Information Systems and e-Business Management最新文献

Complex supply chains require coordination efforts from supply chain partners. The concept of the service control tower plays an essential role in the transition towards Logistics 4.0 and coordination in supply chains. This paper analyses the concept of the (service) control tower. We find different (service) control tower applications in the literature. Some are focused on a specific domain (e.g., transportation and pharmaceutical logistics), while others have a more generic approach. We review available architectures and determine strengths and gaps. Additionally, we find that the construction of inter-organizational systems is complex. We explore the process of collaboration in four phases. Next, we define the service control tower and recognize four levels that organizations construct to create the system. However, in an inter-organizational context, strategic interests cause conflict and result in different technical and business dilemmas. We identify several dilemmas based on experts’ inputs during workshops with companies in constructing a service control tower. Most dilemmas occur in an early stage of development and are often related to the system’s governance, data sharing and IT integration. Finally, we provide potential users, developers and researchers of (service) control towers with a maintenance-oriented architecture for service control towers.

Unemployment is a pressing societal problem world-wide. The consequences of unemployment are disproportionately more severe for older individuals. Building on literature on digital technologies in the context of unemployment and social support in digital peer groups, we design and evaluate a novel job counseling approach to leverage the power of digital peer groups to assist older unemployed individuals in regaining employment. Our approach supplements the traditional one-on-one offline counseling. It is specifically designed for older unemployed individuals, with small group sizes, moderation, and implementation through an easily accessible online messenger. We demonstrate the practical applicability of the proposed approach by instantiating it in cooperation with the German Federal Employment Agency, and we demonstrate how the approach can be used in terms of mutual social support. We evaluate the efficacy of the approach in a controlled, randomized field experiment with 987 older unemployed individuals. The results demonstrate the approach’s positive impact on reemployment chances of older unemployed individuals, by increasing their job search skills and job search intensity. Furthermore, our evaluation reveals that gender and job market situation are important contextual factors for the effectiveness of the digital peer group-based approach, warranting further recognition in research.

Software development organizations (SDOs) are increasingly working to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools, like GitHub Copilot, to meet varied expectations. Nevertheless, we know little about how SDOs manage these expectations. This paper investigates how different SDOs expect AI tools to impact software development, and how these expectations change after a period of considering and evaluating AI tools. We conducted a multiple-case study involving three SDOs. To elicit initial expectations towards AI tools, we collected data using semi-structured interviews and field visits. To assess the persistence of expectations towards AI tools, we collected data from meetings, a debriefing, and retrospectives on AI tools. We found three expectations particular to one SDO; four shared between two SDOs; and six pervasive across all SDOs. Five expectations did not persist after experiential learning with AI tools, due to platform- and SDO-related factors. SDOs must carefully manage their expectations towards AI tools due to the variety and complexity of expectations. Some expectations are niche-specific based on their compatibility with the unique SDOs' people- and structure-related aspects, while others are becoming mainstream for a broader array of SDOs. Recognizing factors that affect the persistence of expectations and how they manifest in the individual SDO will enable SDOs to form their initial expectations and understand how these might change during adoption of AI tools, supporting expectation management.

In this Era of digitalization and digital transformation, both Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS) have become vital resources for organizations. IT/IS support organizations to effectively respond to evolving business needs and emerging opportunities, enhancing their competitiveness. Therefore, the success of today’s organizations is almost totally dependent on their IS. Organizations need to have a capable IS Function (ISF) to tackle the challenges and responsibilities of the IT/IS. Considering its importance, a scoping literature review was performed to characterize the state of the art of the research focused on the ISF. The results provide a comprehensive picture of the research's key themes: ISF capability, ISF structure changes, ISF performance, ISF contributions, ISF transformation, ISF maturity, ISF and the organization, and others. Directions for research are provided according to these same themes.

Reputation systems to rate companies’ performances remain largely unexplored in research and are scarcely used in business-to-business (B2B) practice. Such systems are essential for businesses seeking trustworthy partners, as they help reduce information asymmetry, lower buyers' transaction risks, and allow high-quality service providers to justify premium pricing. Unlike traditional review-based systems in the business-to-consumer (B2C) context, we propose a B2B reputation mechanism in which buyers commit to a rating payment before a transaction. Once the buyer finalizes the rating, this payment is executed and recorded on a blockchain as an immutable, secure ledger. Our system mimics natural trust-building mechanisms with ratings that are (1) monetary-based, (2) stake-based, (3) non-aggregated, (4) involve counter-ratings, (5) selectively sellable, (6) individually comparable, (7) stored on a blockchain, (8) and monitored by a third instance. This system provides a novel approach to fostering trust in B2B transactions by reducing information asymmetry and transaction risk. We illustrate the mechanism’s application in the consulting sector. Our analysis has identified 23 institutional trust and distrust dimensions that promote establishing institutional trust through the proposed mechanism. Qualitative interviews suggest that, while complex and challenging to apply, this mechanism can foster trust in B2B transactions. Given the low maturity in the application domain—rating professional business services with business reputation systems—and solution domain—using monetary stakes for ratings, this system stands as a potential invention.

Competing with dominant players in the digital platform (DP) economy is an increasingly complex and expensive endeavor for alternative digital platform (ADP) providers trying to disrupt established platform ecosystems. Nevertheless, ADPs position themselves deliberately in the competitive space of large competitors, targeting customer groups whose values and mindsets differ from mainstream DPs. Although there are many examples to find in practice, the variety of ADPs across different DP ecosystems and industries, especially in regards of strategic objectives, directions and characteristics, has not been researched in-depth yet. Based on a systematic, practice-based artifact review, this paper analyses and compares 105 ADPs in the competitive space of dominant DP ecosystem players. The study utilizes the theory of Corporate Aikido as an analytical framework, mapping the strategic elements of overthrowing established value propositions and turning a competitors’ strengths into weaknesses. Our findings indicate that privacy- and security-awareness, empowerment and inclusivity, premium quality and curation, open source and free access, uncensored, transparent and decentralized platforms as well as ecological and climate-friendly offers shape the landscape of alternative approaches in today’s DP economy. The results are subsequently discussed, yielding managerial implications and future opportunities for DP research.

In our data-centric society, the imperative to determine the value of data has risen. Therefore, this paper presents a taxonomy for a data valuation business capability. Utilizing an initial taxonomy version, which originated from a systematic literature review, this paper validates and extends the taxonomy, culminating in four layers, twelve dimensions, and 59 characteristics. The taxonomy validation was accomplished by conducting semi-structured expert interviews with eleven subject matter experts, followed by a cluster analysis of the interviews, leading to a taxonomy heatmap including practical extensions. This paper's implications are manifold. Firstly, the taxonomy promotes a common understanding of data valuation within an enterprise. Secondly, the taxonomy aids in categorizing, assessing, and optimizing data valuation endeavors. Thirdly, it lays the groundwork for potential data valuation standards and toolkits. Lastly, it strengthens theoretical assumptions by grounding them in practical insights and offers an interdisciplinary research agenda following the taxonomy dimensions and characteristics.