Fit Between IT Outsourcing Supplier Sourcing Capabilities and Organizational Structure: A Conceptual Model

Thus far, relatively few studies have focused on the IT supplier side of IS/IT outsourcing arrangements. Existing research identifies two recurring problems: (1) a lack of sustainability with regard to service performance, and (2) a poor fit between the heterogeneous context of clients and homogenous provider solutions. The objective of this theoretical paper is to relate sourcing capabilities and organizational structure of IT suppliers to sourcing performance, taking the dynamics that clients have to deal with into account. To that end, we develop a conceptual model that connects the interaction between developments in the client domain to the sourcing capabilities and organizational structure of suppliers. To be more exact, we hypothesize that realizing a fit between the necessary sourcing capabilities and organizational structure on the IT supplier side will result in a sustainable sourcing performance

Business Model Innovation in European SMEs - Descriptive analysis of quantitative survey and case survey data

In this paper we analyse Business Model Innovation (BMI) in European micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SME). We present descriptive findings from our quantitative survey and qualitative case survey on how SMEs are innovating their Business Models. Our survey indicates that 37% of European SMEs innovate their Business Model. We found some differences in BMI depending on the age and industry sectors. We also describe the changes the SMEs make in differing Business Model components when they are improving their Business Model

Business Model Innovation and Firm Performance: The Role of Mediation and Moderation Factors

Business model (BM) innovation is vital for today’s businesses. However, BM innovations can be irreversible, and therefore, in comparison to product, service or process innovation, entail bigger risk and ambiguity. Understanding the way in which BM innovation exerts influences over firm’s performance would help business-owners to be more effective. Based on a systematic literature review, a model to examine how BMI impacts firm performance through mediating and moderating factors was developed. Based on in-depth analysis of 37 articles, we identified twenty moderating factors classified in four groups, i.e., Firm- Characteristics, Industry-Characteristics, BM Implementation, and BM Practices, and ten mediating factors, categorized in three sub-groups, i.e., Revenue Growth, Efficiency Growth, and Enhancing the Organizational Capabilities. This paper offers the grounding for empirical research as well contribute to the development of tools to assess the effectiveness of the BMI

MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORK SERVICES: CHINESE USERS’ ADOPTION PATTERNS

Recent technological advancement in Telecommunications industry has enabled service providers and application developers to offer some of their services which used to be solely PC based for mobile devices as well. Given the prevalence of mobile data services, specifically mobile social network services, and application-stores such as Market (Andriod) and AppStore (Apple), it is crucial to understand user behaviour toward mobile service diffusion. The present study aims to investigate Chinese users’ behaviour toward mobile social network services, based on a sample of 212 respondents who used the most popular mobile social network services such as Tencent QQ in China. Our analysis suggests that each construct, perceived enjoyment, social influence, critical mass and mobile accessibility of social network service makes a unique contribution to our understanding of mobile social network service usage behaviour

Business Modelling Agility: Turning ideas into business

Business Model Innovation is attracting more and more attention from business as well as from academics. Business Model Innovation deals with both technological and knowledge related changes that either may disrupt or sustain existing product/market strategies. Timing of Business Model Innovation both with regard to the right moment as well as speed of implementing competitive concepts becomes crucial. In this conceptual paper we discuss and evaluate possibilities for shortening the lead-time and increasing impact of Business Model Innovation aiming at low-end and new market disruptions. We are building our discussion on recent findings and identifying anomalies for further research by reflecting on exemplary business design cases

Stakeholder Preferences for Mobile Payment Security Platforms: Understanding Trade-offs Between SIM, Embedded and Cloud-based Secure Elements

Authentication and identification for mobile payment transactions is typically provided by the secure element. While the SIM-card has long been the only option for locating the secure element, recently alternatives emerged like embedding the secure element into the device or offering it through the cloud. This paper elicits factors that influence stakeholder preferences for these three technical options. Exploratory interviews suggest a wide range of decision-making factors. Our results show that besides the basic security and performance traits of the technical options, other factors can only be understood when framing based on concepts of multisided platforms. The case of secure elements for mobile payments represents a highly complex illustration of platform competition that takes place on three different levels of the technical architecture

DO CONSUMERS CARE ABOUT MOBILE SERVICE PLATFORMS? A CONJOINT ANALYSIS ON CONSUMER PREFERENCE FOR MOBILE PLATFORMS

Literature on Mobile Platforms focuses predominantly on strategic issues in managing multi-sided platforms as well as economic issues of two-sided markets. Most of this literature is highly conceptual and empirical research on the perceptions, preferences and behaviour of consumers is lacking. Moreover, scholars typically focus on device-related platforms like operating systems and app stores, while platforms developed by mobile operators are seldom discussed explicitly. In this paper, we therefore aim to understand the criteria and expectations of consumers to opt for a specific platform from a device manufacturer or operator. To do so, we developed and executed a questionnaire for conjoint analysis. The data for the conjoint analysis was collected from 88 Chinese researchers and students. The conjoint results show that most respondents strongly prefer mobile operating systems provided by Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) over Nokia (Symbian) and BlackBerry OS. Moreover, application cost is considered to play an important role in the decision making of consumers to opt a platform. The findings of the study indicate that respondents hardly find the provider of the platform important, i.e. they prefer service provider and device provider platforms over operator platforms

Does BMI help business to succeed?

This study investigates if BMI helps business innovation to succeed. We analyzed 27 SME cases having differing combinations of Business Model Innovation (BMI), New Product Development (NPD) and effectuation methods. We also analyzed the drivers and market strategy of the SMEs. We found out that typical SME innovation success cases combine at least two methods of implementation, such as BMI and NPD, and focus on low-end market. Effectuation in combination with the aforementioned seems to play significant role as well

SMARTPHONE MEASUREMENT: DO PEOPLE USE MOBILE APPLICATIONS AS THEY SAY THEY DO?

Designing viable mobile services requires in-depth understanding of how people deal with their mobile phones on a daily basis. Most studies on the use of mobile phones are based on surveys that ask people how often they think they use mobile applications. While such survey studies have provided numerous insights, they also pose issues of recall, accuracy and common method bias. Fortunately, smartphones enable more direct ways of collecting usage data by installing a background application that logs all user activities. Such smartphone measurement approach has only been applied in a handful of studies, typically limited to Nokia handsets. This paper scrutinizes the reliability of surveybased measures on the perceived use of mobile services by contrasting them with log data obtained in a smartphone measurement study. We analyze the results of a smartphone measurement study carried out in the Netherlands among 129 users of iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones. Users appear moderately accurate in assessing the use of mainstream services like SMS, email and browsing, but not regarding navigation and weather information services. The findings suggest that traditional survey approaches should be complemented with smartphone measurement in order to really understand how users deal with mobile services