METADATA PARADIGM FOR EFFECTIVE GLOBAL

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE MNCS

Longy O. Anyanwu, Ed. D.

Math & Computer Science Department, Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, IL 60463, USA

Gladys A. Arome, Ph.D.

Educational Computing and Technology, Barry University, United States

Jared Keengwe, Doctoral Candidate

Instructional Media Technology, Indiana Sate University, United States

Keywords: Metadata paradigm, Global information technology, Outsourcing, Culture-sensitive systems, Client-server

systems, Architectural design, Metanational organizations, Distributed intelligence, Ontology-based

metadata registry.

Abstract: Multinational business expansion and competition have escalated in the recent years, particularly in Eastern

Europe and the third world. Tremendous opportunities, therefore, have been created for many companies

and formidable hindrances have been amassed against others. Business failure rates among these

multinational enterprises have alarmingly increased beyond expectation. So has their IT implementation.

The increasing popularity and use of the Internet which businesses have little control of, are an added

complication. This study identifies a matrix of mitigating factors, as well as information-base distribution

mechanism, critical to successful GIT implementation in today’s multinational enterprises. The relevance

and impact of these factors on the multinational businesses are discussed. Consequently, appropriate

solutions for each problem are suggested.

1 INTRODUCTION

The rapid growth of information value and use,

coupled with technological advances and consequent

popularity of globalization of the world economy,

have fostered continued growth of transnational

organizations (Gollapudi, 1996; Raynovich, 1995;

Barlett, 1989). See Figure 1 for obvious rapid

growth of Internet economy

and popularity,

respectively. This new business and computing

frontier is driven by a number of critical factors such

as: 1) the imperative globalization of the national

economy, which has become a priority in many

countries; 2) the increasingly formidable national

and international competition among busi nesses; 3)

the rapidly expanding Business Strategic Alliances,

resulting in the dissolution of formal corporate

boundaries; and 4) the cost-driven search for

information and knowledge distribution alternatives.

(Betz, 2003; Cornin, 1995). Tremendous

opportunities, therefore, have been created for many

organizations and formidable hindrances have been

amassed against others. Business failure rates

among these transnational organizations have

increased. What are the impacts of business

globalization on the multinational corporation

(MNC) in general, and the global information

technology (GIT) management in particular? A

GIT, here, is an enterprise-based and technology

fostered distributed data management system that is

spread in different countries. Recent studies indicate

that GIT managers are resorting to culture-sensitive

client/server(C/S) technology for effective

implementation of GIT (Ferreira, 2004; Jeong, 2003;

Flynn, 1994, Kizior, 1993). But, how can an IS

manager successfully implement a C/S-based

information system in a global environment? How

can they be adequately prepared to do just that?

Additionally, studies suggest that interest in the

Internet will grow faster than ever (December, 1995)

Source: Compiled from NUA Internet Surveys, Gartner

Group, and TForecasts (2003)

209

O. Anyanwu L., A. Arome G. and Keengwe J. (2005).

METADATA PARADIGM FOR EFFECTIVE GLOBAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE MNCS.

In Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, pages 209-218

DOI: 10.5220/0002541602090218

 SciTePress

year 1999

year 2001

year 2003

year 2005

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

Market

Worth (in

Billions

USD)

Years considered

Series1

Figure 1: World e-Commerce Market (1999 – 2005)

According to some studies, the number of users of

on-line services and the Internet, especially the

World Wide Web, will continue to rise rapidly

(Betz, 2004; Verity, 1994; Raynovich, 1995). The

Internet will continue to experience commercial

growth. Clearly, the Internet stimulated the

economic expansion in the United States. The

adoption of technological innovation purposed to

stimulate economic expansion has become a pattern

in modern economies (RDF, 2003; Gilster, 1994;

NUA1, 2003).

When a company goes global, management begins

to face additional problems that include multilingual

and multicultural differentials, varying legal systems

and governmental regulations, different political

environments, and widely varied bureaucratic

processes. It will find different currencies, multiple

time zones and many different approaches to

business information systems implementation and

education. When a firm enters the global market, all

managers struggle with the severe strain on the

organization. However, it is the GIT management

personnel, who additionally, are expected to

alleviate many of these organizational problems

generated by the globalization initiatives. The

would-be-successful GIT managers must not only be

able to cope with present problems but also must

know when new technology is needed to enhance

the GIT operation. Given the additional information

management complications triggered by the surging

demand for Internet services, the GIT professionals

face the daunting task of reducing the operational

failure rate of the multinational companies, which

failures stem essentially from information services

ineffectiveness. How can these business failures be

minimized and successes maximized?

2 PURPOSE AND METHOD

This study focuses on identifying the dominant

factors that influence the success or failure of global

information technology(GIT) among the MNCs.

These factors will be examined in four broad

categories or zones with respect to their impacts on

business and IS management, namely: general

management factors, IS management factors,

cultural factors, and environmental factors. Based on

the analysis of dominant factors and their associated

problems, this study will streamline a set of

recommendations for managing them, to enable a

successful GIT implementation and management in

an MNC. It is postulated in this study that the

identification and analysis of these dominant factors,

coupled with the GIT implementation guide, will

enable a successful implementation and effective

management of these GIT factors which can

sometimes be the sole determinant of the success or

failure of a global business venture.

3 SURVEY OF LITERATURE

For their inherent advantages, C/S systems have

rapidly swept through the IS implementation and

operation in businesses in many parts of the world.

Kondratie, early in the twentieth century, was one of

early investigators into the relationship between

technology and economy (Betz, 2004). Robert

Ayers updated Kondratie's earlier empirical

correlation between European industrial expansion

and contraction and the occurrence of new

technology-based industries (Ayers, 1990). Several

studies indicate that more and more businesses have

either implemented or are planning to implement

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C/S-based distributed intelligence system within the

next few years (Bentley, 2001; Betz, 2003; ISO/IEC

11179, 2003; Anyanwu, 1994; Schultheis, 1994;

Kim, 1995; Forcht, 1994; Gollapudi, 1996; Pruckler,

1996). However, this C/S growth has, to a large

extent, been limited to national business operations

(Anyanwu, 1994). As corporations compete in

international markets, attention has begun to shift to

the utilization of C/S technology to enhance

competitive advantage beyond the national borders

(Schultheis, 1994). Now, a large number of these

organizations are embarking on global business

initiatives (NUA2, 2003; Flynn, 1994; Aggarwal,

1994; Kizior, 1993). Also, there is a growing

recognition in the literature that managing IS in an

international environment poses unique and difficult

challenges (Shroeder, 2002; MARC, 2003; Deans,

1992; Lucas, 1994). Additionally, factors such as

government policies, economic structures, corporate

strategies, educational infrastructures are all

important to successful technological innovation and

economic development, (Betz, 2004). Numerous

studies appear to cluster their data analyses along

two concerns: the importance of globalization in

organizations and the role of the information

technology in its management (Hedlund, 1990;

Reich, 1990; Senn, 1991; Stair, 1992; Thurow,

1992). Nonetheless, more recent studies have

proffered the metanational model as the most

effective way to successfully manage a technology-

based implementation of an MNC, while yet other

researches have presented the metadata concept and

model to be an effective method to manage the

distributed databases of the technology-minded

MNCs (Doz, 2001; Jeong, 2004; Bentley, 2001;

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32, 2003; NOAA, 2003;

WGISC, 2003). In this direction of GIT

management, therefore, most of the existing research

has so far focused on just the technical development

within the knowledge base domain properties of GIT

(Jeong, 2004; Bentley, 2001; ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32,

2003; NOAA, 2003; WGISC, 2003). This study,

therefore, attempts to harness and merge the

strengths of the Metanational and the Metadata

models to implement an effective IS that alleviates

the GIT problems triggered by the dominant

influencing factors identified in Table 1 and

described below.

4 DOMINANT INFLUENCING

In their attempt to develop, control and directly use

are

FACTORS

the information systems, the GIT users around the

world interact among themselves and in their

complex variety of systemic differences such as

socio-cultural heritages, ideological inclinations,

legal and economic environments, and levels of

technological know-how. This uneven mixture of

end-users increases the complexity of the problems

traditionally faced in the management of end-user

computing, namely, information integrity and

security, information privacy and accessibility, and

information management effectiveness. Based on

literature, dominant factors include global

information technology management effectiveness,

cultural differential, communication ineffectiveness,

resource availability, and system outsourcing.

The inherent characteristics of these factors

delineated accordingly. Relevant suggestions are

also made. These factors are detailed later in the

study. Depending on management effectiveness,

these factors can be hindering, motivating or both to

businesses. The literature fields some GIT

management approaches which in their relative

effectiveness include the Top-down, and Bottom-up

database architectures and management models, the

Metanational management model, and the Localized

Global metadata registry (LOG) management model.

Nevertheless, based on the problems identified in

this study, the aforementioned dominant influencing

factors, and the results of the factor analysis, we will

propose a Metanational Localized Global metadata

registry (METALOG) model to enable a successful

implementation and management of GIT-based

distributed intelligence (or knowledge bases) in an

MNC. The METALOG model is a natural blend of

the strengths of both the metanational and the LOG

models. Both of these models are described below.

METADATA PARADIGM FOR EFFECTIVE GLOBAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE MNCS

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Table 1: GIT Analysis and Implementation Guide

Factor Zone

Characteristic concern(s) Suggestion(s)

GIT

Management

Effectiveness

I, E, M

• Parochial management of IT

• Management of technological transfer

& integration

• Variant standards & regulations in

host countries

• Information accessibility

• Threats to information integrity &

system security

• Adopt management. through coordination style

• Consider themes from a global perspective

• Use workable local solutions

• Customize application to local needs &

regulations

• Utilize user-friendly systems

• Monitor violations to security regulations

• Develop global data dictionary

• Batch transfer of files, etc. should be used often

• Use messaging systems between sites

• Update data & technology frequently

Cultural

Differential

• Cross-cultural dominance in

management teams

• Differing user value/belief systems

• Take advantage of the strengths of cultural

diversity

• Plan for cultural diversity

• Acquire/dev. Multi-culturally sensitive or

adaptable systems

Communication

Effectiveness

• Incomplete or misinterpreted

communication

• Learn other cultures & languages

• Develop language-independent programs

• Seek alternate communication channels

Resource

Availability

I, E

• Country-wise differential availability

of resources (human, data,

technology, etc.)

• Use country-specific or country-adaptable

applications

• Be prepared to accept less than perfect

products/solutions in some countries

System

Outsourcing

I, M, E

• Outsourcing needs in systems

acquisition/development (e.g. for

purposes of economy)

• Where feasible, develop systems in-house

• If outsourcing is used, incorporate organizational

information system architecture (ISA)

• Develop enterprise-wide integrated data resource

systems

• Acquire/dev. Multi-culturally sensitive or

adaptable systems

5 THE METANATIONAL MODEL

The metanational ideal is an organization finely

tuned to sense, mobilize, and leverage pockets of

specialist knowledge dispersed around the world.

These capabilities will open the door to new and

powerful sources of value-creation and competitive

advantage that traditional multinationals are not able

to harness. The metanational will be able to innovate

in unique ways, to leverage this innovation for

higher sales revenues and greater profits, and thus to

create more shareholder value than its rivals. So

what kinds of organizational structures and

processes must be put in place to build metanational

advantage? What would a coherent metanational

look like? Three levels of competition in the global

knowledge economy are identified as: 1) the

competition to identify and access new

competencies, innovative technologies, and market

knowledge that are scattered around the world; 2)

the competition to innovate by mobilizing and

integrating this globally dispersed knowledge; and

3) the competition to leverage this innovation

through an efficient and flexible network of

operations. Tomorrow's metanationals will need to

build organizations that can win in all three of these

competitive arenas. Each arena requires different

units, locations, roles and responsibilities, processes,

performance measures and incentive systems, and

skill sets. Therefore the metanational organization

must be designed around three distinct planes (or

suborganizations), each focused on one of these

competitive areas. These areas are generally termed

the sensing plane, the mobilizing plane, and the

operating plane. This set of "planes" provides a way

of visualizing the basic framework around which a

metanational can be built (Doz, 2001). In this study,

“Zone” indicates the major area of user-work-life in which the

dominant influencing factors exist. C -for cultural factors, E -for

environmental factors other than cultural, I -for information

systems factors, and M -for basic management factors. In some

instances, there is a domain overlap. In such cases, the domain

factors are listed in order of dominance

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the metanational concept is basically used to

functionally reorganize the enterprise into three

main subunits to ensure that the enterprise ably

meets the demands of these competitive arenas.

6 THE LOCALIZED GLOBAL

METADATA REGISTRY (LOG)

MODEL

The metadata concept and model have been

severally proffered as an effective method to manage

the databases of the technology-minded MNCs

(Jeong, 2004). Metadata, which is descriptive data

on data as to how it was collected, processed and

organized, improves interoperability between

databases or knowledge bases (Bentley, 2001;

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32, 2003; NOAA, 2003;

WGISC, 2003). The database domain properties

include: data level –degree of specialization of data;

user level –degree of specialization of users’

knowledge about corresponding domains, e.g.

general knowledge users and expert knowledge

users; and data usability. While the metantional

approach focuses on the business enterprise

reorganization for effectiveness in global markets,

the global metadata registry approach centers on

ensuring an effective implementation and

ditributivity of the databases and knowledge bases of

the MNCs. This arrangement results in

herarchically layered metadata registries. Global

Metadata Registry (MDR) can be used as a global

guideline that includes a set of common and

standard data specifications over all data sets within

the MNC. With the highest priority, global MDR is

at the top of visibility level in the organization.

Until now, many researchers have integrated

databases based on metadata, because of these

advantages, but these efforts were exerted on data

integration without regard to the domain properties

(e.g., data level, user level, data usability). In

follow-up studies, all data were classified into

several data sets hiearchically by the relationship

between data and users. In other words, users are

interested only in a part of data on the entire data set.

For example, the general users (non-experts) are just

interested in the simple and easy data with low

complexity, and the experts are interested in more

specialized and complicated data as well as simple

data. As a result, there is no need to create a

guideline on the entire data at first integration step.

A minimized global guideline is built to integrate the

most common and general data at the beginning, and

then the guideline may be extended progressively

according to domain properties. These scalability

and data definition properties of the metadata now

become the infrastructural building blocks of the

proposed METALOG system.

7 THE PROPOSED METALOG

MODEL

As highlighted previously, in this paper, the term

“domain properties” means data level, user level,

and data usability. We focus on the relationship of

data level, user level and data quantity, since data

usability is integral to data quantity. Data level

indicates the specialization degree of data. In

general, the more specialized data is, the more

detailed and complicated it is. User level means the

specialized knowledge degree of users about

corresponding domains. The experts, on higher

intellectual level, are interested in more profound

and complicated data including general data.

Because the experts utilize more data than the

general users, the data quantity can be grouped

hierarchically by the relationships among the other

domain properties. Here, we defined this concept as

data visibility. A metadata registry (including a set

of standard data elements and its quantity) is

generally affected by the quantity of source data.

Therefore, we can build metadata registries

hierarchically. And they are classified into global

metadata registry and local metadata registry. As a

result, both data sets and data quantities are

hierarchical according to user level and therefore,

we can integrate data progressively based on the

visibility.

Global MDR layer

(used by most users)

Local MDR 1 layer

(used by some users)

•

Local MDR n

(used by experts)

Figure 2: The METALOG’s

Hierarchical MDR and Data Visibility

Globalization

Localization

Figure 2: The METALOG’s Hierarchical MDR and

Data Visibility

In Figure 2, all of data sets are created hierarchically

according to data specialization and user

specialization. Global MDR can be used as a global

guideline that includes a set of common and

METADATA PARADIGM FOR EFFECTIVE GLOBAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE MNCS

213

standard data specifications over all data sets for the

MNC. It has a set of data elements that is used by

most users. So it is on top of visibility level (i.e., it

has the highest priority for integration). On the

other hand, Local MDRs have a common data

specification set for each partial data set

respectively. Therefore, the more localized MDRs

are, the lower their visibility values. Consequently,

the global MDR must be created at the first

integration step, because the visibility of the

corresponding data set is highest. Then, the local

MDRs are created progressively as the results of

integration over the corresponding data sets.

The Metanational Localized Global metadata

registry (METALOG) method supports the

mechanism to extend the existing metadata registries

progressively. The generalized data element can be

created directly from source databases in the data

resource layer. As described already, each metadata

registry can be placed in the local MDR layer

dependently and locally. Therefore, a new metadata

element can be registered into the corresponding

local metadata registry respectively. New data

elements are also created from metadata registries.

Thereafter, they can be registered into the global

MDR in the global MDR layer. The system

architecture of the METALOG method shown in

Figure 3 basically consists of five layers: the user

interface layer that provides services such as

searching, viewing, etc. Below this user interface

layer is the Global MDR which attends to

specialized user needs. The GMDR layer has four

components that include GMDR agent which

manages and controls the GMDR and the global

repository. The Local MDR layer, consisting of four

components, attends to the general user needs.

Between the GMDR and LMDR is the Distributed

Access Interface. Finally, at the bottom is the actual

database set. The metadata registries must be

updated to extend the guidelines whenever a new

standard data (data element) is generalized. That is,

we must reflect the changed situations to the

metadata registries for the progressive integration of

all data.

By utilizing progressive data integration that reflects

domain properties, the METALOG method

overcomes the problem with prevalent static

integration approaches. Figure 4 below shows the

design and functional implementation of the

METALOG system.

8 HOW IS THE METALOG A

BETTER AND MORE

EFFECTIVE SYSTEM?

The METALOG will be well suited particularly to

business organizations with cost restrictions (and

most MNCs are). Additionally, this proposed

method provides a progressive integration

mechanism adaptable to the presently popular

distributed intelligence that includes data- and

knowledge-bases, e-Commerce, e-Government, and

network resource management, etc.

Global Meta

Repository

Global

MDR set

Global

Knowledge Base

Global MDR

Agent

Local Meta

Repository

Local MDR

set

Local

Knowledge Base

Local MDR

Agent

User Interface

Distributed Access Interface

Data Resource Layer (actual database set)

Figure 3: The System Architecture for the METALOG Model

Users

Registrars,

Experts,

DBAs

Administrators

Authentication &

Authorization

Integrated Search

Data Element Search

Registration

Classification

Evaluation

Data Sources,

MDRs, Schema

Repositories

Figure 4: Functional Design and Implementation of METALOG in an MNC

Identifying &

Classifying data

elements

Figure 3: The System Architecture for the METALOG

Model

Figure 4: Functional Design and Implementation of

METALOG in a MNC

Given that the METALOG concept has many

advantages in the aspects of interoperability,

dynamic metadata management, and standardization,

in most real applications, a standard guideline

indispensably includes relations to existing legacy

databases. Although, comparatively, the ontology-

based model of the past provides strong expression

to represent the relationships between the data, and

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supports the mechanism to integrate the legacy

databases, there is no international standardization

for registries and management. Additionally, the

initial cost is increased

exponentially in proportion to the increase of

database size, because all of the target databases

should be analyzed in order to create the guideline.

Consequently, its extension and maintenance require

an excessively high cost. Finally, the proposed

METALOG model provides many advantages when

compared with the two other models (the Top-down

and the Bottom-up), because it is based on ISO/IEC

11179 and it provides an integration mechanism for

the legacy databases. The proposed model requires

less initial build cost than the ontology-based model

due to incremental integration of the legacy

databases considering data visibility. Furthermore,

because new databases are created according to the

MDRs that include the standardized data elements,

the extension cost is less than the ontology-based

model. Transborder business success rate of MNCs

with METALOG-based GIT will certainly increase

with increased GIT management effectiveness.

9 GIT MANAGEMENT

EFFECTIVENESS

One of the traditional functions of the IS manager is

to protect the information system, make information

available to authorized users, and maintain high

information integrity. This goal has not been an easy

one to C/S-GIT managers generally. Complicating

this problem further is the introduction of the

multinational factors into the equation. The battle

against the threats to information integrity while

assuring local autonomy and user accessibility to

information has always been a big headache to MNC

C/S-GIT managers. The progressive integration of

the database and knowledge-base hierarchies of the

METALOG is well suited for scalable

implementation of secure networks across national

borders. For the economy and efficiency of

employee communication over the network, the

rules of thumb are: 1) utilize batch transfers of files,

reports, orders, etc. between countries and major

cites; 2) insure seamless interactive mechanisms

between central database and local applications in

responses to requests; 3) use messaging systems that

include e-mail and electronic data interchange(EDI)

between employees, sites and business partners. The

guiding principles should always be to reach out to

every user; establish a people network (friendly,

culturally sensitive and adaptable); install culturally

and legally localizable systems (conformable to

local rules and policies); persevere to succeed even

in the face of adversities or minor failures; and

maintain a tight security within and without the C/S-

GIT system. Update data and technology frequently.

Develop a global data dictionary for all users to

follow. A solution to these problems may involve a

balance of the strengths of both the centralization

and decentralization of the METALOG system,

rather than one or the other. To effectively coalesce

and implement these principles, the progressive

integration of localized knowledge-bases and

hierarchical adaptability of the METALOG model to

various user levels become an asset to both the GIT

manager and the enterprise. Table 2 below

illustrates the comparative characteristics of the

popular C/S-GIT control strategies.

Table 2: Global Information Technology Control Strategies

Business Strategy /

Structure

Coordination /

Control

Strategy

Coordination/Control Mechanisms C/S-GIT Structured Strategy

• multinational /

decentralized

federation

• socialization • hierarchies; material & services flow

determined by managerial decisions

• decentralized/standalone C/S-GIT

database & processes

• global/centralized

federation

• centralizatio

• hierarchy; decision made & control

exacted by same managerial unit

• centralization/centralized C/S-

GIT databases & processes

• international & inter-

org. coordinated

federation

• formalizatio

• markets; material & services flow

determined by market forces

• linked C/S-GIT databases &

processes

• transnational integrated

network

• co-opting • network of units; representative

participation in decision making

• integrated architecture/shared

C/S-GIT databases & processes

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215

10 THE CULTURAL

DIFFERENTIAL

(IMPLEMENTING A

CULTURE-SENSITIVE

SYSTEM)

The degree of cultural homogeneity or heterogeneity

in the C/S-GIT professional/user team affects the

dynamics of the team and its ability to achieve

results. Cultural factors affect the perceived

relevance of the task facing the team and how it uses

available resources such as time, money,

information, technology, etc. People interpret

messages and instructions in the context of their

cultural heritages. Cultural diversity can be a

complex problem as well as critical strength in the

survival of a business organization. Additionally,

disregarding valuable characteristic of a nation can

lead to considerable collateral social effects such as

progressive loss of cultural identity of the people

who use the product. In order to minimize this

problem, systems in their design must be culture-

sensitive, particularly in their user interfaces

(Collins, 1995).

A culture-sensitive system is often language-

independent. Undoubtedly, language is often the

main medium of communication. It is said that only

about one tenth of everyone's culture (the major

reason why each person behaves the way he does) is

"visible" on the surface. When cultural diversity is

properly managed in the GIT environment, most

problems are avoided or at least minimized, and

strengths in diversity are exploited to the maximum

advantage of the organization. A C/S-GIT manager

must have a global perspective. The key is the

recognition of diversity. Understanding cultural

differences among C/S-GIT professionals and users

is essential. Coordination of tasks involve: 1) the

analysis of how similar or linked activities are

performed in other countries; 2) management of the

exchange of information and information

technology; and 3) the sharing and using of

information on the firm by its different facilities.

The target objective in the C/S-GIT management by

coordination should be to enable: i) flexibility in

response to competition in different countries, ii)

effective scanning of markets around the world, iii)

operational effectiveness in the business

organization, and iv) preservation of diversity in

final products and production location. Recent

advances, such as Network/Internet technologies,

have greatly reduced the coordination costs by

reducing the communication and information

processing, and delivery time and costs.

Additionally, the METALOG’s differentially

hierarchical metadata registries are well suited to

cultural adaptability with minimal costs. With the

METALOG, as well as with any other multinational

business implementation, the GIT manager must

think global. Any theme must be considered from

diversity and global perspectives. The factors are not

necessarily mutually exclusive, and neither are their

solutions

11 COMMUNICATION

EFFECTIVENESS

Another dominant factor that influences the success

of GIT management is communication. Although,

communication has some overlap with culture, it is a

critical managerial skill, and even more so for the

GIT manager. Effective communication is critical to

the functionality of the C/S-GIT team and the over-

all business productivity. The lack of much of it has

become a problem recently with many MNCs that

battle with marginal operationality in the

environment of users or employees of mixed

cultures. Interpretations of the elements of

communication are often superficial without a

knowledge of the underlying culture. The ability or

inability to communicate in the local language alone

can determine the success or failure of a business

venture, since communication, whether internal or

external to the organizational environment, is not

only key to management success but to business

success as well. It is impossible to penetrate another

culture, to comprehend the differences in values and

beliefs, without knowing the culture's language.

Otherwise interpretations of communications are

parochial. The language variations carry with them

unique implications on the information exchanged.

Computer programs should be written to be

language independent. Alternative communication

channel(s) may be sought for more effective

telecommunication. A culture-sensitive GIT will

identify prevalent: global information relevant to, or

appropriate in, many cultural contexts without

modification; cultural metaphors, rhetoric, and

figures of speech, which, if not properly used, can

lead to misunderstanding and cultural mistakes that

can offend or mislead (Hoft, 1996; Ferreira, 2003;

Ferreira, 2004).

12 RESOURCE AVAILABILITY

Following communication in its relative degree of

influence on GIT management effectiveness, is

resource availability. Unlike the national distributed

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information systems, the GIT covers more than one

country; it is exposed to a wider variety of business

environments; faces differing levels of resource

availability; and much more encompassing

technological and regulatory environments such as

standards and transborder data flow. In many

countries data may not either be reliable or even

available. IS architecture, which often is a function

of economic buoyancy may be scarcely available.

How does a manager cope with the disparaging

technological (hardware/software) platforms and

compatibility often found across borders? To what

extent will a national deficiency in technological

know-how be compensated without the introduction

of foreign cultural dominance in the users? How can

a C/S-GIT manager maximize efficient use of

resources by minimizing wastes, while availing user

resource flexibility to meet their various information

needs? The lack of balance in, and sensitivity to,

country-specific business practices (usually

reflecting past IT investments) renders the

shareability of product and business operational

information impossible. More particularly, the

frustration of C/S-GIT managers in finding country-

specific applications of IT has emerged as a barrier

to a successful IT implementation. A business

approach in testing, accepting and adapting new

technologies is essential for a competitive edge in

C/S-GIT. Reorganization of data processing to

conform with country-specific applications may

become advisable. You should be prepared to accept

less than perfect solutions in some countries that

develop a GIT.

13 SYSTEM OUTSOURCING

Finally, outsourcing is considered the next dominant

factor. Outsourcing is a critical factor in

transnational business and global information

technology management. Because of the increasing

number of businesses facing tougher competition in

national and international markets, outsourcing has

become such an important factor for managers of

information systems and technology. Many

organizations have become sensitive to efficiency

and bottom-line results because the market share is

dwindling while global pressures are increasing, and

product life cycles are getting shorter (Khosrowpour,

1995). Additionally, there is tremendous shortage of

skilled IS professionals, and this shortage is

projected to increase even more sharply in the

foreseeable future. If outsourcing is the approach to

systems development, then C/S-GIT management

strategy with corporate information systems

architecture (ISA) is very valuable in providing a

guide for systems development. It also facilitates the

integration of, and data sharing among, applications.

The progressive integrability of the METALOG’s

architecture becomes a major asset. Another benefit

is that it supports the development of enterprise-

wide integrated data resource systems. In this area,

the responsibilities for the C/S-GIT manager will

include: 1) awareness of the firm's business

challenges and sharing of the leverage of the IT for

them; 2) articulating C/S-based global information

systems development environment that reflects the

firm's multinational posture; 3) preparing

applications development portfolio that aligns with

the firm's global objectives; 4) reflecting the firm's

strategic global aspirations in the systems

development project goals; 5) acquisition of multi-

culturally adaptable IT; 6) leading in the automation

of the firm's internal and external data

communication linkages; 7) designing C/S-GIT

databases derived from the firm's value-chain

activities; and 8) facilitating corporate restructuring

through the provision of flexible business services.

Each software should be developed to enable easy

fine tuning to local needs while maintaining the

same data processing and file format consistency

throughout the enterprise.

Because all the problems may not necessarily

manifest in any one MNC or business venture, the

discussions and recommendations are individualized

to each factor. Although the individualized

solutions are adequate remedies for each problem,

holistic thinking is the approach. In Table 1 the

problems are classified so that managers may make

appropriate selection of solution types.

14 CONCLUSION

Although, most of the existing studies have focused

on just the technical development within the

knowledge base domain properties of GIT, this

study uniquely harnesses and merge the strengths of

the Metanational and the Metadata models to

implement an effective IS that alleviates the GIT

problems triggered by the dominant influencing

factors. The METALOG is application driven, and

is well suited particularly to business organizations

with cost restrictions (and most MNCs are). Its

progressive integration mechanism renders it

adaptable to distributed database integration, e-

Commerce, e-Government, and network resource

management, etc. The METALOG concept has

numerous advantages that include interoperability,

METADATA PARADIGM FOR EFFECTIVE GLOBAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE MNCS

217

dynamic metadata management, and standardization,

and in most real applications, a standard guideline

indispensably includes relations to existing legacy

databases. Based on the analysis of the identified

dominant factors and their associated problems, a set

of GIT solution alternatives have been suggested.

As a result, GIT managers will become more aware

of the problems that face GIT management, as well

as their associated solutions. The success rates of

GIT implementation and management will certainly

be improved and costs reduced. Consequently,

transborder business success rate of MNCs with

METALOG-based GIT will certainly increase with

increased GIT management effectiveness.

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