Design Choices and Adoption Processes: from Engineering Designed Products to Services

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

New Approach for Market Intelligence Using Artificial and Computational Intelligence

Small and medium sized retailers are central to the private sector and a vital contributor to economic growth, but often they face enormous challenges in unleashing their full potential. Financial pitfalls, lack of adequate access to markets, and difficulties in exploiting technology have prevented them from achieving optimal productivity. Market Intelligence (MI) is the knowledge extracted from numerous internal and external data sources, aimed at providing a holistic view of the state of the market and influence marketing related decision-making processes in real-time. A related, burgeoning phenomenon and crucial topic in the field of marketing is Artificial Intelligence (AI) that entails fundamental changes to the skillssets marketers require. A vast amount of knowledge is stored in retailers’ point-of-sales databases. The format of this data often makes the knowledge they store hard to access and identify. As a powerful AI technique, Association Rules Mining helps to identify frequently associated patterns stored in large databases to predict customers’ shopping journeys. Consequently, the method has emerged as the key driver of cross-selling and upselling in the retail industry. At the core of this approach is the Market Basket Analysis that captures knowledge from heterogeneous customer shopping patterns and examines the effects of marketing initiatives. Apriori, that enumerates frequent itemsets purchased together (as market baskets), is the central algorithm in the analysis process. Problems occur, as Apriori lacks computational speed and has weaknesses in providing intelligent decision support. With the growth of simultaneous database scans, the computation cost increases and results in dramatically decreasing performance. Moreover, there are shortages in decision support, especially in the methods of finding rarely occurring events and identifying the brand trending popularity before it peaks. As the objective of this research is to find intelligent ways to assist small and medium sized retailers grow with MI strategy, we demonstrate the effects of AI, with algorithms in data preprocessing, market segmentation, and finding market trends. We show with a sales database of a small, local retailer how our Åbo algorithm increases mining performance and intelligence, as well as how it helps to extract valuable marketing insights to assess demand dynamics and product popularity trends. We also show how this results in commercial advantage and tangible return on investment. Additionally, an enhanced normal distribution method assists data pre-processing and helps to explore different types of potential anomalies.Små och medelstora detaljhandlare är centrala aktörer i den privata sektorn och bidrar starkt till den ekonomiska tillväxten, men de möter ofta enorma utmaningar i att uppnå sin fulla potential. Finansiella svårigheter, brist på marknadstillträde och svårigheter att utnyttja teknologi har ofta hindrat dem från att nå optimal produktivitet. Marknadsintelligens (MI) består av kunskap som samlats in från olika interna externa källor av data och som syftar till att erbjuda en helhetssyn av marknadsläget samt möjliggöra beslutsfattande i realtid. Ett relaterat och växande fenomen, samt ett viktigt tema inom marknadsföring är artificiell intelligens (AI) som ställer nya krav på marknadsförarnas färdigheter. Enorma mängder kunskap finns sparade i databaser av transaktioner samlade från detaljhandlarnas försäljningsplatser. Ändå är formatet på dessa data ofta sådant att det inte är lätt att tillgå och utnyttja kunskapen. Som AI-verktyg erbjuder affinitetsanalys en effektiv teknik för att identifiera upprepade mönster som statistiska associationer i data lagrade i stora försäljningsdatabaser. De hittade mönstren kan sedan utnyttjas som regler som förutser kundernas köpbeteende. I detaljhandel har affinitetsanalys blivit en nyckelfaktor bakom kors- och uppförsäljning. Som den centrala metoden i denna process fungerar marknadskorgsanalys som fångar upp kunskap från de heterogena köpbeteendena i data och hjälper till att utreda hur effektiva marknadsföringsplaner är. Apriori, som räknar upp de vanligt förekommande produktkombinationerna som köps tillsammans (marknadskorgen), är den centrala algoritmen i analysprocessen. Trots detta har Apriori brister som algoritm gällande låg beräkningshastighet och svag intelligens. När antalet parallella databassökningar stiger, ökar också beräkningskostnaden, vilket har negativa effekter på prestanda. Dessutom finns det brister i beslutstödet, speciellt gällande metoder att hitta sällan förekommande produktkombinationer, och i att identifiera ökande popularitet av varumärken från trenddata och utnyttja det innan det når sin höjdpunkt. Eftersom målet för denna forskning är att hjälpa små och medelstora detaljhandlare att växa med hjälp av MI-strategier, demonstreras effekter av AI med hjälp av algoritmer i förberedelsen av data, marknadssegmentering och trendanalys. Med hjälp av försäljningsdata från en liten, lokal detaljhandlare visar vi hur Åbo-algoritmen ökar prestanda och intelligens i datautvinningsprocessen och hjälper till att avslöja värdefulla insikter för marknadsföring, framför allt gällande dynamiken i efterfrågan och trender i populariteten av produkterna. Ytterligare visas hur detta resulterar i kommersiella fördelar och konkret avkastning på investering. Dessutom hjälper den utvidgade normalfördelningsmetoden i förberedelsen av data och med att hitta olika slags anomalier

Initialization Requirement in Developing of Mobile Learning 'Molearn' for Biology Students Using Inquiry-based learning

Inquiry-based learning is kind of learning activities that involves students’ entire capabilities in exploring and investigating particular objects or phenomenon using critical thinking skills. Recently, information technology tangibly contributes in any education aspects, including the existence of e-learning, a widely spreading learning model in the 21st century education. This study aims at initializing needs of developing mobile learning ‘Molearn’ based on inquiry-based method. By cooperating with Biology teacher community in senior high school, ‘Molearn’ provides IT-based medium in Biology learning process

Benefits that a business can derive from human-computer interaction interventions

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) interventions such as User Experience, Usability and Accessibility are widely accepted as great milestones in the developmental process of computer-based system applications – be it web-based, PC-based or ubiquitous. However, there is still a need for an understanding of the critical benefits – both tangible and intangible – that HCI interventions may bring within business. It is still necessary to investigate and clearly understand how the issues that emanate from the usability and accessibility problems affect business as well as what value HCI techniques contribute to the profitability of implementing and using computer-based systems. A case study approach was undertaken within a Travel Management Company (TMC) on a computer-based system used for both back-end and front-end activities, such as invoicing as well as Management Information System (MIS) reports. The aim was to ascertain how the incorporation of HCI interventions (Usability and Accessibility) in evaluating the design and the development process of software applications can impact on the usefulness of such computer application systems. The investigation in areas such as the redefining business processes in order to generate a competitive advantage, enhancing user skills, improving user productivity, user satisfaction and retention, reducing training costs, and quality service provision were of particular interest. The end results of the study affirm an important and significant role that specific and focussed HCI interventions make in the successful implementation of contemporary computer-based systems. However, for businesses to gain most of the potential benefits from HCI interventions, both the software development houses and business practitioners should make use of the HCI techniques and place greater priority and emphasis on the awareness and use of HCI (Usability) standards in the development processComputingM. Sc. (Information Systems

Toward resilient product-based service supply chains

Circular economies represent a step toward breaking the linear production model in supply chains. As drivers of enhanced circularity, product-based service (PBS) offerings extend and/or intensify the utilization period of products and thus decelerate the flow of resources. As a result, transitions to PBSs can yield outstanding, sustainable commercial benefits, including minimized resource input into production and the reduction of waste, all without jeopardizing growth. At the same time, PBS settings are highly servitized, entail different flows of people and knowledge, and engender new uncertainties, especially regarding product lifetime and product quality. Although a new way of handling such variation in PBS supply chains involves optimizing logistical tradeoffs, PBS supply chains are subject to uncertainties not only during normal market situations but also during volatile situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic. This thesis is based on research that followed a qualitative approach using abductive reasoning. Compiling three papers drawing from three studies conducted across several manufacturing industries, the thesis outlines the relationship between circularity and resilience and provides guidance toward realizing resilient PBS supply chains. Study 1 investigated logistical tradeoffs that support enhanced circularity in PBS supply chains, whereas Study 2 probed disruptions and responses in PBS supply chains following a major external event. Last, Study 3 examined the intersection between resilience and sustainability in manufacturing supply chains. The results of those studies in light of findings in the literature underscore three major findings. First, PBS supply chains have to be understood from a wider perspective on logistical tradeoffs (i.e., material versus people, people versus knowledge, and knowledge versus information) added to the traditional logistical tradeoff between material and information in product-based supply chains. Second, the intersection between circularity and resilience showcases the capacity of those logistical tradeoffs to respond to disruptions and thus cultivate resilience in PBS supply chains. That finding highlights the importance of improved local knowledge that is as close to consumers as possible. Third, the thesis provides a framework of three building blocks for developing resilience in PBS supply chains: (i) developing adaptive resilience, related to Mode I of resilience, to alter normal service offering or delivery; (ii) developing transformative resilience, related to Modes 2 and 3, meaning the notion of extending or radically changing the service offering or delivery; and (iii) integrating those dimensions of resilience with sustainability

The Roles of Corporate IT Infastructure and their Impact on IS Effectiveness

In the strategic alignment model of Henderson and Venkatraman (1993) [1] IT infrastructure has an important but only implicitly defined role. According to evolving literature, IT infrastructure serves many different purposes in large companies. We outline the main missions (roles) of the corporate-wide IT infrastructure and its contribution to IS effectiveness and study the relationship of IT infrastructure with alignment processes and strategic integration. Our empirical tests with data from almost one hundred large companies resulted in three IT infrastructure roles, which reflect the IS communality, strategic, and flexibility dimensions of the corporate-wide IT infrastructure. The roles were not symmetrically related to the IS effectiveness and alignment perspectives. IT infrastructure roles had a significant interplay with strategic integration in improving IS effectiveness. However, the interplay of IT infrastructure roles with alignment perspectives had only marginal effects. Implications of the results for research and practice are discussed