The Next Frontier…

E-commerce Research in Developing Countries

How to Make a Theoretical Contribution?

Viswanath Venkatesh

Agenda Considerations Developing country context A common mistake Four ways to make a theoretical contribution Two illustrations

Practical Considerations MNCs marketing products and services to developing

countries Firms working with organizations in developing

countries Supply chains and business process flows frequently

have a representation of companies in/from developing countries

Scientific Considerations Theories developed with western philosophies and

ideologies Data collected in western countries

Developing Country Context Developing countries

Countries themselves SMEs People Workplace Social settings Etc.

A Common Mistake: Replication without Rich Extensions

“[insert theory here] has never been examined in the context of the mobile Internet among

participants in China an hour after their lunch in the winter.”

A Common Mistake: Replication without Rich Extensions

“TAM has never been examined in the context of the mobile Internet among

participants in China an hour after their lunch in the winter.”

How to Make a Theoretical Contribution?

1. Conduct cross-cultural comparisons2. Leverage cross-cultural settings3. Engage in the developing country context4. Theorize about the developing country

Conduct Cross-cultural Comparisons

Compare existing theories across cultural settings Direct effects and moderating effects

Explain why similarities and differences would be expected “theory development through encounters between theoretical

assumptions and empirical impressions that involve breakdowns” (Alvesson and Karreman 2007)

Ideally, employ explanatory variables and not just country as the moderating variable

IS exemplars Gefen and Straub (1997, MISQ) Srite and Karahanna (2006, MISQ)

Leverage Cross-Cultural Settings Role of global village, virtual teams, diversity New contexts that did not exist before (Johns 2006) Theorize about what happens when people from

different cultures get together to: Work (e.g., develop a project) Socialize (e.g., interact on FaceBook)

IS exemplars Kankanhalli et al. (2007, JMIS) Rai et al. (2009, MISQ)

Engage in the Developing Country Context

Induction, not deduction Beginning with Socrates and Aristotle Think Isaac Newton “…hypothetico–deductive method, even if practiced, actually

retards the progress of science” (Locke 2007) Live and breathe the context to tell the tale, without

the shackles of existing theories Necessarily qualitative

IS exemplars Walsham and Sahay (1999, MISQ) Hirscheim and Silva (2007, MISQ)

Theorize about the Country Not necessarily qualitative (Alvesson and Karreman

2007) Introduce new concepts and consequently, constructs Bring to bear new theoretical perspectives Integrate theoretical perspectives appropriately Develop new theory that is situated in the contextual

richness

Impacts of Information and Communication Technology

Implementations on Employees’ Jobs in India:

A Multi-Method Longitudinal Field Study*

Production and Operations Management (in press)

* w/ Hillol Bala (Indiana), Tracy Sykes (NSF)

General Storyline Job characteristics model (JCM)

The effect on all five characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback) was positive

Job satisfaction and job performance declined Qualitative study (interviews) to understand why…

Socio-technical systems theory to explain the results

Typical JCM

Job Characteristics

Information and Communication

Technologies (ICTs)

Task Identity Job Satisfaction

Task Significance

Autonomy

Feedback

Skill Variety

Context Satisfactions

Growth Need Strength

Critical Psychological

States

Core Job Characteristics Outcomes

Job Performance

Experienced Meaningfulness

Experienced Responsibility

Knowledge of Results

+

+

+

+

JCM in our Context

Job Characteristics

Information and Communication

Technologies (ICTs)

Task Identity Job Satisfaction

Task Significance

Autonomy

Feedback

Skill Variety

Context Satisfactions

Growth Need Strength

Critical Psychological

States

Core Job Characteristics Outcomes

Job Performance

Experienced Meaningfulness

Experienced Responsibility

Knowledge of Results

+

+

-

-

Qualitative Study

Statements about lack of “power,” “electricity,” “network”

External Infrastructure

Environmental Barriers

Statements about unavailability of “computer,” “machine,”; “high transaction loads”

Internal Infrastructure

1st order concepts 2nd order themes or

theoretical categories Aggregate theoretical

dimension

Statements about lack of “on-site support,” “training”

Facilitating Conditions Learning

Difficulty

Statements about lack of knowledge, self-efficacy, computer literacy

Individual Competency

Statements about foreign cultural imposition, western isomorphism

Norms Violation

Culture Shock

Statements about work process changes, relationship changes, compatibility with precursor work methods, values, and culture

Extent of Change

Statements about availability of cheap labor, high costs of the ICT system

Incentive Alignment

Employee Valuation Statements about advancement opportunities, lack

of understanding of future performance appraisals Future Ambiguity

Organizational Innovation in India: A Multi-method Longitudinal Study*

Information Systems Research (under review)

* w/ Hillol Bala (Indiana), Tracy Sykes (NSF), V. Sambamurthy (MSU)

General Storyline Tensions between traditional challenges and emerging

catalysts Troubling trend… even 2 years after implementation

No improvement in service time Drop in job satisfaction Drop in customer satisfaction

Qualitative study to understand the problems from the perspective of different stakeholders

Service Time, Job Sat, Cust SatService Time Job Satisfaction Customer Satisfaction

Branches Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. System 22.8 mnts. 9.4 4.5 1.10 5.1 1.07 T-6 months: Pre-

implementation Non-system 22.7 mnts. 9.9 4.4 1.11 5.2 1.05 System 23.2 mnts. 8.3 3.5 1.21 3.6 1.19 T+12 months: 1 year

post-implementation Non-system 23.0 mnts. 8.7 4.5 1.20 5.1 1.06 System 22.7 mnts. 8.4 3.8 1.04 4.1 1.10 T+24 months: 2 years

post-implementation Non-system 22.6 mnts. 8.8 4.4 1.18 5.2 1.08 Note: T = Start of IT use.

Qualitative Study Findings Issue voiced by: Category Sub-categories Employees Management Customers

Power Computer and network Training and support staff

Infrastructure

Future cost Business process redesign Labor economics Western isomorphism

Institutional

Parallel, manual system Computer literacy Career advancement Job security

Agency

Willingness to change

Contributions Richer understanding of IT implementations in

developing countries Boundaries of existing theories Setting the stage for new theory development and

future research, including future work on interventions Helping developing countries leverage IT meaningfully

Seeing opportunities and identifying challenges

In sum… Developing countries represent a fertile and important

ground for future e-commerce research Four suggested ways to make a theoretical

contribution 1.Conduct cross-cultural comparisons2.Leverage cross-cultural settings3.Engage in the developing country context4.Theorize about the developing country

Thank You!