Key Differentiators of Open Innovation Platforms – A Market-oriented Perspective

Within the open innovation debate, significant attention has beenpaid to the fact that customers can be a useful source for bringingnew ideas and concepts into a company. In this context, onlineplatforms have become a widely used instrument to facilitateinteraction between companies and customers. While priorliterature discusses various aspects of open innovation platforms,a market-oriented analysis covering all types of platforms for ideacreation and concept development seems to be still missing. Byevaluating a total of 44 different innovation platforms, we identifythe degree of interrelation between five major platform attributesand develop two key differentiating dimensions: The platformoperator (company vs. third party) and the platform purpose (findsolutions vs. understand customers). The resulting classificationmatrix highlights a newly emerging category of online openinnovation platforms, opening the field for deeper investigation infuture research

USER-DESIGNED SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE – CAN CONCEPTUAL WORK BE SHIFTED TO THE END-USER

Cloud Computing and especially Software as a Service (SaaS) is predicted to bring about the next information technology(IT) revolution. Benefits and risks have been discussed extensively in both research and practice. Key benefits like higherflexibility and lower costs are confronted with major risks such as loss of data control. These benefits and risks arepredominantly discussed in the context of traditional SaaS. Here, the administrator configures and maintains the application.In contrast, new SaaS concepts allow shifting conceptual work to end-users by enabling them to adjust standard SaaSsoftware independently from their IT department. Using an action research approach, we investigated the benefits and risks ofthis so called user-designed SaaS, and compared them to those of traditional, administrator-designed SaaS. Many benefitsand risks still apply to user-designed SaaS, but also so far unknown benefits like higher user acceptance and lowerdependency to administrators, as well as new risks like shifting conceptual skills to the end-user were observed

IT Support for Intra-Organizational Innovation Networks – An Exploratory Study

The paper examines requirements for IT support in open innovation within companies. Based on an in-depth single-case study, we derive four major levels of IT requirements: incentive & inspiration, information & knowledge, communication & collaboration, and feedback & feed-forward. The multitude of requirements identified on each level clearly points to the need for IT support during the internal open innovation process. The paper concludes that many findings from prior research on innovation management systems apply to the internal open innovation context as well, but with some interesting differences. An IT system for open innovation within a company should pay particular attention to the incentives and inspiration of employees. The system should motivate all employees to participate in open innovation and stimulate innovative ideas by indicating clear benefits as well as recent needs, challenges and developments in their company’s context. Furthermore, a virtual community seems to be a powerful concept for driving open innovation in the company. It fosters the activity of and the interaction between employees, thereby addressing all of our requirement levels. To build and run such an intraorganizational open innovation community, social software offers useful concepts and applications. Based on the identified requirements, we present initial concepts for their implementation

Competence Based IT Outsourcing - An Evaluation of Models for Identifying and Analyzing Core Competences

In an effort to re-focus on their core competences, an increasing number of companies outsource parts of their IT services. In this context, based on Hamel and Prahalad’s definition of core competences, numerous theoretical models for identifying and analyzing core competences were developed. However, at present, due to the high complexity of outsourcing decisions, it is not clear which theoretical models can support decision-makers and to what extent these models can make a contribution. To address these questions, theoretical models for identifying and analyzing core competences, suitable for supporting IT outsourcing decisions in general, are identified, and systematically classified within a framework. Based on the developed classification, one model of each model category is evaluated on the basis of a list of six criteria

Information Systems Offshoring—A Literature Review and Analysis

IS offshoring has become one of the most discussed phenomena in IS research and practice. Particularly due to its rapid evolvement, current research on IS offshoring lacks a consolidated view on existing results. The article at hand seeks to meet this need by systematically reviewing and analyzing prior academic literature on IS offshoring. Based on a review of top-ranked IS and management journals as well as IS conference proceedings, we compile an exhaustive bibliography of ninety-six publications solely focusing on IS offshoring from a (project) management perspective. To adequately address the immense diversity of these publications, a multi-perspective research framework consisting of three perspectives, namely, research focus, research approach, and reference theory, is introduced and forms the basis for our literature analysis. The analysis results confirm the appropriateness of our framework and reveal directions for future research along the framework perspectives: Most importantly, in an effort to increase the significance and the trustworthiness of their results, researchers should apply a more theory-driven approach and provide a better description of their research context. Moreover, future research needs to pay particular attention to the pre-implementation stages of an IS offshoring initiative as well as the special nature of nearshoring and captive offshoring. Across all project stages, researchers should not only concentrate on the client point of view but incorporate multiple points of view

Distance Advantages in IS Nearshoring: Do They Matter?

This paper reviews and extends previous literature on information systems offshoring by providing a critical analysis of theadvantages of shorter client-supplier distance in nearshoring projects (as compared to farshoring ones). Prior researchindicated that nearshoring brings forth a number of critical distance advantages, e.g. real-time overlaps, cultural similarities,linguistic connections, as well as political/economical similarities, and that firms increasingly consider nearshoring as part oftheir sourcing strategies in order to benefit from the relative proximity of nearshore suppliers. The conceptual paper at handdevelops six propositions challenging this simplified perspective by presenting emerging arguments which downplayfrequently mentioned advantages resulting from proximity. Our results suggest that the advantages of nearshoring overfarshoring in practice may not be as significant as previously assumed due to a number of factors including small size andavailability of nearshore labor force, limited nearshore supplier experience, and increasing international awareness

Optische Mikrosysteme und Bauelemente für die Optofluidik

Inhalt dieser Arbeit sind Aspekte der Integration optischer Funktionen in die Optofluidik. Dies geschieht durch den Einsatz dynamischer hybrider planar integrierter freiraumoptischer (PIFSO) Systeme und integrierter diffraktiver Bauelemente für eine parallele Mikromanipulation mit einer optischen Pinzette.Für die optische Systemintegration wird der Ansatz der planar integrierten freiraumoptischen Systeme weiterentwickelt. Bei einer vollständigen diffraktive Implementierung stellt die Strukturgröße die Grenze für die Effizienz dar. Aufgrund der begrenzten minimalen Strukturgröße der Maskenlithographie ist die Effizienz dieser Systeme gering. Die Integration von hocheffizienten konventionellen Bauelementen stellt hohe Anforderungen an alternative Fertigungstechnologien. In dieser Arbeit wird als erweiterter Ansatz die Integration preiswerter "`off-the-shelf"' Komponenten wie Prismen oder rückverspiegelter sphärischer Linsen zur Effizienzsteigerung untersucht. Anhand unterschiedlicher Systemdesigns, einer Toleranzanalyse und Demonstratoren wird dieser Optimierungsansatz bewertet.In dieser Arbeit wird weiter die Integration von dynamischen modalen LC-Elementen in die PIFSO-Plattform diskutiert. Diese werden, wie die PIFSO-Systeme, mit planaren Fertigungstechnologien hergestellt, und sind deshalb für die Integration sehr gut geeignet. Die theoretischen Möglichkeiten des Systemansatzes zur Strahlablenkung und Fokuskorrektur werden untersucht, bewertet und demonstriert.Neben den dynamischen PIFSO-Systemen wurde auch die erweiterte Applikation optischer Pinzetten in der Optofluidik untersucht. Durch die Integration diffraktiver Bauelemente in die Kanalwand von mikrofluidischen Systemen können kompakte Systeme mit zusätzlichem Funktionsumfang zur parallelen Manipulation realisiert werden. Somit ist es z.B. möglich, mehrere Partikel gleichzeitig dreidimensional einzufangen oder im Fluss abzulenken. Dies wird anhand von Funktionsmustern gezeigt, die mit Polydimethylsiloxan (PDMS) realisiert wurden. Ein dritter, in einem Schritt abgeformter Demonstrator enthält sowohl die fluidischen Elemente als auch eine definierte optische Schnittstelle für die optische Pinzette. Aufgrund der neuen Schnittstelle kann der PDMS-Chip mit anderen Analysetools kombiniert werden.Alle diese Teilaspekte ermöglichen es dem Anwender optofluidische Systeme spezifisch zu optimieren

FACTORS FACILITATING COMPLIANCE IMPLEMENTATION – CASE STUDY RESULTS FROM MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES

Number and complexity of compliance requirements for companies steadily increase. Enterprises focus on the implementation of compliance programs to ensure conformance with rules and regulations. However, it is the employees’ compliant behavior and their understanding of compliance requirements that support realization and ensure conformance. Thus, companies must ask how to integrate employees into compliance programs and how to foster their understanding for compliance necessity. The paper at hand explores how key compliance components are implemented in practice and which factors facilitate the implementation of these components. Based on multiple case studies, two central key findings are identified contributing to the discussion of compliance implementation. First, the tone at the top facilitates compliance by strongly supporting a compliance culture which in turn positively influences the implementation of all four key compliance components. Second, the key component compliance reporting and controlling is not only supported by compliance facilitators but also builds the foundation for one of them. The facilitator incentive systems must be based on comprehensive compliance performance measures to provide a common understanding of compliance goals in a company. Additionally clear measures provide the basis to identify eligibility for incentives or the imposture of sanctions. In this context, the set up of a compliance performance measurement system is discussed, highlighting the necessity of basing it on adequate information system structures

Plasma functionalization of textiles: Specifics and possibilities

Plasma technology offers many interesting possibilities for the production of high-value-added textiles. Nevertheless, textiles can have a considerable structural and chemical complexity, and their properties must be taken into account for the implementation of plasma processes. The influences of some of these properties are highlighted through several examples of recent interesting applications, such as the metallization of polyester yarns, the enhancement of fabric moisture wicking and the surface functionalization with plasma polymerizatio

Effects of Imiquimod on Hair Follicle Stem Cells and Hair Cycle Progression

Topical imiquimod (IMQ) application is widely used as a model for psoriasiform-like skin inflammation in mice. Although the effects on the epidermis are well characterized, it is unclear how IMQ affects hair follicles and cycling. Here we investigated how IMQ affects hair follicle stem cells and whether the timing of IMQ application influences the immune infiltrate. Our results show that IMQ application at mid and late telogen activated hair follicle stem cells leading to premature hair cycle entry (anagen), which was accompanied by massive infiltration of inflammatory macrophages and gamma delta T cells, whereas the number of the respective resident populations decreased. Interestingly, high resident macrophage numbers were present in Rag2−/− mice and were maintained after IMQ treatment explaining why IMQ-induced anagen was reduced. This could be rescued after macrophage depletion suggesting that resident macrophages inhibit whereas inflammatory infiltrating macrophages stimulate hair follicle stem cell activation. The expression of the anagen-inhibiting factor BMP-4 was reduced by IMQ treatment as well as the activating factors Wnt showing that IMQ-induced hair follicle stem cell activation occurs by a Wnt-independent mechanism involving inflammatory cytokines such as CCL2 and TNF-α. On the basis of our findings, we recommend conducting experiments with IMQ during mid and late telogen as the biggest differences in immune cell composition are observed