Francis Pereira

Field Research Methods

Our field research consisted interviews with 12 companies known for their innovativeness and four case studies.

Digital Business Models: Review and Synthesis

While technological disruptions are changing the competitive landscape, their full impact on business structures, processes, and innovativeness are less understood and vary significantly across companies in the same industry, and may ironically be similar for companies in different industries. A primary reason for such a seemingly “random process” is the lack of a generally accepted definition of the term “business model” within which to provide systematic analyses. In fact, multiple definitions of business models exist, which pose significant challenges for understanding essential components.

Digital home health and mHealth: Prospects and challenges for adoption in the U.S

The burgeoning costs of healthcare and growth in consumer use of the Internet to attain health-related information to better manage their health-care, coupled with demographic changes in the industrialized countries, strongly argues for the use of tele-health applications that can lower costs and improve the quality of healthcare delivery. Despite its potential, telehealth and digital home-health, has not progressed as rapidly as anticipated, and there are very few deployments to date. Much discussion has focused on the technology challenges associated with mobile healthcare. This paper however also explores the social, regulatory, and market forces that will affect adoption of mobile telehealth. Using the VISOR business model framework, we examine the value proposition of telehealth and adoption factors. We find that while the value proposition for mobile healthcare is substantial, significant obstacles in the organizational structures and service platforms exist which must be addressed to accelerate adoption in the U.S.

VISOR: A Unified Framework for Business Modeling in the Evolving Digital Space

The scientific objectives of this project are to advance our theoretical understanding of the structure of business models for digital platforms by devising a unified framework that brings together multiple elements and underlying drivers. This will allow us to better understand current and future business models, and to help the creation and categorization of a business model repository that researchers can continuously contribute to over time. This will also facilitate analyzing, from a more theoretical approach, the effects of disruptions and game changers. Understanding the theoretical structure of digital business models will also enable us to map the likely evolution of business models for the future.

Are phones fun? Usage and barriers to adoption for wireless data services among the younger generation of Asians

Using the World Wide Mobile Data Services Study, which provides multi-year multi-country data, we find that cultural differences are critical drivers of wireless data service adoption. We also find that age differences drive patterns in mobile data service adoption. Difficulty does not detract from use for younger users who are also interested in fun features. Demand, however, remains driven by usefulness and younger users, who are not yet using wireless data services for work, are less inclined to pay for them.

The Diffusion of Mobile Data Services in the United States and Korea

This paper examines the adoption of mobile data services in the United States and Korea. We use the Global Acceptance of Technology model to analyze consumer behavior according to cultural and socio- demographic factors, mediated by the influence of technology-related factors. Using primary data collected from a recent survey of U.S. and Korean users, we find that higher rates of usage for a variety of mobile data services in Korea compared to usage in the United States can be partially explained by social and cultural differences between the two countries. Interestingly, despite identifiable differences in cultural and social norms we find many similarities in perceptions and preferences for mobile data services in the two markets. From this data we also analyze willingness to pay for mobile data services and again find marked similarities between U.S. and Korean consumers.

Activating the Tools of Social Media for Innovative Collaboration in the Enterprise

The use of social media tools in the enterprise is expanding rapidly and yet, firms are still unclear about the overall value of this activity and how best to facilitate useful outcomes. The focus of this book is, from a managerial standpoint, the control of information, the extent to which such tools can enhance employee satisfaction and how best to use social media tools to attain specific outcomes including innovative collaboration. As companies turn to IT solutions as substitutes for face-to-face engagements, an understanding of the social dynamics how employees can best communicate, find and use information and generate motivation through computer-mediated activities is fundamental. Lingering questions relate to the strategic use of these tools; many large companies are using Facebook-like applications due to employee demand, but are not studying outcomes comprehensively or managing processes to create desired outcomes. This book fills this knowledge gap through examining the process and results of a controlled study in two companies, one in the US and the other in China. In each company wiki challenges were introduced to employees who were provided guidelines to produce goal-oriented outcomes. The bookexamine the results in each case and suggest guidelines for firms to achieve wiki-readiness to support innovation and co-creation.

Anticipating Game Changers for “Enterprise 2020” in a Digitally-Intensive World

What will be the critical game changers for the enterprise in the year 2020 in a digitally-intensive world? How will that influence the types of digital business models that successful enterprises will want to adopt? And how can we through systematic modeling and better conceptualization help enterprises better navigate through the digital business model world of 2020, and design more effective digital business models for the enterprise, the business ecosystem, and society?

Introduction: Background Literature Review

Wikis are defined as “collaboratively created and iteratively improved set of web pages” (Wagner 2004). Wiki technology allows multiple people to work on the same document without overwriting each other’s changes, and has the advantage of keeping track of each person’s contributions.

Tools for Use of Social Media for Collaborative Innovation

Based on our eight findings, we developed two tools intended to help companies considering the use of social media for collaborative innovation within their firms.