Explaining the Success of User-Centered Design - An Empirical Study across German B2C Firms

This study focuses on the widely spread concept of User-Centered Design (UCD) and tries to answer the question why it is so popular. On the one hand, it is of interest to reveal the nature of UCD, especially in terms of the methods used, the types of users involved and the stages the involvement takes place. On the other hand, this paper aims to find out about the success of UCD projects as well as the organizational context that is beneficial for UCD. To do so, several streams of scientific literature in the field of UCD as well as organization theory are reviewed and the results of an empirical study conducted among UCD experts in Germany are analyzed. The theoretically derived characteristics could mainly be confirmed by the insights of the study. Moreover, several hypotheses concerning the influence of the organizational context using established constructs (IT competence, UCD competence, customer orientation, innovativeness, exploration and exploitation as well as the top management team) towards the project success in an UCD setup are proposed and tested by the means of a multiple factor analysis. By analyzing open comments concerning the facilitators and obstacles of UCD activities deeper insight into the daily business of UCD experts can be gained. A comparison between two subsamples split according to their project success score yield interesting results concerning different motives, types of integrated users and the locus of the user integration. This study has been created in collaboration with the user research and user experience (UX) consulting agency ‘Facit Digital’ who are based in Munich, Germany.Keywords: User-Centered Design, User Integration, Exploration, Exploitation, Empirical Investigatio

Enterprise Experience : Experience Design as Business Strategy – Company X Case Study

The objective of this study was to gather information about the need to focus on designing for Enterprise Experience (EX) in the era of digital transformation of businesses such as telecom operators or TELCO. The aim of the study was to define the concept work around the notion of Enterprise Experience (EX) and further highlight internal requirements of designing for EX. This study was carried out as an internal project. The data were collected in two-fold. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six internal experts representing respectively expertise from Business, Technology and Design. Second, Company X organisational diagnostic was described based on maturity assessment of its use of design and collaborative processes. Data was analysed through content analysis, and presented to identify the frame of potential improvement. The theoretical section explored the foundations of enterprise experience, in relation to Experience Design, Human Centered Design and by further explaining its triadic foundation in human behavioural psychology, Enterprise Architecture and Business Design. We further highlighted the rising value in integrating Design as a strategic element in the tech industry, and established a summary of the best practices observed from the field based on a set of selected companies. Finally, we exposed the meaning of the design ladder assessment and other maturity assessment and presented how they could be utilised to draw an organisational diagnostic. The empirical part consists of understanding Company X current capabilities in relation to the application of the EX framework. Key findings were that despite the effort to create a UX team, due to our current level of maturity and the lack of clear strategic consideration of Design the EX framework application was compromised. The results suggest that to fully support our company vision and further implement the EX frame-work, Company X would beneficiate in investing more into Design. More specifically, Company X would benefit investing in design capabilities that would further sustain strong collaboration required in the application of EX framework. Starting by creating a design unit, with design operation in charge of developing design system and creating a design thinking culture across the organisation. Further research is required to fully support the measurable impact of integrating Design as a strategic element of the company business’s strategy

Voluntary environmental programmes in the developing world: an examination of the ISO 14001 environmental management system certification in Thailand

This dissertation studies one of the newest tools in environmental policy in the developing world context – that of voluntary environmental programmes (VEPs). Developed and promoted in the past few decades by policy practitioners looking to regulate environmental pollution without saddling enterprises and governments with high regulatory costs, VEPs remain vastly under-studied, especially when compared with market instruments and the long-standing command and control approach. Fundamental questions such as who the likely participants are, why firms would voluntarily take on added costs of environmental improvement, and whether any financial and environmental benefits arise from participation remain largely unanswered. This gap in the literature is particularly severe for the case of developing countries. While VEPs in general and ISO 14001 in particular have rapidly increased across the developing world, the understanding of their implications in the academic literature trail far behind. This dissertation aims to fill some of this gap in the existing literature by using unique firm level data and applying rigorous empirical micro-econometric methods to analyse the adoption of the ISO 14001 international voluntary scheme in Thailand. The study focuses on three core manufacturing industries – food and beverages, textiles and wearing apparel, and electronics and electrical appliances, chosen to represent three main types of manufacturing activities in the country. The study finds that both macroeconomic and industry-specific factors influence firms’ participation in the ISO 14001 scheme. It also finds that the degrees of environmental impact from programme adoption vary by industry, and that although participation in the programme requires non-trivial commitments of the firm’s resources, participating firms are not placed at a financial disadvantage when compared with non-adopting firms

Learning in adaptive spaces:how customer experience professionals experience learning during technology-mediated interaction, and implications for organisational learning

This research investigates how customer experience (CX) professionals experience learning through their use of digital technologies in organisations, and considers the implications for organisational learning. A phenomenographic methodology was used to compare the variation in employees’ experiences of learning, and the research employed a conceptual framework of post-structuralism and complexity to investigate how digital technologies affect organisational learning and knowledge management. Complexity Leadership Theory was used as a way to interpret the complexity dynamics that occur through digitally mediated interactions in organisations, and provided a way to conceptualise these interactions as taking place in ‘adaptive spaces’. The research found that a lack of etiquette regarding the use of digital tools can adversely affect processes of meaning-creation during the technology-mediated work of CX professionals. The findings indicate that a more intentional use of technology – a ‘digital etiquette’ – can be viewed as a dynamic capability, and has the potential to improve the way in which CX professionals contribute to organisational learning. The findings also demonstrate that improving digital etiquette in adaptive spaces is an appropriate response to problems of knowledge management under conditions of complexity. The research will be of interest to those seeking a clearer understanding of the potential of the CX function to contribute to organisational learning, and also to those aiming to design programmes of learning that prepare students effectively for complex environments

e-Skills: The International dimension and the Impact of Globalisation - Final Report 2014

In today’s increasingly knowledge-based economies, new information and communication technologies are a key engine for growth fuelled by the innovative ideas of highly - skilled workers. However, obtaining adequate quantities of employees with the necessary e-skills is a challenge. This is a growing international problem with many countries having an insufficient numbers of workers with the right e-Skills. For example: Australia: “Even though there’s 10,000 jobs a year created in IT, there are only 4500 students studying IT at university, and not all of them graduate” (Talevski and Osman, 2013). Brazil: “Brazil’s ICT sector requires about 78,000 [new] people by 2014. But, according to Brasscom, there are only 33,000 youths studying ICT related courses in the country” (Ammachchi, 2012). Canada: “It is widely acknowledged that it is becoming inc reasingly difficult to recruit for a variety of critical ICT occupations –from entry level to seasoned” (Ticoll and Nordicity, 2012). Europe: It is estimated that there will be an e-skills gap within Europe of up to 900,000 (main forecast scenario) ICT pr actitioners by 2020” (Empirica, 2014). Japan: It is reported that 80% of IT and user companies report an e-skills shortage (IPA, IT HR White Paper, 2013) United States: “Unlike the fiscal cliff where we are still peering over the edge, we careened over the “IT Skills Cliff” some years ago as our economy digitalized, mobilized and further “technologized”, and our IT skilled labour supply failed to keep up” (Miano, 2013)

Understanding 'what works': Evidence based regional policy making in England.

CONCLUSIONS: A central finding of the thesis is the need for a more nuanced approach to the generation and use of evidence. This is in contrast to imposing a quality criteria specific to one type of study design (e.g. experimental methods) or allowing for cherry-picked and unsystematic evidence use within policy making processes. It is also argued that the development of a knowledge translation tool, operationalised through an evaluation and monitoring framework from the start of an organisation's existence, may facilitate the collection of more appropriate, decision-relevant data linked to an underlying programme theory. This would enable a tangible understanding of how data is to be aggregated, highlight any knowledge gaps and facilitate data-linking to other intelligence sources. The inclusion of policy makers early in the research process may also enable the generation of problem-driven evidence and shape an understanding of how such evidence supports decision making

A resource-based view of the firm : integrating the role of IT as a strategic resource - an empirical study of South African personal financial services (Assurance) firms, 1999-2003

Includes bibliographical references (p. 502-531).This research explores an "inside the black box" view on how IT enables sustainable competitive advantage. Most researchers have investigated IT competitive competencies that make up a firm's strategic framework to understand competitive advantage. However, Resource-Based Theory (RBT) probes into the inner workings of a firm, suggesting that a firm's IT assets and resources are the basis of a firm's "rare" core competencies to compete successfully. Using RBT and research in the economics, strategy, and IT literatures, an initial "Framework of Sustainability" was created, against which the case studies were conducted. This framework was used as foundation to develop semi-structured questionnaires in which 45, 90 minute (on average) interviews were conducted with managers in the four firms. Both internal and external documents about the firms and the industry were used as sources of corroborating evidence. In addition, a "bottoms up" view was obtained with evidence gathered from a short questionnaire and focus groups discussions held with 178 staff employees in the four firms

Report of the Stripe Analysis of the Off-Campus Activities of the International Agricultural Research Centers

Report prepared by three consultants and the TAC Secretariat on off-campus activities of the CGIAR centers. The report classifies these activities, under the headings of international testing programs, national projects, regional programs, off campus core research, collaborative research, collection of information and data, germplasm collection, preservation and utilization, training and consultations. Included in the file is a compendium prepared by the TAC Secretariat of off campus activities at each center, based on center submissions. Agenda document, CGIAR meeting, October 1980. Also considered at TAC 23rd and 24th Meetings in February and July 198