The liminality of trajectory shifts in institutional entrepreneurship

In this paper, we develop a process model of trajectory shifts in institutional entrepreneurship. We focus on the liminal periods experienced by institutional entrepreneurs when they, unlike the rest of the organization, recognize limits in the present and seek to shift a familiar past into an unfamiliar and uncertain future. Such periods involve a situation where the new possible future, not yet fully formed, exists side-by-side with established innovation trajectories. Trajectory shifts are moments of truth for institutional entrepreneurs, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms of how entrepreneurs reflectively deal with liminality to conceive and bring forth new innovation trajectories. Our in-depth case study research at CarCorp traces three such mechanisms (reflective dissension, imaginative projection, and eliminatory exploration) and builds the basis for understanding the liminality of trajectory shifts. The paper offers theoretical implications for the institutional entrepreneurship literature

Real Time on Moblin/Linux

International audienceThe automotive manufacturers are more than ever facing many challenges. With the tremendous involvement of electronics in the achievement of end-customers needs, automotive suppliers must accommodate themselves to the constantly changing features of carmakers. Infotainment is one of the most challenging fields, where the carmakers and suppliers realized that the use of a dedicated platform for each new car is no longer possible. This is why the GENIVI alliance was founded on March 2nd, 2009 with the goal of establishing an open platform for the automotive in-vehicle infotainment industry.GENIVI's strategy is to use Moblin as the baseline code within its reference implementation. Moblin is a Linux-based distribution designed for mobile devices and can perfectly be used in embedded devices such as those targeted by the infotainment industry.In this paper we experiment the real-time performances of Moblin as a standalone operating system and show how those performances can be improved by means of adding some customized real- time extensions. The main contribution of this work is to outline how those extensions are in fact necessary to comply with the real-time constraints required by automotive hosts on which infotainment applications are embedded

Connected Car: technologies, issues, future trends

The connected car -a vehicle capable of accessing to the Internet, of communicating with smart devices as well as other cars and road infrastructures, and of collecting real-time data from multiple sources- is likely to play a fundamental role in the foreseeable Internet Of Things. In a context ruled by very strong competitive forces, a significant amount of car manufacturers and software and hardware developers have already embraced the challenge of providing innovative solutions for new generation vehicles. Today’s cars are asked to relieve drivers from the most stressful operations needed for driving, providing them with interesting and updated entertainment functions. In the meantime, they have to comply to the increasingly stringent standards about safety and reliability. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the possibilities offered by connected functionalities on cars and the associated technological issues and problems, as well as to enumerate the currently available hardware and software solutions and their main features

Reallocating Uncertainty in Incumbent Firms through Digital Platforms: The Case of Google’s Automotive Ecosystem Involvement

This research examines how incumbent firms decide on the degree of involvement of technology players in their digital strategies, by integrating insights from digital innovation and digital platform research. We conducted an embedded case study on the adoption of Google’s Android Automotive OS and Google Automotive Services by the automotive industry, using semi-structured interviews with industry experts and senior decision-makers. We build on affordance-actualization theory to develop a grounded model of uncertainty reallocation consisting of five aggregate dimensions: (1) external digital platform by tech firm, (2) incumbent firm and its goals, (3) uncertainty tradeoffs and affordance of reallocation, (4) strategic actions by incumbent firm, and (5) short- and long-term outcomes. Our results provide valuable insights into the selection of non-binary platform strategies and the effects of various levels of technology firm involvement. This addition to the knowledge base of the information systems discipline provides practical guidance for incumbent firms navigating digital transformation

Is Europe in the Driver's Seat? The Competitiveness of the European Automotive Embedded Systems Industry

This report is one of a series resulting from a project entitled ¿Competitiveness by Leveraging Emerging Technologies Economically¿ (COMPLETE), carried out by JRC-IPTS. Each of the COMPLETE studies illustrates in its own right that European companies are active on many fronts of emerging and disruptive ICT technologies and are supplying the market with relevant products and services. Nevertheless, the studies also show that the creation and growth of high tech companies is still very complex and difficult in Europe, and too many economic opportunities seem to escape European initiatives and ownership. COMPLETE helps to illustrate some of the difficulties experienced in different segments of the ICT industry and by growing potential global players. This report reflects the findings of a study conducted by Egil Juliussen and Richard Robinson, two senior experts from iSuppli Corporation on the Competitiveness of the European Automotive Embedded Software industry. The report starts by introducing the market, its trends, the technologies, their characteristics and their potential economic impact, before moving to an analysis of the competitiveness of the corresponding European industry. It concludes by suggesting policy options. The research, initially based on internal expertise and literature reviews, was complemented with further desk research, expert interviews, expert workshops and company visits. The results were ultimately reviewed by experts and also in a dedicated workshop. The report concludes that currently ICT innovation in the automotive industry is a key competence in Europe, with very little ICT innovation from outside the EU finding its way into EU automotive companies. A major benefit of a strong automotive ICT industry is the resulting large and valuable employment base. But future maintenance of automotive ICT jobs within the EU will only be possible if the EU continues to have high levels of product innovation.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ

Towards understanding open-coopetition – Lessons from the automotive industry

Products are often co-developed in networks that embed multiple organizations. Paradoxically, such product development networks can tie rival and competing firms that cooperate with each other in an open-source way. The management of such modus operandi, where firms give up some intellectual property rights granted by law and work with competitors in an open-source way, can be very challenging as it can lead to commoditization, free-riding, and unintended spillover effects. Building upon extant knowledge in coopetition, open-source software, product development, and innovation, we conducted an exploratory case study aimed at understanding open-coopetition (i.e., cooperation among competitors in an open-source way) in the automotive industry. To do so, we leveraged publicly available naturally occurring digital data and qualitative interviews pertaining to four coopetitive open-source projects. Out preliminary results highlight the increasing complexity of the software that powers modern cars and consequent convergence of the automotive industry with the software industry

Custom automotive grade Linux image for production diagnostics

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica Industrial e Computadores (especialização em Sistemas Embebidos)Os sistemas presentes nos automóveis de hoje em dia, têm vindo a tornar-se cada vez mais complexos conforme as tecnologias e as preferências dos consumidores têm evoluído. Os sistemas, tais como consolas centrais ou paineis de instrumentos, têm o papel não só de informar os passageiros como também de entertenimento e ajuda na navegação. Estas e outras capacidades traduziram-se numa maior complexidade destes sistemas, tanto a nível do software como do hardware. A maior parte dos fornecedores de peças e equipamentos eletrónicos para a industria automóvel têm a necessidade de acelerar o processo de testes dos seus produtos, para poderem acompanhar a procura mantendo a qualidade. Para este fim, software de testes é usado nos sistemas desenvolvidos com o objetivo de testar o hardware e software desenvolvido para o cliente. No software de testes incluí-se o Production Diagnostic Software (PDS). A solução de PDS atualmente utilizada pela Bosch é composta por uma pilha de software, QNX a correr em paralelo com AUTOSAR da Vector. O AUTOSAR é um Real-Time Operative System (RTOS) usado como ponto de entrada dos comandos de diagnostico e oferece acesso ao hardware e à interface de comunicação. O QNX é um sistema UNIX de alto nível que lida com dispositivos externos, como ecrãs e audio. O Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), em comparação com outros sistemas operativos direcionados à indústria automóvel, é mais recente e apresenta software totalmente open-source. Devido a isto, apresenta custos reduzidos quando comparado com soluções closed-source e um maior grau de personalização em termos de código. Este projeto de dissertação implementou uma prova de conceito de um PDS usando o AGL como o unico sistema operativo, com o objetivo de competir e substituir, totalmente ou parcialmente, a pilha de software existente na solução atual da Bosch. A conclusão deste projeto de dissertação é que o AGL não consegue substituir a pilha de software devido à falta de qualidades real-time por parte do AGL. Mas, por outro lado, é um possível candidato a substituir o QNX na pilha de software, pois o AGL apresenta as mesmas capacidades que o QNX a menor custo e com maior personalização.The systems in today’s cars have become increasingly complex as technology and consumer prefer ences have evolved. Systems, such as center consoles or instrument clusters, have the role of not only inform passengers but also to entertain and aid navigation. These and other capabilities increased the complexity of these systems, in terms of software and hardware. Most suppliers of electronic parts and equipment to the automotive industry have the need to speed up the process of testing their products so that they can meet demand while maintaining quality. For this purpose, test software is used with the objective of testing the hardware and software developed for the client. Test software includes Production Diagnostic Software (PDS). The PDS solution currently used by Bosch is composed of a software stack, QNX running alongside Vectors AUTOSAR. AUTOSAR is a Real-Time Operative System (RTOS) used as the entry point for diagnostic commands and provides access to the hardware and communication interface. QNX is a high-level UNIX system that handles external devices, such as displays and audio. The Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), compared to other Operative Systems targeted at the automotive industry, is newer and features a open-source approach. Because of this, it offers lower costs when compared to other closed-source solutions and a higher level of customization of code. This dissertation project implemented a proof-of-concept of a PDS using AGL as the only operating system, with the aim to compete and replace, totally or partially, the existing software stack in the current Bosch solution. The conclusion drawn from this dissertation project is that AGL cannot replace the software stack, due to it’s lack of real-time capabilities. On the other hand, it is a possible candidate to replace QNX in the software stack, for the reason that AGL has the same capabilities at a lower cost and higher customization level

Front-End Design Guidelines for Infotainment Systems

This paper presents a set of front-end design guidelines intended to provide a starting point to designers of user interfaces for infotainment systems. The proposed approach suggests guidance on four dimensions inferred from state of the art such as crucial to achieve well designed automotive interfaces: a) Design; b) Interaction; c) Security; and d) Connectivity. Guidelines were thought by integrating conceptual-insights from Graphic Design; User Centered Design; Human-Machine Interfaces; Usability; and Human-Computer interaction. Additionally, were specified and structured to be used also as a comparing tool (Like Heuristic- Evaluation technique) to analyze front-end of existent infotainment systems. Said duality allowed to revise the pertinence of the proposal through a case study where 30 participants (25 regular users and 5 technicalexperts) compared suggested guidelines’ specification against interactions provided by the front–end of Mazda Connect© infotainment System. Obtained results suggested that setting of proposed guidelines was compatible with participants’ perceptions facilitating to identify pain-points on current design; thus, proposed guidance could scaffold base-insights for new front-end designs