Providing industry 4.0 technologies: The case of a production technology cluster

The concept of industry 4.0 (i4.0) encompasses the integration of different technologies into an autonomous, knowledge- and sensor-based, self-regulating production system. Our objective is to synthesize which are the challenges and opportunities of adopting i4.0 from the perspective of technology provider companies. A single-case research was conducted with ten companies at the Portuguese Production Technologies Cluster. Based on i4.0 technologies – Augmented reality; Additive Manufacturing; Big Data; Cloud Computing; Cyber-Physical Systems; Cybersecurity; Smart Robotics; Simulation; and System Integration – interviewees mentioned that the main adoption challenges are the analysis of data generated, integration of new technologies with available equipment and workforce, and computational limitations. The main opportunities are improvements in: efficiency; flexibility; productivity; cybersecurity; quality of products and services; and decision process due to data analysis. Interviewees have also foreseen changes in company's business model through the integration of internal resources with complementary activities of their partners and other cluster companies.     

Managing technology alliances: The case for knowledge management

Organizations need to form alliances with external entities in order to acquire or access resources outside ones bounds. In recent times, we have seen an increased number of alliances geared towards acquiring technology capabilities. Alliances for technology capabilities include software application licensing agreements, access to technological infrastructure, and accessing technological know-how. While a lot of attention has been paid to the financial, economic, legal, and architectural issues of such arrangements, one dimension has been under debated and discussed—the knowledge component. Knowledge is the critical resource that is exchanged, managed, and integrated, in technology alliances. Managing knowledge in and around technology alliances is of utmost importance if we want to reap the strategic and operational benefits of such engagements. In this case study analysis, we share crucial knowledge management concerns to bear in mind while constructing, governing, and terminating technology alliances.     

Antecedents and trajectories of AMT adoption: The case of Greek manufacturing SMEs

This study examines antecedents and trajectories of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) adoption in three categories: stand-alone, intermediate, and integrated technologies. Antecedents of adoption include prior investments in AMT, developments in firms’ manufacturing capabilities, technology strategy, absorptive capacity, and environmental pressures. Based on a sample of 87 Greek manufacturing SMEs, we find that AMT adoption follows an incremental, piecemeal progression from the least complicated through intermediate to integrated technologies. It is found that an increase in the firms’ quality and flexibility capabilities induces them to adopt further AMT, whereas advances in low-cost, innovation, and delivery capabilities appear negatively related to further AMT adoption. Absorptive capacity, technology strategy and environmental pressures play a central role in decisions for additional investments in AMT. In the context of a catching-up economy, these results support the notion of a ‘stepwise’ technology accumulation process as well as ‘satisficing’ technological change.     

The potential of digital nudging to bridge the gap between environmental attitude and behavior in the usage of smart home applications

Despite energy efficiency measures, global energy demand has gradually increased due to global economic growth and changes in consumer behavior. Even if people are aware of the problem and want to change their energy consumption, they have difficulty acting on their attitudes. This is called the attitude-behavior gap. To narrow this gap and reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, behavioral interventions beyond technological advances must be considered. A promising intervention is nudging, which uses insights from behavioral economics to gently nudge individuals toward more sustainable choices. In this study, we investigate how modifying digital choice architectures with nudges can be used to influence consumer energy conservation behavior in smart home applications (SHAs). We conducted an online experiment with 391 participants to test the effectiveness of the following three digital nudges in an SHA: self-commitment, reminder, and social norm nudge. While the results of a structural equation model indicated no effect on bridging the gap between attitude and behavior, we found the potential to promote energy conservation with two nudge types. Thus, this paper makes substantial contribution to persuasive and information systems-enabled sustainability for a better world in the form of digital nudges for emerging technologies.     

Determinants of Internet standards adoption: The case of South Korea

We develop an adoption model of infrastructure technologies and test it with survey data collected from companies in six industries in South Korea (hereafter: Korea). The implementation of a new Internet standard such as Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) depends on the usefulness of the technology to the adopting organizations and the environment in which they operate. The adoption of IPv6 in Korea is mostly driven by a governmental strategy that created user demand, and normative pressure. IPv6 adoption in Korea is also driven by perceived resource concentration and power due to the uneven allocation of IPv4 addresses. Conversely, killer applications, technical sponsorship and financial factors had no influence on the adoption decision by Korean companies. Taken together, the findings of our explorative study suggest the need to consider technical as well as social and policy factors to understand the adoption dynamics of infrastructure technologies.     

Commercializing generic technology: The case of advanced materials ventures

Generic, radical technology is of interest because of its potential for value creation across a broad range of industries and applications. Advanced materials ventures are attracted by this opportunity yet face distinctive challenges in commercializing such technology. We explore an anomaly in common assumptions about the commercialization of generic technology. We build on Freeman's concept of technological innovation as a technological and market matching process, on existing literature and on prior experience to build, inductively, a model of the variables influencing value creation by advanced materials ventures. We then test the model on the basis of detailed observation and analysis of two case studies, which have successfully created value through commercialization of advanced materials technology. Extending this theory, we offer managerial and policy recommendations to support value creation by advanced materials ventures.     

基于ZigBee技术的智能家居网关设计

智能家居网关是智能家居系统的核心,文章提出了一种基于Zig Bee无线通信技术的智能家居网关设计方案,硬件采用三星S5PV210芯片为智能网关的核心处理器,软件使用嵌入式Linux操作系统以及轻量级Web服务器,家电内部网络的无线通信采用Zig Bee技术,用户使用智能移动终端通过智能网关实现对家中各种家用电器的远程控制和管理。     

Affordances and constraints processes of smart service systems: Insights from the case of seaport security in Ghana

Although smart service systems have received increasing attention in information systems research, their affordances and constraints processes are less studied. In this study, we draw on interpretive case study methodology and technology affordances and constraints theory to investigate a smart service system use for seaport security in Ghana. With insights from the case of Ghana, we introduce an affordance constraints process as a framework to complement the existing affordance actualisation process framework in information systems. Thus, this study contributes to affordance theory with a new constraints process. The study’s findings show that smart service systems for seaport security afford autonomous access control, real-time security monitoring, and autonomous data capturing for analytics and reporting. However, such affordances can be constrained by power and internet outages, limited storage capacity, and device breakdowns. From these findings, we discuss implications for theory, research, and practice as well as limitations and directions for future research.     

Exploring factors affecting social e-commerce service adoption: The case of Facebook Gifts

Although social commerce is an important trend in practice, relatively few research studies have explored the impact of social commerce innovations launched within social networking sites. The deployment of a gift-giving service within a social networking site provides a unique opportunity to study the intersection of technological innovations and social norms and its potential to generate new revenue for ecommerce sites. Using Facebook Gifts as a real-world context for the study, we explore the factor structure of salient user beliefs influencing usage intention, and examine the relationships between beliefs and intention to use the service in a broader nomological network. Instead of adopting constructs from existing models, we started with the elicitation of salient beliefs and proceeded with successive stages of refinement to develop a suitable model. The empirical results show countervailing effects of perceived social utility and perceived convenience of the service on one hand, and low perceived value and privacy concerns on the other. A notable finding is the potential conflict arising between the expectations of effort associated with the procurement of a gift and the common perception of technology as reducing the required effort. The net result is that a technology-mediated gift service in the context of a social networking site runs counter to the social norms associated with traditional gift exchanges. This insight provides evidence of the dual challenge for social commerce initiatives. In order to be successful, new services in this area must leverage the potential of the technology as well as social practices.     

The role of big data in smart city

The expansion of big data and the evolution of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have played an important role in the feasibility of smart city initiatives. Big data offer the potential for cities to obtain valuable insights from a large amount of data collected through various sources, and the IoT allows the integration of sensors, radio-frequency identification, and Bluetooth in the real-world environment using highly networked services. The combination of the IoT and big data is an unexplored research area that has brought new and interesting challenges for achieving the goal of future smart cities. These new challenges focus primarily on problems related to business and technology that enable cities to actualize the vision, principles, and requirements of the applications of smart cities by realizing the main smart environment characteristics. In this paper, we describe the state-of-the-art communication technologies and smart-based applications used within the context of smart cities. The visions of big data analytics to support smart cities are discussed by focusing on how big data can fundamentally change urban populations at different levels. Moreover, a future business model of big data for smart cities is proposed, and the business and technological research challenges are identified. This study can serve as a benchmark for researchers and industries for the future progress and development of smart cities in the context of big data.     

广州智慧城市建设的现状、问题与对策

"智慧城市"成为现代城市建设与发展的重要理念。在分析智慧城市的内涵及其概念框架的基础上,从战略体系、社会活动体系、经济活动体系、支撑体系和空间体系5个方面分析广州智慧城市建设的现状及存在的主要问题,并从规划设计与统筹推进、社会管理与民生服务、科技创新与智慧产业发展、基础设施建设及其智能化、空间战略调整与空间结构优化等方面提出若干建议。     

A human-centric perspective exploring the readiness towards smart warehousing: The case of a large retail distribution warehouse

The explosive rise in technologies has revolutionised the way in which business operate, consumers buy, and the pace at which these activities take place. These advancements continue to have profound impact on business processes across the entire organisation. As such, Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) are also leveraging benefits from digitisation, allowing organisations to increase efficiency and productivity, whilst also providing greater transparency and accuracy in the movement of goods. While the warehouse is a key component within LSCM, warehousing research remains an understudied area within overall supply chain research, accounting for only a fraction of the overall research within this field. However, of the extant warehouse research, attention has largely been placed on warehouse design, performance and technology use, yet overlooking the determinants of Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption within warehouses. Accordingly, through proposing an extension of the Technology–Organisation–Environment (TOE) framework, this research explores the barriers and opportunities of AI within the warehouse of a major retailer. The findings for this qualitative study reveal AI challenges resulting from a shortage of both skill and mind-set of operational management, while also uncovering the opportunities presented through existing IT infrastructure and pre-existing AI exposure of management.     

Blockchain as a disruptive technology for business: A systematic review

Blockchain is the latest ‘disruptive innovation’ that has caught scholars’ attention. It is the underlying technology for Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Stakeholders like developers, entrepreneurs, and technology enthusiasts claim blockchain has the potential to reconfigure the contemporary economic, legal, political and cultural landscape. Skeptics claim the concept and its applications remain ambiguous and uncertain. Business scholars began publishing studies on the emergence and impact of blockchain, bitcoin, and related projects in 2014. In this study, we conduct a PRISMA guided systematic review of blockchain research in the business literature from 2014 to 2018. Our results show a rapid increase of studies over the five year period. The findings also convey key insights about the current state of scholarly investigation on blockchain, including its top benefits and challenges for business and society. We found that blockchain remains an early-stage domain of research in terms of theoretical grounding, methodological diversity, and empirically grounded work. We suggest research directions to improve our understanding of the state of blockchain and advance future research of this increasingly important and expansive area.     

The appropriation of conversational AI in the workplace: A taxonomy of AI chatbot users

There is an exponential growth of the use of AI applications in organisations. Due to the machine learning capability of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, it is critical that such systems are used continuously in order to generate rich use data that allow them to learn, evolve and mature into a better fit for their user and organisational context. This research focuses on the actual use of conversational AI, in particular AI chatbot, as one type of workplace AI application to answer the research question: how do employees experience the use of an AI chatbot in their day-to-day work? Through a qualitative case study of a large international organisation and by performing an inductive analysis, the research uncovers the different ways in which users appropriate the AI chatbot and identifies two key dimensions that determine their type of use: the dominant mode of interaction and the understanding of the AI chatbot technology. Based on these dimensions, a taxonomy of users is presented, which classifies users of AI chatbots into four types: early quitters, pragmatics, progressives, and persistents. The findings contribute to the understanding of how conversational AI, particularly AI chatbots, is used in organisations and pave the way for further research in this regard. The implications for practice are also discussed.     

Performance of an internet of things project in the public sector: The case of Nice smart city

The Internet of Things (IoT) technology provides a lot of possibilities to develop IT projects that offer to the citizens platform of services for better conditions of living and transporting. Our study contributes to the topical subject of smart cities analysing the performance of an IoT-platform based solution. It evaluates if an IoT platform project can achieve business, environmental and social objectives all together. We select and test a project developed in Nice (France) where 5.000+ sensors are deployed on parking slots to improve the urban transport. The benefits of the IT project are determined comparing data extracting from Nice and compared with two other similar cities (Marseille and Toulon) which play the role of control group. The analysis of the value creation and value capture suggest a governance model for a private and public collaboration. Our findings help public managers to understand better private-public partnership and then prepare the future cities development.     

Pragmatic agency in technology standards setting: The case of Ethernet

Technology standards refer to the specifications that provide users and vendors with a common platform and ensure compatibility between components of a technological system. These technical “rules of the game” are being increasingly set in standards development organizations (SDOs). In this paper, I ask the question: how do actors operating in these venues address the challenges posed by the anticipatory and collective nature of the specifications they are establishing? Through an in-depth analytic narrative of the Ethernet LAN (local area network) standard, I indicate how actors engage in an ongoing process of extension generation, ratification and incorporation. In imagining alterations to a specification, approving timely modifications and crafting an identity for a rule even as it changes, they manifest “pragmatic agency” in these contexts. In exercising such agency, SDO's substantially increase the functionality of an existing standard as well as boost its long-term competitive viability.     

超级网络(Supernet)的兴起与衰退--英国对中小企业技术创新政策的一项实证研究

本描述了英国对中小企业创新政策的一项研究实例－Supernet从兴起到衰退的历程,并从其运行机制入手,通过在分析其供需方行为的基础上,对其最终衰退的结果进行了一定的剖析。     

Committee standards battles in the era of convergence: Implications for smart systems

By now, there have been many standards battles fought within the same industry or by multiple industries in the market-based standardization. In these battles, incompatible standards compete to win market dominance. While there is some research on standards battles found within a single committee, competitions in the committee-based standardization between standards from different committees or SDOs are underexplored. This paper categorizes the types of standards battles by the mode of standardization and the heterogeneity of actors. A new type referred to as ‘committee standards battles for converging systems’ is introduced and the dynamics of such battles is explored with two cases. The battle between the electric vehicle charging and the smart meter communication standard and the battle between two different vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication standards are analyzed. The failure in achieving compatibility between different committee standards on the same frequency bands results in communication interference that adversely affects the operation of smart systems. Social incompatibilities between actors and alliances from a mix of industries with vested interests towards a particular standard complicate the battling scene. The findings provide implications in terms of heterogeneity, actors, and government role in standards battles.     

Extending unified theory of acceptance and use of technology with perceived monetary value for smartphone adoption at the bottom of the pyramid

The affluent markets of developed countries have become very competitive. Therefore, companies are trying to explore market opportunities at the segment of low-income people termed as “Bottom of the Pyramid” (BOP). With the proliferation in popularity and reduction in the price of smartphones, there is a potential market opportunity for smartphone producing companies at the BOP segment. The companies need to identify the factors influencing smartphone adoption at the BOP in order to explore this market opportunity. The current study extends the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with “Perceived Monetary Value” to investigate the antecedents of smartphone adoption at the BOP. Empirical analysis has shown that “Performance Expectancy” (PE), “Effort Expectancy” (EE), “Social Influence” (SI), and “Perceived Monetary Value” (PMV) predict the “Behavioral Intention” (BI), and BI and “Facilitating Conditions” (FC) predict the “Use Behavior” (UB). Findings from this study can be used by the managers of the companies targeting the BOP segment in pricing, marketing, and product-specific decision-making process. The policymakers can also analyze the results of this study for successful implementation and delivery of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based services for the BOP segment.     

Role of authenticity and perceived benefits of online courses on technology based career choice in India: A modified technology adoption model based on career theory

In this digital era, it is important to make a wise course choice since the building blocks of a career starts from choosing the career-specific course. With the number of online courses available, it is tough to differentiate a relevant career-focused course from a mediocre one. Hence, the authenticity and validity of a particular course influence the career choice of individuals. The other important factor is perceived benefits. Additionally, an increasing number of educational businesses has already integrated or plans to integrate social media applications into their marketing plans to reach and attract future students, thus showing a shift from traditional ways of marketing. As the nature of this study is both purposive as well as probabilistic, a mixed method approach has been chosen. The study consists of two phases: the exploratory research process consisting of the literature review, the semi-structured interviews with information technology professionals to form the questionnaire and hypotheses. The researchers found that through personal inputs strongly influence the learning experiences, authenticity and perceived benefits of a course plays the most important role in the individual’s decision to adopt a technical course. The practical and research implications have also been discussed.