Luca Iandoli

The Evaluation of Innovation Capabilities in Small Software Firms: A Methodological Approach*

This paper presents a methodological approach for the evaluation of innovation capabilities in small software firms. The methodology is based on the assumption of a relationship between specific resources managed by small software firms and their innovation capabilities. Within the proposed methodological approach, a model for the quantitative analysis of innovation capabilities is presented. In order to show how the methodology can be applied to concrete situations, three case studies of small firms operating in the software sector and information services are presented and discussed.

Mediating debate through on-line large-scale argumentation: Evidence from the field

Web 2.0 technologies, such as forums and wikis, are enabling an explosion of global knowledge sharing through distributed large-scale conversations, but they seem to be less successful at supporting collaborative deliberation around complex and controversial questions. In order to cope with this limitation, many scholars have proposed to adopt on-line argumentation platforms to improve information visualization, organization and reuse. However, such research has mostly focused on the design of adequate argument-based knowledge formalisms. Less attention has been paid to the empirical analysis of actual interactions mediated by argumentation technology with reasonably large user communities. In this paper, we present an in-depth analysis of the data obtained in the empirical test of an argumentation platform where a 160-member community created, in 3weeks, what is to our knowledge the largest single online argument map ever built (around 5000 posts). Our results show that (i) users were able to quickly and comprehensively explore and map the debate on the selected discussion topic; (ii) substantial moderation was needed to ensure that the argument map was well-organized and users were confident with the argumentation formalism; (iii) considerable out-of-the map communication occurred, possibly as a way to allow for conversational flows inhibited by the argumentation formalism, (iv) formal rating of contributions favored exploration of the map, understanding the debate structure, and improving the quality of content.

Enabling On-Line Deliberation and Collective Decision-Making through Large-Scale Argumentation: A New Approach to the Design of an Internet-Based Mass Collaboration Platform

The successful emergence of on-line communities, such as open source software and Wikipedia, seems due to an effective combination of intelligent collective behavior and internet capabilities However, current internet technologies, such as forum, wikis and blogs appear to be less supportive for knowledge organization and consensus formation. In particular very few attempts have been done to support large, diverse, and geographically dispersed groups to systematically explore and come to decisions concerning complex and controversial systemic challenges. In order to overcome the limitations of current collaborative technologies, in this article, we present a new large-scale collaborative platform based on argumentation mapping. To date argumentation mapping has been effectively used for small-scale, co-located groups. The main research questions this work faces are: can argumentation scale? Will large-scale argumentation outperform current collaborative technologies in collective problem solving and deliberation? We present some preliminary results obtained from a first field test of an argumentation platform with a moderate-sized (few hundred) users community.

Extracting and evaluating conversational patterns in social media

Reactions to new products by Apple and Samsung are assessed analyzing Twitter streams.Streams are modeled as virtual conversations, generating dynamically updated concept maps.Using topological analysis we identify patterns of what people say and how they talk.Apple conversation is less fragmented, contains more topics, and less negative sentiment. In this paper we use Twitter data to assess customers early reactions to the launch of two new products by Apple and Samsung by analyzing the streams generated in a 72h window around the two events. We present a methodology based on conversational analysis to extract concept maps from Twitter streams and use semantic and topological metrics to compare the conversations. Our findings show that there are significant differences in the structural patterns of the two conversations and that the analysis of these differences can be highly informative about early customers perceptions and value judgments associated with the competing products.

Socially augmented argumentation tools: Rationale, design and evaluation of a debate dashboard

Collaborative Computer-Supported Argument Visualization (CCSAV) is a technical methodology that offers support for online collective deliberation over complex dilemmas. As compared with more traditional conversational technologies, like wikis and forums, CCSAV is designed to promote more critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning, by using representations that highlight conceptual relationships between contributions, and through computational analytics that assess the structural integrity of the network. However, to date, CCSAV tools have achieved adoption primarily in small-scale educational contexts, and only to a limited degree in real world applications. We hypothesise that by reifying conversations as logical maps to address the shortcomings of chronological streams, CCSAV tools underestimate the importance of participation and interaction in enhancing collaborative knowledge-building. We argue, therefore, that CCSAV platforms should be socially augmented in order to improve their mediation capability. Drawing on Clark and Brennan influential Common Ground theory, we designed a Debate Dashboard, which augmented a CCSAV tool with a set of widgets that deliver meta-information about participants and the interaction process. An empirical study simulating a moderately sized collective deliberation scenario provides evidence that this experimental version outperformed the control version on a range of indicators, including usability, mutual understanding, quality of perceived collaboration, and accuracy of individual decisions. No evidence was found that the addition of the Debate Dashboard impeded the quality of the argumentation or the richness of content.

A debate dashboard to enhance online knowledge sharing

Purpose – In this paper the aim is to present Debate Dashboard, an online collaborative platform designed to support distributed knowledge management and decision making. The platform integrates an argument mapping tool with visual widgets with the objective of enhancing collective sense‐making and mutual understanding as well as to compensate for the costs of mediated communication in virtual collaborative environments.Design/methodology/approach – The design of Debate Dashboard is based on the theory of common ground according to which participants involved in a conversation build mutual understanding thanks to the exchange of different types of feedback. Using the concept of grounding cost, the authors identified several features of the Dashboard supposed to favour mutual understanding and knowledge sharing. Such features have been implemented through six visual widgets selected through a benchmarking of currently available visualization tools.Findings – The paper discusses the limitations and advantag...

An analytical framework based on AHP and activity-based costing to assess the value of competencies in production processes

In this paper we present a model based on activity based costing and analytic hierarchy process to assess the impact of individual competencies on value creation and its application to a case study of a small manufacturing firm. Namely, our model is designed to support managers to deal with the following concrete situation: suppose that a company has decided to acquire a new type of equipment/technology to improve a process and deliver a superior performance to its customers, and suppose that this change requires in turn the acquisition of one or more individual competencies. Our model will support managers to answer to these questions: what is the cost of acquiring the new competence compared with the value generated by the improved process? Is it preferable to develop the competence internally or to acquire it on the market? In general, we argue that the proposed method can support managers to lay out a systematic description of the problematic link between individual competencies, organisational capabilities and critical market performances. Through the development and application of an analytical tool, this work intends to contribute to bridge the literature on the evaluation of individual competencies with the strategic interpretation of production competencies as organisational distinctive assets for value creation and as sources of sustained competitive advantage.

The ICT Service Industry in North Africa and the Role of Partnerships in Morocco

Abstract In many developing countries, the growth of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is becoming a remarkable phenomenon. Such growth is influenced by a huge variety of economic (infrastructure and social development), institutional (finance and legal system) and environmental (education system and culture) factors. In this context, forms of partnerships between local firms and multinational companies can play a key role in fostering the development of the ICT- sector. This article presents a study of the state of the art of the ICT sector in North Africa. Additionally, an in depth study of the situation in Morocco was carried out. It investigates, using several case studies, the value of the different models of partnership that have been created in the ICT service sector.

Using Social Network Analysis to Support Collective Decision-Making Process

Current traditional technologies, while enabling effective knowledge sharing and accumulation, seem to be less supportive of knowledge organization, use and consensus formation, as well as of collaborative decision making process. To address these limitations and thus to better foster collective decision-making around complex and controversial problems, a new family of tools is emerging able to support more structured knowledge representations known as collaborative argument mapping tools. This paper argues that online collaborative argumentation has the rather unique feature of combining knowledge organization with social mapping and that such a combination can provide interesting insights on the social processes activated within a collaborative decision making initiative. In particular, the authors investigate how Social Network Analysis can be used for the analysis of the collective argumentation process to study the structural properties of the concepts and social networks emerging from users’ interaction. Using Cohere, an online platform designed to support collaborative argumentation, some empirical findings obtained from two use cases are presented.

Knowledge exchange processes in Industrial Districts and the emergence of networks

This paper aims at exploring conditions under which the need for knowledge exchange within a small firms’ cluster generates a structure of links between firms. We focus in particular on small firms’ clusters called Industrial Districts (IDs). Specifically, we analyze IDs with flexible specialization, in which knowledge exchange is driven by the search for complementary knowledge assets. Previous works of the authors proposed an agent-based model of IDs to explore the properties of networks emerging from the interaction of firms prompted by the search and exchange of complementary specialized knowledge. This model showed that limited relational capability, due to the small size, and an exchange mechanism solely based on the barter of complementary knowledge are structural conditions that limit individual firms’ growth in IDs with flexible specialization. This paper presents a new version of this model to analyze the role of embeddedness of relationships among IDs firms in shaping the emergent network structures. The aim of the paper is to answer to the following research questions: Can knowledge complementariness explain the emergence of a stable network of firms within a small firms’ cluster? What are the structural properties of these networks? Which role does the embeddedness of relationships among firms play in shaping the structure of emerging networks?