Annual General Assembly of the International Association of Maritime Universities

978-84-947311-7-

Next Generation Business Ecosystems: Engineering Decentralized Markets, Self-Sovereign Identities and Tokenization

Digital transformation research increasingly shifts from studying information systems within organizations towards adopting an ecosystem perspective, where multiple actors co-create value. While digital platforms have become a ubiquitous phenomenon in consumer-facing industries, organizations remain cautious about fully embracing the ecosystem concept and sharing data with external partners. Concerns about the market power of platform orchestrators and ongoing discussions on privacy, individual empowerment, and digital sovereignty further complicate the widespread adoption of business ecosystems, particularly in the European Union. In this context, technological innovations in Web3, including blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies, have emerged as potential catalysts for disrupting centralized gatekeepers and enabling a strategic shift towards user-centric, privacy-oriented next-generation business ecosystems. However, existing research efforts focus on decentralizing interactions through distributed network topologies and open protocols lack theoretical convergence, resulting in a fragmented and complex landscape that inadequately addresses the challenges organizations face when transitioning to an ecosystem strategy that harnesses the potential of disintermediation. To address these gaps and successfully engineer next-generation business ecosystems, a comprehensive approach is needed that encompasses the technical design, economic models, and socio-technical dynamics. This dissertation aims to contribute to this endeavor by exploring the implications of Web3 technologies on digital innovation and transformation paths. Drawing on a combination of qualitative and quantitative research, it makes three overarching contributions: First, a conceptual perspective on \u27tokenization\u27 in markets clarifies its ambiguity and provides a unified understanding of the role in ecosystems. This perspective includes frameworks on: (a) technological; (b) economic; and (c) governance aspects of tokenization. Second, a design perspective on \u27decentralized marketplaces\u27 highlights the need for an integrated understanding of micro-structures, business structures, and IT infrastructures in blockchain-enabled marketplaces. This perspective includes: (a) an explorative literature review on design factors; (b) case studies and insights from practitioners to develop requirements and design principles; and (c) a design science project with an interface design prototype of blockchain-enabled marketplaces. Third, an economic perspective on \u27self-sovereign identities\u27 (SSI) as micro-structural elements of decentralized markets. This perspective includes: (a) value creation mechanisms and business aspects of strategic alliances governing SSI ecosystems; (b) business model characteristics adopted by organizations leveraging SSI; and (c) business model archetypes and a framework for SSI ecosystem engineering efforts. The dissertation concludes by discussing limitations as well as outlining potential avenues for future research. These include, amongst others, exploring the challenges of ecosystem bootstrapping in the absence of intermediaries, examining the make-or-join decision in ecosystem emergence, addressing the multidimensional complexity of Web3-enabled ecosystems, investigating incentive mechanisms for inter-organizational collaboration, understanding the role of trust in decentralized environments, and exploring varying degrees of decentralization with potential transition pathways

Taxonomia, Mensuração e Impactos

Os ativos intangíveis são tidos como elementos essenciais para a criação de valor das instituições de ensino superior (IES), pois estas são consideradas como centros de conhecimento, tendo sido reconhecidas como atores críticos dos sistemas nacionais de inovação para o cumprimento da Estratégia de Lisboa. O capital intelectual das IES (CIIES) é, por isso, uma pedra angular para a criação de valor e a obtenção de uma vantagem competitiva contribuindo também para o reforço da performance das próprias IES e da qualidade de vida (QV) de todos os seus stakeholders. É importante que as IES identifiquem, mensurem, façam a gestão e prestem contas sobre o seu CI, pois este é também um fator-chave para gerar valor não só para a organização, como também para a região onde está inserida. Contudo, verifica-se que existe uma lacuna relativamente a estudos que integrem ao mesmo tempo o impacto do CIIES na performance da própria instituição e na QV dos seus stakeholders; e na performance da região de influência e na QV das suas populações. Assim, a presente tese prossegue os seguintes objetivos genéricos: (i) realizar uma revisão sistemática da literatura tendente à apresentação do estado da arte sobre CI; (ii) elaborar uma proposta de operacionalização inovadora de mensuração do CI nas IES; (iii) identificar quais e que tipo de influências tem o CI das IES portuguesas na performance e na QV de stakeholders internos destas instituições; e (iv) analisar os efeitos associados entre o CI e a performance, ao nível do crescimento económico, do desenvolvimento e da QV da região de influência, providenciando implicações de política e de gestão estratégica e operacional para as IES e respetivas regiões de influência. Esta tese, desenvolvida em contexto de IES portuguesas, discute e define um método prospetivo multidimensional de mensuração do CI e analisa os efeitos associados, tanto para a performance e QV de estudantes e docentes/investigadores da própria instituição, como para a performance e QV das populações da região de influência, através de dois estudos quantitativos com metodologias diferentes. As influências e os efeitos referidos foram consolidados em três modelos e testados empiricamente através da técnica de modelação com equações estruturais e através de uma regressão logística multinomial, tendo como base uma amostra com dados primários, recolhidos através de inquérito por questionário, de 1325 indivíduos, oriundos de sete IES públicas, situadas em sete regiões diferentes de Portugal; e uma amostra com dados secundários, recolhidos nas bases de dados do INE - Instituito Nacional de Estatística, PORDATABase de Dados de Portugal Contemporâneo, e da Sales Index - Grupo Marktest, para os valores referentes às regiões. Os dados permitiram suportar todas as hipóteses formuladas para os modelos analisados com equações estruturais, dando conta da existência de efeitos diretos positivos e significativos entre o CIIES e a performance da própria instituição e entre o CIEES e a QV dos stakeholders. Os resultados também permitiram confirmar a validade conceptual dos modelos logit multinomial, no sentido de avaliar a influência que o capital humano, o capital estrutural e o capital relacional das IES têm no crescimento económico, no desenvolvimento regional e na QV da região de influência, evidenciando que as três dimensões de performance regional são em grande parte influenciadas pelo capital humano e pelo capital estrutural. Além disso, os resultados também revelam que o capital humano é o fator mais importante e mais influente. Contudo, relativamente ao capital relacional não se encontraram evidências significativas da sua influência em nenhuma das dimensões de performance regional estudada. A partir destes resultados discutiram-se as implicações para as políticas públicas e para a gestão estratégica e operacional das IES e respetivas regiões de influência.Intangible assets are observed as essential elements for the creation of value for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), since the latter are considered as centers of knowledge and have been recognized as critical players in national innovation systems for fulfillment of the Lisbon Strategy. The intellectual capital of HEIs (ICHEIs) is therefore a cornerstone for creating value and gaining a competitive advantage, also contributing to enhanced HEI performance and the Quality of Life (QoL) of all its stakeholders. It is important for HEIs to identify, measure, manage and account for their QoL, as it is also a key factor in generating value not only for the organization, but also for its surrounding region. Despite the many studies on this subject, there is a gap between theoretical and empirical development, and it is necessary to make the link between theory and practice clearer and more accessible for further development of concepts and components, and the application to organizations/regions/nations. As well as this gap, it is highlighted that the literature does not contain empirical studies integrating at the same time the impact of ICHEIs on the performance of the institution itself and on the QoL of its stakeholders; and on the performance of its region of influence and the population’s QoL. The present study pursues the following general objectives: (i) to carry out a systematic review of the literature to present the state-of-the-art in IC; (ii) to prepare a proposal for innovative operationalization of QoL measurement in HEIs; (iii) to identify the types of influence of Portuguese HEIs on the performance and QoL of these institutions’ internal stakeholders; and (iv) to analyze the associated effects between QoL and performance on the level of economic growth, development and QoL of the region of influence, providing strategic and operational policy and management implications for HEIs and their regions. This study, developed in the context of Portuguese HEIs, discusses and defines a multidimensional prospective method of IC measurement and analyzes the associated effects, both on the performance and QoL of students and lecturers/researchers of the institution itself and on the performance and QoL of populations in the region of influence, through two quantitative studies with different methodologies. The influences and effects referred to were consolidated in three models and tested empirically through structural equation modeling and a multinomial logistic regression, based on a sample with primary data, collected through a questionnaire completed by 1 325 individuals from seven Public HEIs located in seven different regions of Portugal; and a sample with secondary data, collected from the databases of INE - National Statistical Institute, PORDATA - Database of Contemporary Portugal, and the Sales Index – Marktest Group, for the values referring to the regions. The data supported all hypotheses formulated for the models analyzed with structural equations, showing the existence of positive and significant direct effects between ICHEIs and the performance of the institution itself, and between ICHEIs and stakeholders’ QoL. The results also confirmed the conceptual validity of the multinomial logit models in assessing the influence of HEIs’ human capital, structural capital and relational capital on economic growth, regional development and QoL of the region of influence, showing that the three dimensions of regional performance are largely influenced by human capital and structural capital. In addition, the results reveal that human capital is the most important and influential factor. However, concerning relational capital, there was no significant evidence of its influence on any of the regional performance dimensions studied. From these results, the implications for public policies and for strategic and operational management of HEIs and their respective regions of influence were discussed

Leader–Member Exchange Between Academic Deans and Faculty in Community Colleges

Between 2011 and 2016, 84% of senior leaders in community colleges indicated retirement intentions and thereby exposed a need to provide better mentorship, training, and early selection of potential replacements for college executives. The purpose of this study was to determine the nature and extent of the relationships between the independent variables (mentorship, leadership training, and time in the position as dean) and the dependent variable (demonstrated leadership of academic deans in community colleges). A popular approach that describes this dynamic is Graen and Uhl-Bien\u27s leader–member exchange theory, which was operationalized by the LMX–7 instrument. A causal–comparative design was used to assess the effects of deans\u27 time in the position, previous mentorship, and leadership training on their LMX scores. I sent the LMX–7 to academic deans and faculty members at 1,641 of the 1,655 community colleges in the United States. Responses were received from 45 academic deans and 508 faculty members. A linear regression showed no significant correlations between the deans\u27 leadership training, mentorship, or time in the position as academic dean and the LMX–7 score reported by their faculty. On the other hand, the findings showed that LMX scores generally were lower than was expected and suggested that gender equality may be an issue during the selection process for deans. These findings may lead to a better understanding of leadership at the community college level, the potential for beneficial research into gender inequality during dean selection, and a deeper understanding of the effect that previous leadership training, mentorship, and time as a dean have on the dean\u27s relationship with faculty

Where Science Meets Innovation: Organising technology research groups in response to mandates for societal and economic impact

Scientific knowledge resulting from university research is an important feature in the contemporary landscape of technology innovation. However, the terms on which such science contributes to innovation have recently been the subject of contentious policy and public discourse. These debates have both challenged scientists’ position to pronounce on the standards by which their work should be judged, whilst at the same time requiring them to more actively contribute towards the beneficial outcomes of their research. In a space that I describe as where science meets innovation, these various discourses have coalesced under the headings of “Research Impact” and “Responsible Innovation”. This thesis reports an inductive case study of how two nanotechnology research groups have sought to respond to this shifting policy landscape. Recognising established modes of realising economic impact through the commercialisation of science, these rich case studies shed light on the dynamics of such innovation work. Furthermore, framing the innovation challenge as one comprising the development of organisational capabilities, allows the response to new policy mandates for societal impact to be discerned. In this thesis I argue for the importance of managerial agency in both sustaining established capabilities and developing new capabilities for science-led innovation. The analysis of empirical case material reveals the importance of the level of uncertainty that exists for innovation actors in connecting their research actions to innovation impacts. In conditions of low uncertainty, then a strong, stable professional identity for scientists, allied to known standards of excellence, provides a sure guide of action. Contemporary discourse about the contribution of science to innovation has destabilised such identity and standards. These case studies reveal that scientists, in a more forward-looking and reflective display of managerial agency, have engaged in the development of new capabilities that allow their work to speak to a wider constituency of interests

Investigating Routines and Dynamic Capabilities for Change and Innovation

In attempting to research the challenging question of how routines and dynamic capabilities are related to change and innovation, I utilize a variety of approaches that eventually complement each other in coming to answer in the following ways: 1) How can current knowledge regarding routines and dynamic capabilities be utilized to explain how organizations can solve various problems of various complexities? 2) To what extent are insights from the routine dynamics and dynamic capabilities research streams utilized by scholars from both fields and what are the implications of the current state of conversation? 3) How do routines and dynamic capabilities relate to exploratory innovation? 4) Can routines display dynamic patterns when they are enacted in constrained settings, yet actors are pressured by high levels of environmental variation? Each of the questions are asked with a different purpose and hence, require a substantially different approach. Hence, I have utilized four different methodologies throughout this dissertation