Digital and Conventional Matchmaking – Similarities, Differences and Tensions

Matchmaking is a process of complex resource allocation where firms are intermediaries of supply and demand between actors in an ecosystem. Digital platforms have brought matchmaking into the spotlight in IS research by their ability to scale and improve the quality of matching. In this paper, we outline four principles of digital matchmaking from digital platform theory. We continue by illustrating these principles in an empirical case-study of conventional matchmaking in the Swedish forest industry. We seek to improve the understanding of matchmaking by identifying similarities and differences of digital and conventional matchmaking. We then discuss tensions that may emerge for the conventional matchmaker facing digitalization. We contribute to theory of changing organizing logic associated with digital technology adoption and to practice by outlining what it takes becoming a digital matchmaker

BIG DATA AND ANALYTICS AS A NEW FRONTIER OF ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT

Big Data and Analytics (BDA) promises significant value generation opportunities across industries. Even though companies increase their investments, their BDA initiatives fall short of expectations and they struggle to guarantee a return on investments. In order to create business value from BDA, companies must build and extend their data-related capabilities. While BDA literature has emphasized the capabilities needed to analyze the increasing volumes of data from heterogeneous sources, EDM researchers have suggested organizational capabilities to improve data quality. However, to date, little is known how companies actually orchestrate the allocated resources, especially regarding the quality and use of data to create value from BDA. Considering these gaps, this thesis – through five interrelated essays – investigates how companies adapt their EDM capabilities to create additional business value from BDA. The first essay lays the foundation of the thesis by investigating how companies extend their Business Intelligence and Analytics (BI&A) capabilities to build more comprehensive enterprise analytics platforms. The second and third essays contribute to fundamental reflections on how organizations are changing and designing data governance in the context of BDA. The fourth and fifth essays look at how companies provide high quality data to an increasing number of users with innovative EDM tools, that are, machine learning (ML) and enterprise data catalogs (EDC). The thesis outcomes show that BDA has profound implications on EDM practices. In the past, operational data processing and analytical data processing were two “worlds” that were managed separately from each other. With BDA, these "worlds" are becoming increasingly interdependent and organizations must manage the lifecycles of data and analytics products in close coordination. Also, with BDA, data have become the long-expected, strategically relevant resource. As such data must now be viewed as a distinct value driver separate from IT as it requires specific mechanisms to foster value creation from BDA. BDA thus extends data governance goals: in addition to data quality and regulatory compliance, governance should facilitate data use by broadening data availability and enabling data monetization. Accordingly, companies establish comprehensive data governance designs including structural, procedural, and relational mechanisms to enable a broad network of employees to work with data. Existing EDM practices therefore need to be rethought to meet the emerging BDA requirements. While ML is a promising solution to improve data quality in a scalable and adaptable way, EDCs help companies democratize data to a broader range of employees

TOMSAC - Methodology for trade-off management between automotive safety and cyber security

Safety and security interdependencies have been of interest for researchers for several decades. However, in practice, they are not given the necessary consideration yet due to various reasons, such as lack of understanding and reluctance to change current practices. This research is aimed at advancing the state of the art in this area by developing a practical, easy to adapt and to use methodology for managing interdependencies and trade-offs throughout the development lifetime of cyber physical systems. The methodology is named TOMSAC, short for Trade-Off Management between Safety And Cyber security

Exploring the Impacts of Marketing Structure on Enrollment Yield in Higher Education

The ever-expanding role of marketing and its increasing influence on being a primary driver for colleges and universities to grow awareness and consideration, invite applications, and deliver enrollment yield is more critical and relied on than ever before. The marketing function’s rise to prominence in higher education is fueled by many external forces, including declining federal and state funding, rapid technological advances, changing student expectations, the precipitous reduction in numbers of potential college-aged students, and what this study refers to as the four C\u27s facing higher education. These include consumerism, commoditization, commercialism, and corporatization, each with its own set of unique challenges and opportunities from which marketing is viewed as a primary solution. In this research, a bounded case study approach is employed to look intently at the critical aspects of marketing structure, alignment, roles, strategic focus, tactical execution, and the brand management principles that have assisted a regional public four-year university in growing enrollment yield in light of ever-changing marketplace challenges, many of those unmasked during the recent pandemic. The study findings highlight how the alignment of roles and responsibilities within a structure, an operative environment that is reflective of the institution\u27s culture and allows for the illumination of the brand\u27s core personality, tone, attributes, and dimensions, can create a powerful asset to combat the external marketplace dynamics. This study offers an emergent framework as a unique model for colleges and universities to assess and analyze their marketing structure, operative environment, role and responsibility stratification, and how the consistent articulation of and purposeful management of the institution’s brand can be optimized for competitive advantage. KEYWORDS: Higher education marketing, integrated marketing communications, brand management, marketing structure and alignmen

Journal of Communication Pedagogy, Complete Volume 4, 2021

This is the complete volume 4 of the Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Promoting science growth in developing countries: an open science model for Mozambique

Tese de doutoramento em InformaticsIn developing countries, deploying National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) infrastructures is viewed as a determining step for fostering science and education. In Africa, several NRENs initiatives appeared, having as critical success factors: (i) NREN deployment coverage; (ii) NREN sustainability policies; and (iii) the services provided to the enrolled community. Regarding Mozambique, after an initial period with significant difficulties, the Mozambique Research and Education Network (MoRENet) expanded to integrate nearly 160 institutions in the country, although connectivity is the only service provided. Despite the initiatives taken so far, for instance, in science sharing and distance learning, they lack a more comprehensive view on how to steadily stimulate science growth in the country. It is in this context that the motivation for the present work lies, being the main objective defined as devising an evolutive and sustainable model for promoting science growth in Mozambique, which considers and adapts initiatives and best practices worldwide to the scientific and higher education ecosystem of the country. The proposed model targets and interrelates the contexts of open science, science management, distance learning, and technological infrastructures supporting science and education. To sustain the proposed model, the research work carried out: discusses the NRENs panorama in Africa and Mozambique, and analyzes the challenges inherent to providing sustainable services for the NRENs academic and research community; explores and contextualizes successful Open Access (OA) initiatives and directives in the framework of developing countries; identifies the barriers and weaknesses for the improvement of the Mozambican higher education system; and stresses the role of MoRENet and international e-learning collaborations to mitigate the digital divide in education. Finally, proposals for the effective deployment of OA and distance learning strategies to overcome the identified challenges are presented. The thorough debate on the above-mentioned aspects and the proposal for open science in Mozambique are also expected to improve the awareness of science vectors in other developing countries, promoting their development both scientifically and socially.Nos países em vias de desenvolvimento, a implantação de infraestruturas de Redes Nacionais de Ensino e Investigação (National Research and Education Networks - NRENs) é vista como um passo determinante para fomentar a ciência e a educação. Em África surgiram várias iniciativas de NRENs, tendo como fatores críticos de sucesso: (i) a área de implantação das NRENs; (ii) as políticas de sustentabilidade; e (iii) os serviços prestados à comunidade envolvida. Relativamente a Moçambique, após um período inicial com dificuldades significativas, a Rede de Ensino e Investigação de Moçambique (Mozambique Research and Education Network - MoRENet) expandiu-se para integrar cerca de 160 instituições no país. No entanto, as iniciativas tomadas até agora, por exemplo, no acesso à ciência e no ensino à distância, carecem de uma visão mais abrangente sobre como estimular de forma constante o crescimento da ciência no país. É neste contexto que assenta a motivação do presente trabalho, sendo o seu objetivo principal a conceção de um modelo evolutivo e sustentável de promoção do crescimento da ciência em Moçambique, que considere e adapte as iniciativas e melhores práticas mundiais ao ecossistema científico e de ensino superior deste país. O modelo proposto visa e inter-relaciona os contextos de ciência aberta, gestão científica, ensino à distância e infraestruturas tecnológicas de apoio à ciência e à educação. Para sustentar o modelo proposto, o trabalho de pesquisa realizado: discute o panorama das NRENs em África e Moçambique, analisando os desafios inerentes à prestação de serviços sustentáveis; explora e contextualiza iniciativas e diretrizes bem-sucedidas de Acesso Aberto (Open Access - OA); identifica as barreiras e fragilidades para a melhoria do sistema de ensino superior moçambicano; e destaca o papel da MoRENet e das colaborações internacionais de e-learning para mitigar a divisão digital na educação. Por fim, são apresentadas propostas para a implantação efetiva de estratégias de OA e ensino à distância para superar os desafios identificados. O debate aprofundado dos aspetos acima mencionados e a proposta de ciência aberta em Moçambique permitirão ainda sensibilizar outros países em vias de desenvolvimento para os vetores da ciência, promovendo o seu desenvolvimento tanto cientificamente como socialmente

Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming – Workshops

This open access book constitutes papers from the 5 research workshops, the poster presentations, as well as two panel discussions which were presented at XP 2021, the 22nd International Conference on Agile Software Development, which was held online during June 14-18, 2021. XP is the premier agile software development conference combining research and practice. It is a unique forum where agile researchers, practitioners, thought leaders, coaches, and trainers get together to present and discuss their most recent innovations, research results, experiences, concerns, challenges, and trends. XP conferences provide an informal environment to learn and trigger discussions and welcome both people new to agile and seasoned agile practitioners. The 18 papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from overall 37 submissions. They stem from the following workshops: 3rd International Workshop on Agile Transformation 9th International Workshop on Large-Scale Agile Development 1st International Workshop on Agile Sustainability 4th International Workshop on Software-Intensive Business 2nd International Workshop on Agility with Microservices Programmin