Information Technology and Product/Service Innovation: A Brief Assessment and Some Suggestions for Future Research

In this paper, I follow up on my previous article about information systems as a reference discipline for new product development (Nambisan, 2003) and assess the extant research on this topic. To facilitate the assessment, I develop a framework that considers information technology’s (IT’s) dual roles as operand resource and as operant resource and its impact on innovation process and on innovation outcome. My analysis reveals the advance that has been made in understanding IT’s role as operand resource in innovation and the considerable opportunity that exists to explore IT’s emerging role as operant resource in innovation. I also comment on the need for IS scholars working in this area to make careful choices regarding their research topic and theoretical perspectives to enhance the potential impact on and contribution to the product/service innovation literature

Building dynamic capabilities in product development: the role of knowledge management

This paper contributes to the clarification of the connections between knowledge management and dynamic capabilities in the context of product development to see how they explain product development competences. Building on the knowledge management and dynamic capabilities literatures, the paper argues that the social side of knowledge management has a role to play as enabler of dynamic capabilities in the context of product development. Further, dynamic capabilities shape product development competences. Empirical evidence is provided by performing survey research with data collected from 80 product development projects developed in Spain.Capabilities , Knowledge management, Organizational knowledge

Interdisciplinarity Dimension in Research Information Systems – Evidence from Poland

AbstractResearch information systems (RIS) or scientific information systems (SIS), alike enterprise information systems (EIS), should cover interdisciplinarity aspects as a dimension that influences significantly research potential and activity of particular scientists.The aim of the work is to investigate the Polish scientific environment related to life sciences and engineering, with reference to its interdisciplinarity. It is believed that researchers having knowledge and experience in many different scientific areas are more successful and prone to make substantial scientific discoveries. Analysing Polish scientific achievements with respect to research projects granted and publications of the leading researchers, author states that scientists with multi-scientific background are more effective in granting additional funding for research. However, multidisciplinarity (interdisciplinarity), in terms of subject areas of specialization, has limitations. Author expects, that number of disciplines in which particular scientist has an experience might be extended with a success only to certain level.Preliminary results suggest, that interdisciplinarity background of individual scientists need to be incorporated in RIS/SIS as an obligatory dimension. It is of great importance for potential research cooperation, policy advisors and authorities financing research activities, as well as for business searching for professionals in differentiated scientific fields

Requirement Model of School Management System for Adult Commercial Secondary School in Somalia (ACSSMS)

To develop a system, it is necessary for the system's analyst to provide a model. In order to produce this model, the analyst must identify the user’s requirement first. Requirement model is one of the techniques used to model out the user’s requirement for a specific system before the development of that system. In other words, requirement model gives a view of the user’s requirement for a particular system. The purpose of this study is to create a requirement model as a basis to develop school management system for Adult Commercial Secondary School in Somalia. So, during this study, the UML graphical notation was used to model out the requirement model of the proposed school management system, and the requirement model was designed and presented using different UML tools (e.g., use case diagram, use case specifications, activity diagram, sequence diagram, collaboration diagram and class diagram), and supporting textual information. Also, a small prototype was then developed and presented in this study, which covers some of the main functional requirements, so as to assist the school in managing their daily operations effectively and more efficiently. Thus, this study is believed to be a step forward and very crucial guidance for Adult School in Somalia to be able to give this model to system developers to build the proposed school management system

Service Innovation for Knowledge Intensive Services in the Digital Age: A Framework

This study develops a framework for service innovation in knowledge intensive services (KIS). Developments in digital technologies have provided unprecedented speed and enabled innovative techniques to initiate and launch new knowledge-oriented services. The potential value of these services raises questions regarding the identification of critical resources, their role, and how they interact with new technologies in service delivery. Building upon service-dominant logic, this research study theorizes that digital technologies, as operand and operant resources, interact with intangible resources to generate digitalization for service innovation. Unlike product innovation, the service innovation process is modularized based on projects. With digitization benefits, the project evaluation timeline is shorter and faster, conveying a sense of information immediacy. This study presents a new framework for service innovation in the digital age and suggests future research paths to confirm, expand, and validate the framework in knowledge intensive services context of academic libraries in higher education institutions

Investigating the Complexity of Organizational Digitization and Firm Performance: A Set-Theoretic Configurational Approach

This study investigates the causal complexity and diversity of the relationship between organizational digitization and firm performance. Digitization – defined as the penetration of IT in the organization – is a complex organizational phenomenon in that it involves changes in organizational strategy, business processes, organizational knowledge and eventually the whole socio-technical organizational system, thus influencing organizational performance. We adopt a holistic configuration theory lens and a set-theoretic method, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explain how such interdependent relationships among digitization and organizational strategic elements result in high firm performance. We apply the set-theoretic method to a longitudinal field data set collected from 1816 Canadian firms. We found multiple equifinal configurations that result in high performance. By comparing the similarities and differences within and between the configurations, we could explain the multifaceted roles that digitization plays in achieving high performance together with organizational strategies

Towards a Framework for Open Data Related Innovation Contests

Open data is considered as a promising resource for innovation, in particular in light of the ongoing digitization of society and economy. Currently, organizations lack of knowledge and skills to make efficient use of this resource. Based on the theoretical underpinning of absorptive capacity, the paper investigates how organizations could be supported by using open data for innovation. Following the design science research paradigm, a morphological box for open data related innovation contests is designed by means of an extensive literature review as well as an empirical investigation of an academic analytics challenge. The resulting artifact guides the design of open data related innovation contests by illustrating the main design elements and their options

IT and NPD Performance: Unveiling the Mediating Effects of Process Integration and Knowledge Integration

The elusive relationship between information technology (IT) and business value continues to challenge academics and researchers. Recently, it has been suggested that a process-level framework that accounts for intermediate organizational factors is likely to allow us to better understand the antecedents of the business value of IT. This paper develops a model examining the impact of distinct IT usages on new product development (NPD) process performance. The mediating roles of two distinct integration types are examined: process integration and knowledge integration. These two integration types are conceptualized and distinguished from each other in an effort to provide a deeper understanding as to how they are influenced by IT and how they influence NPD performance. The model contributes to research by elucidating the role of IT in the NPD process and by extending the extant theory on integration and NPD performance and incorporating the distinct effects of the two integration types

Predicting New Product Success or Failure: A Comparison of U.S. and U.K. Practices

We propose a model that allows managers to assess new product development (NPD) projects, combined with the anticipated strategy, prior to introduction and to estimate a probability of success. This model allows for an evaluation and prioritization of resource commitments. A test of this model that compares companies within the United States (U.S.) and the United Kingdom (U.K.) is provided

Impact of Manufacturing Practices on Adoption of Plant Information Systems

Firms have invested over $15 billion in the past three years on new information technology and software in their manufacturing plants. In this study, we document how the implementation of new types of manufacturing practices has impacted the types of information technology investments in manufacturing plants. We present a conceptual model to develop hypotheses about relationships between manufacturing practices and the choice of information systems at the plant level. Analysis of cross-sectional survey data from 932 manufacturing plants provides strong empirical support for our hypotheses about how manufacturing practices influence decisions regarding adoption of plant-level IT applications