Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

This paper presents the results of our empirical research in measuring the size and structure of the U.S. information economy in 1992 and 1997, and in assessing the growth experienced by different industries and sectors since Porat’s research on the U.S. information economy in 1967. The study indicates that the share of the information economy in total GNP grew from about 46 percent in 1967 to about 56 percent in 1992, and to 63 percent in 1997. The study further indicates that during this time period the share of service sector information activities in total GNP increased substantially, while the shares of non-service sectors declined correspondingly. The industries displaying the highest growth rates include business services, and medical and educational services. The paper also provides a critical assessment of Porat’s methodology and suggests specific improvements that may be made to obtain a more plausible measure of the size and structure of the information economy.

In this paper I present international comparisons of economic growth among the G7 nations—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. These comparisons focus on the impact of investment in information technology (IT) equipment and software over the period 1980–2001. In 1998 the G7 nations accounted for nearly sixty percent of world output and a much larger proportion of world investment in IT. Economic growth in the G7 has experienced a strong revival since 1995, driven by a powerful surge in IT investment.

Information-intensive services are being globalized as corporations take advantage of the opportunities made available by the progress of information technology and respond to the challenge of increasing global competition. After analyzing the role that information technology plays in globalizing information-intensive services, the paper reviews a wide range of illustrative examples where information-intensive services have been globalized. Based on this analysis, the paper proposes a theoretical framework that identifies the criteria and guidelines for successfully selecting service activities to be globalized, and presents guidelines to managers for choosing the appropriate country location. By applying this theoretical framework to the U.S. economy the paper provides a rough estimate of the potential impact of globalized information-intensive services on the labor market in the U.S. The paper also analyzes the geographic distribution of language clusters and presents a conjecture concerning the emerging pattern of global trade in information-intensive services. The paper ends with a brief discussion on the opportunity for conducting further research into this growing and important phenomenon.

The information systems outsourcing market has seen rapid growth. Companies are increasingly choosing to outsource many of their information systems activities to services firms rather than sourcing them internally. This trend is inconsistent with the predictions of some of the published literature which point to the high costs of using an outside market. These articles, based on transaction cost economics, point out the difficulty of writing efficient contracts in the face of high transaction costs which result from the considerable technological and business uncertainty in a typical outsourcing arrangement. Yet, the growth in the outsourcing market clearly indicates that the economics of external provision are dominating these contractual concerns. Given that companies are outsourcing information systems services through multi-year contracts, economic theory suggests that outsourcing contracts will seek to minimize the associated transaction costs. I propose a framework for the analysis of information systems outsourcing contracts based on transaction cost theory and the economics of production of information systems services. Based on this framework I develop propositions related to the contractual elements likely to be observed in outsourcing contracts. I test the predictions of the model by studying ten outsourcing contracts in detail. The results indicate that contracts are designed to mitigate transaction costs, and that transaction cost economics is a useful lens with which to analyze an IT services sourcing arrangement.

The current economy has brought the network model of organization to the forefront of management theory and practice. The network model is often presented in organization and ICT literature with an air of enthusiasm that underscores the advantages of this model as flexible, cooperative, innovative, and knowledge and technology intensive. Such themes are normally based on a networking logic that assumes the trustful cooperation of large and small production firms in favor of competitive advantage in a rapidly changing and volatile environment. This chapter challenges both the logic and the themes based upon it. Using Enron as a case study, the chapter seeks to enrich the logic, to broaden the themes, and to finally arrive at a more realistic picture of the network enterprise. This is made possible by extending the unit of analysis beyond the production firm, to include, among others, subsidiaries, banks, investors, auditors, and government agencies. The managerial implications of these shifts will be discussed.

The Jones Center at the Wharton School has been studying outsourcing, insourcing, and right-sourcing since 1991 –. Outsourcing, especially crossborder outsourcing, is increasing rapidly. The research questions being addressed in this study include,

Despite a few very heralded failures in 2000, online retail is a vital and growing sector. While the rest of the economy was sinking further into recession, on-line sales grew 21% to $51.3 billion in 2001, jumped 48% to $76 billion in 2002, and are expected to increase to $96 in 2003. Approximately 70% of on-line retailers showed positive operating margins in 2002, up from 56% the year before. As we come out of recession the U.S. Commerce Department reports that the increase in online retailing is five times as great as the increase in the rest of the retail sector. Most online retailers (63%) updated their inventory management systems to better manage their supply chain. On-line retailing leads in Forrester’s industry-by-industry analysis of Website usability. Personalization leads this trend.

The paper analyzes the evolution of business-to-business e-commerce (B2B) and outlines the emerging framework for business networks where interactive relations between firms are empowered by ICT. The rise and decline of B2B have highlighted the weaknesses of its hypotheses, focused on the benefits for firms to gain in efficiency through electronic transactions (Transaction cost theory). The economic and financial problems in which B2B marketplaces occurred have stressed the dif- ficulties of their transaction-based business models, while the low value of e-commerce over the years can be explained in terms of firms’ indifference in using electronic networks as new commercial channels. Instead, such emphasis on emerging technology solutions, mainly based on the Web, to connect firms with its customers, suppliers and partners increases firm’s opportunities of interaction within its value chain. From a knowledge-based perspective, firms are discovering a completely different scenario and new drivers for their competitiveness, based on a renovated use of ICT to manage distributed business processes. Opposite to the e-commerce value proposition focused on spot efficiency of electric transactions, firms refer to ICT to enhance their established networks of business-to-business relationships.

This paper studies the impact of a Business-to-Business electronic market on an environment where manufacturers used fixed-term contracts to purchase materials from suppliers. We focus on the effects of private information and consider the interaction between fixed-term contracting and the electronic market. We study the effects of the electronic market on the participants using four factors: changes in industry structure, information effects, volatility and price flexibility. We find that the effects of Business-to-Business electronic markets on industry performance are subtle, and that it can make the supply chain as a whole less profitable, with the benefits accruing largely to consumers.

The radical improvements and massive diffusion of information and communication technologies within the last decade have fostered the development and exchange of new knowledge. Firms realize that they now compete in their abilities to access, acquire and appraise new information in order to enhance their innovation capacity by applying it. Davenport and Prusak (1998) note that though spontaneous and unstructured transfers of knowledge routinely take place across organizational and geographical boundaries, independently from the management of the process, companies are now expected to have well defined systems of knowledge management. A substantial literature addressing the competitive dimensions of information management is, therefore, developing. The important and not yet solved questions concern the conditions needed for effective information and knowledge transfer and how to establish them (). The exploration of these conditions is the principal concern of this essay which studies three very different kinds of firms: new, venture firms (our principal focus); serial acquirers (Cisco), operating at scale in world markets but rooted in a local ecology of venture firms, and Japanese majors, such as Toshiba, NEC and Fujitsu operating, in their rapid growth period, far from such an environment.