Managing Knowledge Transfer in Software-Maintenance Outsourcing Transitions: A System-Dynamics Perspective

The existing literature suggests that transitions in software-maintenance offshore outsourcing projects are prone to knowledge transfer blockades, i.e. situations in which the activities that would yield effective knowledge transfer do not occur, and that client management involvement is central to overcome them. However, the theoretical understanding of the knowledge transfer blockade is limited, and the reactive management behavior reported in case studies suggests that practitioners may frequently be astonished by the dynamics that may give rise to the blockade. Drawing on recent research from offshore sourcing and reference theories, this study proposes a system dynamics framework that may explain why knowledge transfer blockades emerge and how and why client management can overcome the blockade. The results suggest that blockades may emerge from a vicious circle of weak learning due to cognitive overload of vendor staff and resulting negative ability attributions that result in reduced helping behavior and thus aggravate cognitive load. Client management may avoid these vicious circles by selecting vendor staff with strong prior related experience. Longer phases of coexistence of vendor staff and subject matter experts and high formal and clan controls may also mitigate vicious circles.

Training in intensive care medicine. A challenge within reach.

The medical training model is currently immersed in a process of change. The new paradigm is intended to be more effective, more integrated within the healthcare system, and strongly oriented towards the direct application of knowledge to clinical practice. Compared with the established training system based on certification of the completion of a series or rotations and stays in certain healthcare units, the new model proposes a more structured training process based on the gradual acquisition of specific competences, in which residents must play an active role in designing their own training program. Training based on competences guarantees more transparent, updated and homogeneous learning of objective quality, and which can be homologated internationally. The tutors play a key role as the main directors of the process, and institutional commitment to their work is crucial. In this context, tutors should receive time and specific formation to allow the evaluation of training as the cornerstone of the new model. New forms of objective summative and training evaluation should be introduced to guarantee that the predefined competences and skills are effectively acquired. The free movement of specialists within Europe is very desirable and implies that training quality must be high and amenable to homologation among the different countries. The Competency Based training in Intensive Care Medicine in Europe program is our main reference for achieving this goal. Scientific societies in turn must impulse and facilitate all those initiatives destined to improve healthcare quality and therefore specialist training. They have the mission of designing strategies and processes that favor training, accreditation and advisory activities with the government authorities.

Information Technology Outsourcing: Towards Sustainable Business Value

This book attempts to synthesize research that contributes to a better understanding of how to reach sustainable business value through information systems (IS) outsourcing. Important topics in this realm are how IS outsourcing can contribute to innovation, how it can be dynamically governed, how to cope with its increasing complexity through multi-vendor arrangements, how service quality standards can be met, how corporate social responsibility can be upheld, and how to cope with increasing demands of internationalization and new sourcing models, such as crowdsourcing and platform-based cooperation. These issues are viewed from either the client or vendor perspective, or both. The book should be of interest to all academics and students in the fields of Information Systems, Management, and Organization as well as corporate executives and professionals who seek a more profound analysis and understanding of the underlying factors and mechanisms of outsourcing.

Information Systems Outsourcing: Towards Sustainable Business Value

This book attempts to synthesize research that contributes to a better understanding of how to reach sustainable business value through information systems (IS) outsourcing. Important topics in this realm are how IS outsourcing can contribute to innovation, how it can be dynamically governed, how to cope with its increasing complexity through multi-vendor arrangements, how service quality standards can be met, how corporate social responsibility can be upheld and how to cope with increasing demands of internationalization and new sourcing models, such as crowdsourcing and platform-based cooperation. These issues are viewed from either the client or vendor perspective, or both. The book should be of interest to all academics and students in the fields of Information Systems, Management and Organization as well as corporate executives and professionals who seek a more profound analysis and understanding of the underlying factors and mechanisms of outsourcing.

Enabling knowledge creation through outsiders: towards a push model of open innovation

Open innovation is increasingly being adopted in business and describes a situation in which firms exchange ideas and knowledge with external participants, such as customers, suppliers, partner firms, and universities. This article extends the concept of open innovation with a push model of open innovation: knowledge is voluntarily created outside a firm by individuals and organisations who proceed to push knowledge into a firm’s open innovation project. For empirical analysis, we examine source code and newsgroup data on the Eclipse Development Platform. We find that outsiders invest as much in the firm’s project as the founding firm itself. Based on the insights from Eclipse, we develop four propositions: ‘preemptive generosity’ of a firm, ‘continuous commitment’, ‘adaptive governance structure’, and ‘low entry barrier’ are contexts that enable the push model of open innovation.

Die Bedeutung von Business Rules im Customer Relationship Management

Der Beitrag diskutiert Möglichkeiten zur Automatisierung von Kundenbeziehungsprozessen im Customer Relationship Management mit Hilfe von Business Rules. Anhand einer CRM-Architektur werden Anwendungsmöglichkeiten erörtert und am Beispiel einer Cross-Selling-Kampagne vertieft. Technische Aspekte werden dabei nicht im Detail betrachtet. Der Schwerpunkt liegt vielmehr in der Diskussion von Automatisierungs- und Integrationspotenzialen durch den Einsatz von Business Rules, wie sie in zunehmend individualisierten Kundenbeziehungen in Massenmärkten gegeben sind.

Domestic, vertical, and horizontal multinationals : a general equilibrium approach using the "knowledge capital model"

One of the key factors behind the growth in global trade in recent decades is an increase in intermediate input as a result of the development of vertical production networks (Feensta, 1998). It is widely recognized that the formation of production networks is due to the expansion of multinational enterprises' (MNEs) activities. MNEs have been differentiated into two types according to their production structure: horizontal and vertical foreign direct investment (FDI). In this paper, we extend the model presented by Zhang and Markusen (1999) to include horizontal and vertical FDI in a model with traded intermediates, using numerical general equilibrium analysis. The simulation results show that horizontal MNEs are more likely to exist when countries are similar in size and in relative factor endowments. Vertical MNEs are more likely to exist when countries differ in relative factor endowments, and trade costs are positive. From the results of the simulation, lower trade costs of final goods and differences in factor intensity are conditions for attracting vertical MNEs.

Is FTA/EPA effective for a developing country to attract FDI? : simulation analysis based on an extended knowledge-capital model

To prepare an answer to the question of how a developing country can attract FDI, this paper explored the factors and policies that may help bring FDI into a developing country by utilizing an extended version of the knowledge-capital model. With a special focus on the effects of FTAs/EPAs between market countries and developing countries, simulations with the model revealed the following: (1) Although FTA/EPA generally ends to increase FDI to a developing country, the possibility of improving welfare through increased demand for skilled and unskilled labor becomes higher as the size of the country declines; (2) Because the additional implementation of cost-saving policies to reduce firm-type/trade-link specific fixed costs ends to depreciate the price of skilled labor by saving its input, a developing country, which is extremely scarce in skilled labor, is better off avoiding the additional option; (3) If a country hopes to enjoy larger welfare gains with EPA, efforts to increase skilled labor in the country, such as investing in education, may be beneficial.

Identifying the core competence as a key requirement for business model innovation. The case of Airlines as a service industry

Core competencies form the basis of an organization’s skills and the basic element of a successful strategic execution. Identifying and strengthening the core competencies enhances flexibility thereby strategically positioning a firm for responding to competition in the dynamic marketplace and can be the difference in quality among firms that follow the same business model. A correct understanding of the concept of business models, employing the right core competencies, organizing them effectively and building the business model around the competencies that are constantly gained and assimilated can result in enhanced business performance and thus having implications for firms that want to innovate their business models. Flexibility can be the firm’s agility to shift focus in response to external factors such as changing markets, new technologies or competition and a firm’s success can be gauged by the ability it displays in this transition. Although industry transformations generally emanate from technological changes, recent examples suggests they may also be due to the introduction of new business models and nowhere is it more relevant than in the airline industry. An analysis of the business model flexibility of 17 Airlines from Asia, Europe and Oceania, that is done with core competence as the indicator reveals a picture of inconsistencies in the core competence strategy of certain airlines and the corresponding reduction in business performance. The performance variations are explained from a service oriented core competence strategy employed by airlines that ultimately enables them in having a flexible business model that not only increases business performance but also helps in reducing the uncertainties in the internal and external operating environments. This is more relevant in the case of airline industry, as the product (the air transportation of passengers) minus the service competence is all the same.

Caracterización de Sistemas intensivos en Software desde un punto de vista de innovación=Characterizing Software-intensive Systems from the innovation point of view

La innovación en Sistemas Intesivos en Software está alcanzando relevancia por múltiples razones: el software está presente en sectores como automóvil, teléfonos móviles o salud. Las empresas necesitan conocer aquellos factores que afectan a la innovación para incrementar las probabilidades de éxito en el desarrollo de sus productos y, la evaluación de productos sofware es un mecanismo potente para capturar este conocimiento. En consecuencia, las empresas necesitan evaluar sus productos desde la perpectiva de innovación para reducir la distancia entre los productos desarrollados y el mercado. Esto es incluso más relevante en el caso de los productos intensivos en software, donde el tiempo real, la oportunidad, complejidad, interoperabilidad, capacidad de respuesta y compartción de recursos son características críticas de los nuevos sistemas. La evaluación de la innovación de productos ya ha sido estudiada y se han definido algunos esquemas de evaluación pero no son específicos para Sistemas intensivos en Sofwtare; además, no se ha alcanzado consenso en los factores ni el procedimiento de evaluación. Por lo tanto, tiene sentido trabajar en la definición de un marco de evaluación de innovación enfocado a Sistemas intesivos en Software. Esta tesis identifica los elementos necesarios para construir in marco para la evaluación de de Sistemas intensivos en Software desde el punto de vista de la innovación. Se han identificado dos componentes como partes del marco de evaluación: un modelo de referencia y una herramienta adaptativa y personalizable para la realización de la evaluación y posicionamiento de la innovación. El modelo de referencia está compuesto por cuatro elementos principales que caracterizan la evaluación de innovación de productos: los conceptos, modelos de innovación, cuestionarios de evaluación y la evaluación de productos. El modelo de referencia aporta las bases para definir instancias de los modelos de evaluación de innovación de productos que pueden se evaluados y posicionados en la herramienta a través de cuestionarios y que de forma automatizada aporta los resultados de la evaluación y el posicionamiento respecto a la innovación de producto. El modelo de referencia ha sido rigurosamente construido aplicando modelado conceptual e integración de vistas junto con la aplicación de métodos cualitativos de investigación. La herramienta ha sido utilizada para evaluar productos como Skype a través de la instanciación del modelo de referencia. ABSTRACT Innovation in Software intensive Systems is becoming relevant for several reasons: software is present embedded in many sectors like automotive, robotics, mobile phones or heath care. Firms need to have knowledge about factors affecting the innovation to increase the probability of success in their product development and the assessment of innovation in software products is a powerful mechanism to capture this knowledge. Therefore, companies need to assess products from an innovation perspective to reduce the gap between their developed products and the market. This is even more relevant in the case of SiSs, where real time, timeliness, complexity, interoperability, reactivity, and resource sharing are critical features of a new system. Many authors have analysed product innovation assessment and some schemas have been developed but they are not specific to SiSs; in addition, there is no consensus about the factors or the procedures for performing an assessment. Therefore, it has sense to work in the definition of a customized software product innovation evaluation framework. This thesis identifies the elements needed to build a framework to assess software products from the innovation perspective. Two components have been identified as part of the framework to assess Software intensive Systems from the innovation perspective: a reference-model and an adaptive and customizable tool to perform the assessment and to position product innovation. The reference-model is composed by four main elements characterizing product innovation assessment: concepts, innovation models, assessment questionnaires and product assessment. The reference model provides the umbrella to define instances of product innovation assessment models that can be assessed and positioned through questionnaires in the proposed tool that also provides automation in the assessment and positioning of innovation. The reference-model has been rigorously built by applying conceptual modelling and view integration integrated with qualitative research methods. The tool has been used to assess products like Skype through models instantiated from the reference-model.

Enhancing Evacuation Plans with a Situation Awareness System Based on End-User Knowledge Provision.

Recent disasters have shown that having clearly defined preventive procedures and decisions is a critical component that minimizes evacuation hazards and ensures a rapid and successful evolution of evacuation plans. In this context, we present our Situation-Aware System for enhancing Evacuation Plans (SASEP) system, which allows creating end-user business rules that technically support the specific events, conditions and actions related to evacuation plans. An experimental validation was carried out where 32 people faced a simulated emergency situation, 16 of them using SASEP and the other 16 using a legacy system based on static signs. From the results obtained, we compare both techniques and discuss in which situations SASEP offers a better evacuation route option, confirming that it is highly valuable when there is a threat in the evacuation route. In addition, a study about user satisfaction using both systems is presented showing in which cases the systems are assessed as satisfactory, relevant and not frustrating.

Impact of automatic meetering infrastructure on multiutility business models

In the last decade energy utility sector has undergone major changes in terms of liberalization, increased competition, efforts in improving energy efficiency, and in new technological solution such as smart meter and grid operations. There are new information technology solutions (e.g. Advanced Metering Infrastructure /AMI ) on the horizon that will not only introduce new technical and organizational concepts, but have a very strong potential to radically change modus operandi of utility companies. Coordinated, multi-utility programs can help accelerate the development and market success of new high-efficiency technologies. These programs provide opportunities for researchers to develop new high-efficiency equipment for manufacturers to sell this new equipment with utility help, for utilities to increase the amount of energy they save from incentive programs, and for consumers to benefit from lower utility bills and a cleaner environment (as energy is reduced, pollutants produced at power plants decline).

Extracting knowledge through friendsourcing: application to new financial services

Personalization has become a key factor for the success of new ICT services. However, the personal information required is not always available in a single site, but scattered in heterogeneous sources, and extracting knowledge from raw information is not an easy job. As a result, many organizations struggle to obtain knowledge on their users useful enough for their business purposes. This paper introduces a comprehensive personal data framework that opens the knowledge extraction process up to collaboration by the involvement of new actors, while enabling users to monitor and control it. The contributions have been validated in a financial services scenario where socioeconomic knowledge on some users is generated by tapping into their social network and used to assists them in raising money from their friends.

A personal data framework for exchanging knowledge about users in new financial services

Personal data is a key asset for many companies, since this is the essence in providing personalized services. Not all companies, and specifically new entrants to the markets, have the opportunity to access the data they need to run their business. In this paper, we describe a comprehensive personal data framework that allows service providers to share and exchange personal data and knowledge about users, while facilitating users to decide who can access which data and why. We analyze the challenges related to personal data collection, integration, retrieval, and identity and privacy management, and present the framework architecture that addresses them. We also include the validation of the framework in a banking scenario, where social and financial data is collected and properly combined to generate new socio-economic knowledge about users that is then used by a personal lending service.

Development in Rural Areas Through Capacity Building and Education for Business

This paper is based on a case study located in Avila, central Spain. Its main objectives are to implement an entrepreneurship program and design a plan of capacity building and education for business in order to promote the development of rural areas. The methodological approach of the program is based on the use of tools that permit involving the various actors of the area from the early planning stages. The university's group that is carrying out the field work has relied on these participatory tools in very different areas and contexts for over 25 years. This has allowed the development of an advanced planning model called ?Working With People? that connects expert and experience knowledge in the territories where it is applied. With this methodological approach, the diagnosis of the territory and the design of the program's strategy has been carried out. Once completed the first phase of the program and in order to ensure the sustainability and applicability of future entrepreneurial initiatives, it is necessary to support and strengthen potential entrepreneurs through training activities and capacity building. It relies on ?How to learn from people who live there? to promote investment projects and to teach them with adequate educational skills. In this context, this article aims to study the implementation strategy of these training and capacity building activities studied from an academic perspective, as well as analyzing the potential effects of these actions in promoting entrepreneurship in the territories