This article introduces a large-scale virtual hackathon where we observed the way participants found collaborators and undertook innovation processes entirely in the virtual world. As an emerging social-technical practice, the virtual hackathon leverages the power of familiar strangers, the improvisation of low-cost digital services, and the crowdsourcing mechanism to enable open innovation under the constraint of physical distancing. This study contributes to the research by introducing and conceptualizing a modified artifact – virtual hackathon. The implication of and the lessons learnt from the virtual hackathon are applicable and generalizable to organizations when managing virtual collaborations, digital infrastructure, and open innovation.

This paper investigates the drivers of the use of knowledge-sharing tools through the lens of task–technology fit (TTF), the role of social factors, and the cognitive and affective mechanisms. Data were collected from 294 knowledge workers and analyzed using partial least squares. This study found that cognition (i.e., perceived usefulness) and positive affect play an important role in mediating the effect of TTF, social influence, and trust on users’ behavioral intention. Interestingly, the role of negative affect as a mediator between sociotechnical factors and behavioral intention is considered not significant by the knowledge workers. This research has practical implications for organizations that are planning or reviewing their knowledge-sharing initiatives.

Corporate performance management (CPM) systems using business intelligence technologies can help enterprises monitor and manage business performance. In this research, we explored and presented empirical evidence on the key benefits of, and barriers to, the use of CPM systems through a survey of 283 organisations across North America and China. We identified three key benefits (strategy execution, process efficiency, and fact-based decision-making) and ten inhibiting barriers under respective project and organisational dimensions. Moreover, we found that in regard to the use of CPM systems, Chinese organisations perceived higher benefits, as well as higher barriers, than did their counterparts in North America. The socio-cultural differences between the two regions explain these issues. The research findings are useful for multinational organisations that are planning, or are in the process of implementing or reviewing their CPM systems, as well as for consulting companies that are assisting with such systems implementation in different regions.

This paper explores the performance of Chinese small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) on Business-to-Business (B2B) electronic marketplaces (EMs). Based on a content analysis of 155 cases of high performing online Chinese vendors, this paper explains the success of SME online B2B vendors within a Motivation-Capability framework. This first generation of SME B2B online vendors proved highly motivated to increase sales and developed a set of Internet leveraged organizational capabilities to compete online, including capabilities for online marketing, product innovation, eCommerce management, etc. This study differs from traditional wisdom that online marketplaces will render Guanxi (a Chinese cultural phenomenon defined as close and pervasive interpersonal relationships, Yang, 1994) irrelevant since online marketplaces are perceived to be impersonal. In fact, Guanxi still matters online, but it takes new forms. This research offers important managerial implications for B2B SME online vendors on how to leverage EMs for higher performance.