M. Smits - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by M. Smits

Studies in health technology and informatics, 2000

Strategic Information management in hospitals gives directives for the development of the hospita... more Strategic Information management in hospitals gives directives for the development of the hospital's information system. This paper discusses the specific situation of strategic information management for a university hospital that is subject to the Dutch healthcare environment. Central issues for the discussion are the involved internal and external stakeholders that have some direct or indirect interest with respect to information management in the hospital. The complexity and heterogeneity of the hospital requires the development of multiple strategic plans that reflect the specific requirements of the different stakeholders.

Enterprise IT Governance, Business Value and Performance Measurement

This document summarizes the initial findings of a research project started in August 2006 on IT-... more This document summarizes the initial findings of a research project started in August 2006 on IT-Business alignment. The main goal of this I-Fit project is to develop tools to improve alignment between business and IT in companies. The I-Fit project takes the perspective of the business manager: how a business manager can influence and increase the value of the IT services that he receives. Based on the literature on strategic alignment and information quality, we develop the I-Fit model. The model assumes causal relationships between ‘IT governance’, ‘Strategic Alignment, ‘Information Quality’, and ‘Business Performance’ in an organization, as shown in the paper. This model has been used to develop a Quickscan questionnaire to use as a tool to pinpoint areas of concern regarding alignment in a company. The tool was tested and validated, demonstrating that the approach taken is valid and deserves further pursuit.

This paper presents an empirical study to explore how firms invest in their IT infrastructure to ... more This paper presents an empirical study to explore how firms invest in their IT infrastructure to support strategic flexibility. It investigates how IT infrastructure capabilities relate to strategic flexibility, how firms build flexibility into their IT investment decisions, and how the firms use IT to support strategic flexibility. Our cases indicate that different types of needed flexibility at the organizational level, ask for different types of IT infrastructure capabilities. In both cases, flexibility is supported by centrally organized management-oriented IT infrastructure capabilities. In the IT investment process, flexibility in the investment decision-making process is implicitly taken into account, whereas IT infrastructure flexibility is explicitly valued for. In both cases, management expects more explorative use of applications supported by IT infrastructure investments to better enhance strategic flexibility than exploitative use does. The implications for further research are discussed.

IT project performance is influenced by the fit between the project's risks and how the IT projec... more IT project performance is influenced by the fit between the project's risks and how the IT project risk is managed (Barki et al. 2001). Recently researchers have emphasized the need to use concepts from real option theory for risk management purposes (Boehm 1989, Benaroch 2002, Kumar 2002, Miller et al. 2003). A project embeds real options when managers have the opportunity but not the obligation to adjust the future direction of the project in response to external or internal risks. Proactively embedding options in a risky IT project can represent a substantial portion of a project's value. From a risk management perspective, the specific risk one seeks to control dictates the choice of which specific options to use. Recently, Benaroch (2002) proposed an explicit normative option based risk management model suggesting the most effective risk-options combinations. This paper describes an exploratory experiment that was conducted to determine whether IT professionals explicitly recognize that the value of flexibility, related to different types of options, is driven by the presence of specific risks. The results partially indicate support for the risk-options relations as proposed by Benaroch (2002).

A long running challenge in both large and small organizations has been aligning information syst... more A long running challenge in both large and small organizations has been aligning information systems services with business needs. Good alignment is assumed to lead to good business results, but there is a need for good instruments to assess strategic alignment and business success in practice. Based on existing information management theories, we develop the I-Fit model and the I-Fit tool. The model assumes causal relationships between four main areas: ‘IT governance’, ‘Strategic Alignment, ‘Information Quality’, and ‘Business Performance’. The tool consists of 40 questions that are used to quick scan alignment. We apply the iFit tool in nine organizations in the Netherlands in order to validate the instrument. Further steps of the project are discussed, including tools for drilling down into the four main areas with greater depth.

Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2001

ABSTRACT

37th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2004. Proceedings of the, 2004

ABSTRACT

Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences. 1999. HICSS-32. Abstracts and CD-ROM of Full Papers, 1999

Previous research suggested that the performance of interorganisational processes can be influenc... more Previous research suggested that the performance of interorganisational processes can be influenced by eight factors: stakeholders, competition, information technology, market network design, perceived risk, process design, information, and trust. This paper specifically focuses on the consequences of market network redesign for interorganisational processes. A distinction is made between transaction oriented electronic markets and processing oriented electronic markets. Case studies in the financial securities industry show that an open market structure with many participants can be successful for complex transaction processes. Support of at least several stakeholders is crucial for the success of an electronic market.

... Martin SMITS, Department of Information Management, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, MTSm... more ... Martin SMITS, Department of Information Management, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, MTSmits@uvt.nl Piet RIBBERS, Department of Information Management, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, PMARibbers@uvt.nl ...

The health care sector is a huge industry in many Western countries going through fundamental cha... more The health care sector is a huge industry in many Western countries going through fundamental changes, with increasing needs for new Inter-Organizational Information Systems (IOISs) and performance indicators that will help to increase transparency and ...

ABSTRACT Web services and service oriented architectures (SOA) are spreading in many organization... more ABSTRACT Web services and service oriented architectures (SOA) are spreading in many organizations to achieve business interoperability of their intra- and inter-organizational business processes. SOA is based on the idea that service providers develop and publish web services via standardized interfaces in directories (registries) where the services will be found and bound by service consumers. While these registry structures have emerged into a standard for local SOA implementations, the question remains how service directories should be organized in a business network, i.e. when multiple companies with individual SOA solutions interact. This research develops a framework for the analysis of service directories in business networks and provides design options for combining separate and distributed service directories. These design options are based on the range, reach, and richness of web service markets in the business network. The framework is applied to two business network cases.

Proceedings of the 5th …, 1997

... Strategic decision-making is a concept often used loosely to mean 'making deci-sions tha... more ... Strategic decision-making is a concept often used loosely to mean 'making deci-sions that are ... Long-term orientation has to do with the relative importance of the here-and-now versus the ... According to Hofstede (1991), the cultural differences that have been found to be the most ...

Studies in health technology and informatics, 2000

Strategic Information management in hospitals gives directives for the development of the hospita... more Strategic Information management in hospitals gives directives for the development of the hospital's information system. This paper discusses the specific situation of strategic information management for a university hospital that is subject to the Dutch healthcare environment. Central issues for the discussion are the involved internal and external stakeholders that have some direct or indirect interest with respect to information management in the hospital. The complexity and heterogeneity of the hospital requires the development of multiple strategic plans that reflect the specific requirements of the different stakeholders.

Enterprise IT Governance, Business Value and Performance Measurement

This document summarizes the initial findings of a research project started in August 2006 on IT-... more This document summarizes the initial findings of a research project started in August 2006 on IT-Business alignment. The main goal of this I-Fit project is to develop tools to improve alignment between business and IT in companies. The I-Fit project takes the perspective of the business manager: how a business manager can influence and increase the value of the IT services that he receives. Based on the literature on strategic alignment and information quality, we develop the I-Fit model. The model assumes causal relationships between ‘IT governance’, ‘Strategic Alignment, ‘Information Quality’, and ‘Business Performance’ in an organization, as shown in the paper. This model has been used to develop a Quickscan questionnaire to use as a tool to pinpoint areas of concern regarding alignment in a company. The tool was tested and validated, demonstrating that the approach taken is valid and deserves further pursuit.

This paper presents an empirical study to explore how firms invest in their IT infrastructure to ... more This paper presents an empirical study to explore how firms invest in their IT infrastructure to support strategic flexibility. It investigates how IT infrastructure capabilities relate to strategic flexibility, how firms build flexibility into their IT investment decisions, and how the firms use IT to support strategic flexibility. Our cases indicate that different types of needed flexibility at the organizational level, ask for different types of IT infrastructure capabilities. In both cases, flexibility is supported by centrally organized management-oriented IT infrastructure capabilities. In the IT investment process, flexibility in the investment decision-making process is implicitly taken into account, whereas IT infrastructure flexibility is explicitly valued for. In both cases, management expects more explorative use of applications supported by IT infrastructure investments to better enhance strategic flexibility than exploitative use does. The implications for further research are discussed.

IT project performance is influenced by the fit between the project's risks and how the IT projec... more IT project performance is influenced by the fit between the project's risks and how the IT project risk is managed (Barki et al. 2001). Recently researchers have emphasized the need to use concepts from real option theory for risk management purposes (Boehm 1989, Benaroch 2002, Kumar 2002, Miller et al. 2003). A project embeds real options when managers have the opportunity but not the obligation to adjust the future direction of the project in response to external or internal risks. Proactively embedding options in a risky IT project can represent a substantial portion of a project's value. From a risk management perspective, the specific risk one seeks to control dictates the choice of which specific options to use. Recently, Benaroch (2002) proposed an explicit normative option based risk management model suggesting the most effective risk-options combinations. This paper describes an exploratory experiment that was conducted to determine whether IT professionals explicitly recognize that the value of flexibility, related to different types of options, is driven by the presence of specific risks. The results partially indicate support for the risk-options relations as proposed by Benaroch (2002).

A long running challenge in both large and small organizations has been aligning information syst... more A long running challenge in both large and small organizations has been aligning information systems services with business needs. Good alignment is assumed to lead to good business results, but there is a need for good instruments to assess strategic alignment and business success in practice. Based on existing information management theories, we develop the I-Fit model and the I-Fit tool. The model assumes causal relationships between four main areas: ‘IT governance’, ‘Strategic Alignment, ‘Information Quality’, and ‘Business Performance’. The tool consists of 40 questions that are used to quick scan alignment. We apply the iFit tool in nine organizations in the Netherlands in order to validate the instrument. Further steps of the project are discussed, including tools for drilling down into the four main areas with greater depth.

Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2001

ABSTRACT

37th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2004. Proceedings of the, 2004

ABSTRACT

Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences. 1999. HICSS-32. Abstracts and CD-ROM of Full Papers, 1999

Previous research suggested that the performance of interorganisational processes can be influenc... more Previous research suggested that the performance of interorganisational processes can be influenced by eight factors: stakeholders, competition, information technology, market network design, perceived risk, process design, information, and trust. This paper specifically focuses on the consequences of market network redesign for interorganisational processes. A distinction is made between transaction oriented electronic markets and processing oriented electronic markets. Case studies in the financial securities industry show that an open market structure with many participants can be successful for complex transaction processes. Support of at least several stakeholders is crucial for the success of an electronic market.

... Martin SMITS, Department of Information Management, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, MTSm... more ... Martin SMITS, Department of Information Management, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, MTSmits@uvt.nl Piet RIBBERS, Department of Information Management, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, PMARibbers@uvt.nl ...

The health care sector is a huge industry in many Western countries going through fundamental cha... more The health care sector is a huge industry in many Western countries going through fundamental changes, with increasing needs for new Inter-Organizational Information Systems (IOISs) and performance indicators that will help to increase transparency and ...

ABSTRACT Web services and service oriented architectures (SOA) are spreading in many organization... more ABSTRACT Web services and service oriented architectures (SOA) are spreading in many organizations to achieve business interoperability of their intra- and inter-organizational business processes. SOA is based on the idea that service providers develop and publish web services via standardized interfaces in directories (registries) where the services will be found and bound by service consumers. While these registry structures have emerged into a standard for local SOA implementations, the question remains how service directories should be organized in a business network, i.e. when multiple companies with individual SOA solutions interact. This research develops a framework for the analysis of service directories in business networks and provides design options for combining separate and distributed service directories. These design options are based on the range, reach, and richness of web service markets in the business network. The framework is applied to two business network cases.

Proceedings of the 5th …, 1997

... Strategic decision-making is a concept often used loosely to mean 'making deci-sions tha... more ... Strategic decision-making is a concept often used loosely to mean 'making deci-sions that are ... Long-term orientation has to do with the relative importance of the here-and-now versus the ... According to Hofstede (1991), the cultural differences that have been found to be the most ...