Network Externalities,Incumbent’s Competitive Advantage and the Degree of Openness of Software Start-Ups

This paper proposes a formal model that analyzes the degree of openness chosen by start-ups when entering the software industry. In line with the literature, we label as degree of openness the extent to which software start-ups mix open source (OS) and proprietary solutions in the portfolio of software products they offer. We relate the choice of the degree of openness to two key characteristics of the market segments in which software start-ups operate: the strength of the network externalities and the competitive advantage of the incumbent. Specifically, by modelling (price) competition between an incumbent and an entrant in two ways, i.e., the entrant is price-setter or price-taker, we derive the necessary condition(s) in terms of the strength of network externalities for observing the adoption of a business model that comprises the offering of both proprietary and OS solutions by the entrant (i.e., hybrid business model). Then, we highlight that, if a hybrid business model is the choice, the degree of openness chosen in equilibrium increases along with both the strength of the network externalities and the competitive advantage of the incumbent. This result holds indifferently whether the software start-up is modelled as a price-setter or a price-taker. An empirical test run on a sample of European start-ups in the software industry supports these theoretical predictions.     

Incumbent business ecosystems in the face of new entry: An event study of Google's autonomous car announcement

This study investigates the value implications for an incumbent business ecosystem when an innovation is newly introduced. We theorize the different entrance modes and pathways through which the innovation can join the value co-creation structure of an incumbent ecosystem. We further theorize how the innovation entrance can affect the value appropriation arrangements among innovators and various incumbent ecosystem actors. The automobile ecosystems and Google's initial announcement of its autonomous cars serve as our empirical context. Applying our theories, we first qualitatively prescribe Google's potential actions and predict their value implications on the incumbent automobile ecosystem. Then, through an event study, we empirically validate the predictions. We observe that, on average, the incumbent actors of the automobile ecosystem benefited from Google's announcement. Moreover, car manufacturers particularly benefited from Google's attempted entry, arguably because they held critical gatekeeping positions along Google's entrance pathway. Car component manufacturers, but not other incumbent actors, were also able to benefit because of their tight integration with the gatekeepers. Our theoretical development and empirical exploration contribute to the emerging literature on ecosystem strategies by highlighting the dynamics and value implications when innovations are introduced into incumbent business ecosystems.     

Analyzing inter-organizational business processes

Companies are increasingly embedded in B2B environments, where they have to collaborate in order to achieve their goals. Such collaborations lead to inter-organizational business processes that may be commonly supported through the exchange of electronic data interchange (EDI) messages (e.g., electronic purchase orders, invoices etc.). Despite the appearance of XML, traditional approaches to EDI, such as EDIFACT and ANSI X.12, still play an overwhelmingly dominant role. However, such traditional EDI standards lack a notion of process. In other words, the exchanged business documents are typically not embedded in the context of other exchanged business documents. This has two shortcomings: (1) the inability to apply proven business process management (BPM) methods, including process mining techniques, in such settings; and (2) the unavailability of systematic approaches to business intelligence (BI) using information from exchanged EDI messages. In this article, we present the EDImine Framework for enabling (1) the application of process mining techniques in the field of EDI-supported inter-organizational business processes, and (2) for supporting inter-organizational performance evaluation using business information from EDI messages, event logs and process models. As an enabling technology, we present a method for the semantic preprocessing of EDIFACT messages to exploit this potentially rich source of information by applying state of the art BPM and BI techniques. We show the applicability of our approach by means of a case study based on real-world EDI data of a German consumer goods manufacturing company.     

基于Web Services和MA的虚拟企业架构

虚拟企业是企业间的一种动态联盟,它面向全球范围的企业资源,通过构建VE联盟之间的快速重组,实现联盟企业之间的敏捷化和柔性化.因此它是未来企业生产经营和市场竞争的发展模式.随着市场竞争的日趋激烈和信息技术的高速发展,对虚拟企业的发展提出了更高的要求.为了解决虚拟企业耦合度过高、缺乏柔性等问题,在分析了Web服务和多代理技术在虚拟企业中应用的必要性和可行性基础上,提出了基于Web服务和多代理的虚拟企业架构,并给出了一个改进模型.     

Exploring Factors Influencing Incumbents' Response to Disruptive Innovation

This paper explores how certain incumbent characteristics influence an established firm's response to disruptive innovation. More specifically, it looks at the challenges a middle size, top segment company faced and how this affected its reaction to the disruptive threat. This is done by conducting an in‐depth case study of Hasselblad, a manufacturer of professional cameras. It can be seen in this case study that Hasselblad's limited resources and its niche strategy affected how it managed the transition from analogue to digital camera technology. These characteristics made it difficult to allow experimentation with digital imaging in the main business since the available resources were severely limited and this initially inferior technology could harm the brand image. Instead, Hasselblad pursued collaborations and eventually launched a hybrid camera, which was compatible both with film and digital backs but did not become the expected success. Being close to bankruptcy, the digital resources needed were acquired and the company eventually survived the disruption. In conclusion, this paper argues that the managerial challenges and solutions to the innovator's dilemma depend upon the particular characteristics of incumbents and that this heterogeneity has not been sufficiently captured by previous literature. It also suggests that medium size, top segment firms can survive disruptive innovation through collaboration and acquisitions.     

Competing in the Brazilian real-time financial information services industry: Commitment and adaptation

In this study, we examine two very different firms operating in the Brazilian real-time financial information services (RTFIS) industry. We conducted two separate qualitative studies 7 years apart analyzing how a technology-based incumbent reacted to the entry of a challenger with better content-generation capabilities. We concluded that even when facing an entrant with new technologies and environmental changes, commitment to its own IS resources represented the best long-term strategy for the incumbent firm, because the incumbent kept focused on what it did best and invested in the redeployment of its flexible IS resources to redefine its industry processes and activities.     

Planning and Executing IT Strategy

Planning leads to effective execution of any activity, whether it's IT or any business function. Planning ensures that technology efforts are business driven, aligned with business strategies, and coordinated across the company as opposed to being done in silos (each business unit acting in a compartmentalized manner). Planning can save money by taking advantage of corporate policies and standards across the enterprise. It can also eliminate the duplication of efforts by using shared services, implementing architectural principles, and using single research groups within a firm. Further benefits of planning include directing investments in technology and people toward improving the bottom line, serving customers better, and outperforming the competition. Planning and executing IT programs requires understanding how IT functions. In this article the author show i) how leaders can align IT within the business environment ii) how easy it is to understand technology operations within a business environment, and iii) how to capitalize on the use of technology through effective planning.     

矿业集团企业信息化协同机制研究

矿业集团是国有大中型企业,为国民经济的快速稳步发展提供能源支持,其信息化建设较为系统和复杂。该文对信息化过程中协同机制的需求与挑战进行了分析,给出了应用计算机网络和编程技术,将安全监控、资源计划、在线办公等模块进行信息化协同的方法和途径。     

The impact of early XBRL adoption on analysts’ forecast accuracy - empirical evidence from China

Developing common standards, such as eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), to smoothen information sharing in the value chain is considered the leading issue for releasing the potential of e-business. Data standards such as XBRL play a critical role in an increasingly networked environment. Despite promises of XBRL to improve data accuracy, few empirical studies have tested the impact of early XBRL adoption on the quality of information. Theories explaining information technology (IT) productivity paradox indicate that value realization from IT innovations may experience time lag due to the need for technology refinement and diffusion. This study examines the impact of early adoption of XBRL on analysts’ forecast accuracy with empirical data of Chinese firms. The uncertainty related to the unproven technology, such as information errors, has decreased analysts’ forecast accuracy during the early adoption period among firms in an economy with little public information on listed firms. Our findings have practical implications that will facilitate the quality improvement of financial information in a networked business environment. Our findings highlight the importance of quality assurance and policy enforcement for value realization from XBRL adoption to regulators, filers, information consumers, the accounting profession and other stakeholders.     

Friends or foes? Strategic technology opening and adopting under competition between technological firms

This study investigates the motivation behind an incumbent firm's strategy to open up its technology and an entrant's decision on whether to adopt this technology. We model the interactions between firms’ strategies toward coopetition and the entrant's technology development capacity, as well as the technology transformation rate, which occurs in the technology adopting process. We find that the two technological parameters exert significant influence on the coopetition decisions of firms. Moreover, consumer surplus and social welfare are compared under different configurations. We further verify the robustness of our main results in two extension cases.     

跨组织多业务事务建模与验证方法

面向服务的事务处理是保障业务交互和协作正确性的关键技术.针对跨组织多业务流程,提供了一种支持多业务事务建模与验证的方法.在建模方法上,对Pi-演算扩展了事务语义,将进程间的动作交互与跨组织膜活动相关联来刻画多业务事务协调行为.在验证过程中,基于等价自动机转换思路集成现有模型检验技术,验证多业务事务是否满足人们需要的各种性质.实验结果表明,该建模与验证方法能够有效地保障多业务流程在设计与实现过程中的正确性.     

基于属性的自证实模型及其安全协议

针对可信环境下被验证方需要向验证方发送其软硬件基本配置信息来证明其完整性而产生的攻击问题,给出一种基于虚拟机技术的属性自证实（PSA）模型及其安全协议,并对协议进行安全性分析。首先通过在被验证平台上建立一个可信虚拟机,然后由该虚拟机实现对被验证平台上其他组件的度量,并可靠地报告代表当前平台运行环境的安全属性给验证方。自证实方式可以提高通信的安全性,并且减少维护独立可信第三方时所需的开销;使用基于属性的远程证明方式,能够提高被验证方的安全性;安全协议引入了TPM的不可迁移密钥特性来防止假冒攻击的发生。     

Data Architecture Standards for the Effective Enterprise

The modern enterprise has become increasingly dependent on data and its value-added forms of information and knowledge to remain competitive in the face of global competition and constant change. Data architecture provides the framework necessary to use and share data more effectively, and to improve the flow of data between systems within the enterprise and between the enterprise's systems and those of its customers, suppliers, and business partners. Data architecture standards constitute the foundation of an effective data architecture.     

Strategic use of the Internet and e-commerce: Cisco Systems

Information systems are strategic to the extent that they support a firm's business strategy. Cisco Systems has used the Internet and its own information systems to support its strategy in several ways: (1) to create a business ecology around its technology standards; (2) to coordinate a virtual organization that allows it to concentrate on product innovation while outsourcing other functions; (3) to showcase its own use of the Internet as a marketing tool. Cisco's strategy and execution enabled it to dominate key networking standards and sustain high growth rates throughout the 1990s. In late 2000, however, Cisco's market collapsed and the company was left with billions of dollars in unsold inventory, calling into question the ability of its information systems to help it anticipate and respond effectively to a decline in demand.     

市场营销闭环管理的助推器

数据挖掘是一种新的商业信息处理技术,通过对商业数据库中的大量业务数据进行抽取、转换、分析和其他模型化处理,从中提取辅助商业决策的关键性数据。闭环管理是电信企业为了应对日益激烈的市场竞争而对营销活动提出的新要求。数据挖掘技术的有效应用,将可以成为营销闭环管理的助推器。     

协同业务过程与需求的建模及一致性验证

自底向上建模方法中的业务过程由不同组织开发,无法在设计阶段就预见其潜在的所有交互可能.因此,在实际协作中,建立协同业务过程可能与参与组织期望的系统功能和特性不一致.为此,提出一种协同业务过程与需求的建模及一致性验证方法.首先,引入并发操作符,提供一种通过组合参与组织的业务过程构建协同业务过程方法;然后,扩展目标模型,提出需求依赖图来建模参与组织的需求;最后,基于模型检测技术提出协同业务过程与需求一致性检测方法.重点解决了将协同业务过程转换为表达能力相同FSP进程规约和参与组织需求转换为LTL公式这两个问题.通过对典型的协同业务过程集阐述提出方法的有效性,并对方法分析效率进行评价,结果表明：相对已有工作,提出方法能够更加有效地用于协同业务过程与需求的一致性分析.     

Designers: the browser war casualties

As Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator battle for dominance of the browser market, each company is adopting different versions of some important technologies: Microsoft and Netscape are innovating along paths that reflect their business goals. In the process though, Web site developers and even Web surfers are paying a price. Microsoft and Netscape disagree over several key Web standards under consideration by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), including several key aspects of Dynamic HTML (DHTML). Internet Explorer and Navigator will thus use formats that differ in some key ways. Therefore, to develop a Web site that can work with both browsers, a designer must create either two sets of sites, which costs additional time and money, or one site that satisfies the elements that both browsers have in common, which limits the capability of the site to take full advantage of each browser's strengths. This, in turn, has limited DHTML usage to a small subset of the capabilities that would be possible if there was no standards conflict. In addition, the disparity in browser features makes hand coding HTML in text editors difficult, especially when working with HTML 4.0's new features, such as DHTML and cascading style sheets (CSS). This will make life difficult for tool vendors whose business hinges on visually authoring pages that work well with both Internet Explorer and Navigator     

Internet媒介下企业商务处理的标准及框架

从 Internet媒介下企业商务处理的迫切需要出发 ,考虑到当前增值网环境下利用 EDI进行电子贸易的局限性 ,通过对当前 Internet媒介下业务处理的标准及框架— eb XML的剖析 ,指出基于 XML的信息交换技术将成为当今基于 Internet的电子商务的关键主流技术 ,并结合 Web服务技术探讨了一种解决 Internet媒介下业务处理的方法     

浅析商务智能的框架及其关键技术

伴随着社会的不断进步,经济的高速发展,人们生活水平有了很大提高,在人们不断提高自身生活水平的同时,企业也逐渐对自身进行了深入的发展和改革,以求在优胜劣汰的市场竞争机制中站稳脚步,从而获得最大的效益。商务智能是企业提高其自身核心竞争力的关键手段,但是,由于商务智能构建的成本太大,这也就严重制约了商务智能在企业中的应用以及其自身的发展。当前企业在商务智能需求的基础之上,建造了商务智能的框架,并且对其系统的具体运行机理、关键实现的技术以及核心组件的功能进行了详细的分析。本文中,笔者就对商务智能的框架及其关键的技术进行简要分析。     

基于开源技术的网络协作平台建设

汽车行业公告管理、道路安全事故研究等业务经常需要网络协作办公。已有的OA系统并不能很好地满足这些工作需求,迫切需要建立一个网络协作办公平台。通过文中的研究,为中小型组织在较低成本下建立中、小型网络协作办公平台找到了合适的技术路线。通过采用系统分析和比较研究等方法,结合现实各方面情况,决定采用基于PHP开源技术的Feng Office作为网络协作办公平台的基础软件。文中研究分析了Feng Office的源代码、体系结构以及插件开发等机制,开发了自定义的插件,最终建立起一个专用的协作平台。文中的研究有助于进一步优化管理提升政府和企业对汽车行业的服务满意度。