Data Gained from Smart Services in SMEs–Pilot Study

Nowadays, manufacturing companies increasingly invest in servitization by adopting ‘smart services’ enabled by connected product-service systems enabling data exchange between the customer and the service provider. Managing the transition toward smart services is not easy, especially among SMEs as many businesses struggle with lack of money, insufficient digital technologies, unskilled employees or gathering and using the proper data. The research presented in this paper is divided into two parts. The quantitative part focuses on researching possible correlations between business performance and the use of company IT systems among sixty Czech electrotechnical SMEs. The other part consists of a qualitative multi-case study and was conducted among seven Czech electrotechnical SMEs which have already started with smart service development. The findings indicate that companies gather and use the data in very different ways. They provide information to their customers, but also use information for themselves. The study is unique in highlighting the problems of smart services in small and medium manufacturers. Moreover, it investigates the gathering and the data usage gained from smart services in SMEs.Nowadays, manufacturing companies increasingly invest in servitization by adopting ‘smart services’ enabled by connected product-service systems enabling data exchange between the customer and the service provider. Managing the transition toward smart services is not easy, especially among SMEs as many businesses struggle with lack of money, insufficient digital technologies, unskilled employees or gathering and using the proper data. The research presented in this paper is divided into two parts. The quantitative part focuses on researching possible correlations between business performance and the use of company IT systems among sixty Czech electrotechnical SMEs. The other part consists of a qualitative multi-case study and was conducted among seven Czech electrotechnical SMEs which have already started with smart service development. The findings indicate that companies gather and use the data in very different ways. They provide information to their customers, but also use information for themselves. The study is unique in highlighting the problems of smart services in small and medium manufacturers. Moreover, it investigates the gathering and the data usage gained from smart services in SMEs

Digital transformation and possession attachment: examining the endowment effect for consumers' relationships with hedonic and utilitarian digital service technologies

A significant body of research has examined the importance of material possession attachment and its influence on consumer behavior. Critical questions, however, remain with regard to the extent to which, and if at all, consumers form instantaneous possession attachment in electronic commerce. In this research, we conducted one quasi-experimental field study and one scenario-based online experiment to examine the endowment effect (EE) for digital services. The current findings demonstrate that consumers become instantaneously attached to and are reluctant to give up digital services once they have obtained them. Two main explanations of the EE in electronic commerce are investigated. Critically, the results show that the psychological processes underlying the effect differ between utilitarian and hedonic digital services. Proprietary feelings towards utilitarian digital services occur due to loss aversion, whereas proprietary feelings towards hedonic digital services reflect the consumer’s conscious self-relatedness to the digital service

AFM characterization of large area micro-optical elements

We discuss AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) characterization in terms of critical dimension and depth for large area micro-optical elements. Results are shown and discussed in comparison with other techniques, such as SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) for CD measurements and FIB (Focused Ion Beam)-SEM characterization for the structure profile

Access-based services as substitutes for material possessions: the role of psychological ownership

Access-based services—in which consumers do not physically own material goods but gainaccess to services by registering with the provider—have risenin popularityas an alternative to individual ownership and conventional consumption.Yet,companies still face key challenges in promoting theseservices. Prior research indicates that consumersassign significant importance to their material possessions; the current study investigates how psychological ownership, or the mental state of perceiving something as one’s own, attainedthrough access-based services might lead customers toincrease their service useand forgomaterial ownershipand consumption. With four studies,using cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental data, as well as combined self-reportswith usage data,we theorize and demonstrate this effect. Firms that offer access-based services can increase customers’ service psychologicalownership, which acts as a psychological substitute for physical ownership and increases access-based service use. The results suggest ways managers can leverage the psychological power of ownershipfeelings,rather than try to fight the lackof actual ownership,in access-based consumptioncontexts

Nano-optical gratings for integrated laser interferometer arrays

In this contribution we show that binary nano-optical gratings in the resonance domain are ideal elements to build up such integrated interferometers. By means of symmetry considerations the grating's requirements for an ideal operation of the interferometer are determined. Utilizing the resonance behaviour of such nano-structures an interferometer operation close to the theoretical limits is reachable. A modal analysis reveals the basic effects causing the special responses of the gratings. The gratings are fabricated by electron-beam lithography and accompanied technology