Christophe Bisson

Applying a behavioural and operational diagnostic typology of competitive intelligence practice: empirical evidence from the SME sector in Turkey

This paper reports on an empirical study conducted within the SME sector in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The findings from this study enabled the creation of a behavioural and operational typology of competitive intelligence practice, one developed from the work of S. Wright, D.W. Pickton and J. Callow (2002. Competitive intelligence in UK firms: A typology. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 20, 349–360). Using responses to questions which indicated a type of behaviour or operational stance towards the various strands of CI practice under review it has been possible to identify areas where improvements could be made to reach an ideal situation which could garner significant competitive advantage for the SMEs surveyed.

Dissidents with an innovation cause? Non-institutionalized actors’ online social knowledge sharing, solution-finding tensions and technology management innovation

Purpose – Traditionally, most studies focus on institutionalized management-driven actors to understand technology management innovation. The purpose of this paper is to argue that there is a need for research to study the nature and role of dissident non-institutionalized actors’ (i.e. outsourced web designers and rapid application software developers). The authors propose that through online social knowledge sharing, non-institutionalized actors’ solution-finding tensions enable technology management innovation. Design/methodology/approach – A synthesis of the literature and an analysis of the data (21 interviews) provided insights in three areas of solution-finding tensions enabling management innovation. The authors frame the analysis on the peripherally deviant work and the nature of the ways that dissident non-institutionalized actors deviate from their clients (understood as the firm) original contracted objectives. Findings – The findings provide insights into the productive role of solution-finding tensions in enabling opportunities for management service innovation. Furthermore, deviant practices that leverage non-institutionalized actors’ online social knowledge to fulfill customers’ requirements are not interpreted negatively, but as a positive willingness to proactively explore alternative paths. Research limitations/implications – The findings demonstrate the importance of dissident non-institutionalized actors in technology management innovation. However, this work is based on a single country (USA) and additional research is needed to validate and generalize the findings in other cultural and institutional settings. Originality/value – This paper provides new insights into the perceptions of dissident non-institutionalized actors in the practice of IT managerial decision making. The work departs from, but also extends, the previous literature, demonstrating that peripherally deviant work in solution-finding practice creates tensions, enabling management innovation between IT providers and users.

When Sharing Less Means More: How Gender Moderates the Impact of Quantity of Information Shared in a Social Network Profile on Profile Viewers' Intentions About Socialization

This study summarizes the results from a 2 (low vs. high information) × 2 (female vs. male profile) experiment that investigates the impact of quantity of information shared on a Social Network Site (SNS) profile on viewers’ intentions to pursue further interactions with the profile owner. Quantity of information had no statistically significant effect on intentions to further socialize online. The two-way interaction between information quantity and profile gender was such that for male profiles more information increased profile viewers’ intentions to further socialize with the profile owner, whereas for female profiles the opposite was the case. The three-way interactions among quantity of information, profile gender, and profile viewers gender underline a tendency for male profile viewers to respond more positively to higher information shared by profiles from their own gender. For female viewers, this effect, although in the same direction, was smaller.

Social media adoption: A process-based approach

ABSTRACT This research conceptualizes and measures social media adoption (SMA) of companies with a process-based approach and explains its antecedents of micro- and macro-environment, size, and ownership, as well as its consequence of intention to increase resources dedicated to social media. Based on data from 310 Turkish small and medium enterprises, the study first develops a conceptual framework on the pillars of internal and external stakeholder focus as well as relationship and information oriented implementation. Based on these two dimensions, it discusses the novel concepts of social customer relations, social stakeholder communication, social intelligence, and social responsiveness related to SMA. The study further indicates that ownership type and micro environment play a role in SMA and that path dependence exists in the interplay of current adoption and future intentions.

Bayesian and Graph Theory Approaches to Develop Strategic Early Warning Systems for the Milk Market

This paper presents frameworks for developing a Strategic Early Warning System allowing the estimatation of the future state of the milk market. Thus, this research is in line with the recent call from the EU commission for tools which help to better address such a highly volatile market. We applied different multivariate time series regression and Bayesian networks on a pre-determined map of relations between macro economic indicators. The evaluation of our findings with root mean square error (RMSE) performance score enhances the robustness of the prediction model constructed. Finally, we construct a graph to represent the major factors that effect the milk industry and their relationships. We use graph theoretical analysis to give several network measures for this social network; such as centrality and density.