Risto Rajala

Business Models – A New Perspective on Firms' Assets and Capabilities Observations from the Finnish Software Industry

Network-intensive business behaviour and specialization in core competencies have increased the importance of utilizing resources beyond company boundaries. In recent years, resource exploration and exploitation have attracted increasing attention in the literature on interorganizational exchange and strategic networks. However, resources have not been sufficiently analysed in connection with types of business models. In this study, the authors focus on key assets and capabilities from the entrepreneurs business model perspective. Taking theories of interorganizational exchange and the resource-based view of the firm as the basis, key assets and capabilities are identified in four different types of business models in selected software companies. The key findings indicate that there is a significant difference in the emphasis on internally and externally obtained resources between different types of business models.

Exploring Multi-Actor Value Creation in it Service Processes

Organizational information technology (IT) needs are served through increasingly complex configurations of people, technologies, organizations, and shared information. Ideally, an organizational IT service is valuable for both the providers and users of systems and solutions. However, mutually beneficial outcomes may be difficult to achieve within the configurations through which IT services are delivered. We suggest that analyzing stakeholder interplay in IT service processes helps us to understand how information systems (IS) organizations can be leveraged to co-create business value. Through a qualitative empirical inquiry, we explore IT service realization in two case organizations. Through our analysis we find that value creation builds on orchestrated social action among the different stakeholder groups involved. Joint value creation in IT service processes hence calls for specific network leadership and resource integration capabilities from the IS organization. The paper enriches the current understanding of business value creation in IT services by infusing the service logic with traditional IT management perspectives. The findings highlight that the extent to which the IS organization can learn to facilitate the interaction between the essential actors in an ‘IT service system’ and leverage user-perceived value throughout the service process will ultimately determine its success or failure.

Knowledge-intensive service activities in software business

In this study we focus on knowledge-intensive services used by small and medium-sized companies in the software industry. Our study explores the sources, use and perceived importance of different types of knowledge-intensive services in software business. In addition to revealing the use of commercial privately or publicly produced knowledge-intensive business services, the results of this study indicate the remarkable proportion and strategic role of non-commercial knowledge-intensive service activities that are co-produced in network partnerships. These activities are accomplished in networks in order to mutually generate or transfer knowledge between companies, customers, subcontractors or authorities of the industry, and the knowledge itself is not an object of trade.

A business model perspective on knowledge-intensive services in the software industry

Specialisation in core competencies as a response to intense competition from entrepreneur-driven SMEs in technology and knowledge-intensive industries such as the software industry demands network-focused business behaviour and the utilisation of resources beyond company boundaries. In recent years, the outsourcing of Knowledge-Intensive Services (KIS), for example, has emerged as a phenomenon in technology-oriented enterprises and has attracted increasing attention in the literature on business and entrepreneurship. However, KIS have not been sufficiently analysed in connection with different types of business models. Drawing on theories of inter-organisational exchange, including the industrial network approach and Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), we analyse key KIS in four different types of business models of software companies. According to our findings, the role and type of KIS vary systematically by business-model type.

Green innovation games: Value-creation strategies for corporate sustainability

This study builds on insights from 49 sustainability leaders in the U.S. by examining green innovation from the game perspective. It explores how corporate sustainability can advance environmentally friendly innovations, and what managerial roles and activities are required to enable the transformation. It identifies four green innovation games characterized by different underlying value creation logics and organizational and mental barriers. The article suggests ways that can help managers to overcome these barriers and incorporate three decisive managerial roles into their corporate agenda and culture to advance corporate sustainability.

Assessing flow experience in social networking site based brand communities

Abstract The sustenance of the Social Networking Site (SNS)-based brand communities relies on user retention and their active participation. Therefore, understanding the intrinsic aspects of user behavior in such communities is important for devising strategies to ensure user retention and active participation. Especially, information about the elements that induce flow experiences—the intrinsically enjoyable and immersive experiences—of users in SNS has become important for organizations that host online communities. In our empirical study, we chose to focus especially on SNS-based brand communities, as they are increasingly interesting from an organization-community interaction perspective, but they lack the instruments needed for measuring user experience. The present study addresses this gap by developing an instrument aimed at measuring the user’s flow experience on SNS-based brand communities. A cross-sectional survey with 577 Facebook brand community users was carried out. The findings show that enjoyment, concentration, and social interaction are the components that constitute a user’s flow experience. In addition to providing a valuable tool for business practitioners, the developed instrument offers several theoretical and practical implications for improving user experience of social media.

Information sharing for sales and operations planning: Contextualized solutions and mechanisms

We develop actionable design propositions for collaborative sales and operations planning (S&OP) based on the observation of contexts in which benefits are generated — or are absent — from retail information sharing for a manufacturer. An information sharing pilot project in a real-life setting of two product manufacturers and one retailer was designed. The project resulted in one manufacturer, serving a retailer from its local factory, developing a process for collaborative S&OP, while the other manufacturer serving a retailer from more distant regional factories abandoned the process. The evaluation of the outcomes experienced by the two manufacturers allows us to examine contexts in fine-grained detail and explain why introducing information sharing in the S&OP processes produce — or fail to produce — benefits. The paper contributes to the supply chain information sharing literature by presenting a field tested and evolved S&OP design for non-standard demand situations, and by a contextual analysis of the mechanisms that produce the benefits of retailer collaboration and information sharing in the S&OP process.

Why do young people tag photos on social networking sites? Explaining user intentions

The study investigated the reasons behind why people keep tagging on social media using extended UTAUT2 model.Determinants of user intention to use a specific social media feature were examined with 780 social media users.Habit and hedonic motivation have significant influence on intentions to photo-tag.Self-efficacy, Social Status, Influence and Presence had insignificant influence.Facilitating conditions, Effort and Performance expectancy has no influence. Scholars have emphasized an urgent need to investigate the determinants of user intentions to share content on social networking sites (SNS). A growing share of the content in social media is visual including Photos which users can share by tagging. To improve the understanding of the determinants of social media users behavioral intention to share content, this study investigates why people tag photos on SNS. A comprehensive research model was developed based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). The validity of the extended UTAUT2 model was tested on a new form of technology use which is not only timely but is much desired by the scholars engaged in information systems research. The research model investigates the role of habit, hedonic motivation, facilitating conditions, social influence, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social presence, social status, and self-efficacy in influencing the user intentions to engage in photo-tagging. The research model was tested using a cross-sectional study of 780 adolescent Facebook users. The findings suggest that only habit and hedonic motivation have a significant direct influence on the users intentions to tag photos. The study contributes to the theorizing of the role of habits and hedonic motivations in user behaviors in the SNS and provides new insights into these factors for the managers of social media sites.

Overcoming Institutional and Capability Barriers to Smart Services

Smart services have potential to improve value creation and profitability of industrial firms and their customers. Defined as services that go beyond the upkeep and upgrades, traditionally bundled with products and helping companies to build intelligence— that is, awareness and connectivity. Combined with digitalization, services have had a major role in improving efficiency of existing offering and enabling new channels for service delivery. Implementing the change toward smart services is challenging. Research shows that especially industrial companies maintain institutionalized beliefs and attitudes impeding the transformation, lack capabilities and resources for implementation, and face industrywide norms and relationship practices resisting the change. The study explores the barriers in adopting smart services and is implemented as a multi-case study among six globally operating industrial companies. Our findings indicate classification of internal barriers, capability gaps, and external barriers, contributing a framework that describes the interplay between institutional forces and capability development in organizational change.

Information system users’ creativity: A meta-analysis of the link between IT use and creative performance

Purpose Information technology has been recognized as one of the keys to improved productivity in organizations. Yet, existing research has not paid sufficient attention to how information systems (ISs) influence the creative performance of individual users. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on the theories of flow and cognitive load to establish a model of the predicted influences. The authors hypothesize that the information technology supports creativity by engaging individuals in a creative process and by lowering their cognitive load related to the process. To test these hypotheses, the authors employ a meta-analytical structural equation modeling approach using 24 previous studies on creativity and ISs use. Findings The results suggest that factors that help the user to maintain an interest in the performed task, immerse the user in a state of flow, and lower a person’s cognitive load during IS use can affect the user’s creative performance. Research limitations/implications The findings imply that a combination of the theories of flow and cognitive load complements the understanding of how ISs influence creativity. Originality/value This paper proposes an explanation on why ISs affect creativity, which can be used by scholars to position further research, and by practitioners to implement creativity support systems.