IMARC has been engaged in joint research with many organisations and collaborates with researchers world-wide on publications. The major research themes are listed below.
Electronic Commerce
The recent development of the Internet as an enabler of business has led many in the business world to question fundamental assumptions. In an increasingly dynamic environment where each technological innovation has the ability to bring forth new competitive challenges, an awareness of the different facets of electronic commerce is essential knowledge for anyone involved in business. IMARC's faculty have been actively engaged in researching, consulting and teaching the diverse aspects of the e-commerce phenomenon since it arrived on the business landscape six years ago. In particular, they are currently examining the following critical areas: (1) e-commerce strategy, (2) e-process design, (3) online service quality, (4) trust in e-commerce, (5) emerging interactive marketing models, (6) on-line consumer behavior, (7) B2B marketplaces, and (8) legal issues in e-commerce.
Strategic IT Management
Business competitiveness depends on the appropriateness of an organisation’s strategy given its environmental context, and the design and performance of its business processes in achieving its strategic intent. This stream of research seeks to understand the role that IT plays in Asian businesses, and how organizations can effectively align business and IT strategies by managing the development and implementation of their IT assets, including (1) leadership roles in IT-enabled organisational change, (2) flexible information technology infrastructure, (3) essential strategic capabilities for fast adaptation and innovation, (4) pay-off from IT investments, and (5) new competencies for the IT function.
Enterprise Resource Planning
ERP systems represent a major change in organisational information systems in terms of their scale and scope, reliance on vendors and advocacy of best practices. They are pervasive and often mission critical. Streamlining and integrating organisational procedures and standardising them over a single platform were what these systems promised. However, cases of expensive ERP implementations going awry has led many to recognise the inherent challenges of successfully implementing such complex package software. Research is currently in progress on these themes: (1) cultural fit of the underlying ERP business models, (2) partitioning the sources of misfits in ERP, (3) process issues in analysing, designing, and implementing ERP, and (4) situated learning in ERP implementation.
Supply Chain Management
To enhance their competitiveness, companies are today paying greater attention to the management of their supply chains. Improvements in information technology have meant that accurate information and sophisticated models can now be used to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of supply chains. Recent developments in Internet technologies and business-to-business e-commerce have generated new opportunities for leveraging supply chain management as a means of enhancing a firm’s competitiveness. The focus of SCM research within the centre is two pronged. One stream of research focuses on supply chain/logistics within a single firm or a single vertically integrated entity. Here the research focuses on the solution of specific models for optimisation of part or whole of the integrated logistics system. The second stream of research focuses on mechanisms for co-ordinating a supply chain comprising different corporate entities. Specific research issues addressed include: (1) SCM/Inventory Management for Internet based businesses, (2) Management of 3PL (third-party logistics), (3) Systems for Cross Docking, (4) Price discounts as a co-ordination mechanism,(5) Multi-echelon/capacitated inventory models, and (6) Facility location/Warehouse location.
IT Personnel Management : Careers & Competencies
One of the most pressing areas of concern for organisations has been to identify the drivers behind the recruitment and retention of technical professionals. Turnover and skills obsolescence have always been a serious problem in the IT function and it is with this in mind that the research has been structured. Research is currently in progress on these aspects of the theme: (1) retention of key technical talent, (2) integration of technical professionals into the organisations, (3) development of technical careers and professions, (4) development of individual competencies among technical professionals, (5) managing technical obsolescence in the workforce, (6)cross-cultural competencies, and (7) compensation, reward and incentive systems for technical professionals.
Management of the Outsourcing of IT & Other Business Functions
The past two decades witnessed the growing popularity of outsourcing among business in all industries, with the recent advent of the ASPs (application service providers) being its latest manifestation. However, businesses have had varying levels of success with outsourcing. IMARC faculty have had a multidisciplinary program of research in outsourcing that covers multiple levels of analyses (from individuals to organisations), adopts multiple theoretical perspectives (from economic to psychological to sociological), and employs multiple methodologies (from qualitative case studies, to legal & archival research, to quantitative large-scale field-studies). Research is currently in progress on these aspects of outsourcing: (1) Types of outsourcing, (2) Drivers of outsourcing, (3) Management of vendor client relationships in outsourcing, and (4) Causes of success and failures of strategic outsourcing.
Data mining, Data Modelling and Decision Support Systems
A key competitive advantage among firms today is their expertise at leveraging the knowledge they have within their organisations. This skill has become a crucial differentiator within industries. Applications such as customer relationship management, decision support systems, risk analysis, and fraud detection are examples where organisational knowledge has been innovatively exploited. Our research associates are actively involved in exploring the implications of data modelling in web-based environments and the development of data mining applications to solve business problems. Specifically, our Data Mining Centre has won the SAS Enterprise Computing Award (Academic Institution) for both 2000 and 2001, on the strength of its extensive research programs. Some of the relevant publications are listed below.
E-Government
As the Internet matures, governments around the world are trying to harness its potential in terms of service delivery as well as better governance. IMARC faculty study the antecedents and consequences of e-Government, with a special focus on e-Gov developments in Singapore. Specific areas of research include: (1) Measurement of e-Government activity, (2) Determinants of e-Government maturity, (3) Consequences of e-Government, with special attention to the digital divide, and (4) Open-source software adoption in e-Government.
Virtual Communities & Knowledge Management
Research on virtual communities explores how diverse individuals from around the world meet in virtual spaces to exchange knowledge and perform tasks. Virtual communities range from auction sites such as eBay, to virtual worlds such as Second Life or World of Warcraft, to bulletin boards and Usenet newsgroups, blogs, Internet Relay Chat and Instant Messenger environments. Faculty who work in this area have generally explored: (1) how communities band together to resolve problems (e.g., fraud), (2) how a sense of community evolves in virtual communities, (3) the governance of virtual communities by members, organizational owners (e.g., eBay), and governments, and (4) knowledge sharing and knowledge exchange in virtual communities.