (Carr, 2003). Consequently, the heart of enterprise IS is information technology (IT) which has clearly become the backbone of commerce, and continues to progressively penetrate core business activities (Porter & Millar, 1985). Among such emerging technologies, Web Services as a representative of IT innovation, has gained increasing attention and received extensive investigation from both academia and industry.

Broadly speaking, the term “Web Services” refers to the technologies that allow for making connections. More specifically, Web Services is “any service that is available over the Internet, uses a standardized XML messaging system, and is not tied to any one operating system or programming language.” (Cerami, 2002). Hence, Web Services (we address that a service is the endpoint of a connection, which has some type of underlying computer system that supports the connection offered. Web Services herein used as a plural form to emphasize a whole subset of their functionalities) are perceived as building blocks, which are fundamental for creating distributed applications, and are able to be published and accessed over the Internet, as well as corporate intranets. Understandably, from this conceptual viewpoint, Web Services could be thought to construct co-operative Inter or Intra-Organizational Systems (IOS) that allow trading partners to conduct transactions through connecting separate computer applications. IOSs are referred to telecommunication-based computer systems that are used by two or more organizations to support the sharing of data, and sometimes applications, among users in different organizations (Barrett & Konsynski, 1982; Cash, 1985). In order to be classified as a full-fledged IOS, Web Services must be deployed at departmental level within an organization; or at organizational level among firms. However, due to the fact that each individual organization adopts different policies towards introducing new technologies, the depth and breadth of Web Services innovation in organizations, therefore, may vary considerably because such decisions are all inherently consistent with each firm's adoption strategy (which is affected by contextual factors).

As an emerging technology, theories about Web Services innovation and its adoption in organizations are still lacking. It is commonly presumed that classical technological innovation theories can provide useful guidelines for studying the phenomenon. Nonetheless, any borrowed theories should be tailored to a particular context in studying a specific innovation. The implications of this proposition suggest that, when featured variants are introduced to certain empirical frameworks with respect to distinct characteristics of each innovation, the research methodology should be reconsidered, and the early frameworks might subsequently need to be amended in order to design an appropriate research model which is used to conduct further study.

In the effort to study Web Service innovation, we first identify its unique characteristics which make it distinct to all other innovations; we then examine the appropriateness of two prevailing models in this respect. We further recommend a dual-core research model in order to clarify the ambiguity in understanding the adoption of Web Services innovation in organizations.

Section snippets

Literature review

IT usage has been recognized by many researchers as a key dependent variable in MIS research (DeLone & McLean, 1992; Karahanna & Straub, 1999). Historically, its determinants have been empirically examined in wider contexts (Adams, Nelson, & Todd, 1992; Davis (1989), Davis (1993); Mathieson, 1991; Moore & Benbasat, 1996; Taylor & Todd, 1995; Thompson, Higgins, & Howell, 1991; Iacovou, Benbasat, & Dexter, 1995). Most of studies have used the diffusion of innovation theory (Rogers, 1983) to

Dual-core research model

The rapid change in IT causes an already uncertain business environment to be even more unpredictable (Galliers & Baker, 1994). Therefore, in efforts to merge applications and data silos within the company, as well as to interlink external business environments, have all demanded enterprises to continuously invest in their IS. Although enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, for example, have solved problems in terms of data integrity by unifying incompatible applications on a common

Conclusion

It has been observed that innovation diffusion is an unstructured and emergent phenomenon that is “too multivariate and convoluted for modelling in steps or stages” (Baskerville & Pries-Heje, 2001). However we can still find that empirical innovation theories are helpful in the analysis of complex IS innovation. In the effort to identify major factors affecting Web Services adoption, the use of Tornatzky–Fleischer's contextual framework and Swanson's innovation typology has led to research

References (46)

  • F.D. Davis

    User acceptance of information technology: System characteristics, user perceptions, and behavioural impacts

    International Journal of Man Machine Studies

    (1993)
  • D. Adams et al.

    Perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage of information technology: A replication

    MIS Quarterly

    (1992)
  • P. Attewell

    Technology diffusion and organizational learning: The case of business computing

    Organizational Science

    (1992)
  • N.R. Baker et al.

    Structuring information flows to enhance innovation

    Management Science

    (1972)
  • S. Barrett et al.

    Inter-organization information sharing systems

    MIS Quarterly

    (1982)
  • R. Baskerville et al.

    A multi-theory analysis of a diffusion of information technology case

    Information Systems Journal

    (2001)
  • N.G. Carr

    IT Doesn’t matter

    Harvard Business Review

    (2003)
  • J.I. Cash

    Interorganizational systems: An information society opportunity or threat?

    The Information Society

    (1985)
  • E. Cerami

    In web services essentials

    (2002)
  • P.Y.K. Chau et al.

    Factors affecting the adoption of open systems: an exploratory study

    MIS Quarterly

    (1997)
  • Chen, M. (2003). An analysis of the driving forces for the adoption of web services. Proceedings of the Second Workshop...
  • T.D. Clark

    Corporate systems management: an overview and research perspective

    Communications of the ACM

    (1992)
  • R.L. Daft

    A dual-core model of organizational innovation

    Academy of Management Journal

    (1978)
  • F. Damanpour

    The adoption of technological, administrative and ancillary innovations: The impact of organizational factors

    Journal of Management

    (1987)
  • F. Damanpour

    Organizational innovation: A meta-analysis of effects of determinants and moderators

    Academy of Management Journal

    (1991)
  • F.D. Davis

    Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology

    MIS Quarterly

    (1989)
  • W.H. DeLone et al.

    Information system success: The quest for the dependent variable

    Information Systems Research

    (1992)
  • G.W. Downs et al.

    Conceptual issues in the study of innovation

    Administrative Science Quarterly

    (1976)
  • Fichman, R.G. (1992). Information technology diffusion: a review of empirical research. In Proceedings of the...
  • W. Fischer

    Scientific and technical information and the performance of R&D groups

    TIMS Studies in the Management Sciences

    (1980)
  • I. Foster

    The anatomy of the grid: Enabling scalable virtual organizations

    The International Journal of High Performance Computing Applications

    (2001)
  • R.D. Galliers et al.

    Strategic information management

    (1994)
  • V. Grover et al.

    Empirical evidence on swanson's tri-core model of information systems innovation

    Information Systems Research

    (1997)
  • Cited by (30)

    • Competitive advantage and simultaneous mutual influences between information technology adoption and service innovation: Moderating effects of environmental factors

      2019, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics
      Citation Excerpt :

      They pursue innovations to better cater to existing customers and build customer loyalty. Numerous information systems researchers have posited IT as an important ingredient of innovation development (Dewett and Jones, 2001; Xu et al., 2005). Miles (2005) further likens the pervasiveness of IT-based service innovation to the power of energy-based technology, such as steam engines and electric power, to manufacturing innovation.

    • Performance implications of information-value offering in e-service systems: Examining the resource-based perspective and innovation strategy

      2017, Journal of Strategic Information Systems
      Citation Excerpt :

      Service innovation orientation is a critical factor for successful ESV system implementation. Xu et al. (2005) proposed that Web service innovation is a crucial indicator reflecting business to IS management strategies. Thus, it is a major determinant of successfully implementing an IS; moreover, this view must be considered by businesses when adopting ESV systems.

    • Co-creating e-service innovations: Theory, practice, and impact on firm performance

      2015, International Journal of Information Management
      Citation Excerpt :

      Second, a cooperation capability scale was adapted from a scale developed by Tsou and Chen (2012) and modeled as a second-order construct with three formative first-order constructs: AC (4 items), CC (3 items), and RC (3 items). Third, based on our conceptualization of e-service innovation, we modeled e-service innovation as a second-order latent construct with two formative first-order constructs (Hinnant & O’Looney, 2003; Xu et al., 2005): process innovation (4 items) and service customization (4 items). Finally, the measurements for value cocreation (6 items) and firm value (3 items) were adapted from Ramaswami, Srivastava, and Bhargava (2009).

    • Organizational applications of IT innovation and firm's competitive performance: A resource-based view and the innovation diffusion approach

      2015, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management - JET-M
      Citation Excerpt :

      The three types of IT innovation are defined in terms of the loci of impact for an organization (Gallivan, 2001). They are likely to evolve over time across their application domains, as they are successively adopted (Xu et al., 2005). More specifically, their evolutionary path may be understood in terms of the contextual diffusion structure, as proposed in Swanson (2010) and Swanson and Ramiller (2004).

    • Implementing a value assessment tool for service innovation ideas

      2010, International Journal of Innovation Management
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text