Assessing the potential of ubiquitous computing for improving business process performance

Although ubiquitous technologies such as RFID, sensor networks, and networked embedded systems are quite mature, widespread adoption by organizations has yet to take place. This may be due to the lack of systematic assessment of the potential of ubiquitous technologies for creating value. Accordingly, a prescriptive model is presented that shows how value is created through the fit between generic capabilities of ubiquitous technologies and task characteristics in business processes. The identified task characteristics can thus be used as indicators for assessing the potential improvements in business process performance through particular ubiquitous computing functionalitie

Assessing the Potential of Ubiquitous Computing for Improving Business Process Performance

The term “ubiquitous technology” refers to any technology that extends common objects with data processing capabilities, e.g. RFID systems, wireless sensor networks or networked embedded systems. In this study, we uncover the mechanisms by which these technologies contribute to an increased business process performance. We apply the theory of task-technology fit to establish a model of the impact of ubiquitous technologies on business process performance. Based on expert interviews in a large standard software company, the potential of ubiquitous technologies for enhancing performance in a number of generic business processes is explored. Furthermore, we illustrate how our findings can be applied to identify value-creating ubiquitous computing applications in companies

Looking into the Environmental Factors Affecting the Performance of Ubiquitous Technologies Deployment: An Empirical Study on Chinese Information and Communication Technology Companies

Effective deployment of ubiquitous technologies can help companies improve the business efficiency, especially for those ICT (Information communication technology) companies who are involved in M-business, M-commerce, and etc. However, there are many factors could affect the performance of the ubiquitous technologies deployment, such as the company’s management, the employee’s coordination, and etc. In this paper, we are focused on the environmental factors that would have an impact on the performance of organizations which have deployed or is deploying ubiquitous technologies, and investigate more than 50 Chinese ICT companies. According to our findings, in the context of China, a sensible, dependent, and interactive business relationship with the outside environment will have a positive impact on their ubiquitous technologies deployment’s performance, while the decentralization and hierarchism within organizational structure in the inside environment will have a negative impact on their ubiquitous technologies deployment’s performance

The Creation of a Ubiquitous Business Community for an Agribusiness Cluster

Ubiquitous Business Communities (UBC) are information processing systems that offer people the possibility to connect to networks, any time independently from location and computing platforms, which are sensitive to the users´ contexts. UBC allow participants to exchange information and enhance business transactions. These systems may act as market organizers and may affect millions of producers and clients in developing countries. Our research-in-progress paper presents the creation of a UBC to enhance business transactions in an agribusiness cluster. We highlight some characteristics of the UBC under development, considering the main factors that influence the competitiveness of the cluster. We also describe aspects of the development process of the UBC and of the structuration process of the community (organization of a member and product catalog and of product quality standards). Finally we present expectations to be verified in the implementation process of the UBC

COMPUTAÇÃO UBÍQUA: ESTADO DA ARTE E OPORTUNIDADES DE PESQUISA PARA A ÁREA DE NEGÓCIOS

Ubiquitous computing refers to the third wave of computing, an emerging theme in scientific research, which has interdisciplinary characteristics. The objective of this study is to map the field of research in ubiquitous computing, especially to explore the research focusing on ubiquitous computing applied to the organizational context and business, identifying opportunities for future research. The data presented here result of an analysis of academic references (2,165 articles) in the database Web of Science (WoS). We used the WoS analytical tools and content analysis of the titles and abstracts of the articles, and/or full articles analysis when they were available. The results of analysis indicate that scientific research on ubiquitous computing had its development especially since the last decade, since then being strongly linked to the areas of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Engineering, still rare are the studies that relate it to management and businesses. In this sense, knowledge gaps were identified during the construction of this article, leading to a proposed agenda for future research that may expand the understanding, with an organizational perspective, of the applications of ubiquitous computing.A computação ubíqua refere-se à terceira onda da computação, um tema emergente na pesquisa científica, que tem características interdisciplinares. O objetivo deste trabalho é mapear o campo de pesquisa em computação ubíqua, especialmente buscando explorar os estudos que enfoquem a computação ubíqua aplicada ao contexto organizacional e a negócios, identificando oportunidades para pesquisa futura. Os dados aqui apresentados resultam de uma análise de referências acadêmicas (2.165 artigos) por meio de consulta à base de dados Web of Science (WoS). Como recursos de análise foram utilizadas a própria ferramenta analítica da WoS, além de análise de conteúdo dos títulos e abstracts dos artigos, e/ou dos artigos completos quando disponíveis. Os resultados da análise indicam que a pesquisa científica sobre computação ubíqua teve seu desenvolvimento especialmente a partir da última década, estando desde então fortemente associada às áreas de Ciência da Computação, Telecomunicações e Engenharias, sendo ainda incipientes os estudos que a relacionam à área de negócios. Nesse sentido, lacunas de conhecimento foram identificadas ao longo da construção deste artigo, levando à proposição de uma agenda para pesquisas futuras que possam ampliar a compreensão, sob a perspectiva organizacional, das aplicações da computação ubíqua.