Creating value in ecosystems: Crossing the chasm between knowledge and business ecosystems

Policy makers take initiatives to stimulate knowledge ecosystems in technology hotspots. It is implicitly assumed that these ecosystems will lead to value networks through which the participating companies can realize a competitive advantage. Value networks refer to business ecosystems where the value proposition is offered by a group of companies which are mutually complementary. The strategy literature suggests that business ecosystems lead to competitive advantages for each of the partners in the ecosystem. Based on a unique hand-collected database of 138 innovative start-ups in the region of Flanders, we analyze the knowledge and business ecosystem and the financial support network. We find that the knowledge ecosystem is well structured and concentrated around a number of central actors while the business ecosystem is almost non-existent at the local level. Further, we find that the financial support network is almost 100% publicly backed and fails to bridge the knowledge and business ecosystem. The implications for policy makers who tend to focus on the development of local ecosystems are discussed.     

Metatheoretical perspectives on sustainability journeys: Evolutionary, relational and durational

Journeys to a sustainable future have become important to industry, government and research. In this paper, we examine evolutionary, relational and durational perspectives on sustainability journeys. Each perspective emphasizes different facets of sustainability - shifts in selection environments, reconfigurations of emergent networks, and intertemporal comparisons and contrasts. Drawing on our analysis, we discuss implications for sustainability policy, strategy and research.     

Comparative account of serum lipids,lipoproteins and apolipoprotein-B in patients of coronary artery disease

Serum total lipids (cholesterol and triglyceride), lipoproteins (VLDL, LDL and HDL) and Apolipoprotein-B levels of normal healthy individuals (n=25) and coronary artery disease patients (n=25) were estimated. The objective of the present study was to ascertain the role of apo-B in causation and inheritance of coronary artery disease. It was observed that on an average serum total cholesterol and triglyceride more than 200 mg/dl bring the individuals to a risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) irrespective of the age. CAD patients achieved this value at an early age (35–45 years). Similarly VLDL and LDL levels were found to be significantly raised in CAD patients when compared to that of age matched normal individuals, with patients achieving risk values at an early age. HDL levels were found to be significantly lower in CAD patients as compared to normal individuals. Serum apo-B levels were significantly raised in CAD patients as compared to age matched normal individuals. Patients with positive family history of CAD had raised serum apo-B levels than those having negative family history. A positive coefficient of correlation was observed between serum apo-B and LDL levels suggesting that more the number of Apo-B particles, more will be the synthesis of atherogenic particle (LDL). Patients with negative family history had serum apo-B levels closer to those of normal individuals and in these individuals HDL levels were found to be significantly lowered, suggesting that loss of scavenger role of HDL could be the risk factor responsible for the causation of CAD in these patients, with negative family history of coronary artery disease.     

Usage patterns discovery from a web log in an Indian e-learning site: A case study

An important research area in education and technology is how the learners use e-learning. By exploring the various factors and relationships between them, we can get an insight into the learners’ behaviors for delivering tailored e-content required by them. Although many tools exist to record detailed navigational activities, they don’t explore the learners’ usage patterns for an adaptive e-learning site. The previous web log data analyses, done so far, have been very limited in their scope as they lack detailed empirical results on the learning technology usage. This paper discusses the detailed results of a case study of web data mining in a specific e-learning application. The main objective of this study is to conduct research on usability and effectiveness of the e-content by analyzing the web log. For this, a suitable data set was retrieved from raw web log records, to which various web mining & statistical techniques could be applied. We have evaluated different features of e-content that can lead to better learning outcomes for the learners, by understanding their navigational behaviors, their interaction with system and their area of interest. We found, for example, what sequence of topics were the most liked and the least liked by the learners; we also found that these patterns, lead us to hypothesize, the correlation and regression analysis between the average time, test score and total attempts.     

From transaction to transformation costs: The case of Polaroid's SX-70 camera

Innovation in a product's design can have significant implications for the organization of competencies across a production network. Currently, discussions on product designs and the distribution of competencies across production networks are based on transaction costs considerations. However, such a view does not consider the transformation costs that arise when competencies across a production network are reorganized because of design changes. We explore the nature of these costs by examining the dynamics associated with Polaroid Corporation's greatest innovation, the SX-70 camera. Our longitudinal study suggests that it is not costless to redraw the boundaries of a firm. In the SX-70 camera case, Polaroid's relationships with its important stakeholders were adversely affected resulting in a deterioration of its competitive position. From this study, we suggest that it is critical to consider the transformation costs involved with radical innovations in order to gain a more complete picture of change in systemic industries.     

Urinary Retention as a Cause of Hyponatremia in an Elderly Man

Hyponatremia is a common disorder in elderly and can result in changes in cognition, seizures, coma or even respiratory arrest if not recognised and treated. Syndrome of inappropriate anti diuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) is the most common cause of hyponatremia in elderly hospitalised patients and in most cases the etiology cannot be determined on routine investigations. We present a 76 year old male with symptomatic hyponatremia who had chronic urinary retention due to a urethral stricture. His sodium levels improved with catheterisation and worsened again after the catheter was removed. This supports the hypothesis that urinary retention and bladder distension can stimulate ADH release from the posterior pituitary, producing a picture similar to SIADH.     

Students motivation for adopting programming contests: Innovation-diffusion perspective

Within the context of Rogers theory of perceived attributes, authors propose a framework that can predict students’ motivation to adopt programming contest like ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). In this paper we investigate the attributes for adoption of programming contest in a social group comprising of (N?=?1245) undergraduate engineering students from the regional finals of the contest held in India over a period of 3 years. The results revealed that student motivations are strongly associated with attributes like relative advantage, compatibility, ease of use, peer influence, perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness. Overall, students expressed positive attitude towards adopting programming contests as it helped improve their problem solving and programming skills and overall employability. Both gender was in agreement that joining and winning programming contests is a status symbol.     

Use of social networking in a linguistically and culturally rich India

Besides highlighting the uses and problems related to social networking, the paper reveals its impact on the linguistically and culturally rich India. It also describes some of the top Indian social networking sites and pinpoints some instances where people have used such sites to raise their voice against the bad elements harming their culture.     

Improving educational outcomes & reducing absenteeism at remote villages with mobile technology and WhatsAPP: Findings from rural India

Reduction of teacher and student absenteeism, together with consistent teacher support and training, are critical factors in improving the quality of education in rural India. As part of an ongoing project involving schools and educational centers in rural areas spread across 21 Indian states, this study investigated how implementation of two simple, accessible technologies could not only reduce absenteeism but also increase teachers’ effectiveness and improve student performance. In addition to students and teachers, key stakeholders included educational coordinators who provided support and monitoring regarding use of WhatsApp and two additional apps designed specifically to support simple educational improvements. In our study we coded and analyzed nine months of messages (n?=?8968), both photographs and texts, posted by 26 participants. The number of text messages related to attendance was strongly positively correlated with frequency of interactions between coordinators and teachers. Our approach resulted in increased teacher and student attendance, as well as improvements in lessons and other planned educational activities. This model functions well in rural settings where there is poor internet connectivity and lack of supporting infrastructure. Remote schools can easily adopt this tablet-based model to reduce teacher absenteeism, improve teaching techniques, improve educational resources, and increase student performance.