Developing a knowledge-based perspective on coordination: The case of global software projects

We have attempted to bring together two areas which are challenging for both IS research and practice: forms of coordination and management of knowledge in the context of global, virtual software development projects. We developed a more comprehensive, knowledge-based model of how coordination can be achieved, and\illustrated the heuristic and explanatory power of the model when applied to global software projects experiencing different degrees of success. We first reviewed the literature on coordination and determined what is known about coordination of knowledge in global software projects. From this we developed a new, distinctive knowledge-based model of coordination, which was then employed to analyze two case studies of global software projects, at SAP and Baan, to illustrate the utility of the model.     

Employee knowledge profiles – a mixed-research methods approach

The purpose of this paper is to identify different knowledge profiles in organizations and to analyze their contribution to innovation. This is done by analyzing how knowledge is integrated within the work processes by groups of workers with different characteristics (i.e. knowledge profiles). The paper uses a combination of qualitative analysis with quantitative analysis. Using Action Research methodology, several semi-structured group interviews were performed and a questionnaire was applied to employees of two organizations. In order to identify the employee’s profiles, different groups were found by means of a factorial analysis, which resulted in specific knowledge profiles. The major finding of this research was the identification of several knowledge profiles - Innovators, Integrators, Organizers and Facilitators,. An important conclusion is that integration of knowledge in day-by-day practices can boost innovation. The collection of evidences carried out helped to identify ways of integrating knowledge through the implementation of knowledge sharing routines and promotion of collaborative activities in systematic transfer processes, including problem-solving routines and participation in improvement, quality and maintenance projects.     

Attention-shaping tools,expertise, and perceived control in IT project risk assessment

This study investigates the use of attention-shaping tools and their interactions with expertise and perceptions of control on individual decision-making about risks in IT projects. The paper uses data collected from 118 IT project experts and 140 novices through a role-playing experiment to provide several novel insights into how these three factors independently and collectively influence perception of risks and subsequent project continuation decisions. First, attention-shaping tools have a significant effect on both risk perception and decision-making. However, among individuals with low expertise, risk shaping tools exhibit a significant but dual-sided effect on risk perception. They help identify risks captured by the attention-shaping tool but simultaneously introduce blind spots in their risk awareness. Second, while individuals with greater expertise perceive significantly higher levels of risks relative to those with lower expertise, the level of expertise had generally no influence on decision-making. Third, we found that perceived control is a powerful factor influencing both risk perception and decision-making. Implications for research and practice are discussed along with potential avenues for future research.     

Hierarchical business value of information technology: Toward a digital innovation value chain

Information technology (IT) increasingly changes the ways through which firms develop and commercialize innovation. Prior studies have mainly focused on the direct effect of IT use on innovation performance, while little is known about how IT use for different purposes in the innovation processes leads to innovation performance at the organizational level. Drawing on the routine-based absorptive capacity (AC) framework, we conceptualize IT use for knowledge search and relational search as IT-enabled internal and external AC routines and unveil the hierarchical benefits resulting from IT use for innovation. We propose a model in which firms need to purposefully use IT to search for knowledge in the new product development process or search for relationships in the collaborative innovation process, leading to first-order benefits (i.e., internal innovation benefits and open innovation benefits) and, in turn, second-order benefits (i.e., innovation performance). By using a unique data set from 1028 German firms between 2003 and 2007, we find that IT use for knowledge search enhances internal innovation benefits, whereas IT use for relational search increases open innovation benefits. More importantly, internal and open innovation benefits mediate the relationships between IT use for knowledge and relational search and various innovation performance measures. Taken together, our findings shed light on a deeper understanding of the digital innovation value chain.     

Digital product innovation within four classes of innovation networks

The increased digitization of organizational processes and products poses new challenges for understanding product innovation. It also opens new horizons for information systems research. We analyse how ongoing pervasive digitization of product innovation reshapes knowledge creation and sharing in innovation networks. We argue that advances in digital technologies (1) increase innovation network connectivity by reducing communication costs and increasing its reach and scope and (2) increase the speed and scope of digital convergence, which increases network knowledge heterogeneity and need for integration. These developments, in turn, stretch existing innovation networks by redistributing control and increasing the demand for knowledge coordination across time and space presenting novel challenges for knowledge creation, assimilation and integration. Based on this foundation, we distinguish four types of emerging innovation networks supported by digitalization: (1) project innovation networks; (2) clan innovation networks; (3) federated innovation networks; and (4) anarchic innovation networks. Each network involves different cognitive and social translations – or ways of identifying, sharing and assimilating knowledge. We describe the role of five novel properties of digital infrastructures in supporting each type of innovation network: representational flexibility, semantic coherence, temporal and spatial traceability, knowledge brokering and linguistic calibration. We identify several implications for future innovation research. In particular, we focus on the emergence of anarchic network forms that follow full‐fledged digital convergence founded on richer innovation ontologies and epistemologies calling to critically re‐examine the nature and impact of modularization for innovation.     

Bridging Artifacts and Actors: Expertise Sharing in Organizational Ecosystems

We synthesize findings from longitudinal case studies examining work practices in three different organizations and propose analytical and methodological frameworks to guide the design and implementation of technologies for expertise and knowledge management. We appropriate the concept of ecosystem to argue that we can create active and useful solutions for knowledge management through a focus on interaction between two mutually intertwined elements of an ecosystem—artifacts and actors. We show that in expertise and knowledge sharing systems domain knowledge and technological knowledge are complementary and we present evidence that small solutions can have far reaching effects. Finally, we make a case for full integration of IT developers as an element of expertise sharing ecosystem.     

Exploring knowledge contribution from an OCB perspective

As participation in virtual community becomes popular, it is important to know how to encourage individuals to contribute actively and assist other members share their expertise. Through the lens of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), we explored the factors that facilitate voluntary knowledge sharing in a virtual community. We examined OCB in online gaming communities in which various behaviors can contribute to the community (the team) or to individuals (team members). Our aim was to gain insight into ways of creating an environment that facilitated voluntary sharing of knowledge. Our findings suggested that effective leader–member exchange relationships, the attractiveness of the group to individuals, and affection similarity were important in establishing a virtual environment within which voluntary contributions could be promoted effectively. In addition, our study suggested that better quality leader–member exchange relationships and positive affection toward the virtual team enhanced OCB.     

Innovation and regional development

This paper is based on the knowledge gained from working with two industrial networks from the county of Østfold in Norway. There is a particular focus on the creation of networking arenas and on the development of these arenas for better co-operation between the companies in the network. Much of the empirical knowledge has been achieved by interviewing participants from the networks and by active participation in co-operation projects. The theme is innovation processes in industrial networks, with special attention on how it is possible to enhance the innovation capacity of the networks. We discuss innovation processes in industrial networks as a part of regional innovation systems, because innovation processes in industrial networks cannot be fully understood without understanding how this also relates to the surroundings. We discuss how good relationships, continuous change and strategies for knowledge creation are important factors for innovation in networks. This could be achieved by following the principles from co-generated learning processes (such as a search conference). The principles could be adapted and specially designed for each network in a way that increases the quality and efficiency of the co-operation processes.     

The Singapore experience: Synergy of national policy, classroom practice and design research

In recent years there has been a proliferation of research findings on CSCL at the micro and macro levels, but few compelling examples of how CSCL research has impacted actual classroom practices at the meso-level have emerged. This paper critically examines the impact of adopting a systemic approach to innovative education reforms at the macro, meso, and micro levels in Singapore. It presents the case for adopting design research as a methodology for CSCL integration that meets the needs of schools, and discusses a specific CSCL innovation that holds the potential for sustaining transformation in classroom practices. Our driving question is: In what ways can the routine use of CSCL practices in the classroom be supported by exploring systemic factors in the school setting through design research? We will explore the synergistic conditions that led to meaningful impact (at the micro level), mediated by systemic approaches to working with teachers in the schools (at the meso level), guided by Singapore’s strategic planning for scalability (at the macro level).     

Exploring Differences between Inventors,Champions, Implementers and Innovators in Creating and Developing New Products in Large,Mature Firms

This exploratory research investigates nine individuals participating as specialists in different phases of the invention and new product development (NPD) process in one organization. In‐depth interviews were conducted with these individuals, as well as with 17 of their managers and co‐workers, adding an external perspective about them. These nine individuals participated in four different divisions of labour in the innovation process: inventors who focus on scientific and technical invention prior to concept development, champions who are most adept at selling acceptance of projects into the organization, implementers who focus on facilitating the project through the firm's formal development process, and innovators who operate across all three phases of invention, acceptance and implementation. The research finds differences in personality, perspective, knowledge base, motivation, and attitude toward politics that seem to be associated with these different specialist types. These differences lead to implications for the types of projects for which they might best be suited, as well as for how they might best be managed.     

Who tested my software? Testing as an organizationally cross-cutting activity

There is a recognized disconnect between testing research and industry practice, and more studies are needed on understanding how testing is conducted in real-world circumstances instead of demonstrating the superiority of specific methods. Recent literature indicates that testing is a cross-cutting activity that involves various organizational roles rather than the sole involvement of specialized testers. This research empirically investigates how testing involves employees in varying organizational roles in software product companies. We studied the organization and values of testing using an exploratory case study methodology through interviews, defect database analysis, workshops, analyses of documentation, and informal communications at three software product companies. We analyzed which employee groups test software in the case companies, and how many defects they find. Two companies organized testing as a team effort, and one company had a specialized testing group because of its different development model. We found evidence that testing was not an action conducted only by testing specialists. Testing by individuals with customer contact and domain expertise was an important validation method. We discovered that defects found by developers had the highest fix rates while those revealed by specialized testers had the lowest. The defect importance was susceptible to organizational competition of resources (i.e., overvaluing defects of reporter’s own products or projects). We conclude that it is important to understand the diversity of individuals participating in software testing and the relevance of validation from the end users’ viewpoint. Future research is required to evaluate testing approaches for diverse organizational roles. Finally, to improve defect information, we suggest increasing automation in defect data collection.     

Organizing Multiple Data Sources for Developing Intelligent e-Business Portals

Enterprise applications usually involve huge, complex, and persistent data to work on, together with business rules and processes. In order to represent, integrate, and use the information coming from the huge, distributed, multiple sources, we present a conceptual model with dynamic multi-level workflows corresponding to a mining-grid centric multi-layer grid architecture, for multi-aspect analysis in building an e-business portal on the Wisdom Web. We show that this integrated model will help to dynamically organize status-based business processes that govern enterprise application integration. We also present two case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model in the real world. The first case study is about how to organize and mine multiple data sources for behavior-based online customer segmentation, which is the first crucial step of personalization and one-to-one marketing. The second case study is about how to evaluate and monitor data quality, which in return can optimize the knowledge discovery process for intelligent decision making. The proposed methodology attempts to orchestrate various mining agents on the mining-grid for integrating data and knowledge in a unified portal developed by a service-oriented architecture.     

A typology of young people’s Internet use: Implications for education

Using data from a nationally representative survey of over a 1000 young people in the UK this paper proposes a typology of the ways young people are using the Internet outside formal educational settings; and examines the individual and contextual factors that help to explain why young people are using the Internet in this way. Specifically, this paper addresses two research questions. First, can we distinguish coherent profiles of young people’s Internet use? Second, how do these usage profiles relate to individual and contextual factors associated with the Internet user? From the results of latent profile analysis and multinomial regression four types of Internet usage profiles are identified: the peripherals, normatives, all-rounders and active participators, which were differentiated by individual characteristics and contextual features. Such research enables practitioners, researchers and policy makers to better understand how young people are using the Internet in order to think in a more informed way about how new technologies could be used to enhance education and learning; and to develop initiatives that more specifically target and support different segments of the population.     

Money is not everything: A typology of crowdfunding project creators

While studies focus on how crowdfunding promotes the launch of innovative products or services through two-sided (creator-investor) platforms and digital tools, knowledge on the creator-side motivation is limited. To address this knowledge gap, our study identifies four types of crowdfunding project creators—social entrepreneur, fund seeker, indie producer, and daring dreamer—based on four motivations—achievement, monetary need, prosociality, and relationship building. We also examine how crowdfunding projects’ characteristics differ by the creator type and which characteristics are critical for enhancing projects’ performance. The study extends crowdfunding literature by deepening knowledge of creator-side motivation and contributes to crowdfunding practices by suggesting platform operators ways to attract and promote different types of project creators.     

Fostering knowledge sharing: Design principles for persuasive digital technologies in open innovation projects

Integrating knowledge is crucial for open innovation, and digital technologies can play a central role because they support knowledge sharing. In open innovation projects, in particular, little is known about the role of technology. Here, the individual behaviour of users is taken into account concerning the extent to which knowledge is shared. Therefore, persuasive technologies offer the potential to foster sharing. In particular, to facilitate the construction of future digital technologies, this study applies a design science research approach to create and analyse artefacts as a research contribution and develop design principles as a step towards a nascent design theory. We present insights from the design and application of three artefacts in different stages of open innovation processes. Results show that digital technologies can be used for various purposes: to build a common understanding, support design phases, communicate ideas and simplify the application of the technology for the user. Our research provides insights into the role of digital technologies for knowledge sharing in open innovation projects, and four design principles are found to facilitate the construction of future persuasive digital technologies for open innovation projects.     

Innovation among different classes of software development organizations

Software development organizations (SDOs) innovate in diverse ways. In this paper, based on an extensive review of innovation typologies, we develop a theory‐driven typology of SDO innovator classes. We theorize about the driving forces behind these classes, with specific attention given to knowledge‐based dispositions that relate to the SDO's knowledge‐based competencies in technology appropriation, technology generation, and network intensity within ecological niches. Through a survey of 136 SDOs, which adopted Internet technologies during 1995‐2006, we empirically verify that these classes also determine different ways that SDOs innovate around software services they provide to their clients. Our findings suggest that the knowledge‐based dispositions of different SDO innovator classes impact how they innovate. Overall, the study involves theorizing around different types of innovation behaviours and associated knowledge‐based factors that influence the way SDOs innovate.     

Component-based end-user database design for ecologists

To solve today’s ecological problems, scientists need well documented, validated, and coherent data archives. Historically, however, ecologists have collected and stored data idiosyncratically, making data integration even among close collaborators difficult. Further, effective ecology data warehouses and subsequent data mining require that individual databases be accurately described with metadata against which the data themselves have been validated. Using database technology would make documenting data sets for archiving, integration, and data mining easier, but few ecologists have expertise to use database technology and they cannot afford to hire programmers. In this paper, we identify the benefits that would accrue from ecologists’ use of modern information technology and the obstacles that prevent that use. We describe our prototype, the Canopy DataBank, through which we aim to enable individual ecologists in the forest canopy research community to be their own database programmers. The key feature that makes this possible is domain-specific database components, which we call templates. We also show how additional tools that reuse these components, such as for visualization, could provide gains in productivity and motivate the use of new technology. Finally, we suggest ways in which communities might share database components and how components might be used to foster easier data integration to solve new ecological problems.     

Is open innovation always the best for SMEs? An exploratory analysis at the project level

Open innovation (OI) projects are increasingly adopted by small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Yet, undertaking OI is not only a source of opportunities for SMEs as it can, at the same time, present risks. How SMEs manage the balance between the potential benefits and the emerging challenges of OI is still an overlooked topic in the literature. Using evidence gathered through multiple case studies and drawing upon the relational view of the firm, we explore how and why value creation opportunities and different managerial challenges emerge for SMEs pursuing OI projects. We analyze different stages of OI projects in several different contexts of their implementation. Our analysis sheds light on the different nature and dynamics of knowledge involved within OI projects as important boundary conditions affecting successful search paths, learning processes, and the development of appropriability mechanisms. By offering a contextualized view of OI in SMEs, this study also provides insights to business managers on the situational opportunities and constraints of OI, including managerial suggestions on actions to manage tensions within differing OI projects.     

Customer Integration during Innovation Development: An Exploratory Study in the Logistics Service Industry

Previous research has shown that though customer integration during innovation development can enhance companies' innovation performance, it can also harm innovativeness. A possible reason for these contradicting findings is that innovation development is a dynamic process that requires different tasks. Thus, a more fine‐grained picture of how customer‐oriented companies engage in customer integration throughout the entire innovation development process is necessary. This article contributes to the innovation and marketing literature by providing insights into how companies co‐create knowledge about customer needs relevant for innovation development. Using a multiple case study design, this study examines four substantive cases that illustrate the activities logistics service providers undertake to integrate customers during the process of idea generation, development and implementation. The results show that companies focus on both proactive and reactive customer integration during idea generation and implementation but refrain from reactive customer integration during development.     

Ergonomic issues in team lifting

In this article we review and critique the current body of scientific knowledge regarding the use of team lifting including: (a) psychophysical studies of team lifting capacity, and (b) studies of manual handling, patient handling, and stretcher carriage performed by lifting teams. The consensus of the research literature is that team‐lifting capacity is greater than the lifting capacity of an individual, but that the capacity of lifting teams is less than the summed capacity of individual team members. Further, biomechanical, psychophysical, and physiological stress tends to be reduced compared to the equivalent lifts and transfers performed by individuals. However, the stress associated with team lifting depends on a broad range of individual team member, load, task and environmental factors, which can interact in unexpected ways. Caution is therefore recommended against making broad assumptions regarding the use of team lifting. Future studies are needed to examine how effort and load are distributed among lifting team members, with emphasis on identifying factors that may increase the risk of injury. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 15: 293–307, 2005.