Does innovation (really) matter for success? The case of an IT Consulting Firm

The paper discusses to what extent innovation is a crucial variable in explaining the success of NOVABASE, a Portuguese IT consultancy firm. In order to proceed with this discussion, the evolution of NOVABASE is described, emphasizing the most important steps in the firm’s trajectory, which are shown to result from the joint influences of upstream technological change, downstream market opportunities, and the firm’s strategic options. Then, the paper reviews some contributions stemming form studies of innovation in services, building on these to form the framework of analysis used in the empirical research. The main results of the empirical work are then presented, leading to the discussion of the possible answers to the question in title.

Ontology as Product-Service System: Lessons Learned from GO, BFO and DOLCE

This paper defends a view of the Gene Ontology (GO) and of Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) as examples of what the manufacturing industry calls product-service systems. This means that they are products (the ontologies) bundled with a range of ontology services such as updates, training, help desk, and permanent identifiers. The paper argues that GO and BFO are contrasted in this respect with DOLCE, which approximates more closely to a scientific theory or a scientific publication. The paper provides a detailed overview of ontology services and concludes with a discussion of some implications of the product-service system approach for the understanding of the nature of applied ontology. Ontology developer communities are compared in this respect with developers of scientific theories and of standards (such as W3C). For each of these we can ask: what kinds of products do they develop and what kinds of services do they provide for the users of these products

A Survey on Economic-driven Evaluations of Information Technology

The economic-driven evaluation of information technology (IT) has become an important instrument in the management of IT projects. Numerous approaches have been developed to quantify the costs of an IT investment and its assumed profit, to evaluate its impact on business process performance, and to analyze the role of IT regarding the achievement of enterprise objectives. This paper discusses approaches for evaluating IT from an economic-driven perspective. Our comparison is based on a framework distinguishing between classification criteria and evaluation criteria. The former allow for the categorization of evaluation approaches based on their similarities and differences. The latter, by contrast, represent attributes that allow to evaluate the discussed approaches. Finally, we give an example of a typical economic-driven IT evaluation

The irony of networks

By the end of the 1970s, it became evident that hierarchies were not always the most efficient and effective solution for complex problems in increasingly plural and fragmented societies. During the last 40 years governance structures and practices in the public sector have shifted towards new logics that direct the way the public sector is functioning. This dissertation deals with use of networks as new governance systems for policy implementation and public service delivery. Based on a mixed-methods approach, three studies investigate the configurational effects of network environment, network structures and coordination practices on public network effectiveness. They improve the understanding of the joint effects of network context, the structure of interorganizational relationships and the governance practices applied in order to organize and coordinate the common efforts of networked organizations. The results show that a network, despite being a distinct resource allocation mechanism, makes use of practices primarily typical for hierarchies and markets. Therefore, networks provide a flexible governance system that allows for vertical integration, bureaucratic means of organization and managerial steering, which in turn allow networks to be successful, if coherently applied

The buying center concept as a milestone in industrial marketing: Review and research agenda

The buying center (BC) has captivated the attention of researchers for >50 years, becoming a central element of organizational buying behavior. While it seems easy to identify the BC participants in any given situation, the marketing literature lacks an integrative framework for examining the nature of BC. The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to develop a rigorous BC conceptual model; (2) to provide an assessment of the BC state-of-the-art; and (3) to identify key opportunities for future research. Based on a systematic literature review, the descriptive findings indicate a decreasing number of publications since the late 2000s and that top-tier marketing journals have been almost silent since the early 90s. The domain-based findings suggest a three-layer model driving a thorough understanding of the concept, the main stages associated with BC deployment (formation, dynamics, and outcomes), and the contextual factors influencing BC decision-making