Michaela Sprenger

A Viability Theory for Digital Businesses: Exploring the Evolutionary Changes of Revenue Mechanisms to Support Managerial Decisions

The ongoing integration of Information Technology (IT) into various areas of our lives has led to a plethora of digital products and services. To survive competition in the long run, these offerings not only have to keep up with constant technological developments, but also have to adapt from a business point of view. Managers of these digital businesses have to especially focus on the design and evolution of their business’ revenue mechanisms to ensure the viability of their offerings. The related decisions are not trivial, as managers have to be aware of the relevant contextual factors and have to react quickly to changes in the environment. This paper proposes a viability theory for digital businesses described by 17 propositions that may guide managers in the design of revenue mechanisms and thereby support the evolution as well as the viability of a digital business.

Health professionals' perspective on the promotion of e-mental health apps in the context of maternal depression.

Objective Our study focuses on exploring (1) the intention of health professionals to use and recommend e-mental health applications, (2) how this intention of health professionals might be influenced, (3) which group of health professionals might be most accessible to promote e-mental health applications for maternal depression, and (4) for which tasks they rate them to be most useful. Materials and methods Based on a questionnaire informed by the theory of planned behavior, we collected 131 responses of U.S., Spanish, and Swiss health professionals in the field of pregnancy and maternal care (including psychologists, psychiatrists, midwives, and doctors) by means of an online survey. We analyzed the gathered data applying a structured equation model. Results Our study reveals that health professionals would in general intend to recommend and use e-mental health applications. However, their attitude towards e-mental health applications varies regarding the respective use cases and also differs among health professions. Conclusion We offer three alternative propositions for private or public organizations, associations, or any other entity whose purpose is service to the community for introducing e-mental health applications into practice.

Service robots in hospitals: new perspectives on niche evolution and technology affordances

Changing demands in society and the limited capabilities of health systems have paved the way for robots to move out of industrial contexts and enter more human-centered environments such as health care. We explore the shared beliefs and concerns of health workers on the introduction of autonomously operating service robots in hospitals or professional care facilities. By means of Q-methodology, a mixed research approach specifically designed for studying subjective thought patterns, we identify five potential end-user niches, each of which perceives different affordances and outcomes from using service robots in their working environment. Our findings allow for better understanding resistance and susceptibility of different users in a hospital and encourage managerial awareness of varying demands, needs, and surrounding conditions that a service robot must contend with. We also discuss general insights into presenting the Q-methodology results and how an affordance-based view could inform the adoption, appropriation, and adaptation of emerging technologies.

Supporting the Viability of E-Health Services with Pattern-Based Business Model Design

Designing viable business models for e-health services is not trivial as people in charge of business model design often lack the respective knowledge and experience. E-health business model design patterns should support inexperienced business model designers as they document existing business model logics of the e-health domain for reuse. This paper aims at understanding how exactly a pattern-based business model design supports the viability of e-health business models by applying the e-health business model design patterns to a specific e-health service – an e-mental health app for maternal depression. A focus group workshop reveals that these design patterns sensitize the participants to the viability aspects of the business model and thereby help to enhance its viability.