Designing Value-Oriented Service Systems by Value Map

In this paper, we introduce a problem structuring method (PSM) called “Value Map”. Value Map is an extension to the Supplier Adopter Relationship Diagram in the Systemic Enterprise Architecture Method (SEAM). Value Map assists in understanding, analysis and design of value creation and capture in service systems. We illustrate the applicability of the Value Map by modeling value creation and capture in the service system of a social networking company called Webdoc. To validate the usefulness of the Value Map, we conducted an empirical study in which we also compared the Value Map to Business Model Canvas, one of the most established methods in business model design. The results of the study show that the Value Map helps business practitioners in understanding and analyzing customer value, customer value creation, and the value capture processes. We conducted an empirical study in which we assessed the usefulness of Value Map and compared it with Business Model Canvas, one of the most established methods in business model design. The results of the study show that the Value Map helps business practitioners to understand and analyze customer value, customer value creation, and the value capture processes

Integrating System Dynamics and Enterprise Modeling to Address Dynamic and Structural Complexities of Choice Situations

The ability of enterprise managers to come up with the decisions leading to the best outcome for the enterprise is hampered by their cognitive limits in understanding and addressing the dynamic and structural complexities residing in choice situations. Dynamic complexities deal with the behavior of the enterprise and its environment over time. Structural complexities, on the other hand, arise from the number of the departments within the enterprise, their interactions and the interactions between the enterprise and the entities across its boundary. The policy aiding methods developed to assist managers in the analysis of choice scenarios address these two types of complexities in separation. In this paper adopting a holistic approach, we integrate System Dynamics (SD), a method for understanding the behavior of systems over time and Systemic Enterprise Architecture Method (SEAM) a modeling method that provides insights into how an enterprise and its interactions with other entities are structured. Integrating SD and SEAM we present an approach to modeling, analysis and simulation of choice scenarios aiming at reducing the dynamic and structural complexities involved in the decision making process. We illustrate the applicability of our approach by applying it to an example of a choice situation in a manufacturing company

Respecting the deal: Economically sustainable management of open innovation among co-opeting companies

Platforms like eBay allow product seekers and providers to meet and exchange goods. On eBay, consumers can return a product if it does not correspond to expectations; eBay is the third-party firm in charge of assuring that the agreement among seekers and providers will be respected. Who provides the same service for what concerns open innovation, where specifications might not fully defined? This paper describes the business model of an organizational structure to support the elicitation and respect of agreements among agents, who have conflicting interests but that gain from cooperating together. Extending previous studies, our business model takes into account the economic dimensions concerning the needs of knowledge share and mutual control to allow a third-party to sustainably reinforce trust among untrusted partners and to lower their overall relational risk

Investigation on some maternal factors affecting the birth of preterm infants: a case - control study

Background: Infant mortality is considered as the key healthcare index in every country. The outcomes of a preterm birth are among the main and direct causes of neonate mortality. Therefore, the present research aims to investigate some maternal factors influencing the immature birth. Materials and Methods: This observational case study was conducted on 100 term babies as the control group. The questionnaires were completed through interviewed mothers or perused hospital files. Results: The results of this study showed the high chances of premature birth in women with multiple pregnancies, smoking, placenta previa, uterine problems and placental abruption compared to most of the mothers with no history of such problems. In mothers with cervical incompetence, the chances of delivering a preterm baby are 11 times as high as mothers with no such problems. Similarly, the chances are 9.33 times as high among the mothers who had a history of placenta previa. Conclusion: Identifying maternal factors influencing the preterm infant birth as well as attentive care taken during pregnancy can significantly reduce the preterm infant birth