Improving Customer Value Co-creation through Customer Engagement and Requirements Engineering Practices in a Small Software Company

A small software company has startup thinking which is often short-term. This may negate requiring planning for long-term growth, and sustainability, which could have its impact on customer value. Customer engagement (CE) and requirements engineering (RE) practices are customer satisfaction and growth oriented; helping a small software company earn competitive edge, increase productivity, and grow while delivering on customer value. To address the stated problem, the research problem is stated thus: How do CE and RE practices impact customer value (CV) co-creation? An action research study was carried out to understand better CE and RE practices at the case company. For data collection triangulation of semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, participant observation, and work experience were used. Data analysis did use some grounded theory features — interpretative statements in gathering and organizing the data got. CE practices such as having dedicated customer co-creation platform, constantly learning from users, customer segmentation, and broadened view of customer were observed to have positive influence on customer value co-creation. RE practices that advance customer value included customer participation, face-to-face-communication, continuous planning, and requirements management. The level of success of these practices was influenced by differences in customer participation level, elicitation techniques scope, and selection of the techniques. Also, lack of dedicated user environment hinders user interaction and user-centered co-creation. Customer engagement strengthens RE practices through active interaction between provider and customer to positively influence CV co-creation. Such interaction could be amongst provider, customer and end-users. There are four CE practices and seven RE practices established at the case company. Understanding CE significantly, and some of its practices, coupled with RE practices that yield high- perceived value may significantly help improve customer CV co-creation. Practices like detailed documentation, use of prototype, change and requirements management, co-creation platform, and participation in the platform can be improved upon

When Blockchain Meets CRM: An Evaluation of Enterprise CRM Vendor Blockchain Capabilities

The emergence of Blockchain technology has begun to manifest in various business and technical domains. Despite the transformative potential of Blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies, the distributed paradigm is markedly different than the relational database model underlying prototypical CRM systems, presenting a novel integration challenge. Resolving CRM-Blockchain integration challenges is a precondition to realizing the emergent paradigm known as CRM 4.0. The top 6 CRM vendors are identified, and their Blockchain capabilities are investigated. We conclude that while many of these vendors once implemented Blockchain capabilities, such capabilities have since largely been deprioritized, obfuscated, or outright abandoned. This paper extends the existing literature on CRM and Blockchain through the lens of industry

25 Years of Research into the Management of eTechnology Projects

Over the last 25 years, information technology has evolved from intra-organizational systems to inter-organizational electronic technologies (eTechnology) that span organizations and industries and to extra-organizational systems delivered via the Internet, which involve individuals rather than organizationss. Project management research has largely sought reasons for project outcomes (Factor Research), and considered projects either as a process (Engineering Tradition) or as a form of organization (Social Science Tradition). This meta-analysis of 284 research papers identified key findings that provide insights and guidance for eTechnology project management in different technical and organizational environments. As the management context of eTechnology projects changed and project implementation moved beyond the control of a single organization, research focus shifted to examining topics within inter-organizational environments. Although some shift in focus occurred towards the social aspects of eTechnology project management, there was comparatively little use of multiple levels of analysis or interdisciplinary research within the Social Science Tradition

Survival in the digital age – A framework for formulating a digital transformation strategy in SME

Many digitally successful companies have established a dedicated digital transformation strategy. An SME perspective on this topic remains unclear. I fill this research gap with a qualitative research approach. Main findings include a set of 14 strategic questions along four summarizing categories – use of technologies, changes in value creation, operational changes, and financial aspects. Three out of these four categories hold true in SME environments as they are valid in large corporation settings. I recommend establishing the term “organizational changes” instead of “structural changes” in order to increase fit to the mindset of SME owners. Answer options enrich these strategic questions, based on the experience of successful examples from the field. I identify differences between SME and large corporations in the areas of value creation, organizational changes and financial aspects. This paper elaborates theory on digital transformation strategy, contributing to understand management behavior and decision levels in an economic environment, where the adaptation of digital technologies has become an imperative

Organizational transformation through knowledge management : an internship at Luxembourg-slovenian business club

Internship Report presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Knowledge Management and Business IntelligenceThe purpose of this report is to describe a five month internship that the student did at the Slovenian non-profit organization Luxembourg-Slovenian Business Club (LSBC). This internship report stands as partial requirement for obtaining the Master Degree in Information Management with specialization in Knowledge Management and Business Intelligence. Methodologies and the framework followed were largely based on knowledge acquired through the guidance of Nova IMS Information Management Master. The main objective of this internship was to better understand the impact of information on a business context and how to foment a knowledge-based environment. In-depth, the aim was determining the information flow as it stands, identify bottlenecks and help growing a knowledge creation culture while shortening the gap inside the organization and between the organization and its members (both individuals and organizations). The main areas affected by this internship were Knowledge Management, Information Systems and Enterprise 2.0. This report starts by giving an introduction to context and goals where the internship is inserted upon, followed by a detailed description of the background of the organization itself. After this section, it follows literature background focused on Knowledge Management areas - all subjects that were relevant for the internship practical work. Subsequently, an explanation of the of internship objectives and the path to achieve them is further discussed. Also, a presentation of the completed tasks results, followed by a critical opinion about them. Finally, possible future work endeavours that can follow up this project are then present as well as a pragmatic reflexion of the internship. As a result of this report, improvements in information handling and some applied methodologies regarding Knowledge Management will be integrated in the organization. Hopefully, it will also bring to this organization new opportunities to develop business, to establish new partnerships while simultaneously expanding LSBC network of contacts

Digital Inbound Content as a Source of Value: The Application in a Start-up Company

Digitalization has significantly impacted the interaction between companies and their customers. As a result, social media and Internet are becoming the main fields for communication in a business world. With these new communicational channels, modern marketing methodologies such us digital, inbound, and content marketing are on the rise, while traditional marketing technics such as cold calls, print advertising, and TV campaigns are less effective. Although the communication of customer value is the main objective in marketing and customer value is one of the most studied concepts in management, the research literature on its application in digital marketing as well as the research on digital marketing methodologies themselves, is scarce. Moreover, the communication of customer value with traditional marketing is a challenging process for a start-up company, due to start-ups limited amount of resources and small industrial network. The objective of this thesis is to introduce the concept of digital inbound content as a source of value and to explain how it can be used to communicate the value of a start-up company’s offering. The usage of digital inbound content is beneficial for a start-up due to cheaper distribution channels of digital marketing in comparison with traditional marketing. Furthermore, inbound marketing methodology is more customer-oriented and focused on building pleasant relationships with different stakeholders and therefore will benefit a start-up company in developing its social capital. The study shows that digital inbound content is an effective tool for showcasing the value of a start-up company’s offering through a start-up’s owned media. In addition, digital inbound content positively contributed to the process of constructing the value proposition and the development of start-up’s owned media, as well as improving the content creation overall and building start-up’s brand. Study has also shown that digital inbound content can be presented as the value itself, for example, in a case if a company creates educational material that is distributed for free. The developed theoretical framework of digital inbound content as a source of value is applicable as a guideline for the content creation and distribution of it in a start-up company’s owned media. Furthermore, study shows that more extensive research is needed in a field of digital marketing as literature does not provide comprehensive theoretical framework on it