Elad Harison

Essential competencies for technochange management: Towards an assessment model

The term technochange refers to technology-driven organizational changes and covers the broad spectrum of aspects that are related to and have an impact on changes within organizations. Technochange processes are usually managed by change managers, who are responsible for successfully accomplishing the IT-related tasks in their projects, as well as every other structural and organizational dimension related to the implementation of technochanges. This paper discusses what competencies managers should have to carry out these processes effectively. On the basis of the existing literature, interviews with experts and case study research, we identify and test a set of IT- and non-IT-related competencies that are essential for managing technochange processes within and among organizations. Further, this paper presents a model for assessing and allocating project managers to IT technochange projects that match their competencies and skills. This model could also serve as a tool for developing technochange management competencies via targeted training programmes. A case study demonstrates how the assessment model can be used in practice. Finally, we make some suggestions for future research in the fields of change management and IT.

On substitution of intellectual property and free disclosure: an analysis of R&D strategies in software technologies

Major firms have joined the open-source movement and have chosen to apply that development methodology in their projects. Our model examines the links between openness and innovation in software technologies by revealing how disclosure affects the technical quality of computer applications and the profits of myopic and far-sighted firms. The model analyzes the degree of disclosure that should be implemented to optimize profits in various market scenarios. Further, we reveal how social welfare of users (in terms of technical quality of the products that they implement) relates to profit-maximization decisions of the firm. If revenue is unresponsive to openness or slowly responds to it, the firm would prefer to leave the source code proprietary. Otherwise, if the market conditions change and the effective revenue increases rapidly enough with openness, the optimal strategy changes from entirely proprietary to some open-source development. †E-mail: r.cowan@merit.unimaas.nl

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN A KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY: A NEW FRAME-OF-ANALYSIS

The debate on software intellectual property rights (IPRs) has not only highlighted fundamental issues regarding the scheme of protection that software enjoys, it has also pointed out major gaps in the representation of computer programs as economic goods. In this respect, various interpretations of software propose a limited outlook by referring only to particular aspects of computer programs. The paper discusses the economic nature of software and computational processes and how they should be properly represented as commodities by focusing on software IPR legislation in the US. It elaborates the similarities and differences between software applications and machines on the basis of historical evidence from the evolution of information technologies and computer science. Further, we discuss whether computer programs should enjoy IPR protection (like their physical equivalents) and which legal regime would induce the maximal degree of societal benefits, while satisfying private and public interests. The paper also elaborates the essential issues of the distinction between ideas and expressions and the ways they are treated as intellectual property. It highlights major aspects in the debate over protection of software applications by both patents and copyrights and analyses the economic impact of the joint regime. By highlighting the dissimilarities in the economic nature and market behaviour of ideas and expressions we point out the difficulties in drawing parallels between software and physical equivalents. Finally, we provide alternative ways to establish coherent juridical basis and legal policy of software IPRs that aim at stimulating innovation and developing the technological landscape in information technologies.

Assessing the Performance of Airline Web Sites: The ARTFLY Case

This case takes place in the increasingly competitive environment of the airline sector.Airline websites and Internet-based booking systems enable transformation of airline operations and become strategic weapons for the majority of airlines worldwide. Established airlines are attempting to stimulate customers to use the Internet, in response to entry of low cost carriers that capture shares of their market and in order to reduce their sales costs. Nonetheless, the development and maintenance of websites and e-commerce platforms requires substantial investments in capital and labor. Therefore, airlines need to assess the performance of their e-commerce channels in terms of profitability, customer appreciation and volume of sales on a continuous basis. However, the design of an assessment model that can serve the managers of ARTFLY, one of the established airlines in the industry that deals with the recent challenges of the intensifying competition, is open for a wide variety of interpretations and should be determined due to the firm’s nature of operations and due to its aim to increase the volume of its online sales.