Central European Business Review 2021, 10(1):39-53 | DOI: 10.18267/j.cebr.255

IT Reliability for Ensuring Performance of IT Used in Organizations Operating under Covid-19 Epidemic Crisis

Katarzyna Tworek ORCID...1
1 Wroc³aw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Computer Science and Management, Wroclaw, Poland, katarzyna.tworek@pwr.edu.pl

The article concerns the analysis of elements building the reliability of IT solutions used in the organizations (system reliability, usage reliability, information reliability and support service reliability) and their influence on IT performance in conditions of the crisis, which calls for social-distancing and forces employees to work remotely, putting IT performance at the centre of attention for organizations seeking ways to survive the crisis. The article aims at verifying the IT Reliability Model under such conditions and identifies which elements building the reliability of IT solutions may contribute to ensuring IT performance. The empirical study is performed among 115 organizations operating in Italy during the COVID-19 epidemic crisis in March 2020 (during the lockdown and peak of the epidemic). The results are compared with a previous study performed among 349 organizations from Poland and 288 organizations operating in Switzerland operating under normal conditions in January 2019. The obtained results confirmed that there are major differences in the strength and significance of the influence of four elements building IT reliability on IT performance among employees from organizations working under normal conditions and conditions of epidemical crisis. The usage reliability and support service reliability were proven to become key factors influencing IT performance under such critical conditions.
Implications for Central European audience: Central Europe was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and most of the organizations experienced problems with their functioning due to the need to establish new ways of working in a world of social distancing rules. Information technology became an especially important factor allowing them to remain continuity. Therefore, the analysis of factors influencing its performance during the crisis may help contemporary organizations in Central Europe to overcome the crisis caused by the sudden need to relay, more than ever, on information technology.

Keywords: information technology; management; IT reliability; IT performance; COVID-19; epidemic crisis
JEL classification: M10, M15

Received: June 27, 2020; Revised: August 1, 2020; Accepted: August 10, 2020; Prepublished online: November 9, 2020; Published: March 19, 2021  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Tworek, K. (2021). IT Reliability for Ensuring Performance of IT Used in Organizations Operating under Covid-19 Epidemic Crisis. Central European Business Review, 10(1), 39-53. doi: 10.18267/j.cebr.255
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Al-Emran, M., Mezhuyev, V., Kamaludin, A., & Shaalan, K. (2018). The impact of knowledge management processes on information systems: A systematic review. International Journal of Information Management, 43, 173-187. DOI 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.08.001 Go to original source...
    2. Bénassy-Quéré, A., Marimon, R., Pisani-Ferry, J., Reichlin, L., Schoenmaker, D., & Weder, B. (2020). 13 COVID-19: Europe needs a catastrophe relief plan. In R. Baldwin & B. Weder di Mauro (Eds.). Mitigating the COVID economic crisis: Act fast and do whatever it takes (pp. 121-128). London, UK: CEPR Press.
    3. Bieñkowska, A., Tworek K., & Zab³ocka-Klucza, A. (2020). Organizational reliability: Human resources, information technology and management [in press]. London, UK: Routledge. Go to original source...
    4. Cram, W. A., Brohman, K., & Gallupe, R.B. (2016). Information systems control: A review and framework for emerging information systems processes. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 17(4), 2. DOI 10.17705/1jais.00427 Go to original source...
    5. Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340. DOI 10.2307/249008 Go to original source...
    6. DeLone, W. H., & McLean, E.R. (2003). The DeLone and McLean model of information systems success: A ten-year update. Journal of management information systems, 19(4), 9-30. DOI 10.1080/07421222.2003.11045748 Go to original source...
    7. DeLone, W.H., & McLean, E.R. (2016). Information systems success measurement. Foundations and Trends® in Information Systems, 2(1), 1-116. DOI 10.1561/2900000005 Go to original source...
    8. Devaraj, S., & Kohli, R. (2003). Performance impacts of information technology: Is actual usage the missing link? Management science, 49(3), 273-289. DOI 10.1287/mnsc.49.3.273.12736 Go to original source...
    9. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) (1978). Objectives of financial reporting by business enterprises. Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 1 [online]. Retrieved from https://www.fasb.org/resources/ccurl/816/894/aop_CON1.pdf
    10. Gregory, R. W., Beck, R., & Keil, M. (2013). Control balancing in information systems development offshoring projects. MIS Quarterly, 37(4), 1211-1232. DOI 10.25300/misq/2013/37.4.10 Go to original source...
    11. Hilligoss, B., & Rieh, S. Y. (2008). Developing a unifying framework of credibility assessment: Construct, heuristics, and interaction in context. Information Processing & Management, 44(4), 1467-1484. DOI 10.1016/j.ipm.2007.10.001 Go to original source...
    12. Jefferson, T. L. (2006). Evaluating the role of information technology in crisis and emergency management. Vine, 36(3), 261-264. DOI 10.1108/03055720610703542 Go to original source...
    13. Ludwig, H., Keller, A., Dan, A., King, R., & Franck, R. (2003). A service level agreement language for dynamic electronic services. Electronic Commerce Research, 3(1-2), 43-59. DOI 10.1109/wecwis.2002.1021238 Go to original source...
    14. Luftman, J., Lyytinen, K., & Zvi, T. B. (2017). Enhancing the measurement of information technology (IT) business alignment and its influence on organization performance. Journal of Information Technology, 32(1), 26-46. DOI 10.1057/jit.2015.23 Go to original source...
    15. Lyytinen, K. (1987). Different perspectives on information systems: problems and solutions. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 19(1), 5-46. Go to original source...
    16. MacEachren, A. M., Cai, G., McNeese, M., Sharma, R., & Fuhrmann, S. (2006). GeoCollaborative crisis management: Designing technologies to meet real-world needs. Proceedings of the 2006 international conference on Digital government research (pp. 71-72). DOI 10.1145/1146598.1146624 Go to original source...
    17. Martin, W. J. (2017). The global information society. London, UK: Routledge. Go to original source...
    18. Mastroeni, L., Mazzoccoli, A., & Naldi, M. (2019). Service level agreement violations in cloud storage: insurance and compensation sustainability. Future Internet, 11(7), 142. DOI 10.3390/fi11070142 Go to original source...
    19. Moore, G. C., & Benbasat, I. (1991). Development of an instrument to measure the perceptions of adopting an information technology innovation. Information Systems Research, 2(3) 192-222. DOI 10.1287/isre.2.3.192. Go to original source...
    20. Pan, S. L., Pan, G., & Leidner, D. (2012). Crisis response information networks. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 13(1), 31. DOI 10.17705/1jais.00283 Go to original source...
    21. Powley, E. H. (2009). Reclaiming resilience and safety: Resilience activation in the critical period of crisis. Human relations, 62(9), 1289-1326. DOI 10.1177/0018726709334881 Go to original source...
    22. Reuter, C., Marx, A., & Pipek, V. (2012). Crisis management 2.0: Towards a systematization of social software use in crisis situations. International Journal of Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (IJISCRAM), 4(1), 1-16. DOI 10.4018/jiscrm.2012010101 Go to original source...
    23. Saunders, C. S., & Jones, J.W. (1992). Measuring performance of the information systems function. Journal of Management Information Systems, 8(4), 63-82. DOI 10.1080/07421222.1992.11517939. Go to original source...
    24. Seeger, M. W., Sellnow, T.L., & Ulmer, R.R. (2003). Communication and organizational crisis. Greenwood Publishing Group.
    25. Simons, J. (2017). IBM, a pioneer of remote work, calls workers back to the office. The Wall Street Journal [online]. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/ibm-a-pioneer-of-remote-work-calls-workers-back-to-the-office-1495108802
    26. Thompson, B. Y. (2019). The digital nomad lifestyle: (remote) work/leisure balance, privilege, and constructed community. International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 2(1-2), 27-42. DOI 10.1007/s41978-018-00030-y Go to original source...
    27. Tomaél, M. I. (2000). Fontes de informação na Internet: acesso e avaliação das disponîveis nos sites de universidades. Seminário Nacional de Bibliotecas Universitárias, Florianópolis, Vol. 6.
    28. Turoff, M., Chumer, M., de Walle, B. V., & Yao, X. (2004). The design of a dynamic emergency response management information system (DERMIS). Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application (JITTA), 5(4), 1-36.
    29. Tworek, K. (2018a). Information systems reliability in the context of higher education institutions. In L. Gómez Chova, A. López Martínez, & I. Candel Torres (Eds.). Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (pp. 9419-9428). IATED Academy. Go to original source...
    30. Tworek, K. (2018b). Reliability of information systems in organization in the context of banking sector: Empirical study from Poland. Cogent Business & Management, 5(1). DOI 10.1080/23311975.2018.1522752 Go to original source...
    31. Tworek, K. (2019). Aligning IT with business. Cham: Springer. Go to original source...
    32. Tworek, K. (2020). The reliability of Information Systems in organization as a source of competitive advantage. European Journal of International Management, 1(1). DOI 10.1504/EJIM.2020.10018551 Go to original source...
    33. Van der Heijden, H. (2004). User acceptance of hedonic information systems. MIS Quarterly, 28(4), 695-704. DOI 10.2307/25148660. Go to original source...
    34. Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425-478. DOI 10.2307/30036540 Go to original source...
    35. Watkins, M. (2020). Your crisis response plan: The ten effective elements [online]. Retrieved from https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/your-crisis-response-plan-the-ten-effective-elements
    36. Wu, L., & Buyya, R. (2012). Service level agreement (SLA) in utility computing systems [online]. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/pdf/1010.2881.pdf
    37. Yeh, Y.-V., & Lin, C. F. (2015). Aptitude-treatment interactions during creativity training in e-learning: How meaning-making, self-regulation, and knowledge management influence creativity. Educational Technology & Society, 18(1), 119-131.
    38. Zahedi, F. (1987). Reliability of information systems based on the critical success factors-formulation. Mis Quarterly, pp. 187-203. Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content