Marko Mäkipää

Motivating and supporting collaboration in open innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore collaboration in open innovation (OI) communities. The paper focuses on the following two research problems: how can users be motivated to collaborate in OI communities and what kind of tools and methods can support collaboration in OI communities?Design/methodology/approach – The exploratory case study includes three innovation intermediaries originated in three different countries: France, The Netherlands and Finland. The primary data source consists of the open‐ended questions posted to the maintainers and users by e‐mail. The data include five responses from the maintainers and 12 responses from the users. The secondary source is the internet document review. The classification of the factors in the preliminary framework is derived from reading and rereading the answers of the respondents until the themes started emerging from the data. Thereafter, the data are coded according to the chosen themes.Findings – Results suggest that monetary rewards are no...

Inter-organizational information systems in cooperative inter-organizational relationships: Study of the factors influencing to success

Significance of inter-organizational information systems (IOSs) in inter-organizational relationship (IOR) has been highlighted recently. IOSs are not only technical solutions to enhance communication across organizations, but they are also supporters and enablers of cooperation as well as symbols of formal IORs. The success or failure of these systems can have severe effects on cooperative relationships. In this conceptual-analytical research based on existing literature the role of different factors influencing to success of IOSs are considered. When considering implementing an IOS the role of these factors should be asserted to be able to enhance cooperation in IORs on one hand and successfully implement IOSs on the other hand.

Planning for Inter-Organizational Information Systems in Practice

Globally distributed production and high proportion of outsourcing have increased the need to orchestrate the key network participating to production of end-products. Information is driving the network operations and thus, significance of inter-organizational information systems supporting the cooperation is evident. In this study, the growing phenomenon of Planning for Inter-Organizational Information Systems (PIOS) is examined with multiple case study approach. Empirical evidence is collected from three large multinational manufacturing corporations and their IOS planning practices to identify critical planning characteristics perceived by practitioners. Results of a two-round evaluation are presented as well as general observations of companies’ PIOS practices.

Design Configurator Requirements for IS Integration

Configurators are essential tools in mass customization. While sales configurators and product configurators have received a fair amount of attention, a new type of configurator has emerged for area of order engineering: design configurator. Design configurators can be used to automate order engineering and decrease lead-time for product quotations and customized designs. Thus, they can bring ETO companies closer to mass customization. In the literature, the concept of design configurator has been suggested and this paper examines the requirements of such configurator for IS integration through illustrative case example. By determining the requirements and integration possibilities of design configurator, this study will greatly benefit different industrial contexts when considering a configurator solution.

Competencies and Work Practices for Dynamic Distributed Software Development in Global Value Networks

Offshoring of software development (SD) to cost competitive countries (CCC) has gained increased popularity in US and Western Europe since year 2000. Countries, such as India, have dominated the discussion but now it also seems that not just the labor costs matter. In the future, service levels, dynamic competencies building and community-based activities are also needed for managing dynamic distributed software development (DDSD) work. Instead of the one-way migration of RDI operations there are increasingly voices questioning the rationale of moving operations to CCCs. The key driver of this research-in-progress paper is in searching a new frameworks, tools and practices for managing DDSD work and developing SD operations evaluation solutions. The forthcoming practical outcomes described are both the improvements in SD work in the industry level and provision of enhancements for their current SD work performance assessment. Academic results will be discussed with European, US and Indian partner researchers in the context of changing dynamic sourcing i.e. onshore, nearshore, offshore activities in global value networks. The general objectives are to improve ICT-services companies’ competencies and tools in i) assessing their SD work operations with more enhanced evaluation systems and ii) make visible practices in managing dynamic distributed sourcing network operations in global value networks.