Christian W. Scheiner

The application of lean principles and its effects in technology development

Creating and managing technological knowledge is the competitive advantage in innovation-intense industries. Sophisticated technology development which is faster and more efficient than the competitor’s is the basis for competitiveness and future success. In this context, the transfer and application of lean principles to technology development is an appropriate approach to face these challenges. Our study investigates the impact of lean principles in innovation-intense organisations (i.e., companies of the automotive and machinery industries as well as in research facilities). Our results suggest that the implementation of lean principles create positive effects in technology development, e.g., reducing the development time and increasing the development efficiency. Out of the existing lean principles, the two principles ‘avoidance of waste’ and ‘flow’ have the highest influence on the improvement of development activities.

ORGANISATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL UNLEARNING IN IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION OF TECHNOLOGIES

The ability of an organisation to recognise and evaluate technologically relevant information can be impeded by outdated processes, structures and knowledge. Organisations need therefore a capacity for “intended memory loss”, which has been labelled as unlearning. Although a number of scholars have examined unlearning, research is still only beginning to understand unlearning especially in the area of technology identification and evaluation. The goal of this study is therefore to examine unlearning on an organisational and individual level in this context. Unlearning on an organisational level comprises team composition strategies and directives as well as the implementation of unlearning mechanisms. On an individual level, unlearning highlights cognitive prototypes which exert an influence on the perception of technologies and their evaluation. A qualitative approach has been chosen to examine those aspects, in which technological gatekeepers serve as sample subjects. Technological gatekeepers take a crucial role in the technology identification and evaluation as decision makers and due to their influence on organisational structures and processes. The results of this study suggest that unlearning plays currently only a minor role on an organisational and individual level, which is mainly caused by existing rigidities and in the missing understanding of the necessity to unlearn.

Cruel Intentions? – The Role of Moral Awareness, Moral Disengagement, and Regulatory Focus in the Unethical Use of Social Media by Entrepreneurs

Unethical behavior of entrepreneurs in the use of social media can have detrimental effects, both for the own entrepreneurial firm and also on competitors. In order to understand why entrepreneurs show unethical behavior a conceptual framework is developed in this paper, linking motives for financial gains, moral awareness, moral disengagement, and the tendency to make unethical decisions in the use of social media. This paper offers therewith insights into the cognitive processes of entrepreneurial decision-makers with respect to moral reasoning and ethical decision-making.

Accessing Knowledge with a Game -- A Meta-analysis of Prediction Markets

Prediction markets illustrate a promising solution to aggregate distributed knowledge playfully. Prediction markets are speculative markets. They are created to aggregate knowledge, which is distributed among the participants in the prediction market. Prediction markets have also been labeled as game market, decision market or virtual stock. The purpose of this study is to summarize recent studies according to the categories basic functionality, design, real or play money, implementation, success factors, and fields of application.

Obstacles and Challenges in the Use of Gamification for Virtual Idea Communities

Virtual idea communities (VIC) are a relatively new phenomenon in business. These communities, in which distributed groups of individual customers focus on voluntarily sharing and elaborating innovation ideas, are used by firms to integrate customers into the ideation for new product development rooted in Chesbrough’s (2003) open innovation paradigm. Developers and decision makers realised especially within the last decade that games or game-like appeals could serve as appropriate gamifications to attract people to participate in VICs. Therefore, gamification gained momentum and has been widely implemented into VICs. The use of gamification does, however, not lead to the intended positive outcomes per se. Because of that, obstacles and challenges in the use of gamification have to be considered, but these have often been neglected in practice. Therefore, the goal of this chapter is to address this topic and to describe major obstacles and challenges in the use of gamification in VICs.

PARTICIPATION MOTIVES, MORAL DISENGAGEMENT, AND UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR IN IDEA COMPETITIONS

Idea competitions are becoming increasingly used as a resource for supporting the front end and downstream acceleration of innovation. But unethical behaviour of participants in such competitions can be detrimental, both for the organiser and for the motivation of the participating community. We assume that unethical behaviour can be explained by examining personal motives for participation and their influence on moral disengagement (MD) in which people are able to disengage from the self-regulatory process that normally impedes individuals from acting in a way inconsistent with their own moral standards. We hypothesise that monetary motives as representative for extrinsic motives for participation are positively related to MD while hedonic motives as representative of intrinsic motives are negatively related to MD. Our findings offer support for the positive relationship between MD and the tendency to make unethical decisions. Moreover, our results confirm a negative relationship between hedonic benefits and unethical behaviour. In addition, MD mediates the relationship between participants’ motivation for hedonic benefits and the tendency to make unethical decisions.

The Importance of Social Media as Source of Information in the Technology Identification in Dependence of External and Internal Factors

Technologies are a key factor in gaining a competitive edge and in ensuring the profitability and survival of a company. Within the last decade a paradigm shift occurred that has placed external sources at the center of identifying technologies. Developments in information technologies have created new external sources of information such as social media, which have enlarged the organizational search field. Social media possess some characteristics which could make them a promising source for technology information. The importance of social media for companies in technology identification has, however, not been examined empirically. This study therefore analyses social media as a source for technological information. The findings of this study show that social media play in comparison to other external sources only a minor role for companies. Additionally, the evaluation of social media does not vary depending on internal or external factors.

Einsatz und Nutzen von Innovationsschutzmaßnahmen im Kontext von Produktpiraterie

Produktpiraterie war in den vergangenen Jahren verstarkt Thema offentlicher Diskussion und wissenschaftlicher Arbeiten. Dabei wurden die Ursachen der Problematik aus wirtschaftlicher, psychologischer sowie kultureller Perspektive betrachtet. Von den verschiedenen Fachgebieten wurden jeweils Vorschlage unterbreitet, wie das Problem der unerwunschten Imitation geistigen Eigentums von Unternehmen unterbunden werden kann. Jedoch wurde bisher nur sehr wenig empirische Forschung betrieben, um zu identifizieren, welche Schutzmasnahmen und -strategien gegen Produktpiraterie tatsachlich von den Unternehmen genutzt werden und geeignet sind.1 Um diese Lucke zu schliesen wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit das Piraterieproblem und in diesem Zusammenhang die Verwendung von Innovationsschutzmasnahmen empirisch untersucht. Dabei konzentriert sich die Studie auf die deutsche Investitionsguterindustrie, die zunehmend unter Nachbauten von Produktpiraten leidet. Auf Basis der empirischen Daten wird das Ausmas des Piraterieproblems in der Branche spezifiziert und die Handlungsfelder auf dem Gebiet des Innovationsschutzes erortert. Ziel der Studie ist es, zum einen zu eruieren, welche Instrumente zum Schutz gegen unerwunschte Produktkopien in der deutschen Investitionsguterindustrie angewandt werden, und zum anderen zu ermitteln, welche Innovationsschutzmasnahmen als wirksam erachtet werden. Die Studienergebnisse dienen dazu, Unternehmen der Investitionsguterindustrie die Notwendigkeit des Innovationsschutzes zu vergegenwartigen, und zeigen Handlungsdefizite auf diesem Gebiet auf.

For Those About to Rock – Social Media Best Practices from Wacken Open Air

Social media has become the communication channel of choice when companies and organizations are confronted with crisis situations or emerging events. Within this study, a single crisis situation is examined. The metal festival Wacken Open Air from 2015, organized by International Concert Service, has been chosen as a case study where heavy rain falls before the event led to a crisis event. The study gives insights into the usage of social media by International Concert Service and offers best practice examples of how to handle such difficult situations.