The emergence of a Fintech Ecosystem: A case study of the Vizag Fintech Valley in India

Fintech ecosystems (FE) are characterized by heterogeneous, non-linear, dynamic and complex network of agents that interact with each other to provide a wide array of financial products and services to end customers. With the rise of myriad complementary technologies, the complexity of Fintech ecosystems is increasing exponentially as new players are emerging and new connections are formed. Despite the widespread attention Fintech ecosystems have attracted from both academia and practice, rather little is known about how such an ecosystem emerge. Toward addressing this knowledge gap, this research paper draws on complex adaptive systems (CASs) theory to examine the emergence of a global self-sustaining ecosystem: The “Fintech Valley” in Vizag, India. In doing so, our findings offer insights into the dynamics of FE emergence that is transforming the financial landscape globally, and may be helpful to practitioners who are looking to effect organization-wide cultural change and the 'compliant by design' approach.     

Generating innovation potential: How digital entrepreneurs conceal,sequence, anchor,and propagate new technology

Organizations that fail to innovate become disrupted by those that do. Digital technology makes corporate entrepreneurship increasingly potent and prolific but simultaneously blurs the link between entrepreneurial processes and innovation outcomes. Our understanding of how corporate entrepreneurship with digital technology unfolds in organizations is thus limited. We develop a framework that captures four tactics that digital entrepreneurs may use to generate innovation potential. Specifically, we report how these tactics helped employees at a Norwegian hospital to develop and scale an application for time planning and resource analytics. Our study shows that managing digital entrepreneurship strategically requires organizations to harness the multiplicity in information systems (IS) use that increasingly malleable digital technology affords.     

Linking information systems and entrepreneurship: A review and agenda for IT‐associated and digital entrepreneurship research

More than 50 years ago, information technology (IT) began to change society, the economy, and industries worldwide. This change has included waves of technological disruption that have been exploited by entrepreneurial actors who seize the associated new opportunities. Research on related phenomena is spread across different disciplines. Recently, there have been calls for further research on the marriage of information systems (IS) and entrepreneurship. We review 292 articles in the IS, entrepreneurship, and general and strategic management literature to create an overview of the IT‐associated entrepreneurship research landscape. On the basis of that review, we elaborate on the different roles that IT can assume to support entrepreneurial operations and value creation in these settings. Our findings suggest that IT plays four major roles in entrepreneurial operations: as a facilitator, making the operations of start‐ups easier; as a mediator for new ventures' operations; as an outcome of entrepreneurial operations; and as a ubiquity, becoming the business model itself. Leveraging these roles of IT, we develop a set of definitions to clear up definition uncertainties surrounding IT‐associated new ventures such as digital start‐ups and digital business models. We also outline a research agenda for IT‐associated entrepreneurship research based on identified roles, types, and gaps.     

Effectual tactics in digital intrapreneurship: A process model

Uncertainty and the pursuit of new ventures are intricately linked. Digital technologies open up new ways for uncertainty handling in the pursuit of novelty. In this paper, we develop a process model that traces the dynamics among uncertainty, digitally enabled tactics, and organizational novelty. The model points to the potential of technologies that are evocative, disposable, and responsive for venturing in complex, uncertainty-ridden contexts. Our research builds on extant conceptualizations of complexity in innovation journeys, in conjunction with perspectives on effectual entrepreneurial tactics. Empirically, we investigate uncertainty handling through a longitudinal case study on an in-house venture for the introduction of novel electronic services for patients in a major university hospital. Our research provides insight into the processes through which intrapreneurs handle uncertainty by leveraging the potential of digital technologies. The paper offers theoretical implications for the digital intrapreneurship literature.     

The use of online digital resources and educational digital libraries in higher education

This paper summarizes results from a national survey of 4,678 respondents, representing 119 institutions of higher education in the United States regarding their use of digital resources for scholarly purposes. This paper presents the following results: (1) demographics commonly used in higher education to categorize populations such as institution type or level of teaching experience could not reliably predict use of online digital resources, (2) valuing online digital resources corresponds with only higher levels of use for certain types of digital resources, (3) lack of time was a significant barrier to use of materials while, paradoxically, respondents indicated that they used them because they save time, (4) respondents did not tend to intentionally look to the Internet as a trusted resource for learning about teaching.     

Self-efficacy and anxiety of digital natives in face of compulsory computer-mediated tasks: A study about digital capabilities and limitations

Digital limitations (or, conversely, digital capabilities) are a new way to frame the digital divide discourse in three dimensions: access, cognition and behavior. Digital limitations address an individual's barriers to properly access the information and communication technologies (ICTs), as well as his/her cognitive disabilities and negative behaviors towards ICT use effectiveness. In a survey with 174 undergraduate students in a traditional state university in underdeveloped Northeastern Brazil who compulsorily use an institutional ICT-based academic system, we investigated the factorial structure and the relationship of two constructs that pertain to the cognitive dimension of digital limitations – computer self-efficacy and anxiety. Our findings address the negative correlation between the two constructs and the unanticipated proposition that both low and high levels of self-efficacy and anxiety do not signal per se the presence of cognitive digital limitations or capabilities.     

Envisioning entrepreneurship and digital innovation through a design science research lens: A matrix approach

Design Science Research (DSR) in the information systems (IS) field is, at its essence, about Digital Innovation (DI). Innovative sociotechnical design artifacts involve digital information technologies (IT) being used in ways that result in profound disruptions to traditional ways of doing business and to widespread societal changes. The pervasiveness of DI means that the individuals involved in bringing it about have diverse backgrounds, including application specialists, software engineers, data scientists, business managers, economists, venture capitalists, various user groups, and entrepreneurial leaders. This range of backgrounds means that DI, much more than traditional innovation, leads to varied perspectives on the methods and tools to be used in the development of effective and evolvable complex systems incorporating digital innovations. In this paper we present a new matrix approach to DI based on DSR, entrepreneurship, and innovation theories. Clear strategic guidance allows these multiple stakeholders to make sense of the diverse landscape and to understand when and how different entrepreneurial strategies for innovation can best be applied. We define the combined DSR and DI matrix approach in terms of four strategies: invention; advancement; exaptation; and exploitation and their associated DI practices. The research contribution is a novel DSR-DI matrix process model. This model extends entrepreneurship theory as it enriches effectuation thinking with more detailed process guidance for ambidextrous entrepreneurship and it enriches DSR models for DI by showing more explicitly the different pathways corresponding to different quadrants in the knowledge-innovation matrix.     

The enchanting potential of technology: a dialogical case study of enchantment and the Internet

Although user experience is now widely accepted as a central concern in human–computer interaction and interaction design, its conceptual and methodological implications are still being worked out. Enchantment has become emblematic in this process by pointing to the enlivening potential of technology in people-technology relations. As part of an ongoing project to deepen our understanding of enchantment in user experience, this paper presents a case study of one person’s enchantment with their Internet uses. The analysis suggests three salient aspects of this enchantment: responsive crossing of boundaries; dialogue in personal transformation; and the potential endlessness and depths of enchantment. It also suggests that some characteristics of interaction with the particular medium facilitate enchantment: personal control over self-presentation; the paradox of being able to carefully craft meaning from what is normally chaotic; the possibility of finding and constructing personal narratives online; playing in a vast pool of information. Reflection on the results of this single case analysis points to the value for understanding user experience of in-depth single-case analyses that focus on the personal and particular.     

Pathways to digital business models: The connection of sensing and seizing in business model innovation

Digital business model innovation (BMI) is critical to achieving and sustaining competitiveness in technology-driven environments. In those environments, firms must not only sense changes to identify opportunities but also effectively seize them in BMI. Therefore, sensing and seizing cannot be considered as isolated dynamic capabilities, but must be combined for successful BMI. However, research on sensing and seizing does not offer compelling suggestions for firms that struggle with connecting both while pursuing digital BMI. We use qualitative configurational analysis (QCA) to analyze a sample of 49 case studies on digital BMI to identify the antecedents that firms sense before seizing these changes with digital BMI. Based on ten configurations of sensing (represented by six antecedents) and seizing (represented by four BMI types), we explain the relationship between sensed antecedents and seized digital BMI. In addition, we derived four variables that explain “what” and “how” firms connect sensing and seizing. Based on the sensing-seizing connection, we introduce consolidating BMI as a new type of BMI unique to the digital context. This novel type enables firms to exploit and explore new BMs and subsequent digital BMIs through the means of digital infrastructure. This study extends the understanding of how different business models emerge and how firms create digital BMIs.     

Digital transformation strategy making in pre-digital organizations: The case of a financial services provider

The formulation and implementation of a digital transformation strategy (DTS) has become a key concern for many pre-digital organizations across traditional industries, but how such a strategy can be developed remains an open question. We used interpretive in-depth case study research to study how a European financial services provider has formulated and implemented a DTS. By focusing on the underlying processes and strategizing activities, we show that digital strategy making not only represents a break with the conventions of upfront strategic information systems (IS) planning, but reveals a new extreme of emergent strategy making. Specifically, we conclude that a DTS is continuously in the making, with no foreseeable end. By building on theory from IS strategizing and strategy-as-practice literature, we theorize an integrated process/activity model that characterizes DTS formulation and implementation in pre-digital organizations. Our model shows that the crafting of a DTS is a highly dynamic process involving iterating between learning and doing.     

Development of a knowledge management initiative and system: A case study

As knowledge emerges as the primary strategic resource in the 21st century, many firms in the manufacturing and service sectors alike are beginning to introduce and implement Knowledge Management (KM). Organisations can certainly benefit from its application for enhanced decision support, efficiency and innovation, thus helping them to realise their strategic mission. However, KM is an emerging paradigm, and not many organisations have a clear idea of how to proceed with it. This paper presents the results of a case study conducted in one company in the United Kingdom (UK), the major aim being to identify how it has developed a KM initiative and system. Hopefully, the information extracted from this study will be beneficial to other organisations that are attempting to implement KM or to those that are in the throes of adopting it.     

Gender and digital usage inequality among adolescents: A comparative study of 39 countries

The paper investigates how gender exerts its influence on contemporary adolescents with respect to their access to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The focus here is on the so-called usage access. The paper's empirical basis is that of information on the ICTs usage collected for 39 countries in the framework of the 2006 wave of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. Ordinal regression modelling is used as a method for data investigation. The analysis points to the persistence of gender inequality seemingly in favour of boys. In all countries under investigation, boys report using computers and the Internet for educational purposes more often than girls. Controlling for the 2006 value of the national GDP per capita, the level of a country's gender inequality measured by the Gender Gap Index does not have any statistically significant effect on gender gap in educational use of ICTs. A sign of the gender coefficient suggest, however, that the increase in society's gender-neutrality is associated with the increase in boys' advantage over girls as regards the frequency of ICT/Internet educational use. The possibility that this advantage of boys is in fact a sign of their educational underperformance is discussed. Another possibility is also discussed, namely, that girls' decreased (in comparison with boys) frequency of using computers and the Internet for playing computer games might, counterintuitively, be the source of girls' disadvantage in the future.     

数字城市中快速自动生成三维景观的研究

数字地球、数字中国、数字城市是当前数字信息化领域的一个研究热点。其中的一个关键问题是利用遥感图像形成三维景观,其处理方法是首先将遥感图像矢量化,然后以矢量化数据为基础完成三维立体化工作以形成三维景观。本文阐述了以矢量化数据为基础完成三维立体化工作以形成三维景观的技术方法,包括获取矢量化数据、快速自动生成三维景观等处理步骤。应用效果良好。     

Research on the effects of cloud-based pedagogy for creative talents: A case study on Chinese High School

Training of creative talents during K-12 education affects the future of a nation. As a result, researchers in China and other countries give special attention to the field of pedagogy. This paper evaluated an experimental class of Beijing F High School as the case study, and performed an empirical study on cloud-based pedagogy for training the creative talents, a quantitative study based on the 6 basic aspects of Tyler’s theory, a qualitative study using ethnography for classroom observation that included interviews of teachers, students, and observers, and employed a sequential mixed research method used for data collection and analysis. Results demonstrated that cloud-based pedagogy in the creative-talent class of Beijing F High School focused on objectives in its orientation, the curriculum content, implementation and development reflecting the richness, regression, correlation, and rigor of postmodern curriculum. By using the accelerated and enriched cloud-based curriculum and focusing on the Talent Search Model, the Beijing F High School was able to gain rich experiences in the training of creative talents in Chinese K-12 education.     

Characteristics of software ecosystems for Federated Embedded Systems: A case study

ContextTraditionally, Embedded Systems (ES) are tightly linked to physical products, and closed both for communication to the surrounding world and to additions or modifications by third parties. New technical solutions are however emerging that allow addition of plug-in software, as well as external communication for both software installation and data exchange. These mechanisms in combination will allow for the construction of Federated Embedded Systems (FES). Expected benefits include the possibility of third-party actors developing add-on functionality; a shorter time to market for new functions; and the ability to upgrade existing products in the field. This will however require not only new technical solutions, but also a transformation of the software ecosystems for ES.ObjectiveThis paper aims at providing an initial characterization of the mechanisms that need to be present to make a FES ecosystem successful. This includes identification of the actors, the possible business models, the effects on product development processes, methods and tools, as well as on the product architecture.MethodThe research was carried out as an explorative case study based on interviews with 15 senior staff members at 9 companies related to ES that represent different roles in a future ecosystem for FES. The interview data was analyzed and the findings were mapped according to the Business Model Canvas (BMC).ResultsThe findings from the study describe the main characteristics of a FES ecosystem, and identify the challenges for future research and practice.ConclusionsThe case study indicates that new actors exist in the FES ecosystem compared to a traditional supply chain, and that their roles and relations are redefined. The business models include new revenue streams and services, but also create the need for trade-offs between, e.g., openness and dependability in the architecture, as well as new ways of working.     

Affordances,experimentation and actualization of FinTech: A blockchain implementation study

Blockchain, the technology underlying bitcoin, is an emerging financial technology (FinTech) that is poised to have strategic impacts on organizations. Because it is a new phenomenon, there are few studies on blockchain, and those studies have focused mainly on the technology’s potential impacts, whereas how to effectively implement it in an organization remains unknown. Our study intends to fill that gap. Using affordance-actualization (A-A) theory as the theoretical lens, we conducted a case study of blockchain implementation in an organization that has effectively implemented it. We identify three affordances of blockchain in the organization and a process model whereby these affordances are actualized. The process model extends A-A theory by adding an experimentation phase where blockchain’s use cases within the organization are identified, developed and tested through conceptual adaptation and constraint mitigation. Our study makes important theoretical contributions to the literature on A-A theory, blockchain, information technology (IT) implementation, and strategic information systems (SIS). Our study can also help IT practitioners to implement blockchain effectively and extract value from their investment.     

Building social translucence in a crowdsourcing process: A case study of Miui.com

This study aims to advance research on crowdsourcing processes by exploring practices that foster collaboration between internal employees and external users. We conduct a case study of Miui.com, a crowdsourcing platform launched by one of the world’s leading smartphone makers and also a Fortune 500 company, Xiaomi Inc. Our findings complement previous work on crowdsourcing by showing that collaboration between employees and users can be promoted by building social translucence into the crowdsourcing process.     

Usability inspection of digital libraries: a case study

This paper reports a case study about lessons learned and usability issues encountered in a usability inspection of a digital library system called the Networked Computer Science Technical Reference Library (NCSTRL). Using a co-discovery technique with a team of three expert usability inspectors (the authors), we performed a usability inspection driven by a broad set of anticipated user tasks. We found many good design features in NCSTRL, but the primary result of a usability inspection is a list of usability problems as candidates for fixing. The resulting problems are organized by usability problem type and by system functionality, with emphasis on the details of problems specific to digital library functions. The resulting usability problem list was used to illustrate a cost/importance analysis technique that trades off importance to fix against cost to fix. The problems are sorted by the ratio of importance to cost, producing a priority ranking for resolution.     

Organizational readiness for digital innovation: Development and empirical calibration of a construct

The advent and proliferation of digital technologies purport to increase the innovation potential of most organizations. However, approximately 90% of new ideas never convert to new product or service deliveries because of the lack of organizational readiness. This paper conceptualizes a formative multidimensional construct to gauge organizational readiness for digital innovations. Such a construct would facilitate cumulative research on the role of digital innovation, while benchmarking to track organizational readiness. The proposed construct includes 21 measures, categorized under seven subconstructs: resource readiness, IT readiness, cognitive readiness, partnership readiness, innovation valance, cultural readiness, and strategic readiness.     

Discrimination discovery in scientific project evaluation: A case study

Discovering contexts of unfair decisions in a dataset of historical decision records is a non-trivial problem. It requires the design of ad hoc methods and techniques of analysis, which have to comply with existing laws and with legal argumentations. While some data mining techniques have been adapted to the purpose, the state-of-the-art of research still needs both methodological refinements, the consolidation of a Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) process, and, most of all, experimentation with real data. This paper contributes by presenting a case study on gender discrimination in a dataset of scientific research proposals, and by distilling from the case study a general discrimination discovery process. Gender bias in scientific research is a challenging problem, that has been tackled in the social sciences literature by means of statistical regression. However, this approach is limited to test an hypothesis of discrimination over the whole dataset under analysis. Our methodology couples data mining, for unveiling previously unknown contexts of possible discrimination, with statistical regression, for testing the significance of such contexts, thus obtaining the best of the two worlds.