Thomas Paris

The economics and business models of prescription in the Internet

Our premise is that the mechanisms at work in distribution and intermediation at stake in the business models existing on Internet should be assessed in terms of a prescription economy. By analyzing the markets in terms of prescription, i.e. the capacity of a firm to transform the potential request of a customer into a specific proposal of products, we can investigate the structure of a product or service supply, the decision-making process involved in purchasing, market configurations, and business strategies and models. Analyzing intermediation and information markets in terms of prescription means considering three-pronged markets where prescribers are not simple intermediaries but third parties : they act alongside producers and consumers – not between them – in order to structure the product or service supply or to assume responsibility for some aspect of the consumer decision. If we proceed on this assumption, we can identify the market strategies and structures that characterize a prescription economy.

Managing Transition in an Artistic Company with Entrepreneurial Management: A Case Study of Groupe Bernard Loiseau

The important role of entrepreneurship in the dynamics of the arts sector and the influence of the leaders personality make succession a key issue in creative industries. What happens to an artistic organization when its founder leaves? How does it evolve? Can it adopt a style of management that is compatible with the founders absence? This article focuses on the case of Groupe Bernard Loiseau, an iconic French company in the culinary arts whose owner and chef died suddenly. It sheds light on how the question of succession and that of style were addressed in this organization and how they are addressed in artistic organizations in general.

Co-simulation of cyber-physical systems using a DEVS wrapping strategy in the MECSYCO middleware

Most modeling and simulation (M&S) questions about cyber-physical systems (CPSs) require expert skills belonging to different scientific fields. The challenges are then to integrate each domain’s tools (formalism and simulation software) within the rigorous framework of M&S process. To answer this issue, we give the specifications of the Multi-agent Environment for Complex-SYstem CO-simulation (MECSYCO) middleware which enables to interconnect several pre-existing and heterogeneous M&S tools, so they can simulate a whole CPS together. The middleware performs the co-simulation in a parallel, decentralized, and distributable fashion thanks to its modular multi-agent architecture. In order to rigorously integrate tools that use different formalisms, the co-simulation engine of MECSYCO is based on the discrete event system specification (DEVS). The central idea of MECSYCO is to use a DEVS wrapping strategy to integrate each tool into the middleware. Thus, heterogeneous tools can be homogeneously co-simulated in the form of a DEVS system. By using DEVS, MECSYCO benefits from the numerous scientific works which have demonstrated the integrative power of this formalism and give crucial guidelines to rigorously design wrappers. We demonstrate that our discrete framework can integrate a vast amount of continuous M&S tools by wrapping the Functional Mockup Interface (FMI) standard. To this end, we take advantage of DEVS efforts of the literature (namely, the DEV&DESS hybrid formalism and Quantized State System (QSS) solvers) to design DEVS wrappers for Functional Mockup Unit (FMU) components. As a side-effect, this wrapping is not restricted to MECSYCO but can be applied in any DEVS-based platform. We evaluate MECSYCO with the proof of concept of a smart heating use case, where we co-simulate non-DEVS-centric M&S tools.

Developing knowledge from entrepreneurial actions – toward a taxonomy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to enrich our understanding of entrepreneurs’ daily deeds, tasks and activities. The research investigates the ways in which entrepreneurs seize opportunities and gain knowledge from the start to the expansion of their ventures. Design/methodology/approach Two case studies were developed based on a longitudinal fine-grained analysis of two ventures over two years. Entrepreneurs’ success and learning were modeled in line with grounded theory methodology. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources in the form of semi-structured interviews and archival documentation. Findings The authors develop an original conceptual framework that consists of ten entrepreneurial learning opportunities and four knowledge development modes. There are ten generic types of actions that entrepreneurs take. There are then four distinctive ways to transform these experiences into knowledge. The model is assessed in absolute terms and relatively to existing taxonomies. Research limitations/implications The findings question the premises on which entrepreneurial learning research traditionally relies. Opportunities can be open-ended rather than purely instrumental. Similarly, knowledge can be emerging as much as it can be espoused. This opens-up space for further research. Practical implications For practitioners, the findings suggest new ways for making sense of the daily experience of their entrepreneurial endeavor. The learning modes suggested can be used by coaches and mentors when helping entrepreneurs in their venture. Originality/value The research provides empirical evidence of what entrepreneurs do. This may help cast traditional debates about what there is to do (logical necessity) and what there is to know (a priori knowledge) in a new light.

RESOLVING THE COMMITMENT-FLEXIBILITY DILEMMA IN NEW TECHNOLOGY VENTURES

In their attempt to define radically new product–market pairs, according to the literature, new technology ventures (NTV) are confronted with an apparent dilemma. On the one hand, they should delay key commitments to remain flexible in the face of high uncertainty. On the other hand, commitments are necessary to enable learning and progress. Based on the longitudinal study of four NTVs, we find that the entrepreneurs resolve this dilemma by (i) defining their product and market progressively through iteration and learning, and by (ii) basing this progressive definition on stakeholders’ commitments. We analyse this approach and label it “commit and learn”. Following an inductive methodology, we suggest a conceptual framework to enhance the understanding of commitment as a multi-dimensional concept for new ventures.

Designing Co-simulation with Multi-agent Tools: A Case Study with NetLogo

Multi-agent approach has demonstrated its benefits for complex system modeling and simulation. This article focuses on how to represent and simulate a system as a set of several interacting simulators, with a focus on the case of multi-agent simulators. This raises a major challenge: multi-agent simulators are not conceived (in general) to be used with other simulators.