CROWDSOURCING AS A MOBILE SERVICE - CASE STUDY: PUBLISHING PHOTOGRAPHY

Crowdsourcing- a method for companies to utilize the power of the crowd through internet-based platforms- is a relatively new phenomenon. When offered as a mobile service, crowdsourcing transcends the spatial, temporal and contextual barriers of traditional job requirements, offering an ubiquitous service and access, and providing a suite of both utilitarian and hedonic functions. IS literature indicates that users? extrinsic motivation is a stronger determinant to use utilitarian systems, while intrinsic motivation is a stronger determinant for hedonic systems. However, when the crowdsourced service, such as photography, is both hedonic and utilitarian by nature, users? perceptions of the service are unclear. Earlier research reports mixed results: while some studies suggest that tangible rewards can have an impact on the intrinsic motivation, other studies suggest the opposite. Hence, our study focuses on how the users perceive mobile crowdsourcing services, what motivates them to participate, and how the financial reward affects their intention to participate. In this paper, we outline an ongoing study of a company in Finnish publishing industry crowdsourcing photography. After interviews with the company executives, we will next conduct a series of interviews with the users, and finally, conduct a quasi-experiment to test the developed theoretical model

Reinforcing Family Values with Web Design - Case Yle “P2” Children’s Website

This paper describes the findings of a redesign project of a children’s website, where social considerations have been providing the guidelines for design. The case company, Yle, is the national public service broadcasting company of Finland. The website redesigned is a cross-platform programming extension of Yle’s Pikkukakkonen (“The Little Channel Two”, P2), a TV show with media content that targets primarily pre-school age children. Our study utilizes action design research (ADR) as the research method, touchscreen game applications as the facilitating technology and theories on social values as theoretical lenses to formulate design principles. These design principles are used for redesigning the P2 website to enhance its contribution to the public service of Yle. Following the principles of ADR, our study demonstrates how the results can be used both for the benefit of the case company and to a class of similar problems. This study contributes to the knowledge on theories on social values and web design of public services, when also social considerations need to be taken into account

eBusiness in Apparel Retailing Industry - Critical Issues

The apparel industry has, like most other industries quickly started using the Internet to gain improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and marketing. In this report we briefly overview the developments of electronic commerce in apparel industry. We try to develop a framework for choosing the right technology and development options based on the business model and business orientation chosen. We illustrate the framework by four case companies, which have adapted different basic strategies and business models. The cases include companies with traditional operations with also physical retail outlets, as well as companies operating only on the Internet. There are still a number of unresolved problems related both to consumer-oriented e-commerce in general and to apparel industry in particular. Nevertheless, consumers are increasingly using the Internet to do extensive amount of research on products and fashion trends before purchasing through any media, also making more and more online purchase

Research Challenges in Electronic Commerce

In this paper we look at different research topics that will be interesting and important challenges in the area ofelectronic commerce (EC). These topics include benefits ofECfor different stakeholders, changing consumer behaviour, changing basis for services, restructuring of service processes and changing logic ofbusiness and industries in the global market space. We identify relevant topics for further investigation in all these topics. We believe that the Scandinavian environment together with the tradition ofhigh quality in-depth research, offers the Nordic countries a great opportunity to be in the frontline in developing services and business structures for the new order of economy and society coming together with the rapid diffusion ofelectronic commerce

Introduction to Open Digital Services and Platforms Minitrack

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Vertical Integration of Digital Platforms in the Agricultural Industry

Vertical integration is a strategic option for a company that aims to have direct control over its value chain. With regards to digital platforms, vertical integration as a strategy is, to an extent, paradoxical, since platforms’ operating models are largely based on external actors with whom the platform owners have only an arm’s-length relationship. Many large digital platform companies have pursued vertical integration and research has been conducted on the subject, yet it is often industry-agnostic and focuses on large digital platform companies. We sought to identify the vertical integration strategies of digital platforms in the agricultural industry, as well as understand the firm- and industry-level drivers behind them. The results showed that these drivers impact vertical integration of digital platforms, which occurs along the value chain of a platform’s user groups and not solely along that of the platform. Furthermore, digitalization and data open new avenues for vertical integration

Opportunities and Risks of Blockchain Technologies – A Research Agenda

Blockchain technologies offer new open source-based opportunities for developing new types of digital platforms and services. While research on the topic is emerging, it has this far been predominantly focused to technical and legal issues. To broaden our understanding of blockchain technology based services and platforms, we build on earlier literature on payments and payment platforms and propose a research agenda divided into three focal areas of 1) organizational issues; 2) issues related to the competitive environment; and 3) technology design issues. We discuss several salient themes within each of these areas, and derive a set of research question for each theme, highlighting the need to address both risks and opportunities for users, as well as different types of stakeholder organizations. With this research agenda, we contribute to the discussion on future avenues for Information Systems research on blockchain technology based platforms and services