BLOCKCHAIN – JUST ANOTHER IT IMPLEMENTATION? A COMPARISON OF BLOCKCHAIN AND INTERORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS

In expectation of an impending technological disruption, organizations get familiar with blockchain technology and scout for first value delivering implementations. So far, the promises and expectations fall short and large scale blockchain applications and ecosystems, apart from cryptocurrencies, are still missing. One aspect that contributes to this shortcoming is that blockchain projects face a multitude of implementation barriers, which have not yet been systematically identified. Blockchain can serve as a technological fabric, connecting different parties in a business network and facilitating information exchange. Such systems show clear resemblance to interorganizational information systems (IOIS). Therefore, the questions can be raised to what extent blockchain systems face the same implementation barriers as compared to any other IOIS implementation and, thus, if IOIS literature can be a valuable source for overcoming these barriers? To investigate these questions, we conduct a series of interviews with experts that have implemented blockchain prototypes in an interorganizational context and compare the derived barriers with the results of a structured literature review on challenges of IOIS implementations. We identify technical, organizational and network challenges that emerge along the blockchain implementation process and illustrate how the development of blockchain-based systems extends the existing knowledge on IOIS

Leading interagency planning and collaboration in mass gatherings: public health and safety in the 2012 London Olympics

OBJECTIVES: Planning and implementing public health initiatives in mass gatherings such as the Olympic Games pose unique challenges for interorganizational collaboration, which involves interaction among multiple and diverse agencies. Nonetheless, there is limited empirical evidence to support interagency collaboration and public health planning decisions in mass gatherings and how leadership can shape such interactions. We empirically explored these topics in the 2012 London Olympics to identify lessons to inform planning for future mass gatherings. STUDY DESIGN: This is a qualitative case study. METHODS: Data comprised 39 semistructured interviews with key informants conducted before, during, and after the games; in addition, direct observations of field exercises and documentary analysis were also used. Open coding and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: We identified two main leadership challenges that influenced interagency collaboration: organizational public health leadership and coordinating collaborative decision-making. Two facilitative conditions helped overcome the previous challenges: nurturing interorganizational linkages and creating shared understanding by activating codified frameworks at the organizational level. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights leadership issues in interagency collaboration in mass gatherings. Practical implications arising from this study may inform the ways the organizers of mass gatherings, public health and safety agencies, and professionals can engage in effective partnerships and joint working

Cultural diversity and information and communication technology impacts on global virtual teams: An exploratory study.

Modern organizations face many significant challenges because of turbulent environments and a competitive global economy. Among these challenges are the use of information and communication technology (ICT), a multicultural workforce, and organizational designs that involve global virtual teams. Ad hoc teams create both opportunities and challenges for organizations and many organizations are trying to understand how the virtual environment affects team effectiveness. Our exploratory study focused on the effects of cultural diversity and ICT on team effectiveness. Interviews with 41 team members from nine countries employed by a Fortune 500 corporation were analyzed. Results suggested that cultural diversity had a positive influence on decision‐making and a negative influence on communication. ICT mitigated the negative impact on intercultural communication and supported the positive impact on decision making. Effective technologies for intercultural communication included e‐mail, teleconferencing combined with e‐Meetings, and team rooms. Cultural diversity influenced selection of the communication media

Organizing International Technological Collaboration in Subcontractor Relationships An Investigation of the Knowledge-Stickyness Problem

Technological knowledge is often claimed to be context-bound and sticking to local surroundings. This paper investigates how technological knowledge can be exchanged in international subcontractor relationships, using relationship-oriented organizational practices. Five hypotheses concerning such practices are tested. It is shown that the use of relationshiporiented practices varies with exports and the active development of subcontractors in product and process development activities. Moreover, international development-oriented subcontractors are more likely to use interpersonal exchange, electronic data interchange and formalized contracts than other types of subcontractors. Research implications as well as managerial implications are derived.Subcontracting, knowledge, international division og labour

Traceability system for capturing, processing and providing consumer-relevant information about wood products: System solution and its economic feasibility

Current research and practice reports indicate the existence of purchase barriers concerning eco-friendly products, e.g. wood products. These can be ascribed to consumers' mistrust regarding the non-observable environmental impact of wood products. To counter the mistrust, wood products are commonly endowed with eco-labels, which may be perceived mostly as a marketing tool, therefore not fulfilling their intended purpose. Current studies have shown that providing consumers with wood product information based on traceability systems increases product trust and purchase intentions, with those information items most valued by consumers being identified as well. Based on this, the paper proposes a traceability information system for the capturing, processing, and provision of product information using examples of wood furniture. Furthermore, a cost-benefit model for the proposed solution is developed. The calculations indicate the possibility of implementing traceability at the item level based on a four-layer system architecture enabling the capture and delivery of all information valued by consumers at acceptable costs. The proposed system helps to overcome purchase barriers of eco-friendly products, increasing consumers' product trust and purchase intentions

Distributed Ledger Technology for the systematic Investigation and Reduction of Information Asymmetry in Collaborative Networks

Costs, risks and inefficiencies in Collaborative Networks (CNs) resulting from information asymmetries have been discussed in the scientific community for years. In this work, supply chain networks, as common representative of CNs, are used as object of investigation. Therein, problems and requirements of interorganizational information exchange are elaborated as well as the potential role Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) could play to address them. As major challenge, convincing all relevant network partners to resolve asymmetric information by sharing sensitive data is identified. To face this issue, the value of shared information is prioritized as a motivational aspect. Finally, we propose a search process to systematically assess the benefits of information sharing in collaborative networks. To coordinate and implement this process regarding the derived requirements of CNs we propose system components based on DLT design patterns

Authority and anomie in regional clusters

In this article we consider the nature and implications of barriers to collaborative process learning that may occur in regional clusters. Our approach is rooted in research in interorganizational collaboration and focuses on interview-based research in photonics clusters in: Scotland and the West Midlands in the United Kingdom; Berlin-Brandenburg in Germany; and Arizona in the United States of America. From this research we develop characterizations of the barriers to collaborative process learning in clusters at three levels of analysis—the macro, micro and meso levels. We also develop an integrated conceptualization of these barriers, which reveals a difficult tension between ‘authority’ and ‘anomie’. This tension has implications for the management of process learning, but also connects with recent debate about whether learning is most helpfully understood as an individual or collective process

Overcoming communications barriers in local government: Establishing networks through the public management forum

Forming communications networks between civilian government agencies and police departments -- Community-policing

Valuation of online social networks - An economic model and its application using the case of Xing.com

Ubiquitous information technologies like RFID allow for immediate, extensive and fine-grained capture of real world information. Scalable and efficient networks for exchange of this vast amount of information amongst companies are crucial for the economic exploitation of benefits of ubiquitous information technologies. Existing networks bear several limitations like risks of single-point-offailures or bottlenecks, unequally distributed power and burdens as well as inflexibility through stringent structures and formats. In particular there is a need for improving the scalability of solutions and ensuring autonomy of network participants. In this paper we introduce a Peer-to-Peer-based architecture for exchanging distributed information, which are shared among participants of a supply chain facilitated with ubiquitous information technologies. This architecture builds on the wellestablished EPCglobal standards, but can be implemented as an autonomous network. Unlike other architectures it does not need central coordination mechanisms, because it is based on self-organizing Peer-to-Peer protocols. We argue that our architecture supports business processes especially of small and medium-sized enterprises better than other architectures. We provide a discussion about requirements for solutions and a simulation-based analysis of the proposed architecture