Leveraging ICT for Collaborative Decision Making in Global Customer Support

Advances in technology have allowed organizations to expand beyond traditional walls of a centralized office. Dispersed locations allow organizations to reduce cost, hire employees where expertise exists, and conduct operations world-wide 24 hours a day 7 days a week. One challenge facing organizations with a dispersed workforce is how knowledge is shared and subsequently applied to decision-making. This paper focuses on how information and communication technology (ICT) facilitates collaborative decision-making among dispersed employees in a customer support organization. While the research is in progress, we propose a model concentrating on social and technical factors that affect ICT usage and in turn affect collaborative decision-making efficiency and decision effectiveness. Results of this research will contribute important findings regarding collaborative decision-making applicable for both practitioners and researchers

Integrating information and knowledge for enterprise innovation

It has widely been accepted that enterprise integration, can be a source of socio-technical and cultural problems within organisations wishing to provide a focussed end-to-end business service. This can cause possible “straitjacketing” of business process architectures, thus suppressing responsive business re-engineering and competitive advantage for some companies. Accordingly, the current typology and emergent forms of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) technologies are set in the context of understanding information and knowledge integration philosophies. As such, key influences and trends in emerging IS integration choices, for end-to-end, cost-effective and flexible knowledge integration, are examined. As touch points across and outside organisations proliferate, via work-flow and relationship management-driven value innovation, aspects of knowledge refinement and knowledge integration pose challenges to maximising the potential of innovation and sustainable success, within enterprises. This is in terms of the increasing propensity for data fragmentation and the lack of effective information management, in the light of information overload. Furthermore, the nature of IS mediation which is inherent within decision making and workflow-based business processes, provides the basis for evaluation of the effects of information and knowledge integration. Hence, the authors propose a conceptual, holistic evaluation framework which encompasses these ideas. It is thus argued that such trends, and their implications regarding enterprise IS integration to engender sustainable competitive advantage, require fundamental re-thinking

The role of GPS-enabled information in transforming operational decision making: an exploratory study

Although the impact of ICT-enabled information on firm performance has been well documented in the business value of IT literature, our understanding of how Global Positioning System (GPS) adoption can transform operational decision making and foster differential firm performance is limited. In response, we conduct an exploratory comparative case study of three transport firms that have implemented the same GPS during the same year in their operations. Our results highlight that increased use of GPS-enabled information can enhance information quality and make operational decision making more fact-based and collaborative. We also find that such transformations in operational decision making, driven by increased use of GPS-enabled information, can foster differential performance impacts. However, we warn scholars and practitioners that a firm’s information management capability (in terms of availability of quality information in decision making, software tools for connectivity and access to information, IT systems integration post-GPS adoption and adaptability of the infrastructure to emerging business needs) and organizational factors (such as top management support, project management of GPS implementation, financial support, end-user involvement, rewarding, training and employee resistance) can facilitate (or inhibit) effective use of GPS-enabled information in operational decision making, and thus moderate differential performance benefits of GPS adoption

Collaborative improvement as an inspiration for supply chain collaboration

The battlefield of competition is today moving from the level of\ud individual firms to the one of the extended enterprises, that is, networks of customers and their suppliers. This paper discusses how learning and continuous improvement today take place in processes based on daily collaboration at intercompany level, i.e. Extended Manufacturing Enterprises (EMEs). The purpose of the paper is to present a preliminary theory on Collaborative Improvement (CoI), i.e. continuous improvement at the EME level. Based on a literature review on Supply Networks, and Continuous Improvement and on evidence from two explorative case studies, the paper proposes a model for Collaborative Improvement in EMEs and discusses a research approach based on Action Research and Action Learning to further develop preliminary theory and actionable knowledge on how to foster and sustain CoI in EMEs

Digitaalisen opetuksen kasvuyritysten kansainvälistymiseen vaikuttavat tekijät

As well as many other industries, education is currently being disrupted by new emerging digital solutions. Teachers all around the world are adopting new digital materials to their everyday teaching including digital books and educational games. This recent trend engenders opportunity for new companies to emerge with cutting-edge digital educational solutions. Furthermore, with a digital solution expansion to international markets without heavy investments is possible. However, for example in Finland only few companies have been able to successfully enter new markets with educational technology. Internationalization strategies have been widely studied during the past few decades. The early studies already identified a set of different market entry modes including export, licensing, franchising, joint ventures and wholly-owned subsidiaries. However, for small resource-limited companies, export is the most viable option. Export allows company to maintain the full control of the process and product without making heavy investments on the internationalization. The export performance framework shows that the export strategy is depending on both internal (company resources) and external factors (country and industry characteristics). More recent studies have also identified alternative entry modes such as cooperative strategies and innovative use of internet. However, the previous literature has not studied this topic purely in education industry and therefore does not provide detailed knowledge for startups planning international expansion in digital education industry. The aim of this study is to identify key determinants for market entry strategy selection for startups in digital education, and identify different strategies for addressing the major challenges in the digital education markets. To study this topic, 15 interviews were carried out to both experts of internationalization of digital education and companies that are pursuing international expansion with digital educational solutions. The data analysis followed Gioia methodology (Gioia, Corley, & Hamilton, 2012), in which 1st-order terms are identified first, and then the 2nd-order themes are established accordingly. The findings revealed several market-level factors that drive the market entry strategy selection. These factors were related to cultural and regulatory differences, trust and reliability, different customer types and customer needs. In addition, the findings showed several strategies how companies can address the challenges related to the above market-level factors. Therefore, this study provides managers of startups with insights of digital education markets as well as a toolkit for addressing the market-level challenges in digital education.Opetusala on kokemassa suuria muutoksia uusien digitaalisten ratkaisuiden myötä. Opettajat ympäri maailmaa ottavat opetuskäyttöön uusia digitaalisia ratkaisuja kuten digitaalisia oppikirjoja sekä oppimispelejä. Opetuksen digitalisaatio synnyttää uusia yrityksiä, jotka tuottavat innovatiivisia ja moderneja teknologiaratkaisuja opetuskäyttöön. Tämänlaisille digitaalisia ratkaisuja tuottaville yrityksille on mahdollista myös kasvaa kansainvälisesti ilman suuria alkuinvestointeja. Kuitenkin vain muutama suomalainen digitaalisia ratkaisuja tuottava yritys on kyennyt onnistuneesti laajentumaan uusille markkinoille. Kansainvälistymisstrategioita on tutkittu laajalti viimeisten vuosikymmenien aikana. Jo aikaiset tutkimukset määrittelivät erilaisia tapoja tunkeutua uusille markkinoille. Näitä tapoja ovat muun muassa vienti, lisensointi, franchise-periaate, yhteisyritys sekä tytäryhtiö. Useimmille pienille yrityksille suora vienti on kuitenkin parhaiten sopiva tapa kansainvälistyä. Suora vienti antaa yritykselle täyden kontrollin operaatiosta ja tuotteesta vaatimatta kuitenkaan suuria alkuinvestointeja. Viennin suorituskyky –malli osoittaa, että vientistrategia perustuu sekä sisäisiin (yrityksen resurssit) että ulkoisiin tekijöihin (markkina- ja toimiala kohtaisiin tekijöihin). Uudemmat tutkimukset ovat lisäksi esittäneet vaihtoehtoisia tapoja tunkeutua markkinoille kuten yhteistyöhön perustuvat strategiat ja internetin innovatiivinen hyödyntäminen. Kirjallisuus ei kuitenkaan ole tutkinut kansainvälistymistä pelkästään opetusalan näkökulmasta, eikä täten tarjoa yksityiskohtaista tietoa pienten digitaalisia ratkaisuja tuottavan yrityksen kansainvälistymisestä. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tunnistaa keskeisimmät tekijät, jotka vaikuttavat pienten kasvuyritysten tapaan tunkeutua markkinoille, sekä tunnistaa erilaisia strategioita markkinoiden keskeisimpien haasteiden ylittämiseen. Tutkimuksessa suoritettiin 15 haastattelua sekä opetuksen kansainvälistämisen eksperteille että pienille kasvuyrityksille, jotka ovat kansainvälistyneet digitaalisen opetuksen alalla. Haastatteludata analysoitiin käyttämällä Gioia-metodia (Gioia et al., 2012), jossa tunnistetaan ensin ensimmäisen tason aiheet, joiden perusteella voidaan luoda laajempia toisen tason teemoja. Tutkimuksen tulokset toivat ilmi useita markkina-tason tekijöitä, jotka vaikuttavat yrityksen tapaan tunkeutua markkinoille. Nämä tekijät liittyivät kulttuuriin ja sääntelyyn, luotettavuuteen, erilaisiin asiakastyyppeihin, sekä asiakkaiden tarpeisiin. Tulokset toivat esiin myös useita tapoja, joilla yritykset voivat ylittää keskeiset haasteet liittyen edellä mainittuihin markkina-tason tekijöihin. Tutkimuksen tulokset tuovat esiin markkinoiden keskeisiä piirteitä sekä erilaisia tapoja vastata markkinoiden erityispiirteistä syntyviin haasteisiin

Digitaalisen opetuksen kasvuyritysten kansainvälistymiseen vaikuttavat tekijät

As well as many other industries, education is currently being disrupted by new emerging digital solutions. Teachers all around the world are adopting new digital materials to their everyday teaching including digital books and educational games. This recent trend engenders opportunity for new companies to emerge with cutting-edge digital educational solutions. Furthermore, with a digital solution expansion to international markets without heavy investments is possible. However, for example in Finland only few companies have been able to successfully enter new markets with educational technology. Internationalization strategies have been widely studied during the past few decades. The early studies already identified a set of different market entry modes including export, licensing, franchising, joint ventures and wholly-owned subsidiaries. However, for small resource-limited companies, export is the most viable option. Export allows company to maintain the full control of the process and product without making heavy investments on the internationalization. The export performance framework shows that the export strategy is depending on both internal (company resources) and external factors (country and industry characteristics). More recent studies have also identified alternative entry modes such as cooperative strategies and innovative use of internet. However, the previous literature has not studied this topic purely in education industry and therefore does not provide detailed knowledge for startups planning international expansion in digital education industry. The aim of this study is to identify key determinants for market entry strategy selection for startups in digital education, and identify different strategies for addressing the major challenges in the digital education markets. To study this topic, 15 interviews were carried out to both experts of internationalization of digital education and companies that are pursuing international expansion with digital educational solutions. The data analysis followed Gioia methodology (Gioia, Corley, & Hamilton, 2012), in which 1st-order terms are identified first, and then the 2nd-order themes are established accordingly. The findings revealed several market-level factors that drive the market entry strategy selection. These factors were related to cultural and regulatory differences, trust and reliability, different customer types and customer needs. In addition, the findings showed several strategies how companies can address the challenges related to the above market-level factors. Therefore, this study provides managers of startups with insights of digital education markets as well as a toolkit for addressing the market-level challenges in digital education.Opetusala on kokemassa suuria muutoksia uusien digitaalisten ratkaisuiden myötä. Opettajat ympäri maailmaa ottavat opetuskäyttöön uusia digitaalisia ratkaisuja kuten digitaalisia oppikirjoja sekä oppimispelejä. Opetuksen digitalisaatio synnyttää uusia yrityksiä, jotka tuottavat innovatiivisia ja moderneja teknologiaratkaisuja opetuskäyttöön. Tämänlaisille digitaalisia ratkaisuja tuottaville yrityksille on mahdollista myös kasvaa kansainvälisesti ilman suuria alkuinvestointeja. Kuitenkin vain muutama suomalainen digitaalisia ratkaisuja tuottava yritys on kyennyt onnistuneesti laajentumaan uusille markkinoille. Kansainvälistymisstrategioita on tutkittu laajalti viimeisten vuosikymmenien aikana. Jo aikaiset tutkimukset määrittelivät erilaisia tapoja tunkeutua uusille markkinoille. Näitä tapoja ovat muun muassa vienti, lisensointi, franchise-periaate, yhteisyritys sekä tytäryhtiö. Useimmille pienille yrityksille suora vienti on kuitenkin parhaiten sopiva tapa kansainvälistyä. Suora vienti antaa yritykselle täyden kontrollin operaatiosta ja tuotteesta vaatimatta kuitenkaan suuria alkuinvestointeja. Viennin suorituskyky –malli osoittaa, että vientistrategia perustuu sekä sisäisiin (yrityksen resurssit) että ulkoisiin tekijöihin (markkina- ja toimiala kohtaisiin tekijöihin). Uudemmat tutkimukset ovat lisäksi esittäneet vaihtoehtoisia tapoja tunkeutua markkinoille kuten yhteistyöhön perustuvat strategiat ja internetin innovatiivinen hyödyntäminen. Kirjallisuus ei kuitenkaan ole tutkinut kansainvälistymistä pelkästään opetusalan näkökulmasta, eikä täten tarjoa yksityiskohtaista tietoa pienten digitaalisia ratkaisuja tuottavan yrityksen kansainvälistymisestä. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tunnistaa keskeisimmät tekijät, jotka vaikuttavat pienten kasvuyritysten tapaan tunkeutua markkinoille, sekä tunnistaa erilaisia strategioita markkinoiden keskeisimpien haasteiden ylittämiseen. Tutkimuksessa suoritettiin 15 haastattelua sekä opetuksen kansainvälistämisen eksperteille että pienille kasvuyrityksille, jotka ovat kansainvälistyneet digitaalisen opetuksen alalla. Haastatteludata analysoitiin käyttämällä Gioia-metodia (Gioia et al., 2012), jossa tunnistetaan ensin ensimmäisen tason aiheet, joiden perusteella voidaan luoda laajempia toisen tason teemoja. Tutkimuksen tulokset toivat ilmi useita markkina-tason tekijöitä, jotka vaikuttavat yrityksen tapaan tunkeutua markkinoille. Nämä tekijät liittyivät kulttuuriin ja sääntelyyn, luotettavuuteen, erilaisiin asiakastyyppeihin, sekä asiakkaiden tarpeisiin. Tulokset toivat esiin myös useita tapoja, joilla yritykset voivat ylittää keskeiset haasteet liittyen edellä mainittuihin markkina-tason tekijöihin. Tutkimuksen tulokset tuovat esiin markkinoiden keskeisiä piirteitä sekä erilaisia tapoja vastata markkinoiden erityispiirteistä syntyviin haasteisiin

Review of the environmental and organisational implications of cloud computing: final report.

Cloud computing – where elastic computing resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers – is generating significant interest within HE and FE. In the cloud computing business model, organisations or individuals contract with a cloud computing service provider on a pay-per-use basis to access data centres, application software or web services from any location. This provides an elasticity of provision which the customer can scale up or down to meet demand. This form of utility computing potentially opens up a new paradigm in the provision of IT to support administrative and educational functions within HE and FE. Further, the economies of scale and increasingly energy efficient data centre technologies which underpin cloud services means that cloud solutions may also have a positive impact on carbon footprints. In response to the growing interest in cloud computing within UK HE and FE, JISC commissioned the University of Strathclyde to undertake a Review of the Environmental and Organisational Implications of Cloud Computing in Higher and Further Education [19]

Differentiating KMS Strategy from Business Strategy, KM Strategy and IS/IT Strategy

The era of the new millennium has witnessed a wide range of the revolutionized technology that affects our lives and the way an organization is conducted. The contemporary business sectors start to recognize the potential use of knowledge management in the new organizational processes. As a result, increasing numbers of organizations pay attention to the creative value of leveraging knowledge as one of their potential assets. Therefore, organizations start to focus on knowledge as one of the important elements in competitive advantage that needs to be utilized efficiently and effectively. They have shown a great attention of knowledge management in their business strategy incorporated with technology. The role of technological tools and applications is essential in supporting and enhancing knowledge management strategy. There has been a transition from traditional information system to new a concept of knowledge management system employed by organization to sustain competitive advantage in dynamic and unstable environment. Further, to shift the paradigm of knowledge management systems concept from business sectors, this study focused on the KMS applications and tools particularly in Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) environment. The purpose of this study is to (a) identify the relationship of business strategy, knowledge management (KM) Strategy, knowledge management systems (KMS) strategy, information system (IS) strategy and information technology (IT) strategy, particularly in the context of IHE, (b) describe those strategies and their relationship based on the context of IHE. This will provide guidance and effective methods for formulating the KMS strategy with the aim to align it with business strategies and ensuring success of its implementation