Introduction

This chapter provides a general introduction to this book. As such, it also describes the context of the CrossWork project that is the main source of information for this book. This project is introduced in the next chapter. We start below with discussing the business conditions for the raise of the virtual enterprise as an organization form in the modern economy. As we focus on process-oriented virtual enterprises in this book, we continue with an overview of developments in business process support technologies. Then, we introduce a framework with four aspects that can be used in a combined demand pull and technology push context – this framework is used later to structure topics discussed. In the last section of this chapter, we explain the structure of the book

The Reason behind the Rating: Text Mining of Online Hotel Reviews

Online customer reviews are a significant marketing resource for products and service business, often serving as a key reference point for potential customers. This study analyses a set of hotel reviews to find out what aspects of hotel experience are taken into consideration by customers when rating a hotel. We use text mining of hotel reviews to identify main features referred to by customers and determine their correlation with customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Our data set comprises reviews of ten hotels located in the vicinity of "Khao San Road" in the centre of Bangkok in Thailand, a popular holiday destination known as the centre of the "backpacking universe". The results highlight several main aspects affecting customer satisfaction, with friendly and helpful staff being the most influential one, whilst negative experiences with complementary services provided by the hotel, such as pool and Wi-Fi have the strongest impact on customer dissatisfaction. Other factors impacting customer satisfaction include cleanliness, room and bathroom interior, sleep quality and location. Our findings can be used to design effective feedback gathering and social media monitoring systems, and they also underpin a set of managerial implications regarding managing and marketing customer experiences in the hotel industry

Business aspect

This chapter discusses the business requirements of technology to be developed in support of VEs. It first describes new business directions that have come into existence in the manufacturing industry like the automotive domain. Next, it treats new criteria that have to be met by industries to become or remain successful in new market situations. Finally, new business structures are discussed that (have to) emerge as a consequence of the new directions and criteria

Guiding the integration of analytics in business operations through a maturity framework

The analytics function is growing in importance as the digitisation of business operations and markets leads to the generation of ever-increasing amounts of data. Analysing this data in a manner aligned with company priorities and structures can generate value through supporting effective decision-making, rapid product innovation, supply chain visibility and other aspects of intra- and inter-company operations. To guide the growth we derive a novel maturity framework focused on driving the Analytics-Business alignment, covering a number of diverse organisational facets such as data, leadership support, processes, data management, governance, technology and people. It differentiates itself by using a firm theoretical foundation and providing guidance for analytics capability development instead of simply diagnosing the existing maturity level. To guide development, it distinguishes between two aspects of maturity – a “state” aspect, which is used to assess the present situation in an organisation, and a “management” aspect, which evaluates management attitude in order to establish the next stage of analytics growth. The framework has been implemented in a web-based tool and its utility has been demonstrated by obtaining feedback from 64 managers from a variety of sectors, who have praised its ability to integrate diagnosis of the current situation with guidance on the next steps necessary to develop analytics maturity

Now and Next: A Maturity Model to Guide Analytics Growth

Maturity models concerning the analytics function within organisations cover several characteristics such as data, leadership support, processes, data management, governance, technology and people. Existing models, however, focus on diagnosis rather than guiding future developments, and overlook the importance of IT/Analytics-Business alignment. This paper presents a maturity framework which addresses these two shortcomings and distinguishes between two aspects of maturity – a “state” aspect which is used to access the present situation in the company, and a “management” aspect which analyses existing processes to establish the next stage of the company’s growth in the analytics area. The framework’s utility has been demonstrated through obtaining feedback from a number of managers, who have praised the ability of the framework to integrate diagnosis of the current situation with guidance on the next steps necessary to develop analytics maturit

Service Orientation and the Smart Grid state and trends

The energy market is undergoing major changes, the most notable of which is the transition from a hierarchical closed system toward a more open one highly based on a “smart” information-rich infrastructure. This transition calls for new information and communication technologies infrastructures and standards to support it. In this paper, we review the current state of affairs and the actual technologies with respect to such transition. Additionally, we highlight the contact points between the needs of the future grid and the advantages brought by service-oriented architectures.

Classification of Polarimetric SAR Data Using Dictionary Learning

End-user development (EUD) research has yielded a variety of novel environments and techniques, often accompanied by lab-based usability studies that test their effectiveness in the completion of representative real-world tasks. While lab studies play an important role in resolving frustrations and demonstrating the potential of novel tools, they are insufficient to accurately determine the acceptance of a technology in its intended context of use, which is highly dependent on the diverse and dynamic requirements of its users, as we show here. As such, usability in the lab is unlikely to represent usability in the field. To demonstrate this, we first describe the results of a think-aloud usability study of our EUD tool “Jeeves”, followed by two case studies where Jeeves was used by psychologists in their work practices. Common issues in the artificial setting were seldom encountered in the real context of use, which instead unearthed new usability issues through unanticipated user needs. We conclude with considerations for usability evaluation of EUD tools that enable development of software for other users, including planning for collaborative activities, supporting developers to evaluate their own tools, and incorporating longitudinal methods of evaluation.Postprin

Adoption of Digital Technology in Corporate R&D Context

Achieving tangible benefits from digitalization often requires changes in processes, culture and reward systems. This need is especially acute in research and development, yet the attitudes and skills of R&D staff may impede their use of automation. We examine the ongoing digitalization of R&D activities at Unilever. Using thematic analysis, we analyze in-depth interviews to uncover attitudes towards, and experiences with, digitalization of R&D using robots. We build on these findings and conduct sequence analysis to extract a number of within-interview sequential associations between themes. These associations have been mapped onto patterns aligned with four established models of digitalization and IT adoption: the Technology Acceptance Model, Resistance to Change, Task Technology Fit and Process Virtualization