International Journal of Information Management 33 (2013) 963–970 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Information Management j ourna l ho me pa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijinfomgt Out of Asia: Understanding the nexus between technology usage and research productivity in Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan Akshay Bhagwatwar a,∗ , Noriko Hara b,1 , Marcus A. Ynalvez c,2 a Department of Operations and Decision Technologies, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States b School of Informatics & Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States c Department of Public Affairs & Social Research, Texas A&M International University, TX, United States a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Available online 12 September 2013 Keywords: Technology usage Research productivity Asia Japan Singapore Taiwan a b s t r a c t Journal and conference publications are well-known measures of scientific and academic research pro- ductivity. Prior research on scientific productivity that studies dimensions such as research culture, technological support, and researcher collaboration focuses on Western world contexts. Asian countries, such as Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have received attention recently for the quality of their educa- tional institutions, which have increasingly emphasized research productivity. With a large number of established and funded public universities, these countries show a strong potential for future scientific research. Consequently, it is crucial to understand the factors that influence the research productivity of scholars in these countries. In this paper the focus is specifically on the research productivity of students and faculty members in three countries: Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan. We investigate an important fac- tor that influences research productivity: technology usage, which we conceptualize as the summation of mobile phone and computer usage. In addition, we analyze the relationship between technology usage and international collaboration. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The major responsibilities of faculty members in research- intensive universities include not only teaching but also high quality research (Crittenden, 1997). Prior studies on academic research productivity have focused on a multitude of factors that could impact the research outputs of faculty members, research staff, and students involved in research (Crittenden, 1997). The fac- tors include a wide array of individual cognitive factors as well as factors related to institutional research environments. Factors related to the dynamics of group collaboration involving multi- ple researchers also become crucial (Hara, Solomon, Seung-Lye, & Sonnenwald, 2003). While prior work on academic research pro- ductivity is rich and covers a variety of factors (Marsh, 1987), understanding the role of technology usage as a key influencer of research productivity has become increasingly important (Marsh & Hattie, 2002). Technology, such as mobile phones, computers, Inter- net applications, and various other software, is commonly used to ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 206 310 4027. E-mail addresses: abhagwat@indiana.edu (A. Bhagwatwar), nhara@indiana.edu (N. Hara), mynalvez@tamiu.edu (M.A. Ynalvez). URLs: http://www.akshayb.com (A. Bhagwatwar), http://norikohara.org (N. Hara). 1 Tel.: +1 812 855 1490; fax: +1 812 855 6166. 2 Tel.: +1 956 326 2621; fax +1 956 326 2474. conduct research as well as to collaborate with other research part- ners. Additionally, the rapidly decreasing cost of these technologies renders them more affordable and hence easily accessible. Aca- demic institutions, especially those focused on research, strive hard to make an excellent technological infrastructure available to fac- ulty members as well as students (Neumann, 1992). The goal in making this infrastructure available is not only to facilitate educa- tion but also to support research and research collaboration. The interest of social scientists in understanding the factors that influence the research productivity of faculty members and researchers is not a recent phenomenon (Barjak, 2006). However, much of this research and subsequent interest in collaboration and technological factors affecting research productivity is focused exclusively on Western countries (Barjak, 2006). While there is no doubt that the data used in such studies are rich and provide valuable insights, the applicability of the inferences made in these studies to countries in Asia is questionable. Countries such as China, Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan have a wide range of uni- versities specializing in different disciplines and known for their excellence in technological advancements (Adams, King, Miyairi, & Pendlebury, 2010). Some governmental initiatives to undertake higher education reforms to increase research productivity and international collaboration are underway in Asia (Deem, Mok, & Lucas, 2008). While the kind of infrastructure capabilities that many universities in these countries offer are comparable to those in elite universities in any Western country, the cultural norms, the 0268-4012/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2013.08.004