Leif Marcusson

SMEs’ online channel expansion: value creating activities

SMEs are faced with new business opportunities through online channels, i.e., electronic commerce and mobile commerce. The model by which they create and capture value is challenged, making the adoption of a business model that fits the organisation a crucial strategic decision. The purpose of this paper is to study value creating activities taken by SMEs when making a transition to an online multichannel context. Sixteen SMEs in Sweden are studied using a qualitative research approach and through the lens of an e-transit business model configuration. The results show that SMEs are required to take various value creating activities denoted as primary and secondary transition activities and that there is a discrepancy between actions taken and their perceived degree of importance. One main conclusion is that the combination of value creating activities an SME should focus on during different stages of an online channel expansion differ depending on the type of transition (e.g., from physical store to electronic commerce or from electronic commerce to mobile commerce) and will change over time.

Go Vendla Go! Creating a Digital Coach for the Young Elderly

The proportion of ageing citizens is high and increasing in most EU countries and there is a growing political pressure to make sure that the costs for the elderly care programs do not grow out of bounds. The focus of the ageing population programs is at the 75+ age group. The younger age group – the “young elderly” that is the focus in our research – does not get much attention. Recently, we have noticed a growing insight that preventive programs could be helpful as healthier young elderly will help produce healthier seniors (the 75+ age group) which over time will have significant effects on the costs for health and social care for the ageing population. Our study is a synergistic combination of two timely research areas: digitalisation and the ageing population. The focus combination of digital wellness services and the young elderly is unique. We build on a research program that is operating since January 2014. Our current research in progress aims at finding out how a digital coach – a personal trainer called Vendla – can be worked out for digital wellness services.