Proposal for Collaborative Research
“A Case Study of the Creation of
NEORIS Business Technology Partners
Professor Ramiro Montealegre
University of Colorado, Boulder
IAE Business School, Universidad Austral, Argentina
Summary
In December 2000, five leading Latin and Spanish eConsultant firms—Amtec.net in Argentina, Mlab in Brazil, Cemtec in Mexico, Intec in Spain, and CyberMedia in Venezuela—united to create NEORIS Business Technology Partners. Although NEORIS is a confederation of organizations with very different characteristics, it has a single vision: To become the leading provider of e-business related information technology services in Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the United States. Today, its management team has embarked in an initiative to create structures and processes to integrate the various companies that now comprised NEORIS, while maintaining a consistently high level of entrepreneurial energy. The proposed in-depth case study would provide a rich analysis of how NEORIS makes this transition.
Benefits
The benefit for NEORIS is to gain the insights of an organizational scientist who can view the processes of change from a position of objectivity. It is very difficult to gain a good perspective on what is going on around one while in the midst of transition. The interviews conducted as part of this project will provide participants with an initial opportunity to reflect on what is going on about them, and the final report will allow managers and executives to look back on what was done well, what could be done better in the future, and what needs to be further fine-tuned in the short run.
Publishing of the case study will also provide an opportunity for students and scholars to learn from this particular experience. Internal use of the final case can also provide other areas within NEORIS to learn from their own experience.
Resources Requested
NEORIS: The research will require (1) access to NEORIS archival data related to the transformation initiative (e.g., strategic planning memoranda, market studies, strategic planning meeting), (2) scheduled interviews with personnel leading the changes (e.g., for face-to-face or telephone interviews and follow-ups of approximately 0.5 to 1.0 hour duration), (3) financial support for transcription of interviews.
Researcher: The researcher will (1) conduct all primary research, (2) write up the results in technical-report and research-paper formats, and (3) if desired by NEORIS make formal presentation of results. The researcher agrees to abide by an appropriate non-disclosure agreement that permits dissemination of the research results to classroom, professional meeting, and published journal outlets.
Proposed Timetable and Activities
The transformation process of NEORIS will dictate the specific timetable. At this point in the proposal, perhaps, it makes most sense to identify milestones without a firm timetable. The following are proposed:
1. Approval of research project (format, scope, etc.)
2. Retrieval and review of archival information
3. Review of appropriate research and professional literature
4. Development of interview protocol
5. Identification and scheduling of personnel to interview
6. Analysis of interview data
7. Write-up of draft research results
8. Presentation of research results
9. Write-up of final research results
10. Recommendations for future joint research
Provisions for Confidentiality
The fundamental purpose of the project is to publish a case study that will be available as an educational tool for students and scholars. While it would be ideal to be able to identify NEORIS as the subject of the case, it is possible to use a pseudonym and disguise certain information to make it less evident who the subject of the case was. However, given the nature of the product and industry, it would still be possible for informed readers to guess the identity.
About the Researcher
Ramiro Montealegre is an Associate Professor of Information Systems at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Visiting Professor at IAE Business School in Argentina. He received his Doctorate in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School in the area of management information systems. His Masters degree in computer science is from Carleton University, Canada. He holds a Bachelor in Engineering degree from the Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala. In addition, Dr. Montealegre is regularly Invited Lecturer at Case Western Reserve University, Instituto de Centro America de Administracion de Empresas (INCAE) in Costa Rica, the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, and IESE Business School, Instituto de Empresas and Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Spain. He received the “1998 Joseph Frascona Excellence Award” the “1999 Graduate Professor of the Year Award,” and the “2000 MBA Professor of the Year Award” for outstanding teaching in the College of Business at the University of Colorado.
Professor Montealegre's research focuses on the interplay between information technology and organization transformation in highly uncertain environments. He has been involved in studying projects of organizational change in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Central and South American regions. His research has been published in MIS Quarterly, Sloan Management Review, Journal of Management Information Systems, IEEE Transactions on Communications, Information & Management, Information Technology & People, Thunderbird International Business Review, and other journals. In 1997, he received the MCB University Press' Award for the "Most Outstanding" paper published in the journal of Information Technology & People. In 1998, he received the "Best Paper" Award of the Organizational Communication and Information Systems (OCIS) Division of the Academy of Management. In addition, Dr. Montealegre is an active international consultant and teaches regularly in corporate executive programs.
Recent Case Studies Published
Montealegre, R. and Ballve, A. “Patagon.com: Expanding Globally and Penetrating Locally while Constantly Reinventing Itself,” Ivey Publications, Case No. 9B012, 2001.
Elegant, A. T. and Montealegre, R. “E*Trade Securities, Inc., Pioneer On-Line Trader, Struggles to Stay on Top,” Annals of Cases on Information Technology in Applications and Management in Organizations, Volume III, Idea Group Publishing 2001, pp. 89-114.
Montealegre, R., Pereiro, L., and Sahlman, W. Patagon.com: Building (and Defending) the First Financial Destination in Latin America, Harvard Business School Case 800-185, 1999.
Montealegre, R., Vera, D., Applegate, L., and Barone K.J. Bolsa de Valores de Guayaquil (BVG): Reaching Worldwide Investors Through the Internet, Harvard Business School Case 399-070, 1998.
Montealegre, R., Knoop, C., Nelson, J. and Applegate, L. BAE Automated Systems (A): Implementing the Denver International Airport Baggage-Handling System, Harvard Business School Case 396-311, 1996. It has been in the Harvard Business School Press’ Best Selling Teaching Materials Catalog.
Montealegre, R., Knoop, C., Nelson, J. and Applegate, L. BAE Automated Systems (B): Implementing the Denver International Airport Baggage-Handling System, Harvard Business School Case 396-312, 1996.
Montealegre, R. and Applegate, L. AZUCAR, S.A.:(1973-1977), Harvard Business School Case 195-008, 1994.
Montealegre, R. and Applegate, L. AZUCAR, S.A.:(1978-1979), Harvard Business School Case 195-009, 1994.
Applegate, L. and Montealegre, R. EASTMAN KODAK: Managing Information Services through Strategic Alliances, Harvard Business School Case 192-030, 1991. It has been in the Harvard Business School Press’ Best Selling Teaching Materials Catalog since 1995.
Montealegre, R., Applegate, L., and Nolan, R. FRITO-LAY: The Early Years, Harvard Business School Case No. 192-004, 1991.