Coping with rapid information technology change challenges IT organizations throughout the world. National culture theory based on the GLOBE study suggests that culture affects the coping with such change in China and the United States, but does not cogently suggest that coping mechanisms differ in effectiveness across the two cultures. Analysis of data from 71 IT executives and managers in China and 246 in the United States suggests that Chinese IT organizations employ coping mechanisms of vendor support, education and training, and internal procedures more extensively than do U.S. IT organizations. IT organizations in both countries apply education and training as well as internal procedures to successfully deal with the problems of rapid IT change. Vendor support additionally predicted success in Chinese but not U.S. organizations, whereas in both U.S. and Chinese organizations endurance predicted lack of success. The research thus extends national culture theory by proposing that culture affects successful coping. Implications for research suggest the identification of actions to overcome the impact of cultural differences. Implications for practice suggest that multinational corporations deal with rapid IT change differently in divisions in different cultures, regardless of whether in China, the United States, Europe, or elsewhere.

"Erratum: Coping with rapid information technology change in different national cultures." European Journal of Information Systems, 20(6), p. 713

Hofstede’s national culture model has been applied in prior research to better understand the management of multinational firms. That research suggests that national culture may influence the information systems planning autonomy of the subsidiaries of multinational firms, but such an impact has not yet been tested empirically. A postal survey of 131 chief information officers and 103 senior non-IS managers of U.S. subsidiaries of such firms collected data to test hypotheses based on the model. Structural equation modeling using PLS-Graph 3.0 revealed that Individualism-Collectivism, Masculinity-Femininity, and Uncertainty Avoidance predicted autonomy for particular IS planning phases (as rated by the CIOs). On the basis of the supported hypotheses, the study provides evidence of the relevance of the national culture model to IS planning effectiveness and IS contribution. The study also suggests to subsidiary managers that an understanding of the national culture of their parent firm can help them gain an insight into the parent’s management perspective.

Today's organizations increasingly plan new information systems (IS) to better compete. Through such planning, they attempt to align their IS strategy and their business strategy. This study tested the impact of business and information technology (IT) change on strategic information systems planning (SISP) horizon, of horizon on the planning itself, and of the planning on the alignment of IS strategy and business strategy. A questionnaire defined business change, IT change, and alignment as multi-item scaled questions, and planning horizon as a single, nonscaled one. It defined a multi-item scaled SISP measure as both a second-order construct and as single-order constructs for its individual phases. A postal survey collected data from 161 IS executives. Constructs were extensively validated. The analysis used structural equation modeling, and surprisingly found that business change predicted longer SISP horizons, but IT change predicted neither longer nor shorter ones. Planning horizon predicted SISP itself (as a second-order construct and as all of its phases), and such planning (as a second-order construct, and as strategic awareness and strategy conception phases) predicted alignment of IS strategy and business strategy. These findings suggest that practitioners more carefully assess their own degree of caution in setting planning horizons in response to business and IT change. In fact, the findings suggest it may not be necessary for practitioners to shorten planning horizons in a rapidly changing environment.

The information systems (IS) planning literature suggests two competing theories of effective planning in a turbulent environment. One predicts that organizations using a formal, comprehensive planning approach will be more successful. The other predicts that organizations using an informal, incremental approach will be more successful in such an environment. The action research described here in two real-world organizations examined actual IS planning practices in a turbulent environment. One practised formal and comprehensive IS planning, while the other relied more on an informal and incremental approach. Their experiences suggest that in a turbulent environment, comprehensive IS planning may be more successful than incremental planning. Such a conclusion perhaps appears surprising. Nevertheless, it provides contributions for practice and implications for future research. It contributes to practice by showing IS planners the importance of understanding their environment and also the potential of comprehensive planning practices. It contributes to research by demonstrating how comprehensive practices can contribute to planning in a turbulent environment. However, it is only one study and of merely two organizations. Thus, it should also be interpreted as motivating future research to examine the theories from different perspectives.

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Software cost estimation is an important concern for software managers and other software professionals. The hypothesized model in this research suggests that an organization's use of an estimate influences its estimating practices which influence both the basis of the estimating process and the accuracy of the estimate. The model also suggests that the estimating basis directly influences the accuracy of the estimate. A study of business information systems managers and professionals at 112 different organizations using causal analysis with the Equations Modeling System (EQS) refined the model. The refined model shows that no managerial practice in this study discourages the use of intuition, guessing and personal memory in cost estimating. Although user commitment and accountability appear to foster algorithm-based estimating, such an algorithmic basis does not portend greater accuracy. Only one managerial practice-the use of the estimate in performance evaluations of software managers and professionals-presages greater accuracy. By implication, the research suggests somewhat ironically that the most effective approach to improve estimating accuracy may be to make estimators, developers and managers more accountable for the estimate even though it may be impossible to direct them explicitly on how to produce a more accurate one.