Economic Implications of Additive Manufacturing and the Contribution of MIS

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12599-015-0374-4

Contextual impacts on industrial processes brought by the digital transformation of manufacturing: a systematic review

The digital transformation of manufacturing (a phenomenon also known as "Industry 4.0" or "Smart Manufacturing") is finding a growing interest both at practitioner and academic levels, but is still in its infancy and needs deeper investigation. Even though current and potential advantages of digital manufacturing are remarkable, in terms of improved efficiency, sustainability, customization, and flexibility, only a limited number of companies has already developed ad hoc strategies necessary to achieve a superior performance. Through a systematic review, this study aims at assessing the current state of the art of the academic literature regarding the paradigm shift occurring in the manufacturing settings, in order to provide definitions as well as point out recurring patterns and gaps to be addressed by future research. For the literature search, the most representative keywords, strict criteria, and classification schemes based on authoritative reference studies were used. The final sample of 156 primary publications was analyzed through a systematic coding process to identify theoretical and methodological approaches, together with other significant elements. This analysis allowed a mapping of the literature based on clusters of critical themes to synthesize the developments of different research streams and provide the most representative picture of its current state. Research areas, insights, and gaps resulting from this analysis contributed to create a schematic research agenda, which clearly indicates the space for future evolutions of the state of knowledge in this field

Knowledge Reuse for Customization: Metamodels in an Open Design Community for 3d Printing

Theories of knowledge reuse posit two distinct processes: reuse for replication and reuse for innovation. We identify another distinct process, reuse for customization. Reuse for customization is a process in which designers manipulate the parameters of metamodels to produce models that fulfill their personal needs. We test hypotheses about reuse for customization in Thingiverse, a community of designers that shares files for three-dimensional printing. 3D metamodels are reused more often than the 3D models they generate. The reuse of metamodels is amplified when the metamodels are created by designers with greater community experience. Metamodels make the community's design knowledge available for reuse for customization-or further extension of the metamodels, a kind of reuse for innovation

Survey on Additive Manufacturing, Cloud 3D Printing and Services

Cloud Manufacturing (CM) is the concept of using manufacturing resources in a service oriented way over the Internet. Recent developments in Additive Manufacturing (AM) are making it possible to utilise resources ad-hoc as replacement for traditional manufacturing resources in case of spontaneous problems in the established manufacturing processes. In order to be of use in these scenarios the AM resources must adhere to a strict principle of transparency and service composition in adherence to the Cloud Computing (CC) paradigm. With this review we provide an overview over CM, AM and relevant domains as well as present the historical development of scientific research in these fields, starting from 2002. Part of this work is also a meta-review on the domain to further detail its development and structure

Designing IS service strategy: an information acceleration approach

Information technology-based innovation involves considerable risk that requires insight and foresight. Yet, our understanding of how managers develop the insight to support new breakthrough applications is limited and remains obscured by high levels of technical and market uncertainty. This paper applies a new experimental method based on “discrete choice analysis” and “information acceleration” to directly examine how decisions are made in a way that is behaviourally sound. The method is highly applicable to information systems researchers because it provides relative importance measures on a common scale, greater control over alternate explanations and stronger evidence of causality. The practical implications are that information acceleration reduces the levels of uncertainty and generates a more accurate rationale for IS service strategy decisions

IT Governance And Business Performance - A Resource Based Analysis

This dissertation project aims at developing a theory-based model that explains the positive impact of IT governance on the business performance of the firm. The research takes the perspective of the resource based view of the firm and integrates the economic theory of complementarities as well as the concept of relatedness. The increase of business performance is rooted in the generation of sustainable competitive advantage. The model is grounded on a thorough literature review and has been developed in eleven exploratory case studies with senior IT executives of major multinational corporations. The results propose that IT governance is positively related to business performance through the mediators IT relatedness and business process relatedness. It is argued that the latter two are complementary in the sense that they do not only increase business performance independently, but provide additional value if available in combination

Explaining Internet-Related Performance from the Alignment Point of View

This research addresses the question of explaining the Internet-related performance of a firm by relying on the Strategic Alignment Model. Following a contingent approach, the conceptual framework sheds light on the coherence between Internet use, business, organization and technology. The research model is applied to the main companies of the French tourism sector. The adopted methodology is based on a survey to which 131 firms have taken part. Using structural equation modeling, the proposed model is tested and data analysis reveals that there is a particularly significant relationship between the coherence of organizational designs and the Internet-related performance of the firm.Internet, performance, alignment, organizational structure, tourism sector

Emergence and Dynamics of Circular Economy Ecosystem

The circular economy ecosystem (CEE) offers the potential to effectively manage the pressing issue of residual resources, encompassing waste and by-products that pose a challenge to our planet. Among various organizational forms, the ecosystem approach has emerged as the preferred method, fostering cross-industry collaboration to sustainably address residual resources. While business and innovation ecosystems have been extensively studied to understand their emergence, structure, and value proposition, they only provide a partial understanding of how CEEs come into being and manage these resources. Furthermore, CEEs encounter constraints from linear economic practices and environmental conditions. Given the prominent role of digital technologies within CEEs, this study delves into their influence, aiming to uncover their multifaceted impact beyond technical aspects.This thesis sheds light on the distinctive factors driving the emergence of CEEs and how they differ from business and innovation ecosystems. Additionally, it explores the cohesive role played by digital technologies, extending beyond their conventional functions. This exploration is rooted in two case studies, one CEE in Africa and one in Europe. Both cases were selected due to their effective management of residual resources through sustainable approaches, coupled with their incorporation of digital technologies.The findings of this research indicate that CEEs arise as a response to the need for coordinated collective action in the face of linear constraints and the necessity to access interdisciplinary knowledge. The pursuit of interdisciplinary knowledge takes precedence over economic considerations and competition due to the intrinsic motivation to acquire complementary knowledge. In addition, digital technologies act as a unifying force facilitating knowledge appropriation during experimentation, fostering cooperation among stakeholders, rather than promoting competition.This thesis is positioned at the intersection of sustainable transitioning of strategic management and information systems

The Whole Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts - Or Is It? A Review of the Empirical Literature on Complementarities in Organizations

The concept of complementarity and its role in the design of organizations has enjoyed increasing attention over the past twenty years. We provide a systematic review of the empirical studies on complementarities in leading journals in management, economics and related disciplines that considers the nature of the factors among which complementarities are found to exist, and the effects of complementarities in organizations. Our findings suggest that complementarities result from the skilful matching of heterogeneous resources which generate positive returns above and beyond the effect of each resource generated on its own. In contrast, the empirical evidence on complementarities between individual organizational and HR practices in firms provides mixed conclusions. We show that complementarities are likely to materialize in complex systems of multiple design elements. Therefore, future research should aim at uncovering complementary effects among multiple elements that capture organizational systems better than a few selected elements only do.Complementarities; Organizational Design