Knowledge Acquisition Through Case Study Development: A Student Researcher Perspective

Educators are increasingly incorporating the development of research case studies as a course assignment in graduate and executive degree courses. Each student (or student group) develops a research case study that provides theory-based explanation and discussion of how a real organization managed a business issue related to the course. In the process, the student gains a deeper understanding of business theories and their applications as well as current business issues and their interactions with internal and external organizational forces. While a significant amount of literature is written on developing case studies for full-time academic researchers, little is done to provide guidelines to student researchers, who face unique issues and constraints in this research-based learning process. This paper introduces case study research method and offers a roadmap to student researchers

Shape-sensing robotic-assisted bronchoscopy for pulmonary nodules: initial multicenter experience using the Ion™ Endoluminal System

BACKGROUND: Traditional bronchoscopy provides limited approach to peripheral nodules. Shape-sensing robotic-assisted bronchoscopy (SSRAB, Ion™ Endoluminal System) is a new tool for minimally invasive peripheral nodule biopsy. We sought to answer the research question: Does SSRAB facilitate sampling of pulmonary nodules during bronchoscopists\u27 initial experience? METHODS: The lead-in stage of a multicenter, single-arm, prospective evaluation of the Ion Endoluminal System (PRECIsE) is described. Enrolled subjects ≥ 18 years old had recent computed tomography evidence of one or more solid or semi-solid pulmonary nodules ≥ 1.0 to ≤ 3.5 cm in greatest dimension and in any part of the lung. Subjects were followed at 10- and 30-days post-procedure. This stage provided investigators and staff their first human experience with the SSRAB system; safety and procedure outcomes were analyzed descriptively. Neither diagnostic yield nor sensitivity for malignancy were assessed in this stage. Categorical variables are summarized by percentage; continuous variables are summarized by median/interquartile range (IQR). RESULTS: Sixty subjects were enrolled across 6 hospitals; 67 nodules were targeted for biopsy. Median axial, coronal and sagittal diameters were \u3c 18 mm with a largest cardinal diameter of 20.0 mm. Most nodules were extraluminal and distance from the outer edge of the nodule to the pleura or nearest fissure was 4.0 mm (IQR: 0.0, 15.0). Median bronchial generation count to the target location was 7.0 (IQR: 6.0, 8.0). Procedure duration (catheter-in to catheter-out) was 66.5 min (IQR: 50.0, 85.5). Distance from the catheter tip to the closest edge of the virtual nodule was 7.0 mm (IQR: 2.0, 12.0). Biopsy completion was 97.0%. No pneumothorax or airway bleeding of any grade was reported. CONCLUSIONS: Bronchoscopists leveraged the Ion SSRAB\u27s functionality to drive the catheter safely in close proximity of the virtual target and to obtain biopsies. This initial, multicenter experience is encouraging, suggesting that SSRAB may play a role in the management of pulmonary nodules. Clinical Trial Registration identifier and date NCT03893539; 28/03/2019

Inter-Organizational Knowledge Development In It Outsourcing

To examine the effects of inter-organizational activities on knowledge development in IT outsourcing projects, we develop a research framework based on a knowledge-based view of organizations. Using this framework, we model the process of knowledge development and utilize simulation to generate various scenarios with different levels of inter-organizational activities. We evaluate the development of overall knowledge capabilities in those scenarios. The results indicate that knowledge development is a highly dynamic process, specifically in the inter-organizational settings. Even a marginal change in the level of inter-organizational activities can have significant effects on the abilities of the client and the outsourcing vendor to develop knowledge capabilities required for the project

Legal And Tax Considerations In Outsourcing

Outsourcing is not new; it is as old as the ancient trade routes to China and India. Trading with the East provided the produce and products that were not farmed or manufactured in the West. Although it involved physical products, support services, such as banking, brokering, and logistics, were required on the global scale to make the trading easier. The consumers, traders, and producers started relying on other parties to perform those services; thus begun services outsourcing. While individuals and organizations can perform some activities themselves, they rather have those activities performed by others, because others can do it better and/or cheaper. As Adam Smith put it, it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest (Smith 2000, p. xviii). The roots of modern day outsourcing are in subcontracting, joint ventures, and strategic partnership. As products became complex and componentized, manufacturers started subcontracting individual components to external organizations. Subcontractors enhanced the subcontracted components thorough process and product innovations and increased dependence of the manufacturers on them. The two sides, being dependent on each other, entered into joint ventures and strategic partnership to ensure long-term relationships and pre-empt potential competitors. The development of efficient transportation and logistics systems on the global scale fueled this process. In 1970s and 80s, routine manufacturing activities started being outsourced to companies in East Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan. With the development of information technology and voice/data communications infrastructure on the global scale, it has become possible now to outsource routine service activities, such as IT/IS development and business processes, to the companies, both onshore and offshore, that can perform those activities with equal quality but in a much more cost-effective manner. International Data Corporation predicts that the worldwide market for offshore IT software and services will increase annually by 20% from nearly $7 billion in 2003 to$17 billion by 2008 (IDC 2004). The key areas for IT outsourcing would be the custom applications development, applications management, data center administration, and systems integration. Recently, we have seen growth in business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO). Offshore outsourcing of business processes is expected to quadruple to $64 billion by 2007 (Frank 2005). According to NASSCOM, the global KPO industry would grow at the annual 46 percent rate to become worth$17 billion by 2010 (CIIOnline 2005). The protection of legal rights in outsourcing, specifically in the offshore context, has been one of the top concerns of business executives (Tapper 2004). Outsourcing without complete understanding of potential legal and regulatory pitfalls in heavily regulated industries and foreign jurisdictions can expose organizations through their outsourcing partners to regulatory sanctions and legal liability. Therefore, when organizations enter into outsourcing arrangements, whether onshore or offshore, they should consider legal and tax issues in addition to the business and management issues they typically consider. It is crucial for both parties involved in an outsourcing transaction to examine issues related to industry specific regulations and foreign jurisdictions that potentially affect the transaction. While a lot has been written about business and management issues in outsourcing (Ilie and Parikh 2004), very little has been written about legal and tax considerations in outsourcing (Brody et al. 2004; Miller and Anderson 2004). In this chapter, we discuss legal and tax implications in outsourcing, with a specific reference to offshore outsourcing with Indian companies. The purpose is to provide better understanding of the legal and tax risks involved in outsourcing and ways to manage them

Wireless Broadband Drivers And Their Social Implications

Wireless local area networks now offer high-speed Internet access at numerous locations in both public and private environments. Associated with this rapid growth, numerous social implications come to the fore, especially relating to practices, such as the free use and sharing of bandwidth. Using case-based comparative analysis, we examine three primary strategies involved in providing wireless broadband access. Based on this research, we discuss the future of Wi-Fi growth, emergent competing technologies, and the broad social implications of this phenomenon. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Purchasing Process Transformation: Restructuring For Small Purchases

Purpose - Reducing purchasing costs remains an ongoing concern for most organizations. The standard purchasing process that works well for large purchases, however, generates proportionately much higher overhead and administrative costs for small purchases leading to purchase delays, high error rate, and poor vendor participation. There is a need to develop separate purchasing processes for small and large purchases and evaluate underlying factors that affect such process transformation. This paper aims to analyze a successful purchasing process transformation conducted at a utility company for small purchases. Design/methodology/approach - It uses a case study methodology to examine the transformation in detail and understand related issues such as benefits realization, resistance to change, and risk management involved in such transformation projects. Findings - It compares original and transformed purchasing processes and identifies resultant benefits to the company, participating vendors, banks, and employees. It finds that a company receives many operational, informational, and accounting benefits in addition to purchasing cost savings. Practical implications - It provides guidelines for similar restructuring for small purchases in other organizations. Originality/value - The paper offers a generic business process model for small purchases and employs equity-implementation model to explain the factors leading to the success in this purchasing process transformation and possibly other similar organizational transformations. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Developing A Sustainable Value Proposition In Web Services: Lessons From Strategic Management

One of the salient lessons from the dot.com era was the realisation that the business rules of the new (Internet) economy were no different from the old economy, even though many pundits claimed otherwise. Despite large venture capital funding of eBusiness start-ups, many of which stylising themselves as software-as-a-service firms (i.e. application service providers), very few achieved business success, measured by revenue generation and profit maximisation (Cassidy, 2002). In fact, many of these start-ups concentrated instead on developing their brand by spending large sums of money on advertising campaigns, with little emphasis on whether their products or services were attractive to potential customers. As the dot.coms began to fail, not having won enough paying customers to sustain their business models, venture capital firms decided not to offer second-round funding. This resulted in the dot.com crash with many investors becoming sceptical about the business potential of the Internet and associated emerging technologies. Following the fallout of the dot.coms, attention has focused upon more practical issues of how to develop and sustain eBusiness models (Currie, 2004). With the convergence of the telecoms and software industries to develop a service-oriented architecture (SOA) where firms will increasingly source their software applications from external service providers, the lessons from the dot.com crash will become more relevant. In this chapter, we explore these issues by examining the emerging technology of Web services. Our interest is on a vendor perspective with the aim of evaluating how Web service firms design and develop their eBusiness models to compete in this fast changing and dynamic marketplace. We suggest that, rather than restricting our analysis to the technical imperatives of Web services, a more fruitful approach is to relate our discussion to the strategic management literature. Our intention is to demonstrate the complexities of the Web services model by undertaking a market and firm analysis, rather than the narrow focus on specific key performance indicators. We develop a conceptual model, which incorporates three important elements of competitive advantage: market leadership, strategic differentiation, and revenue generation. We suggest that, in the absence of one or more of these elements, Web services firms are unlikely to survive. The means of achieving them will depend upon the careful design and execution of a business strategy, which will involve strategic choices related to market positioning, products and services, and cost structure. The transition from strategic choice to market leadership, however, will depend upon how the firm leverages its business through developing partnerships/alliances, integration and pricing models, which are attractive to its customers. The purpose of this conceptual model is to offer a template for Web services firms for competing in this volatile marketplace. How they develop their market, business and technical strategies will depend upon a complex balancing act between competing and conflicting factors. For example, the choice between developing a relationship building business where software products and services are customised for the client, or one which is purely a commodity-driven business, with distant relationships with customers (Carr, 2003). This chapter is divided into four parts. We begin with an overview of the Web services model and ask whether it offers a new paradigm for business. Next, we introduce our conceptual model, which links the strategic management, eBusiness and IT literature streams. We then introduce the three pillars of competitive advantage: market leadership, strategic differentiation, and revenue generation. Finally, we conclude by offering some new research directions for investigating how Web services firms can generate business value for their customers