Darrin Thomas, Ph.D.

Dissertation Abstract

2006-11-30T01:12:00.000-06:00

ALLIANCES AS A VEHICLE FOR E-BUSINESS ENABLEMENT:
A STUDY OF THE ANTECEDENTS OF E-BUSINESS ALLIANCES

Darrin Thomas
Department of Information and Decision Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois (2006)

Dissertation Chairperson: Dr. Ranganathan Chandrasekaran

Since the commercialization of the World Wide Web, web technologies and the Internet have allowed companies to perform digital business operations more efficiently and effectively than ever before. However, e-Business enablement, i.e., the process of transition from a traditional brick-and-mortar organization to a digital brick-and-click firm, has been a daunting task for several firms as it requires specific skills, capital, information, technology, access to markets, and core resources that many firms lack. Many firms have turned to external mechanisms, such as alliances, for building these resources and capabilities.

The present study examined 1) the key antecedents of an e-Business alliance formation and 2) sought to understand why firms choose a specific alliance governance structure over other alternatives when participating in an e-Business alliance. We focused on four governance structures: unilateral contractual, bilateral contractual, minority equity and joint venture alliance forms. We found that EBRC (e-Business resources and capabilities) complementarity, resource and business relatedness, mimicking of alliance form and industry, and the three uncertainty measures of firm, partner and environmental uncertainty all appear to have an impact on the alliance form used, with those listed first having the greatest effect. Through cluster analyses, we were able to derive a scenario of when firms would pursue a particular alliance form given all alliance antecedents.

And you are?

2006-06-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

A while ago I commented on zabasearch.com, a people search engine. Now, in the apparent quest for data transparency for all Americans, you can look up how much your neighbor paid for their house at realestateabc.com or zillow.com. Not enough information for you? Find out how your neighbors voted at fundrace.org. Or if they are registered sex offenders.

This is a good thing, right?

Tori in the City

2005-08-31T22:52:00.000-05:00

Tonight we saw Tori Amos in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millenium Park, the new park in Chicago's front yard. It was a gorgeous venue with perfect acoustics. We were on the lawn, and the audio was just loud enough to drown out folks talking, but not so loud it hurt your ears. Tori was great, and was even complemented by fireworks which I assume were shot off at Navy Pier.

It is times like this when I think I could live in this city long term: it was a beautiful night, even complete with a few stars pushing through the city lights, in a wonderful venue, listening to an amazing artist with my lovely wife. I can think of few better ways to spend an evening.

Ticketmaster Exerts Monopoly Power

2005-08-30T07:57:00.000-05:00

Laura and I are going to see Tori Amos on Wednesday! Alas, this means I had to give money to a company that I hate, Ticketmaster. Here is the breakdown:

Lawn Tickets: $10.00 x 2 tickets
Convenience Charge: $3.80 x 2 tickets
Order Processing Charge: $4.80
Will Call: No Charge (wow, thanks)
Taxes: $0.62
Total: $33.02

In total, Ticketmaster charges represent a 62% bump in the price of each ticket. The price of the tickets went from $10 to $16.20 each, before taxes, after Ticketmaster added its (monopoly-priced) "service" charges.

When Ticketmaster wants 10 times what the government wants, you know something is SERIOUSLY wrong.

Tell Me Again, What is a Blog Good For?

2005-07-29T14:18:00.000-05:00

I can't seem to bring myself to post to this blog right now because I am supposed to be doing other things, most notably, finishing my dissertation revisions, finding a job so we can eat, and playing tennis. Okay, the latter is probably not critical, but when given the option between farting around online and exercising, I have to go with the latter, at least until I rid myself of this spare tire I am trucking around.

There are plenty of things I could comment on, like how cool our new apartment is, how nice it is to have friends nearby, or how I just saved a bunch of money on our car insurance (serious). But again, I should be working. Besides, when the going gets rough, I am not a journal-keeping sorta guy. I have endless streams of thought going through my mind about the minutiae of everyday life and even some about the overarching human condition, but to commit them all to zeros and ones seems so tedious, both for the writer and the reader. I think I'd rather just impart the occasional misadventure ala Josh and spare the world my thoughts on the best vegan cheese I just purchased.

Sure, it is cool to propagate information about random stuff, but ultimately isn't it all just so random that it doesn't mean anything? News houses have recently started citing blogs as sources for trivia answers or comments on current events, a trend I think just perpetuates the dumbing down of the network news. We can't treat the average Joe with access to a computer as a source of anything unless that person can provide reasonable credentials. I can comment on the best vegetarian dining in Chicago, but what is that really worth in the abstract? News sources and blog consolidators treat me as a valid source, when in reality my information is worthless until you know that I am a five-year vegetarian who has sampled a fair amount of the vegetarian fare in Chicago.

I guess what I am getting at is we are entering an era where technology has made it infinitely easy to propagate your opinions on just about anything to just about everyone with a web connection, but this freedom of information and transparency of information does not a valid source make. Without some way of providing and validating credentials, what we have is a large room where everyone is shouting their opinions and nobody is listening, at least not to the most appropriate party. As such, there continues to exist a value in the media in that they provide a validated collection of scholars who's opinions are actually worth more than a grain of salt. Well, except maybe television outlets who seem hung up on celebrity indiscretions more than quality news.

I have to ask myself, do I just want to be another voice shouting on the web? If I really want to provide worthwhile content to this Internet project we've undertaken, I should just hold off and work on building my expertise on specific topics. Then, at a later point, I can become a contributing author to a media outlet, popular website, or website of my own making where I espouse my expert opinion, backed up by my referenced credentials. Ask me about MIS topics, the vegetarian lifestyle, Moby, being a graduate student, or places I've lived in the past. This I can provide you my valid opinion on. But my comment on how Fla-vor-ice *Lite* Pops (an analog to Otter Pops for you Westerners) are absolutely terrible thanks to their lack of sugar is, alas, just one more opinion for the pot. Maybe it's worthwhile in the composite, but on this little blog, from a guy who eats maybe five frozen juice pops in an average year, it is just another opinion versus a well-substantiated fact (trust me though, they are TERRIBLE).

And You Are???

2005-07-19T10:21:00.000-05:00

Wow, I am remiss in updating this poor little blog. This little blog that nobody reads. But I have an excuse, I have been busy. The wife and I moved back to Chicago. The last two weeks have been a flurry of activity with unpacking, exploring our new neighborhood, meeting up with old friends, braving the Taste of Chicago and seeing Moby perform there, etc. It has been fun, but this week Laura returned to work which means it is time for me to return to work.

I'm happy to be back in Chicago. I missed the bustle, the lake, the public transit, our collection of friends here. I think I even missed the miasma of the city, the everpresent homeless and dirtiness. A city uniquely condenses the human condition into an experience who's authenticity cannot be denied: we are, without exception, a messy people who lead extrordinarily messy lives. Our best chance of any success in this journey is to live life fully and try to leave a positive impression on all those who's lives we touch.

Eh, I will stop there before this post becomes more about personal philosophy than Chicago. If you want more messiness, check out PostSecret. Don't say I didn't warn you that it is sad.

Darn that Runaway Bride

2005-06-27T07:58:00.000-05:00

Rumor has it that the "Runaway Bride" Jennifer Wilbanks is getting approximately half a million dollars to tell her story to the world via a book/tv/movie/something deal. Personally, I think we should all get a chunk of these proceeds for having to put up with this story; why do I care about some wealthy white girl who got cold feet? All that idiot did was steal police and news resources away from something worthwhile, and now we are rewarding her for it.

Never mind the fact that there are *plenty* of other people abducted, murdered, etc every year who are not white, female, and affluent. For a society that tries to deny its predilection for the objectification of women, we sure do love hearing stories about missing women of child-bearing age. You just know there are reporters combing over fresh police reports looking for the latest pretty young girl who stumbled into evil all the while outrightly ignoring the millions who have no choice but to grow up in its throws. I believe the latter offers richer stories and deserves more attention, but apparently I am the minority in that opinion.

Brother, Can You Spare a SSN?

2005-06-06T09:57:00.000-05:00

Multiple choice question: This CNN article, "Professor charged with stealing students' IDs", is:

a clear reason why social security numbers should not be used as a means of identification in academic (and plenty of other) settings.
an indication of what you risk when you pay adjunct faculty too little.
both.

Wal-Mart is Rolling Back Wages!

2005-06-04T17:47:00.000-05:00

A note about Wal-Mart from today's Chicago Tribune:
"Full-time employees make $9.68 an hour, or about 30 percent less than grocery workers, according to a University of California at Berkeley study."

Assuming a 40 hour work week and 52 weeks of diligent service per year, that is an annual income of $20,134.40. How is it not immediately transparent to all readers that Wal-Mart has chosen the $9.68 sum so their employees will at least break $20k annually?

Does Wal-Mart really think their customers would protest if they raised prices by a few pennies in order to pay better wages? In 2004 Wal-Mart had $288 billion in sales, gross profits of $68 billion and net income of over $10 billion. Wal-Mart employs one million employees in the U.S. (that's one in 300 U.S. citizens) and pays them squat.

My suggestion to Wal-Mart, which is facing greater competition from trendier stores like Target, is that they should pay their employees better, and spin this revision to boost sales; Run advertisements that portray Wal-Mart as a place that loves their employees and treats them with respect, and mean it. Your employees will spend more at Wal-Mart, your critics will be silenced (well, at least on this issue), and that elusive middle-class that avoids Wal-Mart may once again consider shopping at a store that has, up to now, best been known as a company that dominates at the cost of everyone in their path, including their own employees.

I Have a New Publication Out Today

2005-06-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

A case study I co-wrote hit bookshelves today: “Race to Dot-Com and Back: Lessons on e-Business Spin-Offs and Re-Integration”

An abstract: This article describes the experiences of a firm that created a dot.com spin-off, only to reintegrate it with the parent organization the following year. Based on this case study, key considerations for creating and successfully managing an e-Business spin-off are identified.

Email me if you are interested in reading it, or check it out via your local University's library:
Thomas, D., Ranganathan, C., and Desouza, K.C., “Race to Dot-Com and Back: Lessons on e-Business Spin-Offs and Re-Integration,” Information Systems Management, 22:3, Summer 2005, pp. 23-30.

Darrin's Idea Book

2005-06-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I get ideas that I think could really make money. Most of them I just keep to myself because it seems stupid to broadcast them on the internet for the general public to intercept. It's like when an overly excited MBA/manager type comes up to you and says, "If you had some capital and wanted to parlay that into an exciting new enterprise/idea, what would that be? What is your idea?" Like I'm going to tell you, geeze, come up with your own ideas.

So heres a freebie cause I don't see myself doing anything with it, and it has already been done to a limited extent:

Companies can't stop talking about converting your digital photographs into paper form. Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Sams, etc all offer this: Bring your memory card in and we'll give you hardcopies of your pictures for 29 cents each. Great.

Yet 85% of the pictures in this world end up forever buried in drawers, and those 15% (I think that is a very liberal estimate) that do make it to albums again sit on the shelf. So I propose a digital revival: Bring in your stack of old photographs and we'll dump them on a DVD for you. Companies could add custom features like automatic slide-shows when you drop the DVD in a conventional player, or of course you can pull the saved pictures off for manipulation or sorting on your home computer. If companies really want to get crazy, they could offer to put all the pictures online for either display or sorting before the photos get dumped to the DVD.

With a fair amount of automation, specifically scanners with auto-feeders and possibly computer software that dumps the files to DVD or the web, a stack of photos could be done in seconds. Charge 20 cents a picture, or more for value-added services, and voila, you've reversed the trend of digital to analog in your favor.

Market it as "make your photos last forever" or "revive those old photos" or some advert copy like that. I really think if Kinkos offered this in all their stores, they could kill. Or offer it as a drop-off service and mail it in to a central agency. Maybe that is how I could put it within my grasp: start it as a central business and get other companies to market it and sell it. I could pick up the photos at the various retailers, do the processing, then drop the DVD off a few days later. Give them 30%, then pocket the rest. I think in a large metro you could make some good money to start, then take it nationwide. Now my broke ass just needs investors ;)

The Dead Grandmother Effect

2005-05-31T11:25:00.001-05:00

Earlier this year some would-be students followed the guidance of hackers who discovered a way to review their admittance decision to some 100+ colleges. Seems that many of the top schools, including Stanford, Harvard, and MIT had outsourced their admissions web-apps to a third party who had a bug in their software; Run the appropriate script, and you could view if you had been accepted or denied (assuming they had made a decision about your file) before the formal announcement date.

Plenty of over-eager students took the bait and checked their admittance decisions through the back door. Now Stanford, Harvard, and MIT's B-Schools have all dumped these candidates from their applicant rosters. In this day and age of ethical violations and Sarbanes-Oxley, you think these applicants would know better. I don't even think this stunt shows technological prowess, rather instead just shows that they can follow directions on how to run web commands.

It really is a sad state of affairs when you have presumably top candidates for top schools utilizing unethical behavior to try to get an upper hand. When I was teaching, I occasionally had students hand me papers that were photocopies of their friend's homework submissions, with their name penciled in the corner. Do they really think I am that retarded or ambivalent? Why would I reward such behavior by allowing that to pass my desk unfettered? In those cases I would let them test my boundaries once by writing them a scathing message about how next time they would get a zero, and I usually knocked their grade down a notch or two. The next time, which only came up once or twice, it was referred to proper academic channels. Behavior like that is intolerable in students and criminal in business, so for their sake I treated it as such.

God that makes me sound like such a bastard who operates only by the book. I don't mind giving second chances and bending the rules now and then, but don't lie to me repeatedly. I get a laugh at students who tell me (true story) they lost their hearing and need to leave class, yet hear my dismissal of them perfectly fine, or the whole dead grandmother effect, but please, don't kill off your entire family for the benefit of a better grade in my class. After the first relative, I (and your family) don't have the patience for it.

How to Get Free Spam Blocking

2005-05-31T11:25:00.000-05:00

I've discovered how to get free spam blocking for email. It requires that you have some IT acumen, like knowing how to access your mail server, and a gmail account:

Setup the email account you want to be spam free to forward all mail to your gmail account (Need a gmail account? Ask me for one). Gmail will sort out the spam with its built-in filters.

From now on, check your email though gmail. If you want to download it to your desktop, use the POP3 services built into gmail.

With POP3 properly re-configured on your desktop, the transition to gmail will be transparent: instead of your email client (Outlook, Eudora, etc) checking your current spam-ridden host, it will check gmail for spam-free email. Yippee!

Dr. Laura Renteria

2005-05-09T16:39:00.000-05:00

Late last week Laura defended her dissertation, so she is now a Ph.D.! I'm really proud of her, she worked very hard to get to this point and is a definite inspiration.

As for what she is going to do with her degree, when we return to Chicago she'll work at UIC seeing both Spanish and English-speaking patients in the neuropsychology clinic there. UIC is next to a very large Mexican community (Pilsen), so she'll be able to help a traditionally underserved population.

Goooo Laura! :)

Curiousity Killed the Cat

2005-04-21T11:39:00.000-05:00

I've been getting more hits since transititioning to this new website format. Quite a few from overseas too. So naturally I am curious about who is reading my blog. Thus I've put in a poll at right and below in hopes that people who don't want to leave a comment or drop me an email will at least answer the poll. It is totally anonymous, and will either satisfy my curiousity or make things worse :)

Can you hear me now?

2005-04-18T16:48:00.000-05:00

From the San Francisco Chronicle: Verizon CEO sounds off on Wi-Fi, customer gripes. An excerpt:

"Why in the world would you think your (cell) phone would work in your house?" Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said. "The customer has come to expect so much. They want it to work in the elevator; they want it to work in the basement."

ZabaSearch.com Free People Search

2005-04-15T18:16:00.000-05:00

I am absolutely addicted to this: ZabaSearch.com Free People Search. It has four addresses for Laura and I, spanning AK, IL, and FL. So clearly alot of the information is outdated, but cool/scary none the less.

An Automatic Paper Generator

2005-04-14T15:14:00.000-05:00

For those of you keen on getting publications, check out the SCIgen Automatic Computer Science Paper Generator. Too bad the end result isn't terribly coherent.

Dodging a Bullet

2005-03-31T12:13:00.000-06:00

"More than 60 percent of all cancer deaths could be prevented if Americans stopped smoking, exercised more, ate healthier food and got recommended cancer screenings, the American Cancer Society reported on Thursday." - CNN

So there it is, the reason I don't smoke, don't really drink, and am vegetarian. Pretty straight-forward. I've watched my mother battle cancer and my father die from it. I don't need any more clues to know I am at risk. So I've made healthy life choices to hopefully counteract that risk. How about you?

The reason I take such offense at tobacco is it propigates avoidable death and hardship. Have you ever lost a family member or friend to cancer? What if it could have been avoided? People who smoke usually talk about quality of life, "I want to enjoy my time while I am here", but at what cost? Coughing up lung butter every morning, intolerable cravings, a leathery face, terrible breath, or how about facing a much higher risk of early death much to the dismay of you and those you love? Isn't another 5-10 years with your family, with your children, with your spouse worth more than another cigarette?

I Saw it on the Interweb

2005-03-09T21:18:00.000-06:00

Random Thoughts:

When did Interweb become a hip/cool/funny synonym for Internet? I first saw it when Moby made a joke reference to how confused people may goof up their references. "Hey, I am going to go surf my email." "Wow, have you checked out that Interweb lately?" Shit like that.
Since starting to update my website with some regularity, I am getting far more hits. About a quarter are search engine bots though, which leads me to believe that search engines are horribly inefficient. Think about a human-based analogy: I want to see what everyone I know in the world is up to, so I call each person at least every other day. Wanting to save on cell phone charges (hah!), I only talk to them for ~2 seconds each. Rinse, repeat. Wackiness.
Before blogs it was personal websites. I met my wife through one. Seven years ago it was a neat thing to have. It showed you were part of the techno-literati. Now, it's blogs, and it has been simplified so more people can participate, for better or for worse (which I am sure you are nodding now, wondering why am I reading this drivel?) My prediction for five years from now? plogs, or photo logs. We'll all post pictures regularly to share with friends and family that picture we took of the guy on the train eating the full stack of pancakes. Oh I can't wait.
Required Reading: Society is dead, we have retreated into the iWorld. Oddly prophetic.

2005-02-25T18:24:00.000-06:00

This is my wife, Laura Renteria (keepin' it real with her latin last name). She hates pictures, but has graciously allowed me to post this one of her.