Yulin FANG
Prof. Yulin FANG
創新及資訊管理學
Director, Institute of Digital Economy and Innovation
Professor

3917 1025

KK 1315

Academic & Professional Qualification
  • PhD (Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario)
  • MPhil (University of Bergen)
  • BSc (Fudan University)
Biography

Yulin Fang is a Professor of Innovation and Information Management and Director of the Institute of Digital Economy and Innovation (IDEI) at HKU Business School. Before joining HKU, he was the Acting Head of the Department of Information Systems and Residence Master of Sir Gordon and Lady Ivy Wu Hall at City University of Hong Kong.  His research interests include digital innovation, digital entrepreneurship, digital transformation, platform ecosystems, and e-commerce/social media.

Yulin has published over 70 research articles in renowned information systems and management journals, including MIS Quarterly (MISQ), Information Systems Research (ISR), Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS), Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS), Strategic Management Journal (SMJ), Journal of Management Studies (JMS), Organizational Research Methods (ORM), Journal of Operations Management (JOM), Journal of Organizational Behavior (JOB) among others. His articles have been cited over 9000 times (Google citation) with an H-index of 42.

He has served as a Senior Editor of Information Systems Research, Information Systems Journal, Journal of Information Technology. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Information Technology & People. He was an Associate Editor for MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research in 2012-2016, and was awarded the Associate Editor of the Year (2015) for his editorial services to Information Systems Research. He has also regularly served as a track co-chair for International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS) since 2013. He was a faculty advisor at ICIS Junior Faculty Consortium in 2020, at ICIS Mid-Career Faculty Consortium in 2018, and PACIS Junior Faculty Consortium in 2023.

Yulin has taught extensively at Undergraduate, MBA, EMBA and DBA levels. He has supervised many cross-cultural student consultant teams to deliver management/information systems/data analytics consulting projects to fast-growing firms in emerging, Internet-empowered industries.

Yulin practiced as a management consultant with Accenture and Arthur Anderson before pursuing a PhD. He was specialized in (e-)business strategy, marketing strategy and IT strategic planning. He also provided independent consultancy services on knowledge/Innovation management for Canadian Government and Alcatel Global.

As a professional case writer, Yulin has developed many business cases on digitally-savvy corporations operating in Asia, such as Huazhu, Volkswagen, Cathay Pacific, Ctrip, Uber, Alcatel China, Google China, Tencent, HK Stock Exchange, and HK Airport. His cases “Keda’s SAP Implementation” and “Google in China (B)” were best sellers at Ivey Business School Publishing and European Case Clearing House, respectively. Over 60,000 copies of his cases have been distributed worldwide.

Teaching
  • Digital Technology and Transformation
  • Knowledge Management & Innovation
  • Business Research Methods
  • Introduction to MIS
Research Interest
  • Digital innovation
  • Digital transformation
  • Platform ecosystems
  • E-commerce
  • Social media
Selected Publications
  • Zhang, XJ, Zhou, JM., Fang, Y., Lim, KH, (2024) “Collaboration Technology Use and Team Creativity in IT Project Teams: A Creative Synthesis Perspective”, MISQ Quarterly, forthcoming.
  • Zeng, J., Fang, Y., Li, H., Wang., Y and Lim, KH., (2024) “The Impact of Platform-Based Functions on E-marketplace Sellers’ Performances – A Configurational Perspective”, Information Systems Research, forthcoming.
  • Zhou, J., Xu, T., Chiao, Y., and Fang, Y. (2023) “Interorganizational Systems and Supply Chain Agility in Uncertain Environments: The Mediation Role of Supply Chain Collaboration”, Information Systems Research, forthcoming.
  • Zou, M., Sun, H., and Fang, Y. (2023) “Satisfaction to Stay, Regret to Switch: Understanding Post-Adoption Regret in Choosing Competing Technologies When Herding”, Information Systems Research, forthcoming.
  • Wang, N., Yang, Y., Fang, Y., Li, H., & Lu, A. (2023) “Growing user base in the early stage of sharing economy platforms: An integration of competitive repertoire and institutional legitimacy theories”, Production and Operations Management, 32(11), pp. 3484-3503.
  • He, W., Hsieh, JJ., Schroeder, A., and Fang, Y., (2022) “Attaining Individual Creativity and Performance in Multi-Disciplinary and Geographically-Distributed IT Project Teams: The Role of Transactive Memory Systems”, MIS Quarterly, 46(2), pp. 1035-1072.
  • Hsu, C., Lee, J., Fang, Y., Straub, DW., Su, N., and Ryu, H., (2022) “The Role of Vendor Legitimacy in IT Outsourcing Performance: Theory and Evidence”, Information Systems Research, 33(1), pp. 337-361.
  • Zhou, J., Fang, Y., and Grover, V., (2022) “Managing Collective Enterprise Information Systems Compliance: A Social and Performance Management Context Perspective”, MIS Quarterly, 46(1), pp. 71-100.
  • Li, H., Fang, Y., Lim, KH., and Wang, Y., (2019) “Platform-Based Function Repertoire, Reputation, and Sales Performance of E-Marketplace Sellers”, MIS Quarterly, 43(1), pp. 207-236.
  • Fang, Y., Lim, KH., Qian, Y., and Feng, B., (2018) “System Dynamics Modeling for Information Systems Research: Theory of Development and Practical Applications”, MIS Quarterly, 42(4), pp. 1303-1329.
  • Guo, S., Guo, X., Fang, Y., and Vogel, D., (2017) “How Doctors Gain Social and Economic Returns in Online Health-Care Communities: A Professional Capital Perspective”, Journal of Management Information Systems, 34(2), pp. 487-519.
  • Dong, MC., Fang, Y., and Straub, DW., (2017) “The Impact of Institutional Distance on the Joint Performance of Collaborating Firms: The Role of Adaptive Interorganizational Systems”, Information Systems Research, 28(2), pp. 309-331.
  • Dong, MC., Ju, M., and Fang, Y., (2016) “Role Hazard between Supply Chain Partners in an Institutionally Fragmented Market”, Journal of Operations Management, 46(1), pp. 5-18.
  • Sun, H., Fang, Y., and Zou, M., (2016) “Choosing a Fit Technology: Understanding Mindfulness in Technology Adoption and Continuance”, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 17(6), pp. 377-412.
  • Wang, X., Fang, Y., Qureshi, I., and Onne, J., (2015) “Understanding Employee Innovative Behavior: Integrating the Social Network and Leader–Member Exchange Perspectives”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(3), pp. 403-420.
  • Fang, Y., Qureshi, I., Sun, H., McCole, P., Ramsey, E., and Lim, KH., (2014) “Trust, Satisfaction, and Online Repurchase Intention: The Moderating Role of Perceived Effectiveness of E-Commerce Institutional Mechanisms”, MIS Quarterly, 38(2), pp. 407-427.
  • Zhou, Z., Fang, Y., Vogel, DR., Jin, X., and Zhang, X., (2012) “Attracted to or Locked in? Predicting Continuance Intention in Social Virtual World Services”, Journal of Management Information Systems, 29(1), pp. 273-306.
  • Sun, Y., Fang, Y., Lim, KH., and Straub, D., (2012) “User Satisfaction with Information Technology Services: A Social Capital Perspective”, Information Systems Research, 23(4), pp. 1195-1211.
  • Qureshi, I., and Fang, Y., (2011) “Socialization in Open Source Software Projects: A Growth Mixture Modeling Approach”, Organizational Research Methods, 14(1), pp. 208-238.
  • Colazo, JA., and Fang, Y., (2010) “Following the Sun: Temporal Dispersion and Performance in Open Source Software Project Teams”, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 11(11), 4.
  • Fang, Y., Jiang, GF., Makino, S., and Beamish, PW., (2010) “Multinational Firm Knowledge, Use of Expatriates, and Foreign Subsidiary Performance”, Journal of Management Studies, 47(1), pp. 27-54.
  • Fang, Y., and Neufeld, D., (2009) “Understanding Sustained Participation in Open Source Software Projects”, Journal of Management Information Systems, 25(4), pp. 9-50.  Year 2009 Senior Scholars Best IS Publication Award
  • Fang, Y., Wade, M., Delios, A., and Beamish, PW., (2007) “International Diversification, Subsidiary Performance, and the Mobility of Knowledge Resources”, Strategic Management Journal, 28(10), pp. 1053-1064.
Service to the University/ Community
  • Co-Editor in Chief, Information Technology & People (2018-present)
  • Senior Editor, Information Systems Research (2017-present)
  • Senior Editor, Information Systems Journal (2012-present)
  • Senior Editor, Journal of Information Technology (2021-present)
  • Associate Editor, Information & Management (2017-present)
  • Associate Editor, MIS Quarterly (2012-2016)
  • Associate Editor, Information Systems Research (2012-2016)
Recent Publications
Growing user base in the early stage of sharing economy platforms: An integration of competitive repertoire and institutional legitimacy theories

Sharing economy platforms are pressed to rapidly grow user bases at the early stage by aggressively targeting potential users through competitive actions. Due to the volatile nature of the sharing economy and its disruption to industry norms, these platforms encounter legitimacy challenges that impede user base growth. This paper integrates competitive repertoire and institutional legitimacy theories to develop a research model that explains early-stage user base development in the sharing economy. We posit that the early-stage user base is associated with structural characteristics of the competitive repertoire, whose effects are moderated by a platform's socio-political legitimation efforts that address stakeholders’ regulatory and normative concerns. Using a comprehensive sample of 4644 monthly observations of 129 sharing economy platforms in China, we find that the volume of two context-specific competitive actions, offering economic incentives and staging high-visibility events, along with competitive repertoire complexity, are positively related to the platform's early-stage user base. We also identify a significant negative relationship between repertoire differentiation and user base. Direct relationships are moderated by socio-political legitimation, however, such that legitimation weakens the positive impact of context-specific action volume but enhances those of repertoire complexity and differentiation. Managerial and practical implications are discussed in light of the findings.

在多學科和地理分散的資訊科技項目團隊中獲得個人創造力和績效:交互記憶系統的角色

當代資訊科技(IT) 項目團隊要求成員提供新穎想法並加以落實,以應對不斷變化的資訊科技和業務需求。另外,新冠疫情限制商務出行,更多的公司必須允許有多學科背景的、分佈在多個地點的IT人才組成項目團隊來開發新的IT解決方案。在這個團隊,個體成員需要在創意構思(IG) 階段利用與他人不同的專業知識提出新穎的想法,然後在創意實施(II) 階段加以落實,這稱為IGII過程。儘管已有很多研究解釋個人創造力,但現存文獻甚少提供理論支撐以闡釋如何應對職能專長差異性和地理位置分散度所帶來的雙刃效應——它們是多學科、跨地域IT項目團隊的兩個基本特質,並與個人創造力和後續績效息息相關。我們借鑒IGII 框架,提出以交互記憶系統(TMS) 作為合理的團隊級解決方案以應對這挑戰。經由對35個IT項目團隊的141名成員及其主管集成的跨層次數據集進行分析,我們發現在跨學科、跨地域分佈的IT 項目團隊中,項目團隊級的TMS 和地理位置分散度會以交互方式調節團隊成員個人的IGII 過程,但在II 和IG兩個階段呈現出有趣的迥異性。

以跨學科知識促進數碼創新及轉型 – 方鈺麟教授

方鈺麟教授是一名資深的學者、商業個案作者、資訊科技顧問,同時亦在頂尖的國際期刊擔任編輯。看中了港大經管學院擁有成為學界超新星的潛力,方教授有意貢獻自己在數碼創新和轉型方面的知識,助學院更上一層樓。於2021年9月正式加入港大後,方教授將會領導我院新成立的數字經濟和創新研究所。

Managing Collective Enterprise Information Systems Compliance: A Social and Performance Management Context Perspective

In today’s environment characterized by business dynamism and information technology (IT) advances, firms must frequently update their enterprise information systems (EIS) and their use policies to support changing business operations. In this context, users are challenged to maintain EIS compliance behavior by continuously learning new ways of using EIS. Furthermore, it is imperative to businesses that employees of a functional unit maintain EIS compliance behavior collectively, due to the interdependent nature of tasks that the unit needs to accomplish through EIS. However, it is particularly challenging to achieve such a collective level of EIS compliance, due to the difficulty that these employees may encounter in quickly learning updated EIS. It is, therefore, vital for firms to establish effective managerial principles to ensure collective EIS compliance of a functional unit in a dynamic environment. To address this challenge, this study develops a research model to explain collective EIS compliance by integrating theoretical lens on social context and performance management context with social capital theory. It proposes that social context, an organizational environment characterized by trust and support, positively affects collective EIS compliance by developing business–IT social capital that enhances mutual learning between business and IT personnel. Furthermore, the performance management context, an organizational environment characterized by discipline and “stretch,” is seen to have a direct and beneficial effect on collective EIS compliance as well as an indirect, moderating effect on the causal chain among social contexts, business–IT social capital, and collective EIS compliance. General empirical support for this research model is provided via a multiple-sourced survey of managers and employees of 159 functional units of 53 firms that use EIS, as well as their corresponding IT unit managers. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.