Information technology maturity stages and enterprise benchmarking: an empirical study
| Pages | 1200-1218 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570810914892 |
| Published date | 31 October 2008 |
| Date | 31 October 2008 |
| Author | Choon Seong Leem,Byeong Wan Kim,Eun Jung Yu,Min Ho Paek |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Information technology maturity
stages and enterprise
benchmarking: an empirical study
Choon Seong Leem, Byeong Wan Kim and Eun Jung Yu
Department of Industrial and Information Engineering, Yonsei University,
Seoul, South Korea, and
Min Ho Paek
RF Leader, Inc., Seongnam, South Korea
Abstract
Purpose – Recently, many enterprises are using a variety of methods and techniques to examine and
improve their current maturity level of information technology (IT). Although IT evaluation studies
based on IT maturity stages have been conducted widely, the stages theory has not been confirmed
through statistical testing. IT evaluation activities can present managerial implications to an
enterprise by determining where it stands within the stages theory. The purpose of this paper is to test
empirically and repeatedly the once-defined maturity model in order to make its validity more
powerful.
Design/methodology/approach – To define IT maturity stages and benchmarks with statistical
testing, evaluation fields and factors of the L&K Model are referred to. Data were gathered by a
questionnaire survey and interviews, in which 312 enterprises in South Korea participated.
Consequently, IT maturity stages are defined and significant benchmarks of each stage are validated
through ANOVA and post hoc comparison methods.
Findings – The results of the study indicate the meanings and benchmarks of newly defined five
stages of IT maturity: initiation,recognition,diffusion,control, and integration.
Practical implications – The aim of this study is not only to apply an advanced methodology to
study empirically how IT maturity level of an enterprise is improved, but also to suggest practical
guidelines for actions to improve it.
Originality/value – The five stages model is totally enhanced and reformulated from the previous
stages theories. First, well-combined and comprehensive evaluation factors are used to critically
appraise the evolutionistic characteristic of IT in enterprises. Second, the definition and benchmarks of
the five stages model are confirmed through statistical testing with sufficient sample size (n¼312).
Keywords Communicationtechnologies, Statistical testing
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Now, enterprise managers are in need of a definite roadmap for maximizing IT
performance. Accordingly, IT evaluation methodology must be built on the grounds of
a “maturity model,” also called the “stages theory,” not only to determine the current
stage of IT but also to show its next step (Nolan, 1979; Benbasat et al. , 1980; Mutsaer
et al., 1998). In other words, the enterprises not only need to establish a comprehensiv e
concept and goals on the basis of the evolutionistic characteristics of IT but also to
systematically identify their business objectives through continuous evaluation of
current IT conditions.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
IMDS
108,9
1200
Received 28 April 2008
Revised 26 June 2008
Accepted 16 July 2008
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 108 No. 9, 2008
pp. 1200-1218
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/02635570810914892
In its simplest conception, “maturity” refers to the state of being fully developed,
and “maturity stage” refers to a succession of changes that affect an entity (e.g., a
species, an industry, or a society). The maturity model composed of several stages
assesses history as a developmental, progressive, and directional set of changes that
increase performance with the passage of time. Such theories embody a clear concept of
direction and destination of changes. These evolutionistic models explain the logic of
development, typically in the form of stages that follow one another, in which each
stage is a precursor for the next one (King and Kraemer, 1984). Major studies on the
stages theories of IT maturity (Nolan, 1979; Mutsaer et al., 1998), however, have been
based on just a theoretical literature survey, and still remain unconfirmed statistically.
Therefore, this study deals with the following two issues:
(1) defining the IT maturity model by using statistical methods; and
(2) comparing and contrasting the results of this study and those of previous
research.
To solve these issues, statistical testing was conducted on 312 South Korean
enterprises, using an open questionnaire for assessment of IT maturity, which we
developed on the basis of Leem and Kim’s (2004) evaluation fields and factors hereafter
referred to as the L&K Model.
The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 introduces the L&K Model including IT
maturity stages and their conceptual benchmarks. Section 3 describes the methodology
used in this study and explains how the group of enterprises is selected. In Section 4,
the results are analyzed statistically so that the meaning and benchmarks of each IT
maturity level are redefined. Finally, in Section 5, we suggest the managerial
implications by comparing the results obtained with those of other studies,
recommending practical guidelines for improving the IT maturity level.
2. The L&K Model
A number of IT evaluation methods have been studied so far (DeLone and McLean,
1992, 2002; Saunders and Jones, 1992; Seddon and Kiew, 1994; Goodhue and
Thompson, 1995; Myers et al., 1998; Goodhue, 1998). Previous theoretical models,
however, may not be easily applied to real situations, because they are not successful in
embodying detailed evaluation procedures based on continuous system development
life cycle (SDLC). Therefore, we used the L&K Model. This is one of the latest methods,
which overcame the shortcomings of previous works, and has been used in the
Informatization Evaluation Project of the Korean Government for 11 years.
The L&K Model includes a classification of evaluation items and factors, and they
are divided into six fields: IT vision,IT infrastructure,IT organization and rules,IT
supporting,IT application, and IT usage. The evaluation fields are further divided into
evaluation factors in terms of dimension subjects (who), objects (what), and
relationships between two perspectives (see Leem and Kim (2004) for details).
3. Empirical research
Case studies and empirical testing have been consistently regarded as suitable
methodologiesfor the study of IT (Baroudiand Orlikowski, 1989; Benbasatet al.,1987).No
such research for IT maturity, however, had been conducted in South Korea before.
Recently, theKorean Government announced an ambitious IT strategy,and Korea ranks
IT maturity
stages
1201
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