Double Bottom Line Progress Report: Assessing Social Impact in Double Bottom Line Ventures, Methods Catalog

Outlines methods for social entrepreneurs and their investors to define, measure and communicate social impact and return in early-stage ventures

European Digital Libraries: Web Security Vulnerabilities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the web vulnerability challenges at European library web sites and how these issues can affect the data protection of their patrons. Design/methodology/approach – A web vulnerability testing tool was used to analyze 80 European library sites in four countries to determine how many security vulnerabilities each had and what were the most common types of problems. Findings – Analysis results from surveying the libraries show the majority have serious security flaws in their web applications. The research shows that despite country-specific laws mandating secure sites, system librarians have not implemented appropriate measures to secure their online information systems. Research limitations/implications – Further research on library vulnerability throughout the world can be taken to educate librarians in other countries of the serious nature of protecting their systems. Practical implications – The findings serve to remind librarians of the complexity in providing a secure online environment for their patrons and that a disregard or lack of awareness of securing systems could lead to serious vulnerabilities of the patrons' personal data and systems. Lack of consumer trust may result in a decreased use of online commerce and have serious repercussions for the municipal libraries. Several concrete examples of methods to improve security are provided. Originality/value – The paper serves as a current paper on data security issues at Western European municipal library web sites. It serves as a useful summary regarding technical and managerial measures librarians can take to mitigate inadequacies in their security implementation

Value Co-Creation with Suppliers

The growing specialization of firms and the reinforcement of vertical disintegration have led to an increasing reliance on purchasing and supply management. This means that an increasing proportion of value is created outside the boundaries of the firm, namely by suppliers. In this context, the paper aims to relate the configuration of the bonds companies establish with their suppliers to the process of value creation. The paper furthers our understanding of buyer-supplier relationships as mechanisms for the coordination and development of capabilities on both sides of the dyad. Evidence was found that relationships affect not only the access and exploration of suppliers’ resources, but also the perception the buying firm has about their capabilities which is likely to condition the potential for joint value creation. The main contribution of the paper is that value co-creation involving suppliers must be regarded as a strategic option which depends on several conditions. This research puts in evidence two of these conditions: suppliers’ capabilities and the way the buyer-seller relationships are configured.Buyer-supplier relationships, capabilities, relationship configuration, value creation

Methodical Approach for Detailed Planning of Services to offer Product Service Systems

The transformation of current business models towards offering product service systems (PSS) provides manufacturing companies numerous opportunities to consolidate or even expand their competitive position. Companies are confronted with the challenge of successfully designing this transformation process simultaneously. In order to approach the development of new business models and the transformation process, business model patterns and best practices provide a good first orientation for companies. However, these are designed to be industry-neutral and rather abstract when considering the actual processes. Thus, they do not offer any individual support to companies in the specific development of a business model and its required service delivery processes. Service delivery processes are part of a business model and describe activities that take place to provide services. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular do not have the necessary time, technical and methodological resources to manage a transfer from abstract business model examples to an individual business model. This barrier often leads SME to remain with their traditional business model. Therefore, this paper presents a methodology for the detailed planning of service delivery processes. The designed methodology supports the phases design and implementation, which are part of the business model development. The methodology describes a structured procedure, in which relevant services first have to be identified. These services are then broken down into individual process modules on a second level. The modules are elements that can get combined to services. On a third level there are explicit process models. The process models are assigned to the modules and define the respective process steps and the requirements for the implementation. The approach is designed to support companies successfully transform to new business models for PSS by applying the detailed planning for services with specific modules that contain detailed process models and requirements

Double Bottom Line Project Report: Assessing Social Impact in Double Bottom Line Ventures

This tool expresses costs and social impacts of an investment in monetary terms. Quantification is achieved according to one or more of three measures: NPV (the aggregate value of all costs, revenues and social impacts discounted), benefit-cost ratio (the discounted value of revenues and positive impacts divided by discounted value of costs and negative impacts) and internal rate of return (the net value of revenues plus impacts expressed as an annual percentage return on the total costs of the investment)

The Systematic Discovery of Services in Early Stages of Agile Developments: A Systematic Literature Review

In recent years, agile methodologies have been consolidated and extended in organizations that develop software in Web environments. For this reason, the development methodology of these organizations will not only be related to Services, but also to the Web Engineering paradigm. These organizations are heading for incorporating software development methodologies whose paradigm can allow integration, naturally and in the earlier stages of Web applications develop with the services of the organization that described and published in the Services Portfolio. The aim of this study will be to analyze the current state of the art in the process of discovering services in early stages of agile software development with focus on those identified requirements that could be covered with the services included in the Service Portfolio. We have identified 20 relevant papers through conducting a double systematic literature review (SLR). It is concluded that no study has been found that can solve the entire process of discovering candidate services within an organization that cover the requirements of a new application developed with agile methodologies. At the same time, guidelines have been found to formalize the solution to this problem and fill in that gap of knowledge by proposing in a single process, the formalization of a requirement based on agile techniques, which can be managed against a Services PortfolioMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2016-76956-C3-2-R (POLOLAS

Mass Customization in Wireless Communication Services: Individual Service Bundles and Tariffs

This paper presents results on mass customization of wireless communications services and tariffs. It advocates for a user-centric view of wireless service configuration and pricing as opposed to present-day service catalog options. The focus is on design methodology and tools for such individual services and tariffs, using altogether information compression, negotiation algorithms, and risk portfolio analysis. We first analyze the user and supplier needs and aspirations. We then introduce the systematic design-oriented approach which can be applied. The implications of this approach for users and suppliers are discussed based on an end-user survey and on model-based calculations. It is shown that users can achieve desired service bundle cost reduction, while suppliers can improve significantly their risk-profit equilibrium points, reduce churn and simplify provisioning.negotiation;mass customization;service configuration;mobile communication services;individual tariffs

Catalog of Approaches to Impact Measurement: Assessing Social Impact in Private Ventures

To inform action impact investors could take to measure impact in a coordinated manner, The Rockefeller Foundation commissioned the study of impact assessment approaches presented here.It is natural to hope to find a single, turnkey solution that can address all measurement needs. In this study we conducted a survey of impact investors and complemented it with seven years of experience in the field of impact investing to discover what these investors want from impact measurement, and conducted in-depth interviews with over twenty entities that have developed and implemented approaches to measuring impact. Our survey of existing approaches was thorough but surely is not comprehensive; however the approaches are a good representation of the current state of play. What we found is that there is not one single measurement answer. Instead the answer depends on what solution is most appropriate for a particular investor's "impact profile" defined as the investor's level of risk tolerance and desired financial return, the particular sector in which the investor operates, geography, and credibility level of information about impact that the investor requires