ARCHITECTURE CONCEPTS FOR VALUE NETWORKS IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY

Value networks are one of the main forms of value creation today. Suppliers, manufacturers and customers form a dynamic collaboration structure. Networks and companies alike are always subject to external and internal influences which require changes in the way things are done. To make sure that the required changes take their intended effect, they have to be implemented on all levels of the enterprise architecture (EA). Research with respect to EA in value networks in the service industry (VNSI) is only in its beginnings. To understand the state of the art, we analyzed 88 papers with respect to the architecture layers in VNSI. Since we base on the fact that a successful introduction of change, e.g. new IT solutions, requires a holistic view on EA, we analyzed the papers according to their covering of the different levels of an EA. Our hypothesis is that most of the papers only cover very specific aspects without positioning their proposed solution in a holistic context. We propose a reference model based on a literature review as well as the results of the paper analysis. This reference model allows for a positioning of solutions in a holistic context and with that adds to a better basis for implementing change in VNSI

Using Alliances to Increase ICT Capabilities

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is perhaps the most important, emblematic and ubiquitous technology of contemporary society. ICT is used increasingly in new product areas and help resolve problems and challenges to mankind; it has even gotten to a point where life without ICT is hard to imagine. Over the last decades ICT has become a core technology within the music, literature and media and many other industries, and reshaped the way we consume these services. For many incumbent firms, the infusion of ICT into their industries poses both threats and opportunities. It might drive significant shifts of financial wealth and make firm performance change drastically. It entails managerial challenges of a kind we might not have seen before, but where knowledge of what possibilities and limitations reside in ICT will be a key success factor. There are several possible ways to approach this challenge from ICT: recruitment, education, training, socialization and M&A are but a few examples. Another way is for the incumbents to team up with ICT firms and seek to learn, or at least access, the knowledge required to utilize the inherent power of ICT. This means that having an alliance, or even an alliance capability that lets you develop an ICT capability will be important. This thesis deals precisely with the challenges that arise when incumbents ally with ICT firms – our case is the security industry, which has had a strong analogue technology base in the past, but where ICT offers opportunity for business development now as well as in the foreseeable future. Based on a theoretical frame of reference, this book then uses empirical observations from four alliances within the evolving, global security industry to validate and develop an alliance framework that can be a great help to both practitioners as well as academia. Even though we suggest to approach the question of alliances with a three-legged model including Transfer Capacity, Relationship Governance and Cultural fit the framework in essence the framework caters for attempts at accessing knowledge and, thanks to the empirical conclusions made, alliances where the main benefit in the end might differ from initial aspirations. It also highlights the sometimes serendipitous and unexpected results of alliances, and that higher aspirations might have to be replaced by more modest ambitions. The fact of the matter is that that sometimes, grand visions of knowledge exchange and accumulation are simply not reachable. In fast-moving industries such as ICT, there might not be time and incentive enough to actually transfer knowledge, but instead ally to access finished products

Impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on Business Performance

The performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is of fundamental significance in emerging economies because of their contribution to economic development and growth. Amongst many factors that contribute to SME performance, different information and communication technology (ICT) resources are worth mentioning in this age of the 4th industrial revolution. However, debate persists in the literature on the real contribution of ICT to business performance. Of the two diametrically different schools of thought in the debate, one believes that ICT is still capable of contributing to business performance. On the other hand, the opposite school of thought believes that ICT is no longer effective at creating differentiation between firms in terms of business performance; it has already become a basic utility available to all firms. Hence, ICT tools have been categorised into general purpose technologies (GPTs) and enabling technologies (ETs) in this thesis to better understand this debate and, in turn, the separate contribution of these two types of ICT tools to business performance. In other words, this thesis intends to explain the role of GPT and ET-related ICT resources in business performance, especially in SMEs in an emerging economy, Bangladesh, where the empirical part of this research is examined. The ETs include less widely used, specialist tools. On the other hand, GPTs include widely used, simpler technologies. There are several interesting findings in this thesis that add new dimensions to existing knowledge. Firstly, that ETs add more value to SME performance compared to GPTs. Secondly, the results support that SMEs’ ICT collaboration capabilities as a mediator influence the business value of ICT (BVICT) more than the direct effect in the case of ETs. Thirdly, different networking dimensions by SME owner-managers as a mediator have more influence on BVICT (in the case of GPTs) compared to the direct effect