Purpose
Organizations worldwide are adopting software as a service (SaaS) applications, where they pay a subscription fee to gain access rather than buying the software. The extant models on software acquisition processes, several of which are based on organizational buying behavior, do not sufficiently explain how SaaS application acquisition decisions are made. This study aims to investigate the acquisition process organizations follow for SaaS software, the changes to the roles of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the business user and also looks at the impact of SaaS on the proliferation of unauthorized software systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used exploratory research using the grounded theory approach based on 18 in-depth interviews conducted with respondents who have studied with enterprise software delivered on-premise and as SaaS in different roles such as sales, consulting, CIO, information technology (IT) management and product development.
Findings
The authors identified a need to classify the SaaS software and developed a framework that uses software specificity and its strategic importance to the organization to classify SaaS applications. The aforementioned framework is used to explain how software evaluation processes have changed for different kinds of SaaS applications. The authors also found that the CIO’s and the business users’ have changed substantially in SaaS application evaluations and found evidence to show that shadow IT will be restricted to some classes of SaaS applications.
Originality/value
By focusing on the changes to the roles and responsibilities of the members of the buying center, this paper provides unique insights into how the acquisition process of SaaS is different from the extant models used to explain enterprise software acquisitions. An understanding of how information search is conducted by the business users will help software vendors to target business users better.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to provide a framework of methods and skills for employer-oriented personal branding among business school students to create an effective digital curriculum vitae for employment and to test the students' awareness of personal branding techniques.Design/methodology/approachThis was a mixed methods study which followed an exploratory model, where the findings of the qualitative first stage helped develop the hypotheses for the second (quantitative) stage of the study. The rich detailed data collected from the qualitative phase were used to develop the instrument for stage 2. Responses based on Likert scale were used in stage 2 to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe study tested hypotheses relating to personal branding, demonstrating that most of the skills and methods studied are held in high esteem by business school students. The study clearly establishes that these students possess a high degree of awareness about the need for employer-oriented personal branding and use various methods and skills to build their brand, validating our hypotheses.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focused only on two top-tier Indian business school students. A larger and more inclusive study in other emerging market nations may validate its findings. Students from non-business disciplines could be studied to find out differences in approaches to employer-oriented self-branding.Practical implicationsStudents may be able to brand themselves better through the use of the methods and skills tested in this study. Within the business schools, faculty mentors can use this methodology to support students in further consolidation of their brand with the help of social media profiles such as LinkedIn, Facebook and others. The skills learnt in the business school will stand the student in good stead, and the company will benefit from their personal branding efforts translating into commercial benefits for the firm.Originality/valueThis paper provides a structured approach towards employer-oriented personal branding of students, missing in earlier studies.
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