Technology-driven online marketing performance measurement: lessons from affiliate marketing

Although the measurement of offline and online marketing is extensively researched, the literature on online performance measurement still has a number of limitations such as slow theory advancement and predominance of technology- and practitioner-driven measurement approaches. By focusing on the widely employed but under-researched affiliate marketing channel, this study addresses these limitations and evaluates the effectiveness of practitioner-led online performance assessment. The paper offers a comprehensive review of extant performance measurement research across traditional, online and affiliate marketing and, employing grounded theory, presents a qualitative in-depth analysis of 72 online forum discussions and 37 semi-structured interviews with the major affiliate marketing stakeholders. As a result, the research identifies a growing need for change in the technology-pushed measurement approaches in affiliate marketing, and proposes actionable improvement recommendations for affiliate and online marketing managers

Active learning based laboratory towards engineering education 4.0

Universities have a relevant and essential key role to ensure knowledge and development of competencies in the current fourth industrial revolution called Industry 4.0. The Industry 4.0 promotes a set of digital technologies to allow the convergence between the information technology and the operation technology towards smarter factories. Under such new framework, multiple initiatives are being carried out worldwide as response of such evolution, particularly, from the engineering education point of view. In this regard, this paper introduces the initiative that is being carried out at the Technical University of Catalonia, Spain, called Industry 4.0 Technologies Laboratory, I4Tech Lab. The I4Tech laboratory represents a technological environment for the academic, research and industrial promotion of related technologies. First, in this work, some of the main aspects considered in the definition of the so called engineering education 4.0 are discussed. Next, the proposed laboratory architecture, objectives as well as considered technologies are explained. Finally, the basis of the proposed academic method supported by an active learning approach is presented.Postprint (published version

Smart Asset Management for Electric Utilities: Big Data and Future

This paper discusses about future challenges in terms of big data and new technologies. Utilities have been collecting data in large amounts but they are hardly utilized because they are huge in amount and also there is uncertainty associated with it. Condition monitoring of assets collects large amounts of data during daily operations. The question arises "How to extract information from large chunk of data?" The concept of "rich data and poor information" is being challenged by big data analytics with advent of machine learning techniques. Along with technological advancements like Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics will play an important role for electric utilities. In this paper, challenges are answered by pathways and guidelines to make the current asset management practices smarter for the future.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of 12th World Congress on Engineering Asset Management (WCEAM) 201

Towards Design Principles for Data-Driven Decision Making: An Action Design Research Project in the Maritime Industry

Data-driven decision making (DDD) refers to organizational decision-making practices that emphasize the use of data and statistical analysis instead of relying on human judgment only. Various empirical studies provide evidence for the value of DDD, both on individual decision maker level and the organizational level. Yet, the path from data to value is not always an easy one and various organizational and psychological factors mediate and moderate the translation of data-driven insights into better decisions and, subsequently, effective business actions. The current body of academic literature on DDD lacks prescriptive knowledge on how to successfully employ DDD in complex organizational settings. Against this background, this paper reports on an action design research study aimed at designing and implementing IT artifacts for DDD at one of the largest ship engine manufacturers in the world. Our main contribution is a set of design principles highlighting, besides decision quality, the importance of model comprehensibility, domain knowledge, and actionability of results

Software como um Serviço: uma plataforma eficaz para oferta de sistemas holísticos de gestão da performance

This study main objective was to assess the viability of development of a Performance Management (PM) system, delivered in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS), specific for the hospitality industry and to evaluate the benefits of its use. Software deployed in the cloud, delivered and licensed as a service, is becoming increasingly common and accepted in a business context. Although, Business Intelligence (BI) solutions are not usually distributed in the SaaS model, there are some examples that this is changing. To achieve the study objective, design science research methodology was employed in the development of a prototype. This prototype was deployed in four hotels and its results evaluated. Evaluation of the prototype was focused both on the system technical characteristics and business benefits. Results shown that hotels were very satisfied with the system and that building a prototype and making it available in the form of SaaS is a good solution to assess BI systems contribution to improve management performance.O objetivo principal deste estudo é avaliar a viabilidade de desenvolvimento de um sistema de Gestão da Performance, entregue sob a forma de “Software como Serviço” (SaaS), específico para o setor hoteleiro, e também avaliar os benefícios de seu uso. O software implantado na cloud, entregue e licenciado como um serviço, é cada vez mais aceite num contexto de negócios. Todavia, não é comum que soluções de Business Intelligence (BI) sejam distribuídas neste modelo SaaS. No entanto, existem alguns exemplos de que isso se está a alterar. Para atingir o objetivo do estudo, foi utilizada Design Science Research como metodologia de pesquisa científica para desenvolvimento de um protótipo. Este protótipo foi implementado em quatro hotéis para que os seus resultados pudessem ser avaliados. A avaliação foi focada tanto nas características técnicas do sistema como nos benefícios para o negócio. Os resultados mostraram que os hotéis estavam muito satisfeitos com o sistema e que construir um protótipo e disponibilizá-lo sob a forma de SaaS é uma boa solução para avaliar a contribuição dos sistemas de BI para melhorar o desempenho da gestão.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Performance measures of net-enabled hypercompetitive industries: the case of tourism

This paper investigates the theory and practise of e-metrics. It examines the tourism sector as one of the most successful sectors on-line and identifies best practice in the industry. Qualitative research with top e-Marketing executives demonstrates the usage and satisfaction levels from current e-metrics deployment, selection of e-metrics for ROI calculation as well as intention of new e-metrics implementation and future trends and developments. This paper concludes that tourism organizations gradually realise the value of e-measurement and are willing to implement e-metrics to enable them evaluate the effectiveness of their planning processes and assess their results against their short and the long term objectives

Strategian toimeenpano: Selitettävien tekijöiden tunnistus onnistuneen liiketoiminta-analytiikan toimeenpanoa varten organisaatiossa

In the contemporary era where the value of data is being compared to oil, it is no wonder that executives are actively pursuing to extract value from data with business analytics to gain competitive advantage. Despite accelerating investments into business analytics, there lacks a unified model for executives to rely on during the implementation process, hence explaining the large variance partially amongst organizations’ ROIs. This thesis, therefore, addresses the void by proposing a conceptual model for business analytics implementation (CMBAI) for executives to utilize when implementing business analytics. To address the void rightfully, initially, I identify an organizational model framework that holistically considers the multidimensional internal environment of an organization when implementing a strategy. This is followed by the identification of business analytics conformities associated with each variable under the chosen organizational model framework, creating a rudimentary CMBAI. The CMBAI is finally developed and consolidated by cross-referencing it against a case study in accordance to abductive research methodology. The revised CMBAI model is framed around the McKinsey 7S Framework (M7S), thus addressing comprehensively the variables related to strategy implementation. The model identifies three overarching themes that influence the success of reaping the benefits of business analytics: (1) leadership- structured manner of communication in both strategical and operational level synchronized with a leadership style that both ease organizational adoption of business analytics and promotes active insight generation to occur among employees; (2) organizational BA competency- ensuring competency in both system level through business analytic tools and human level through multiple level skill development; and (3) ownership facilitation- enablement of an appropriate structure and culture that promote to self-initiatively take actions based on insights gathered. Moreover, research indicates the entangled nature of M7S variables requires business analytics implementors to take a holistic approach to implementation in contrast to focusing only on a handful of elements related to business analytics. The research contributes to the existing theory by unifying the vast scope of business analytics literature under a single research and provides an in-depth analysis of the success factors when applying business analytics. Despite consolidation of CMBAI for becoming a universal model requires further similar studies to be conducted, this thesis provides a solid foundation for a holistic business analytics implementation model to emerge.Siinä missä nyky-yhteiskunnassa rinnastetaan öljyn arvoa dataan, on täysin luonnollista, että yritysjohtajat pyrkivät aktiivisesti hyödyntämään dataa luodakseen kilpailuetua kilpailijoihinsa nähden. Huolimatta kasvavista sijoituksesta liiketoiminta-analytiikkaan, yrityksiltä puuttuu yhteinen malli liiketoiminta-analytiikan täytäntöönpanoon, joka osin selittää yritysten välisen suurehkon hajonnan liiketoiminta-analytiikan sijoitetun pääoman tuottoprosenteissa. Tämä diplomityö pyrkii vastaamaan edellä mainittuun tarpeeseen ehdottamalla käsitteellisen mallin liiketoiminta-analytiikan täytäntöönpanoon (KMLAT). Vastatakseen tarpeeseen oikeudenmukaisesti, pyrin alussa tunnistamaan viitekehyksen, joka ottaa organisaation moniulotteisen sisäisen ympäristön huomioon toimeenpantaessa uutta strategiaa. Seuraavana selvitän valitun viitekehyksen muuttujien liiketoiminta-analytiikan keskinäiset alaisuudet luodakseen alustavan KMLAT:n. Hyödyntäen abduktiivista tutkimusmenetelmää, KMLAT:ia jatkojalostetaan ja sen asemaa vahvistetaan käyttämällä sitä erään tapausyrityksen tutkimisessa. Diplomityön lopullinen KMLAT perustuu McKinsey:n 7S viitekehykseen, jolla saadaan kokonaisvaltainen ymmärrys organisaation muuttujista toimeenpantaessa strategiaa. Mallin avulla on tunnistettu kolme rajoja ylittävää teema, jotka vaikuttavat liiketoiminta-analytiikan menestykselliseen toimeenpanoon; johtajuus, organisaation liiketoiminta-analytiikka kyvykkyys, ja omistajuuden edistäminen. Johtajuudessa merkittävinä osatekijöinä ovat strateginen ja operatiivinen viestintä, ja johtamismalli, joka edistää oivalluksien tuottamista. Organisaation liiketoiminta-analytiikka kyvykkyys taas ottaa kantaa tekijöistä, joihin tulisi erityisesti asettaa huomiota kehittäessä liiketoimintaa-analytiikka järjestelmää ja työntekijöitä. Kolmanneksi, omistajuuden edistäminen organisaatiorakenne ja kulttuuritasolla on havaittu olennaiseksi tekijäksi toimeenpannakseen käytäntöön liiketoiminta-analytiikasta saadut havainnot. Tämä tutkimus edistää olemassa olevaa liiketoiminta-analytiikkaa kirjallisuutta yhdistämällä niitä yhden tutkimuksen alle ja tuo perusteellisen analyysin kriittisistä menetystekijöistä toimeenpantaessa liiketoiminta-analytiikkaa. Vaikka KMLAT:ia on jatkojalostettu erään tutkimustapauksen avulla, sitä tulee jatkojalostaa ja vahvistaa edelleen, jotta mallia voidaan pitää yleispätevänä. Siitä huolimatta, tämä diplomityö luo vankan perustan tulevalle tutkimukselle, ja toimii lähtökohtana rakentaessa yleismallia liiketoiminta-analytiikan toimeenpanoa varten

Framework to Enhance Teaching and Learning in System Analysis and Unified Modelling Language

Cowling, MA ORCiD: 0000-0003-1444-1563; Munoz Carpio, JC ORCiD: 0000-0003-0251-5510Systems Analysis modelling is considered foundational for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) students, with introductory and advanced units included in nearly all ICT and computer science degrees. Yet despite this, novice systems analysts (learners) find modelling and systems thinking quite difficult to learn and master. This makes the process of teaching the fundamentals frustrating and time intensive. This paper will discuss the foundational problems that learners face when learning Systems Analysis modelling. Through a systematic literature review, a framework will be proposed based on the key problems that novice learners experience. In this proposed framework, a sequence of activities has been developed to facilitate understanding of the requirements, solutions and incremental modelling. An example is provided illustrating how the framework could be used to incorporate visualization and gaming elements into a Systems Analysis classroom; therefore, improving motivation and learning. Through this work, a greater understanding of the approach to teaching modelling within the computer science classroom will be provided, as well as a framework to guide future teaching activities