Digitalisation and Business Model Innovation: Exploring the Microfoundations of Dynamic Consistency

The Industry 4.0 paradigm (I4.0) as the digitalisation of manufacturing firms denotes the exploitation of real-time data originating from a ubiquitous interconnection of objects, machines and humans (via the internet) across the entire value network. I4.0 not only serves as a catalyst to improve value-adding activities or to design new product and service solutions but also, more fundamentally, enables manufacturing firms to innovate their established business models (BMs). Against this rapid socio-technological shift, manufacturers face the challenge of holistically innovating their BMs. This requires the individualisation of the value proposition alongside the flexibilisation of their value creating and capturing activities, as well as a continuous adaptation and alignment of these activities with the firm’s organisational systems and the resource and competence base. Adopting the view of a BMI (business model innovation) as a system of interdependent activities, the continuous alignment of activities across the BMI is called dynamic consistency. However, it is not clear what mechanisms denote the notion of dynamic consistency. This thesis operationalises the microfoundations of dynamic consistency in an I4.0-driven BMI by empirically investigating six European manufacturing firms. Following the design themes of BMI, it argues that the notion of dynamic consistency comprises three main aspects: (1) a value focus on data and software; (2) a flexi-directional interlinkage to facilitate the exchange of information and materials; (3) agile working ensembles governing changes to the activity system. Moreover, it proposes open-mindedness and integrity of behaviour as a cognitive foundation that facilitates changes to the activity system. Taken together, these microfoundations provide reasoning for manufacturing firms to transform their traditional make-and-sell BM into a sense-and-act BM, yielding higher profits and profitability. The results demonstrate that the notion of BMI as an activity system must be complemented by the cognitive perspective of BMI to sufficiently operationalise the concept of dynamic consistency. This thesis is anticipated to be a starting point for further studies to achieve consistency during I4.0-driven BMI to generate superior and sustained value appropriation for manufacturing firms.Ford Britain Trust, Queens' Colleg

Organising the Implementation of Industry 4.0 in a High Value German Manufacturing Firm: A Complex Adaptive Systems Approach.

Ph. D. ThesisThis thesis addresses an important research gap in empirical qualitative evidence regarding the organisational aspects of the implementation of Industry 4.0. Whereas there is a basic understanding of the technical implementation in the factory plant, the understanding of the implementation from an organisational perspective is limited. A holistic single case study with 35 semi-structured expert interviews enabled a deep exploration of an implementation in a real-world context at the firm level. The findings demonstrate how a high value German manufacturing company has implemented Industry 4.0, as well as why this firm implemented as it did. Several elements are thematically analysed, representing important examples of how manufacturing firms can organise the implementation of Industry 4.0 in praxis. Covering the three areas of actions, influences and relationships, the implications of the analysed elements are discussed in relation to six theoretical themes, namely centralisation vs. decentralisation, diffusion of new ideas, working in teams, trust, open innovation and path dependence. This thesis represents the first existing study that understands the implementation of Industry 4.0 as a Complex Adaptive System of interrelated system elements which continuously evolve over time. In this sense, a newly developed system model acknowledges important relationship characteristics that lead to a more comprehensive perspective on the complex implementation of Industry 4.0. This thesis contributes to the research field by being the first study to suggest a “dual approach” encompassing important decentralised as well as centralised implementation patterns for a successful process. It furthermore demonstrates how workforce concerns regarding job security significantly influence the emergence of system elements regarding change management during the implementation of Industry 4.0. The thesis offers academic contributions to the Industry 4.0 implementation literature, as well as organisational elements recommended for practitioners when organising the implementation of Industry 4.0

Positivity and Positive Reinforcement in Organizational Culture at Nazarene Higher Education Institutions

Given the importance of employee motivation, satisfaction, productivity, and retention, as well as the support for positivity in the review of the literature, this study examined the effects of positivity and positive reinforcement in organizational culture, through the lens of admissions professionals, at the eight Nazarene Higher Education Institutions (NHEI) within the United States. The study also examined the effects of the perceived positivity of leaders in organizational culture, in the same context. The findings revealed some signs of positivity among NHEI admissions professionals, but no evidence was revealed regarding the consistent use of positive reinforcement in these settings. The perceived positivity of administrators was determined to be important to these NHEI admissions professionals

Positivity and Positive Reinforcement in Organizational Culture at Nazarene Higher Education Institutions

Given the importance of employee motivation, satisfaction, productivity, and retention, as well as the support for positivity in the review of the literature, this study examined the effects of positivity and positive reinforcement in organizational culture, through the lens of admissions professionals, at the eight Nazarene Higher Education Institutions (NHEI) within the United States. The study also examined the effects of the perceived positivity of leaders in organizational culture, in the same context. The findings revealed some signs of positivity among NHEI admissions professionals, but no evidence was revealed regarding the consistent use of positive reinforcement in these settings. The perceived positivity of administrators was determined to be important to these NHEI admissions professionals

A Justice-Oriented Account of Moral Responsibility for Implicit Bias.

I defend an account of moral responsibility for implicit bias that is sensitive to both normative and pragmatic constraints: an acceptable theory of moral responsibility must not only do justice to our moral experience and agency, but also issue directives that are psychologically effective in bringing about positive changes in judgment and behavior. I begin by offering a conceptual genealogy of two different concepts of moral responsibility that arise from two distinct sources of philosophical concerns. We are morally responsible for our actions in first sense only when those actions reflect our identities as moral agents—that is, when they are attributable to us as manifestations of our character, attitudes, ends, commitments, or values. On the other hand, we are responsible in the second sense when it is appropriate for others to enforce certain demands and expectations on those actions—in other words, to hold us accountable for them. I argue that we may sometimes lack attributability for actions caused by implicit bias, but that even then we are still accountable for them. Next, I expand beyond individual actions at a particular time to patterns of action across time, to consider what we can reasonably be expected to do when it comes to avoiding and eliminating implicit bias in our selves. By thinking of these expectations as grounded in imperfect duties, I show, we can expand our moral repertoire to include non-appraising critical moral responses, in addition to appraisal-based responses such as blame and punishment (which are often counterproductive). Finally, I move beyond the actions of individuals to address the question of responsibility for eliminating the social conditions that breed implicit biases in the first place. I argue that accountability requires us not only to conform to a system of demands and expectations, but also to collectively organize to reform the system itself. By elaborating these multiple dimensions of moral responsibility—attributability versus accountability, particular versus patterns of action, individual versus collective—I demonstrate that the project of developing better practices of moral responsibility is continuous with, and thus contributes to, larger struggles for social equality and justice.PhDPhilosophyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113449/1/zhengr_1.pd

Designing for Fluid Transitions to Sustainable Infrastructure: The Case of the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway

The need for transitions to more sustainable socio-technical systems that underpin everyday life has never been more prescient. However, such transitions are daunting and difficult. Design initiates change in artefacts and therefore has an important role to play in transitions to more sustainable futures. Yet the power of design in assisting such transitions has not been fully realised. This thesis explores this issue. A longitudinal case study of the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway infrastructure project was completed. Ethnographic observation and interviews provided empirical data on the design activities present in this nascent project. The Fluid Transition (FT) approach was adopted as it identifies a role for design in transitions and provides guidance on how interpretative flexibility may be embraced through design to develop situationally specific solutions and realise a multiplicity of transition pathways. The FT approach was used as a theoretical lens to both analyse and practically guide design activity. Analysing the project in light of key aspects of the FT approach showed that design activities did not sufficiently take into account the projects situated nature and the need for actor participation beyond the traditional nexus. Interventions were completed with case study actors to influence project design activities and included workshops employing visioning, co-design, as well as visual communication practices new to the project. A framework for Fluid Design for Sustainable Transitions (FDfST) has been developed which identifies key design activities to assist socio-technical transitions. Visioning is the most powerful element of the framework, exerting influence over all others. The case study shows that the project has embarked upon a transition pathway toward a more sustainable infrastructure and design can play a key role in such transition pathways

Influence of Application-Based Homework on Students Who Struggle in Algebra I

This investigation describes a problem of practice with the academic achievement of students who struggle in Algebra I by means of an action research design. Students regularly struggle academically for a variety of reasons, as described within and are frequently identified as at-risk due to this struggle. This investigation seeks to determine if the utilization of application-based homework serves to increase achievement and student engagement in a course with such significant importance for future success as Algebra I. An example of application-based would be the use of specific content outside of the classroom, such as parabolic functions to model projectile motion. The overarching research question, “What is the impact of implementing application-based homework on the engagement and achievement of students who struggle in Algebra I?” was developed. In order to address this question, students were provided with a treatment that consisted of homework and support that connected the Algebra I concepts that they are learning in class to the world around them. The investigation sought to increase the meaningfulness of the content thus increasing student engagement and achievement due to homework. This action research design utilized a Piggot-Irvine action research approach. In this approach, the researcher followed a cycle of plan, act, observe, and reflect to determine if the treatment influenced engagement and achievement. In the plan phase, the researcher collaborated with instructional professionals to establish the application-based homework samples that connected to the unit of study. The observe and act phases included administration of the application-based homework, a focus group examination of student work submissions, and semi-structured interviews of students, while the revision phase served to utilize findings to modify subsequent iterations. After three iterations, post-assessment data was collected regarding students’ impressions. The accumulation and analysis of data from all sources demonstrated positive connections to engagement and achievement for the purposefully selected population of students in this study relative to the ACE homework. Although there were positive results, additional considerations were developed based on the three iterations and the post-ACE survey. The triangulation of data and researcher reflections were also used to develop implications for future study and action steps for the future