Citation Context

...dge assimilation Knowledge transformation Knowledge exploitation Absorptive Capacity Trigger Shape Infrastructure Development Events Fig. 1. Absorptive capacity model for infrastructure development process. Table 1 Definition of research concepts. Component Definition References Social process Infrastructure development is a social process that involves the interaction of multiple stakeholders with multiple agendas Hirschheim et al. (1991) Sambamurthy and Kirsch (2000) Prior knowledge Prior related experience and knowledge about technical and infrastructure development process and tasks Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Faraj and Sambamurthy (2006) Kirsch (1996) Kotlarsky et al. (2007) Triggered events Internal or external events from infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002) Knowledge assimilation Processes and routines to interpret and understand the new external knowledge Hovorka and Larsen (2006) Kim (1998) Szu...

Citation Context

...90) Faraj and Sambamurthy (2006) Kirsch (1996) Kotlarsky et al. (2007) Triggered events Internal or external events from infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002) Knowledge assimilation Processes and routines to interpret and understand the new external knowledge Hovorka and Larsen (2006) Kim (1998) Szulanski (1996) Knowledge transformation Processes and routines to absorb the new knowledge into the existing knowledge Fichman and Kemerer (1999) Kim (1998) Knowledge exploitation Processes and routines to incorporate transformed knowledge into infrastructure development process Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Szulanski (1996) A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 575legitimate norms or policies, and distorting communication to prevent a fair and open debate are some of the ways that stakeholders can respond to conflict and subsequently ...

Citation Context

...mponent Definition References Social process Infrastructure development is a social process that involves the interaction of multiple stakeholders with multiple agendas Hirschheim et al. (1991) Sambamurthy and Kirsch (2000) Prior knowledge Prior related experience and knowledge about technical and infrastructure development process and tasks Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Faraj and Sambamurthy (2006) Kirsch (1996) Kotlarsky et al. (2007) Triggered events Internal or external events from infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002) Knowledge assimilation Processes and routines to interpret and understand the new external knowledge Hovorka and Larsen (2006) Kim (1998) Szulanski (1996) Knowledge transformation Processes and routines to absorb the new knowledge into the existing knowledge Fichman and Kemerer (1999) Kim (1998) Knowledge exploitation Processes and routines to incorporate transformed kno...

Citation Context

...ware innovations and a new class of analysis tools that will dramatically decrease the time needed to optimize networks in the future.’’ The relationship between Tropos and Chaska and the mutual benefits that they share in new knowledge creation relates to the collaborator supply chain relationships studied in Malhotra et al. (2005). In their study of the RosettaNet consortium in the IT industry, they found that firms that engage in collaborator type partnerships achieved high knowledge creation by exchanging privileged information and engaging in joint decision making.6.4. Political dynamics Bowker and Star (1999) argued that infrastructure development is not a smooth process because not all technologies develop into embedded infrastructures. Social and political negotiations have important impact on how the infrastructure is eventually built. These statements are certainly true for the Hermosa Beach case. Resistance and politics that led to the failure to build a citywide broadband network in Hermosa Beach primarily evolved from the complex interaction among local politics, beliefs about the role of government in broadband services, and technology limitations. On one hand, some level of resistance is ...

Citation Context

...reassignment of organizational roles). This study modifies their classification by focusing on non-knowledge activities as events that trigger knowledge activities according to Zahra and George’s definitions. Consequently, twelve activities are maintained as events that activate knowledge activities: assignment of personnel to the IS project, submission of proposal, approval or authorization, project definition, assessment of performance, vendor selection, system construction, performance problems, successful performance, resistance, acceptance or cooperation, and others. 2.3. Prior knowledge Argote (1999) suggests that prior knowledge is embedded in people, technology, structures, and routines. The ability to absorb new external knowledge depends on the level of prior related knowledge. This suggests that absorptive capacity development is a path-dependent process (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Customer interactions, alliances with other firms, and learning-by-doing are some of the ways an organization can gain its experiences (Lane & Lubatkin, 1998; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). In the ISD context, several studies reported that prior knowledge in forms of IS development process, technical capability,...

Citation Context

...ated, and motivational factors influence the extent of knowledge transfer. 2.7. Knowledge exploitation The newly absorbed knowledge has to be applied for an organization to derive associated benefits. Knowledge exploitation refers to an organization’s capability to extend its competencies, enhance performance, or increase innovation by incorporating transformed knowledge into operations (Zahra & George, 2002). Cohen and Levinthal (1990) suggest that the ease of knowledge utilization depends on the extent to which any outside knowledge is targeted to the needs and concerns of a recipient firm. Lane and Lubatkin (1998), in their study of alliances between pharmaceutical firms and biotechnology firms, found that the experiences in which two organizations share in solving similar types of problems make it easier for a recipient organization to find applications of the new knowledge. Similarly, Malhotra et al. (2005), in their study of supply chain partners, found that joint decision making helps firms to develop a deep understanding of the knowledge needs of their partners. In the next section, research methods, data collection, and data analysis strategy are discussed. A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Tele...

Citation Context

...ts lack of resources to maintain the network in the long run (Cox, 2004). Research in IT infrastructure and ISD has emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on using the variance approach to identify antecedents of successful ISD projects (Sabherwal & Robey, 1995; Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000). Several researchers suggest that studies concerning ISD process are required to advance the knowledge of the complex social process concerning systems development (Hirschheim, Klein, & Newman, 1991; Sabherwal & Robey, 1993). M...

Citation Context

...n, and data analysis strategy are discussed. A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 5773. Research methods and data 3.1. Case study method Several cities view municipal wireless network initiatives as opportunities to enhance community economic and social development and to address the lack of affordable broadband services. At this stage of municipal wireless network development, a comparative case study is an appropriate methodology for three reasons. First, the case study is a viable method for studying areas that are underdeveloped in the literature (Benbasat, Goldstein, & Mead, 1987). Second, the case study method is particularly well suited for studying phenomena that cannot easily be distinguished from its context (i.e., infrastructure development process, social process, and prior experience). Third, multiple case studies also increase the validity and generalizability of the findings as well as theory development and testing (Benbasat et al., 1987; Yin, 2003, p. 46). The cities of Chaska, Minnesota; Hermosa Beach, California; and Fredericton, Canada were chosen for four reasons. First, these cities have varying levels of experience on infrastructure development and b...

Citation Context

...ems. 2.5. Knowledge assimilation Knowledge assimilation refers to routines and processes that allow an organization to interpret and understand new ideas learned from external sources (Zahra & George, 2002). An organization faces several challenges in comprehending knowledge acquired from external sources. For example, external knowledge may have heuristics that depart from those used by an organization (Leonard-Barton, 1995). The tacitness, specificity, and complexity of external knowledge can generate causal ambiguity between knowledge and outcomes which can prevent others from replication (Reed & DeFillippi, 1990). In addition, interorganizational learning research also suggests that the ability to assimilate new external knowledge is greater when the two firms share similar systems for processing knowledge (Lane & Lubatkin, 1998). In the IS context, Hovorka and Larsen’s (2006) findings suggest that knowledge assimilation is related to IT attitudes, prior experience with IT, and training. 2.6. Knowledge transformation Once an organization interprets and understands new knowledge, the next challenge it faces is how to absorb the new knowledge into the existing knowledge system. Knowledge transformation ...

Citation Context

...d to promote the municipal wireless industry. Since this research is focused on learning processes in municipal wireless projects, absorptive capacity is used as a theoretical lens to identify events and explain related learning processes during the municipal wireless development process. Absorptive capacity refers to an organization’s capability to identify new knowledge, assimilate it with the existing knowledge, and exploit the integrated knowledge (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Absorptive capacity has been identified by a large body of research as a critical factor contributing to innovation (Tsai, 2001), interorganizational learning (Lane & Lubatkin, 1998; Lane, Salk, & Lyles, 2001), and knowledge creation in supply chains (Malhotra, Gosain, & El Sawy, 2005), among others. A number of factors that may influence the successful outcome of the ISD process are user participation (Ives & Olson, 1984; Kirsch & Beath, 1996), top management support (Howell & Higgins, 1990; Jarvenpaa & Ives, 1991), and IS developers’ expertise (Aladwani, 2002). More recently, ISD organizations have experienced a significant shift in their external environment with the demands of high global competition that requires ...

Citation Context

... network operations center costs in the budget (McClure, 2005), and its lack of resources to maintain the network in the long run (Cox, 2004). Research in IT infrastructure and ISD has emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on using the variance approach to identify antecedents of successful ISD projects (Sabherwal & Robey, 1995; Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000). Several researchers suggest that studies concerning ISD process are required to advance the knowledge of the complex social process concerning systems development (Hirschheim, Klei...

Citation Context

...t and subsequent events. Third, process analysis shares similar ontological assumptions with the absorptive capacity theory concerning the role of prior events. In particular, absorptive capacity theory argues that the knowledge process is path-dependent (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990) and process analysis suggests that ‘‘an entity’s current state can be understood only in terms of the history of events that preceded it’’ (Poole et al., 2000, p. 12). Fourth, process analysis enables researchers to develop theoretical contributions through unanticipated events discovered during the process analysis (Whetten, 1989). Poole et al. (2000) suggest that process researchers should use an appropriate analysis method depending on the number of cases and the number of events in the chosen cases. In this study, where there are three cases and each case does not have a large number of events, summary case studies that highlight the focal events and dynamic of knowledge creation is justified. Events were coded according to Sabherwal and Robey’s (1993) classification of ISD events. Knowledge activities triggered by these events were also coded. Next, an overview of the Wi-Fi mesh technology that all three cities cho...

Citation Context

...ecialists. The complexity of IS projects increasingly requires organizations to rely on external consultants and multiple technology partners for help in developing and implementing these systems. 2.5. Knowledge assimilation Knowledge assimilation refers to routines and processes that allow an organization to interpret and understand new ideas learned from external sources (Zahra & George, 2002). An organization faces several challenges in comprehending knowledge acquired from external sources. For example, external knowledge may have heuristics that depart from those used by an organization (Leonard-Barton, 1995). The tacitness, specificity, and complexity of external knowledge can generate causal ambiguity between knowledge and outcomes which can prevent others from replication (Reed & DeFillippi, 1990). In addition, interorganizational learning research also suggests that the ability to assimilate new external knowledge is greater when the two firms share similar systems for processing knowledge (Lane & Lubatkin, 1998). In the IS context, Hovorka and Larsen’s (2006) findings suggest that knowledge assimilation is related to IT attitudes, prior experience with IT, and training. 2.6. Knowledge transfo...

Citation Context

...wireless service for businesses. First Mile Wireless CEO was very knowledgeable in wireless technology and he provided extensive assistance to help the city understand Tropos technology and how to transform the knowledge into practice including frequency allocations, effective coverage of routers in the field, and adaptation to topologies and challenges in the implementation environment. Strong partnerships offer partners the opportunity to learn from and about each other. The notion of partnership commitment in this research relates to trust in strategic alliances and joint venture research (Koza & Lewin, 1998; Lane et al., 2001). Kumar (1996) defined trust as dependability by the partners and each partner is interested in the welfare of the other. Successful alliances and joint ventures exhibit trust between partners. Trust is also important to absorptive capacity because it stimulates open sharing of valuable information and tacit knowledge (Inkpen & Beamish, 1997). Partner selection and service level agreements (SLAs) are some of the mechanisms that are helpful to guarantee commitment from private partners. A comprehensive background check that covers financial stability and technical capabiliti...

Citation Context

...rom infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002) Knowledge assimilation Processes and routines to interpret and understand the new external knowledge Hovorka and Larsen (2006) Kim (1998) Szulanski (1996) Knowledge transformation Processes and routines to absorb the new knowledge into the existing knowledge Fichman and Kemerer (1999) Kim (1998) Knowledge exploitation Processes and routines to incorporate transformed knowledge into infrastructure development process Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Szulanski (1996) A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 575legitimate norms or policies, and distorting communication to prevent a fair and open debate are some of the ways that stakeholders can respond to conflict and subsequently reach consensus in ISD projects (Hirschheim et al., 1991).2.2. Triggered events Zahra and George (2002) suggested that events that tr...

Citation Context

...Absorptive capacity refers to an organization’s capability to identify new knowledge, assimilate it with the existing knowledge, and exploit the integrated knowledge (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Absorptive capacity has been identified by a large body of research as a critical factor contributing to innovation (Tsai, 2001), interorganizational learning (Lane & Lubatkin, 1998; Lane, Salk, & Lyles, 2001), and knowledge creation in supply chains (Malhotra, Gosain, & El Sawy, 2005), among others. A number of factors that may influence the successful outcome of the ISD process are user participation (Ives & Olson, 1984; Kirsch & Beath, 1996), top management support (Howell & Higgins, 1990; Jarvenpaa & Ives, 1991), and IS developers’ expertise (Aladwani, 2002). More recently, ISD organizations have experienced a significant shift in their external environment with the demands of high global competition that requires flexible and fast paced delivery of information systems (Lyytinen & Rose, 2006). Consequently, the ability to learn new technical changes and business opportunities and use them in IS delivery has become increasingly critical for ISD. More specifically, research suggests that absorptive capacity ...

Citation Context

...al competition that requires flexible and fast paced delivery of information systems (Lyytinen & Rose, 2006). Consequently, the ability to learn new technical changes and business opportunities and use them in IS delivery has become increasingly critical for ISD. More specifically, research suggests that absorptive capacity broadly defined as the ability to learn and apply new knowledge to improve performance (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990) is an important determinant of effective learning and knowledge transfer, one of the key factors contributing to successful ISD process (Hovorka & Larsen, 2006; Ko, Kirsch, & King, 2005; Tiwana & McLean, 2005). Pentland (1995) suggested that knowledge must be understood in the context of embedded social activities. Therefore, this study situates knowledge activities in the context of ISD process in order to derive theoretically meaningful findings. The absorptive capacity theory seems to be an appropriate lens for this study because it provides a broad process framework of knowledge activities that enables us to develop theoretical insights of knowledge activities in ISD process. In addition, the absorptive capacity theory also emphasizes how the integrated knowledge from ne...

Citation Context

...is focused on learning processes in municipal wireless projects, absorptive capacity is used as a theoretical lens to identify events and explain related learning processes during the municipal wireless development process. Absorptive capacity refers to an organization’s capability to identify new knowledge, assimilate it with the existing knowledge, and exploit the integrated knowledge (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Absorptive capacity has been identified by a large body of research as a critical factor contributing to innovation (Tsai, 2001), interorganizational learning (Lane & Lubatkin, 1998; Lane, Salk, & Lyles, 2001), and knowledge creation in supply chains (Malhotra, Gosain, & El Sawy, 2005), among others. A number of factors that may influence the successful outcome of the ISD process are user participation (Ives & Olson, 1984; Kirsch & Beath, 1996), top management support (Howell & Higgins, 1990; Jarvenpaa & Ives, 1991), and IS developers’ expertise (Aladwani, 2002). More recently, ISD organizations have experienced a significant shift in their external environment with the demands of high global competition that requires flexible and fast paced delivery of information systems (Lyytinen & Rose, 2006)....

Citation Context

...standing on the influence of the knowledge processes in large-scale infrastructure development projects. The purpose of this paper is to apply the integrated lens of the absorptive capacity theory and the social process model of ISD projects to examine the dynamic of knowledge activities concerning infrastructure development process in the context of municipal wireless networks. Note that the dynamic social process involved in infrastructure development emerges from complex interactions among stakeholders that subsequently shape the outcome of the development process (Hirschheim et al., 1991; Newman & Robey, 1992; Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000). In particular, the infrastructure development process is conceptualized as a sequence of events by highlighting critical events that unfold during the municipal wireless network development process among selected cities from the knowledge management perspective (Kling & Iacono, 1984; Newman & Robey, 1992; Poole, Van de Ven, Dooley, & Holmes, 2000; Sabherwal & Robey, 1993). The specific research questions are: What is the extent of the dynamic of knowledge activities involved in the development process? What are the events that trigger knowledge activities duri...

Citation Context

...ify new knowledge, assimilate it with the existing knowledge, and exploit the integrated knowledge (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Absorptive capacity has been identified by a large body of research as a critical factor contributing to innovation (Tsai, 2001), interorganizational learning (Lane & Lubatkin, 1998; Lane, Salk, & Lyles, 2001), and knowledge creation in supply chains (Malhotra, Gosain, & El Sawy, 2005), among others. A number of factors that may influence the successful outcome of the ISD process are user participation (Ives & Olson, 1984; Kirsch & Beath, 1996), top management support (Howell & Higgins, 1990; Jarvenpaa & Ives, 1991), and IS developers’ expertise (Aladwani, 2002). More recently, ISD organizations have experienced a significant shift in their external environment with the demands of high global competition that requires flexible and fast paced delivery of information systems (Lyytinen & Rose, 2006). Consequently, the ability to learn new technical changes and business opportunities and use them in IS delivery has become increasingly critical for ISD. More specifically, research suggests that absorptive capacity broadly defined as the ability to learn and apply new knowledge to impr...

Citation Context

...Levinthal (1990) Faraj and Sambamurthy (2006) Kirsch (1996) Kotlarsky et al. (2007) Triggered events Internal or external events from infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002) Knowledge assimilation Processes and routines to interpret and understand the new external knowledge Hovorka and Larsen (2006) Kim (1998) Szulanski (1996) Knowledge transformation Processes and routines to absorb the new knowledge into the existing knowledge Fichman and Kemerer (1999) Kim (1998) Knowledge exploitation Processes and routines to incorporate transformed knowledge into infrastructure development process Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Szulanski (1996) A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 575legitimate norms or policies, and distorting communication to prevent a fair and open debate are some of the ways that stakeholders can respond to conflic...

Citation Context

...s (Jain et al., 2007). Fourth, some critics express doubts on the capability and knowledge of local government to develop and manage technology infrastructure including its lack of market discipline and technology capability (Feiss, 2007), its exclusion of some operational costs such as maintenance and network operations center costs in the budget (McClure, 2005), and its lack of resources to maintain the network in the long run (Cox, 2004). Research in IT infrastructure and ISD has emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on us...

Citation Context

...some critics express doubts on the capability and knowledge of local government to develop and manage technology infrastructure including its lack of market discipline and technology capability (Feiss, 2007), its exclusion of some operational costs such as maintenance and network operations center costs in the budget (McClure, 2005), and its lack of resources to maintain the network in the long run (Cox, 2004). Research in IT infrastructure and ISD has emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on using the variance appr...

Citation Context

...e critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on using the variance approach to identify antecedents of successful ISD projects (Sabherwal & Robey, 1995; Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000). Several researchers suggest that studies concerning ISD process are required to advance the knowledge of the complex social process concerning systems development (Hirschheim, Klein, & Newman, 1991; Sabherwal & Robey, 1993). More specifically, the absorptive capacity theory (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990; Zahra & George, 2002) conceptualized as a capability related to four knowledge activities (acquisition, as...

Citation Context

...ile Wireless CEO was very knowledgeable in wireless technology and he provided extensive assistance to help the city understand Tropos technology and how to transform the knowledge into practice including frequency allocations, effective coverage of routers in the field, and adaptation to topologies and challenges in the implementation environment. Strong partnerships offer partners the opportunity to learn from and about each other. The notion of partnership commitment in this research relates to trust in strategic alliances and joint venture research (Koza & Lewin, 1998; Lane et al., 2001). Kumar (1996) defined trust as dependability by the partners and each partner is interested in the welfare of the other. Successful alliances and joint ventures exhibit trust between partners. Trust is also important to absorptive capacity because it stimulates open sharing of valuable information and tacit knowledge (Inkpen & Beamish, 1997). Partner selection and service level agreements (SLAs) are some of the mechanisms that are helpful to guarantee commitment from private partners. A comprehensive background check that covers financial stability and technical capabilities is important to the partnership...

Citation Context

...ed delivery of information systems (Lyytinen & Rose, 2006). Consequently, the ability to learn new technical changes and business opportunities and use them in IS delivery has become increasingly critical for ISD. More specifically, research suggests that absorptive capacity broadly defined as the ability to learn and apply new knowledge to improve performance (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990) is an important determinant of effective learning and knowledge transfer, one of the key factors contributing to successful ISD process (Hovorka & Larsen, 2006; Ko, Kirsch, & King, 2005; Tiwana & McLean, 2005). Pentland (1995) suggested that knowledge must be understood in the context of embedded social activities. Therefore, this study situates knowledge activities in the context of ISD process in order to derive theoretically meaningful findings. The absorptive capacity theory seems to be an appropriate lens for this study because it provides a broad process framework of knowledge activities that enables us to develop theoretical insights of knowledge activities in ISD process. In addition, the absorptive capacity theory also emphasizes how the integrated knowledge from newly acquired knowledge and knowledge accu...

Citation Context

...ion of Verizon’s FIOS fiber system in 2006, the need for citysponsored wireless was disappearing. 5.8. Reassignment of organizational roles As mentioned earlier, Chaska, Hermosa Beach, and Fredericton are early adopters of a Wi-Fi mesh system. Cities did not have opportunities to fully integrate the knowledge into their processes and routines. As a result, most of the knowledge related to system implementation, operation, and maintenance is embedded in people. Personnel turnover can be problematic and may have a negative impact on performance during this period of early knowledge development (Carley, 1992). Chaska experienced its personnel turnover when Brad Mayer who was the lead personnel throughout the testing and early deployment phases left Chaska in March 2006 to join Earthlink. Later, around July or August 2006, Chaska also lost another employee to Earthlink. This employee worked closely with Mr. Mayer and became knowledgeable with Tropos products, backhaul products, and the servers that support the operation center. The city manager stated, ‘‘It was a big deal and it was probably one of our ongoing challenges. There are limited numbers of people who understand how Wi-Fi system works.’’ ...

Citation Context

...udy because it provides a broad process framework of knowledge activities that enables us to develop theoretical insights of knowledge activities in ISD process. In addition, the absorptive capacity theory also emphasizes how the integrated knowledge from newly acquired knowledge and knowledge accumulated through prior experience can be applied to increase an organization’s performance. Such theorizing is consistent with evidence in ISD research that prior knowledge about technical and IS development process and tasks increases the likelihood of ISD project success (Faraj & Sambamurthy, 2006; Kirsch, 1996; Kotlarsky, Oshri, van Hillegersberg, & Kumar, 2007). This study uses a recent absorptive capacity framework by Zahra and George (2002) to study knowledge activities embedded in infrastructure development process. Zahra and George (2002) conceptualized absorptive capacity as a set of dynamic capabilities consisting of four knowledge activities: acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation. The model also suggests that prior experience shapes knowledge activities. As discussed earlier, knowledge activities are embedded in infrastructure development process, therefore, events tha...

Citation Context

...eements are important to project success. In addition, cities need to take into consideration that the technology is not a plug and play technology and that considerable efforts are needed to integrate the technology with other solutions to deliver broadband services as well as to configure the system according to topologies, street conditions, buildings, density of trees, among others. & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.1. Introduction Access to basic telecommunications services is considered as one of the necessities for individuals and organizations in the global information society (Crandall, Lehr, & Litan, 2007; Lee, O’Keefe, & Yun, 2003; Wilhelm, 2003). In the U.S., for example, the broadband market is primarily dominated by a duopoly of the telephone and cable companies. As a result, broadband access and usage is concentrated among individuals and businesses in metropolitan and other economicll rights reserved. +814 865 6426. atassanasoontorn), atapia@ist.psu.edu (A.H. Tapia), alison.powell@oii.ox.ac.uk (A. Powell). A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 573booming cities (Horrigan, Stolp, & Wilson, 2006). The lack of competition does not provide incentives ...

Citation Context

... development process in the context of municipal wireless networks. Note that the dynamic social process involved in infrastructure development emerges from complex interactions among stakeholders that subsequently shape the outcome of the development process (Hirschheim et al., 1991; Newman & Robey, 1992; Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000). In particular, the infrastructure development process is conceptualized as a sequence of events by highlighting critical events that unfold during the municipal wireless network development process among selected cities from the knowledge management perspective (Kling & Iacono, 1984; Newman & Robey, 1992; Poole, Van de Ven, Dooley, & Holmes, 2000; Sabherwal & Robey, 1993). The specific research questions are: What is the extent of the dynamic of knowledge activities involved in the development process? What are the events that trigger knowledge activities during the course of municipal wireless network development? How does a city create and utilize new knowledge in the process of municipal wireless network development? 2. Infrastructure development process as a social learning process: an absorptive capacity model Municipal wireless development can be viewed as a s...

Citation Context

...ilate it with the existing knowledge, and exploit the integrated knowledge (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Absorptive capacity has been identified by a large body of research as a critical factor contributing to innovation (Tsai, 2001), interorganizational learning (Lane & Lubatkin, 1998; Lane, Salk, & Lyles, 2001), and knowledge creation in supply chains (Malhotra, Gosain, & El Sawy, 2005), among others. A number of factors that may influence the successful outcome of the ISD process are user participation (Ives & Olson, 1984; Kirsch & Beath, 1996), top management support (Howell & Higgins, 1990; Jarvenpaa & Ives, 1991), and IS developers’ expertise (Aladwani, 2002). More recently, ISD organizations have experienced a significant shift in their external environment with the demands of high global competition that requires flexible and fast paced delivery of information systems (Lyytinen & Rose, 2006). Consequently, the ability to learn new technical changes and business opportunities and use them in IS delivery has become increasingly critical for ISD. More specifically, research suggests that absorptive capacity broadly defined as the ability to learn and apply new knowledge to improve performance (Cohen & ...

Citation Context

...ess. Third, the fact that these cities are located in different geographical locations with different socio-economic and political conditions can help increase the generalizability of the findings. Fourth, the three cities do not necessarily share the same goals for their municipal wireless networks. Such diverse goals may shape different knowledge activities during their development processes.3.2. Data collection A retrospective research method is employed by relying on interview data, archival documents, and related articles and prior interviews given by city officials in the popular press. Sabherwal and Robey (1995) suggested that the accuracy of the data from the retrospective inquiry is preserved when there is a reasonably short elapsed time between the completion of the project and the start of data collection. In this study, all three cities finished the development process around 2005 and the data collection period was done between February and July 2007, representing an average of 14–19 months elapsed time. Data was collected from multiple sources for each case study. The interview transcripts, city council minutes, prior interviews given by city personnel, popular press coverage of the projects, a...

Citation Context

... businesses in metropolitan and other economicll rights reserved. +814 865 6426. atassanasoontorn), atapia@ist.psu.edu (A.H. Tapia), alison.powell@oii.ox.ac.uk (A. Powell). A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 573booming cities (Horrigan, Stolp, & Wilson, 2006). The lack of competition does not provide incentives for private operators to expand their coverage to rural areas, to lower their prices, and to upgrade broadband speeds (Daggett, 2007). Following the ideology of the government’s role as infrastructure developer (Gillett, Lehr, & Osorio, 2004; Sawyer, Allen, & Lee, 2003), many cities worldwide have considered deploying municipal wireless networks (citywide networks) with the goals of universal, affordable access to broadband infrastructure for all. Mandviwalla, Jain, and Banker (2007) defined municipal wireless networks as ‘‘wireless Internet access networks developed with active local leadership and involvement’’. Weill, Subramani, and Broadbent (2002) classified the needs for infrastructure development into three levels: business unit, firm, and public infrastructure. By following this classification, municipal wireless networks are viewed as public infras...

Citation Context

...es flexible and fast paced delivery of information systems (Lyytinen & Rose, 2006). Consequently, the ability to learn new technical changes and business opportunities and use them in IS delivery has become increasingly critical for ISD. More specifically, research suggests that absorptive capacity broadly defined as the ability to learn and apply new knowledge to improve performance (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990) is an important determinant of effective learning and knowledge transfer, one of the key factors contributing to successful ISD process (Hovorka & Larsen, 2006; Ko, Kirsch, & King, 2005; Tiwana & McLean, 2005). Pentland (1995) suggested that knowledge must be understood in the context of embedded social activities. Therefore, this study situates knowledge activities in the context of ISD process in order to derive theoretically meaningful findings. The absorptive capacity theory seems to be an appropriate lens for this study because it provides a broad process framework of knowledge activities that enables us to develop theoretical insights of knowledge activities in ISD process. In addition, the absorptive capacity theory also emphasizes how the integrated knowledge from newly acquired knowledge a...

Citation Context

..., & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on using the variance approach to identify antecedents of successful ISD projects (Sabherwal & Robey, 1995; Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000). Several researchers suggest that studies concerning ISD process are required to advance the knowledge of the complex social process concerning systems development (Hirschheim, Klein, & Newman, 1991; Sabherwal & Robey, 1993). More specifically, the absorptive capacity theory (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990; Zahra & George, 2002) conceptualized as a capability related to four knowledge activities (acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation) should broaden an understanding on the influence of the knowledge processes in large-scale infrastructure development projects. The purpose of this paper is to apply the integrated lens of the absorptive capacity theory and the social process model of ISD projects to examine the dynamic of knowledge activities concerning infrastructure develo...

Citation Context

...doubts on the capability and knowledge of local government to develop and manage technology infrastructure including its lack of market discipline and technology capability (Feiss, 2007), its exclusion of some operational costs such as maintenance and network operations center costs in the budget (McClure, 2005), and its lack of resources to maintain the network in the long run (Cox, 2004). Research in IT infrastructure and ISD has emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on using the variance approach to identify antece...

Citation Context

...tion of research concepts. Component Definition References Social process Infrastructure development is a social process that involves the interaction of multiple stakeholders with multiple agendas Hirschheim et al. (1991) Sambamurthy and Kirsch (2000) Prior knowledge Prior related experience and knowledge about technical and infrastructure development process and tasks Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Faraj and Sambamurthy (2006) Kirsch (1996) Kotlarsky et al. (2007) Triggered events Internal or external events from infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002) Knowledge assimilation Processes and routines to interpret and understand the new external knowledge Hovorka and Larsen (2006) Kim (1998) Szulanski (1996) Knowledge transformation Processes and routines to absorb the new knowledge into the existing knowledge Fichman and Kemerer (1999) Kim (1998) Knowledge exploitation Processes and routines to incorporate ...

Citation Context

...eim et al. (1991) Sambamurthy and Kirsch (2000) Prior knowledge Prior related experience and knowledge about technical and infrastructure development process and tasks Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Faraj and Sambamurthy (2006) Kirsch (1996) Kotlarsky et al. (2007) Triggered events Internal or external events from infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002) Knowledge assimilation Processes and routines to interpret and understand the new external knowledge Hovorka and Larsen (2006) Kim (1998) Szulanski (1996) Knowledge transformation Processes and routines to absorb the new knowledge into the existing knowledge Fichman and Kemerer (1999) Kim (1998) Knowledge exploitation Processes and routines to incorporate transformed knowledge into infrastructure development process Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Szulanski (1996) A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (201...

Citation Context

... in infrastructure development process. Zahra and George (2002) conceptualized absorptive capacity as a set of dynamic capabilities consisting of four knowledge activities: acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation. The model also suggests that prior experience shapes knowledge activities. As discussed earlier, knowledge activities are embedded in infrastructure development process, therefore, events that trigger knowledge activities come from activities related to infrastructure development. Since infrastructure development is considered one type of ISD, this study modifies Sabherwal and Robey (1993)’s classification of ISD activities as a guideline to identify relevant knowledge triggering events. In their extensive analysis of ISD projects in 50 organizations and more than 1000 actions, Sabherwal and Robey (1993) classified detailed actions into 15 categories ranging from assignment of personnel to the project, submission of proposal, to reassignment of organizational roles. Fig. 1 depicts the infrastructure development process as a social learning process using the absorptive capacity model. The model suggests that infrastructure development activities trigger knowledge activities and ...

Citation Context

...un (Cox, 2004). Research in IT infrastructure and ISD has emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on using the variance approach to identify antecedents of successful ISD projects (Sabherwal & Robey, 1995; Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000). Several researchers suggest that studies concerning ISD process are required to advance the knowledge of the complex social process concerning systems development (Hirschheim, Klein, & Newman, 1991; Sabherwal & Robey, 1993). More specifically, the absorptive capacity theory (Cohen & Levinthal, 19...

Citation Context

...manager Fredericton, Canada City mayor Fredericton Wi-Fi web site (http://www.fred-ezone.com) Press coverage of Fredericton wireless networkChief Information Officer IT manager Economic development officer System architect Senior field technician A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–5955784. The wireless broadband technology: Wi-Fi mesh In recent years, Wi-Fi technology (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n) has become an attractive choice to provide broadband Internet access. The proliferation and adoption of wireless technology has been successful for three reasons (Bar & Galperin, 2004; Bar & Park, 2006). First, most countries did not require a license for the 2.4 and 5 GHz spectrum; the airwave spectrum in which Wi-Fi works. Second, standardization as specified by the Wi-Fi Alliance and the IEEE organization led to an interoperability standard. Third, the large scale production of Wi-Fi chipsets resulted in low unit costs for Wi-Fi equipment, fueling the integration of Wi-Fi as standard equipment in portable computing devices. More recently, new developments have enabled Wi-Fi technology to be implemented in a large geographical area through add-on mesh technology. In Wi-F...

Citation Context

...centrated among individuals and businesses in metropolitan and other economicll rights reserved. +814 865 6426. atassanasoontorn), atapia@ist.psu.edu (A.H. Tapia), alison.powell@oii.ox.ac.uk (A. Powell). A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 573booming cities (Horrigan, Stolp, & Wilson, 2006). The lack of competition does not provide incentives for private operators to expand their coverage to rural areas, to lower their prices, and to upgrade broadband speeds (Daggett, 2007). Following the ideology of the government’s role as infrastructure developer (Gillett, Lehr, & Osorio, 2004; Sawyer, Allen, & Lee, 2003), many cities worldwide have considered deploying municipal wireless networks (citywide networks) with the goals of universal, affordable access to broadband infrastructure for all. Mandviwalla, Jain, and Banker (2007) defined municipal wireless networks as ‘‘wireless Internet access networks developed with active local leadership and involvement’’. Weill, Subramani, and Broadbent (2002) classified the needs for infrastructure development into three levels: business unit, firm, and public infrastructure. By following this classification, municipal wireless networks...

Citation Context

...refers to an organization’s capability to identify new knowledge, assimilate it with the existing knowledge, and exploit the integrated knowledge (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Absorptive capacity has been identified by a large body of research as a critical factor contributing to innovation (Tsai, 2001), interorganizational learning (Lane & Lubatkin, 1998; Lane, Salk, & Lyles, 2001), and knowledge creation in supply chains (Malhotra, Gosain, & El Sawy, 2005), among others. A number of factors that may influence the successful outcome of the ISD process are user participation (Ives & Olson, 1984; Kirsch & Beath, 1996), top management support (Howell & Higgins, 1990; Jarvenpaa & Ives, 1991), and IS developers’ expertise (Aladwani, 2002). More recently, ISD organizations have experienced a significant shift in their external environment with the demands of high global competition that requires flexible and fast paced delivery of information systems (Lyytinen & Rose, 2006). Consequently, the ability to learn new technical changes and business opportunities and use them in IS delivery has become increasingly critical for ISD. More specifically, research suggests that absorptive capacity broadly defined as the ...

Citation Context

...anada City mayor Fredericton Wi-Fi web site (http://www.fred-ezone.com) Press coverage of Fredericton wireless networkChief Information Officer IT manager Economic development officer System architect Senior field technician A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–5955784. The wireless broadband technology: Wi-Fi mesh In recent years, Wi-Fi technology (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n) has become an attractive choice to provide broadband Internet access. The proliferation and adoption of wireless technology has been successful for three reasons (Bar & Galperin, 2004; Bar & Park, 2006). First, most countries did not require a license for the 2.4 and 5 GHz spectrum; the airwave spectrum in which Wi-Fi works. Second, standardization as specified by the Wi-Fi Alliance and the IEEE organization led to an interoperability standard. Third, the large scale production of Wi-Fi chipsets resulted in low unit costs for Wi-Fi equipment, fueling the integration of Wi-Fi as standard equipment in portable computing devices. More recently, new developments have enabled Wi-Fi technology to be implemented in a large geographical area through add-on mesh technology. In Wi-Fi mesh technology, ...

Citation Context

... interests and individual interests may lead to conflict and resistance. Social power, appeals to Prior Knowledge Influence Knowledge acquisition Knowledge assimilation Knowledge transformation Knowledge exploitation Absorptive Capacity Trigger Shape Infrastructure Development Events Fig. 1. Absorptive capacity model for infrastructure development process. Table 1 Definition of research concepts. Component Definition References Social process Infrastructure development is a social process that involves the interaction of multiple stakeholders with multiple agendas Hirschheim et al. (1991) Sambamurthy and Kirsch (2000) Prior knowledge Prior related experience and knowledge about technical and infrastructure development process and tasks Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Faraj and Sambamurthy (2006) Kirsch (1996) Kotlarsky et al. (2007) Triggered events Internal or external events from infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002...

Citation Context

...ing process and hence project performance. These factors are: the dynamic of technology development, partnership commitment, limitation of external knowledge and roles of learning-bydoing, and political dynamics. Table 5 presents the evidence from the three case studies to support the validity of these four factors. 6.1. Dynamic of technology development In 2004, Chaska, Hermosa Beach, and Fredericton were considered pioneers who chose to use a new Wi-Fi mesh technology in municipal wireless networks. Most of the technologies were still under development. There were a few5 Some studies (e.g., Gibbons & Ruth, 2005; Goth, 2009; Hudson, 2010) suggest that a mixed public and government usage plan, well-planned risk sharing models with the private sector, realistic usage estimation, and sustainable business models are important to the success of municipal broadband projects. Table 4 Summary of prior knowledge, infrastructure development events, and knowledge activities. Constructs Chaska Hermosa Beach Fredericton Prior knowledge The city had six year experience being an Internet service provider to local school district and other businesses The mayor had two years experience in providing a hotspot in his o...

Citation Context

...the implementation environment. Strong partnerships offer partners the opportunity to learn from and about each other. The notion of partnership commitment in this research relates to trust in strategic alliances and joint venture research (Koza & Lewin, 1998; Lane et al., 2001). Kumar (1996) defined trust as dependability by the partners and each partner is interested in the welfare of the other. Successful alliances and joint ventures exhibit trust between partners. Trust is also important to absorptive capacity because it stimulates open sharing of valuable information and tacit knowledge (Inkpen & Beamish, 1997). Partner selection and service level agreements (SLAs) are some of the mechanisms that are helpful to guarantee commitment from private partners. A comprehensive background check that covers financial stability and technical capabilities is important to the partnership selection process. For example, a city may want to check if vendors have experience with other municipal broadband projects. A city can also use the information from a vendor’s response to an RFP to evaluate their technical capabilities. For example, a vendor’s network architecture plan, its plan to mitigate interference issues...

Citation Context

...ansformation Knowledge exploitation Absorptive Capacity Trigger Shape Infrastructure Development Events Fig. 1. Absorptive capacity model for infrastructure development process. Table 1 Definition of research concepts. Component Definition References Social process Infrastructure development is a social process that involves the interaction of multiple stakeholders with multiple agendas Hirschheim et al. (1991) Sambamurthy and Kirsch (2000) Prior knowledge Prior related experience and knowledge about technical and infrastructure development process and tasks Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Faraj and Sambamurthy (2006) Kirsch (1996) Kotlarsky et al. (2007) Triggered events Internal or external events from infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002) Knowledge assimilation Processes and routines to interpret and understand the new external knowledge Hovorka and Larsen (2006) Kim (1998) Szulanski (1996) Knowledge transfo...

Citation Context

...ocess and tasks Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Faraj and Sambamurthy (2006) Kirsch (1996) Kotlarsky et al. (2007) Triggered events Internal or external events from infrastructure development process that trigger knowledge activities Haunschild and Rhee (2004) Huber (1991) Sabherwal and Robey (1993) Knowledge acquisition Processes and routines to identify and acquire knowledge that is critical to infrastructure development process Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Zahra and George (2002) Knowledge assimilation Processes and routines to interpret and understand the new external knowledge Hovorka and Larsen (2006) Kim (1998) Szulanski (1996) Knowledge transformation Processes and routines to absorb the new knowledge into the existing knowledge Fichman and Kemerer (1999) Kim (1998) Knowledge exploitation Processes and routines to incorporate transformed knowledge into infrastructure development process Cohen and Levinthal (1990) Lyytinen and Rose (2006) Szulanski (1996) A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 575legitimate norms or policies, and distorting communication to prevent a fair and open debate are some of the ways that stakeholders can respo...

Citation Context

...at experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on using the variance approach to identify antecedents of successful ISD projects (Sabherwal & Robey, 1995; Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000). Several researchers suggest that studies concerning ISD process are required to advance the knowledge of the complex social process concerning systems development (Hirschheim, Klein, & Newman, 1991; Sabherwal & Robey, 1993). More specifically, the absorptive capacity theory (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990; Zahra & George, 2002) conceptualized as a capability related to four knowled...

Citation Context

...heoretical insights to both the ISD and knowledge management literatures. This is because there are a number of challenges associated with a municipal wireless project in addition to those found in traditional ISD. First, several cities have an ambitious goal to have broadband coverage for the entire city areas, thus increasing the projects’ complexity in scale and scope. The Wireless Philadelphia project (http://wirelessphiladelphia.org), for example, is planned to cover a 135 square mile area. Second, there are a number of stakeholders, some of whom may have conflicting goals and interests. Mandviwalla et al. (2008) report that at least 13 diverse stakeholders are involved in the Wireless Philadelphia project, ranging from state and city government, community residents, businesses, telecoms and ISPs, to public schools and higher educational institutions. Third, several have expressed serious concerns regarding wireless broadband technology including the scalability of the technology which was originally designed for small-sized hotspots, the lack of standards for the mesh technology required to install wireless broadband networks in large areas, and the possible rapid obsolescence due to new innovations ...

Citation Context

...ormance. These factors are: the dynamic of technology development, partnership commitment, limitation of external knowledge and roles of learning-bydoing, and political dynamics. Table 5 presents the evidence from the three case studies to support the validity of these four factors. 6.1. Dynamic of technology development In 2004, Chaska, Hermosa Beach, and Fredericton were considered pioneers who chose to use a new Wi-Fi mesh technology in municipal wireless networks. Most of the technologies were still under development. There were a few5 Some studies (e.g., Gibbons & Ruth, 2005; Goth, 2009; Hudson, 2010) suggest that a mixed public and government usage plan, well-planned risk sharing models with the private sector, realistic usage estimation, and sustainable business models are important to the success of municipal broadband projects. Table 4 Summary of prior knowledge, infrastructure development events, and knowledge activities. Constructs Chaska Hermosa Beach Fredericton Prior knowledge The city had six year experience being an Internet service provider to local school district and other businesses The mayor had two years experience in providing a hotspot in his own private business. Neithe...

Citation Context

... metrics around key applications under a normal condition and under a high subscriber load for different type of traffic (voice, video, and data) will guarantee private partners’ commitment to work with the city to meet its broadband service goals. In some cases, SLAs may also include customer service support, technical support, and performance management. A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 5876.3. Limitation of external knowledge and roles of learning-by-doing Knowledge related to new technologies is likely to be located outside of an organization (Konsynski & Tiwana, 2004; Van den Bosch, Volberda, & de Boer, 1999) The rapid change of Wi-Fi mesh technology and the limited experience in Wi-Fi deployment in the industry requires a city to try out knowledge learned from the industry, evaluate the performance, and readjust their knowledge based on feedback from actual experience. In the case of the city of Fredericton, the network was originally designed to be a completely open network with minimal control and security monitoring. After the first year of operation, the city discovered that peer-to-peer traffic and spam significantly slowed down the network speed fo...

Citation Context

..., and training. 2.6. Knowledge transformation Once an organization interprets and understands new knowledge, the next challenge it faces is how to absorb the new knowledge into the existing knowledge system. Knowledge transformation involves an organization’s capability to develop routines to combine new knowledge with the existing knowledge (Zahra & George, 2002). Cohen and Levinthal (1990) suggest that internal organization mechanisms that enable knowledge sharing across organizational members are necessary for the new knowledge to be integrated into an organization. In the ISD environment, Slaughger and Kirsch (2006) identified several mechanisms to share internal knowledge such as meetings, bulletin boards, internal training classes, transfer of personnel, and informal demonstration. Ko et al. (2005), in their study of knowledge transfer between consultants and business users in ERP implementations, found that knowledge-related, communication-related, and motivational factors influence the extent of knowledge transfer. 2.7. Knowledge exploitation The newly absorbed knowledge has to be applied for an organization to derive associated benefits. Knowledge exploitation refers to an organization’s capability ...

Citation Context

...s emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational performance (Bharadwaj, 2000; Bharadwaj, Bharadwaj, & Konsynski, 1999; Brown, Gatian, & Hicks, 1995), and process performance (Froehle, 2006; Karimi, Somers, & Bhattacherjee, 2007; Ray, Muhanna, & Barney, 2005). Similarly, studies in the ISD literature concentrate on using the variance approach to identify antecedents of successful ISD projects (Sabherwal & Robey, 1995; Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000). Several researchers suggest that studies concerning ISD process are required to advance the knowledge of the complex social process concerning systems development (Hirschheim, Klein, & Newman, 1991; Sabherwal & Robey, 1993). More specifically, the absorptive capacity theory (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990; Zahra & George, 2002) conceptualized ...

Citation Context

...ip selection process. For example, a city may want to check if vendors have experience with other municipal broadband projects. A city can also use the information from a vendor’s response to an RFP to evaluate their technical capabilities. For example, a vendor’s network architecture plan, its plan to mitigate interference issues, and system capabilities (e.g., throughput, latency, and jitter) to support voice, data, and video applications are useful information. An SLA is a contract to characterize the service and specify the quality of service that a private partner will provide to a city (Lehr & McKnight, 2002). Service level agreements that focus on network performance metrics around key applications under a normal condition and under a high subscriber load for different type of traffic (voice, video, and data) will guarantee private partners’ commitment to work with the city to meet its broadband service goals. In some cases, SLAs may also include customer service support, technical support, and performance management. A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 5876.3. Limitation of external knowledge and roles of learning-by-doing Knowledge related to new techn...

Citation Context

...ies need to take into consideration that the technology is not a plug and play technology and that considerable efforts are needed to integrate the technology with other solutions to deliver broadband services as well as to configure the system according to topologies, street conditions, buildings, density of trees, among others. & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.1. Introduction Access to basic telecommunications services is considered as one of the necessities for individuals and organizations in the global information society (Crandall, Lehr, & Litan, 2007; Lee, O’Keefe, & Yun, 2003; Wilhelm, 2003). In the U.S., for example, the broadband market is primarily dominated by a duopoly of the telephone and cable companies. As a result, broadband access and usage is concentrated among individuals and businesses in metropolitan and other economicll rights reserved. +814 865 6426. atassanasoontorn), atapia@ist.psu.edu (A.H. Tapia), alison.powell@oii.ox.ac.uk (A. Powell). A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 573booming cities (Horrigan, Stolp, & Wilson, 2006). The lack of competition does not provide incentives for private operators to expand their cover...

Citation Context

...als and organizations in the global information society (Crandall, Lehr, & Litan, 2007; Lee, O’Keefe, & Yun, 2003; Wilhelm, 2003). In the U.S., for example, the broadband market is primarily dominated by a duopoly of the telephone and cable companies. As a result, broadband access and usage is concentrated among individuals and businesses in metropolitan and other economicll rights reserved. +814 865 6426. atassanasoontorn), atapia@ist.psu.edu (A.H. Tapia), alison.powell@oii.ox.ac.uk (A. Powell). A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 573booming cities (Horrigan, Stolp, & Wilson, 2006). The lack of competition does not provide incentives for private operators to expand their coverage to rural areas, to lower their prices, and to upgrade broadband speeds (Daggett, 2007). Following the ideology of the government’s role as infrastructure developer (Gillett, Lehr, & Osorio, 2004; Sawyer, Allen, & Lee, 2003), many cities worldwide have considered deploying municipal wireless networks (citywide networks) with the goals of universal, affordable access to broadband infrastructure for all. Mandviwalla, Jain, and Banker (2007) defined municipal wireless networks as ‘‘wireless Intern...

Citation Context

... duopoly of the telephone and cable companies. As a result, broadband access and usage is concentrated among individuals and businesses in metropolitan and other economicll rights reserved. +814 865 6426. atassanasoontorn), atapia@ist.psu.edu (A.H. Tapia), alison.powell@oii.ox.ac.uk (A. Powell). A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. / Telecommunications Policy 34 (2010) 572–595 573booming cities (Horrigan, Stolp, & Wilson, 2006). The lack of competition does not provide incentives for private operators to expand their coverage to rural areas, to lower their prices, and to upgrade broadband speeds (Daggett, 2007). Following the ideology of the government’s role as infrastructure developer (Gillett, Lehr, & Osorio, 2004; Sawyer, Allen, & Lee, 2003), many cities worldwide have considered deploying municipal wireless networks (citywide networks) with the goals of universal, affordable access to broadband infrastructure for all. Mandviwalla, Jain, and Banker (2007) defined municipal wireless networks as ‘‘wireless Internet access networks developed with active local leadership and involvement’’. Weill, Subramani, and Broadbent (2002) classified the needs for infrastructure development into three levels: b...

Citation Context

... an ISD effort’’ (Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000, p. 401). Stakeholders in traditional ISD projects may include a project manager, analysts, programmers, user liaisons, IS and user management, vendors, and consultants. Unlike these traditional ISD projects in organizations, most municipal wireless projects have broad goals to provide universal, affordable access to broadband infrastructure to all. Therefore, municipal wireless projects may involve a number of diverse stakeholders such as city government, community residents, businesses, telecoms and ISPs, public schools, vendors, and consultants (Gillett, Lehr, & Osorio, 2006; Mandviwalla et al., 2008). Different stakeholders who involve in municipal wireless projects may have their individual agendas. An agenda is ‘‘a set of goals, objectives, or expectations relative to the development effort’’ (Sambamurthy & Kirsch, 2000, p. 401). A stakeholder’s agenda may be implicit or explicit and may include political objectives. For example, wireless technology vendors have an explicit goal of earning profit from their involvement in municipal wireless projects. However, they also have implicit goals to use these projects to showcase their products, to solicit additional ...

Citation Context

...icton, the network was originally designed to be a completely open network with minimal control and security monitoring. After the first year of operation, the city discovered that peer-to-peer traffic and spam significantly slowed down the network speed for users. As a result, the city blocked known virus ports, limited the number of e-mail messages sent, and scanned outgoing e-mail messages for viruses. The implementation of Tropos routers in Chaska also illustrates the feedback loop between the external knowledge available through private partners and knowledge discovered through practice (Saccol & Reinhard, 2006). For example, Chaska learned from Tropos that every 5th or 6th routers needs to be connected via a gateway to backhaul connection. However, after implementing routers according to this standard rule, the city experienced problems in signal strength and unacceptable speeds leading to unreliable and low quality Internet services. This is because some areas in Chaska had dense tree lines and green vegetation, while other areas had no gateways close by. In addition, some materials used to build houses can also block out signals. The city worked closely with Tropos to resolve the issues by limitin...

Citation Context

...l vendors. They were going to offer us all of the radios for free. The cable companies got involved. Some independent wireless people got involved. They sent e-mails to our council people and got them to turn against us. They said the technology is inferior and obsolete. I had a real battle with another councilman. He claimed that it’s a horse and buggy technology.’’ It is also important to emphasize that the resistance in the Hermosa Beach project reflects the interplay among technology issues, the uncertainty around the revenue model, the proper role of government, and municipal priorities (Cox, 2005). As reported in Cox, one of the council members who voted against the citywide deployment stated ‘‘We’re not going to pay to improve your street, but we are going to give you free Wi-Fi. You have to prioritize your needs and wants. This free Internet stuff would be way down on my list.’’ Finally, another external event4 BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol for downloading high-quality files over the Internet. Some of the popular services are newly released movies, TV shows, music, and games. BitTorrent is considered bandwidth-intensive services. A.A. Techatassanasoontorn et al. ...

Citation Context

...ions. Third, several have expressed serious concerns regarding wireless broadband technology including the scalability of the technology which was originally designed for small-sized hotspots, the lack of standards for the mesh technology required to install wireless broadband networks in large areas, and the possible rapid obsolescence due to new innovations and standards (Jain et al., 2007). Fourth, some critics express doubts on the capability and knowledge of local government to develop and manage technology infrastructure including its lack of market discipline and technology capability (Feiss, 2007), its exclusion of some operational costs such as maintenance and network operations center costs in the budget (McClure, 2005), and its lack of resources to maintain the network in the long run (Cox, 2004). Research in IT infrastructure and ISD has emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organization...

Citation Context

...project performance. These factors are: the dynamic of technology development, partnership commitment, limitation of external knowledge and roles of learning-bydoing, and political dynamics. Table 5 presents the evidence from the three case studies to support the validity of these four factors. 6.1. Dynamic of technology development In 2004, Chaska, Hermosa Beach, and Fredericton were considered pioneers who chose to use a new Wi-Fi mesh technology in municipal wireless networks. Most of the technologies were still under development. There were a few5 Some studies (e.g., Gibbons & Ruth, 2005; Goth, 2009; Hudson, 2010) suggest that a mixed public and government usage plan, well-planned risk sharing models with the private sector, realistic usage estimation, and sustainable business models are important to the success of municipal broadband projects. Table 4 Summary of prior knowledge, infrastructure development events, and knowledge activities. Constructs Chaska Hermosa Beach Fredericton Prior knowledge The city had six year experience being an Internet service provider to local school district and other businesses The mayor had two years experience in providing a hotspot in his own private b...

Citation Context

...efore, there was not much existing knowledge in the industry for the city to draw from. The city’s administrative services director explained, ‘‘We were not just deploying Tropos products. We had to figure out how to backhaul from gateways through fiber resources. We also had to ensure that we had some wireless backhaul in the area that we did not have fiber access. We had to work out some issues that we had in terms of inconsistent coverage. During that time, we were getting a lot of calls from people saying that this does not work.’’ The city’s manager concluded in his interview reported in Hughlett (2007) that ‘‘In hindsight, that was a mistake. That is because 1000 households made for too big of a test sample, considering the new network still had bugs. A lot of Chaskans peppered the city with complaints. A smaller sample size would have been easier.’’ Chaska also needed to acquire knowledge on the fly while the city experienced difficulty in integrating various components of the Wi-Fi mesh system. The city’s administrative service director explained ‘‘We not only had to deal with finding an authentication product, we had to find one that could handle the scale of customers that we were antic...

Citation Context

... least 13 diverse stakeholders are involved in the Wireless Philadelphia project, ranging from state and city government, community residents, businesses, telecoms and ISPs, to public schools and higher educational institutions. Third, several have expressed serious concerns regarding wireless broadband technology including the scalability of the technology which was originally designed for small-sized hotspots, the lack of standards for the mesh technology required to install wireless broadband networks in large areas, and the possible rapid obsolescence due to new innovations and standards (Jain et al., 2007). Fourth, some critics express doubts on the capability and knowledge of local government to develop and manage technology infrastructure including its lack of market discipline and technology capability (Feiss, 2007), its exclusion of some operational costs such as maintenance and network operations center costs in the budget (McClure, 2005), and its lack of resources to maintain the network in the long run (Cox, 2004). Research in IT infrastructure and ISD has emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurt...

Citation Context

... technology which was originally designed for small-sized hotspots, the lack of standards for the mesh technology required to install wireless broadband networks in large areas, and the possible rapid obsolescence due to new innovations and standards (Jain et al., 2007). Fourth, some critics express doubts on the capability and knowledge of local government to develop and manage technology infrastructure including its lack of market discipline and technology capability (Feiss, 2007), its exclusion of some operational costs such as maintenance and network operations center costs in the budget (McClure, 2005), and its lack of resources to maintain the network in the long run (Cox, 2004). Research in IT infrastructure and ISD has emphasized that experience, knowledge, and skills are critical to convert IT components into valuable services (Armstrong & Sambamurthy, 1999; Byrd & Turner, 2000; Fink & Neumann, 2007). However, most studies in the IT infrastructure literature focus on examining existing IT infrastructure and its components as antecedents of strategic organizational value including organizational agility (Fink & Neumann, 2007; Sambamurthy, Bharadwaj, & Grover, 2003), organizational perfor...

Citation Context

... support technology choice, address project sustainability, and find appropriate business models as evidenced in the case of Hermosa Beach. Another unexpected result is that the broadband, though partially complete, was viewed as a threat to the private broadband providers. As a result, they were pressured to offer high quality services at reasonable prices. On the other hand, some may argue that an abandonment of municipal broadband may result in a long-term opportunity cost to increase competition, lower prices, and drive demand for future deployments in both the public and private sectors (Scott & Wellings, 2005). From a broader perspective, these early examples of municipal broadband initiatives offer valuable lessons for future deployments. First, cities need to understand that the project approval process may take longer than expected. During the process, project champions need to be prepared to find evidence to defend against concerns raised by various stakeholders. Hermosa Beach city manager agreed: ‘‘Our network was all about politics, beginning to end. It was started by a guy on the council who was a true believer and who influenced others on the council to support his ideas. It ended when coun...

Citation Context

...knowledge activities in ISD process. In addition, the absorptive capacity theory also emphasizes how the integrated knowledge from newly acquired knowledge and knowledge accumulated through prior experience can be applied to increase an organization’s performance. Such theorizing is consistent with evidence in ISD research that prior knowledge about technical and IS development process and tasks increases the likelihood of ISD project success (Faraj & Sambamurthy, 2006; Kirsch, 1996; Kotlarsky, Oshri, van Hillegersberg, & Kumar, 2007). This study uses a recent absorptive capacity framework by Zahra and George (2002) to study knowledge activities embedded in infrastructure development process. Zahra and George (2002) conceptualized absorptive capacity as a set of dynamic capabilities consisting of four knowledge activities: acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation. The model also suggests that prior experience shapes knowledge activities. As discussed earlier, knowledge activities are embedded in infrastructure development process, therefore, events that trigger knowledge activities come from activities related to infrastructure development. Since infrastructure development is considere...