Tzu-Chuan Chou

Imitative innovation strategies

Purpose – Imitative innovation, defined as applying innovation in the same way in another organization, has been adopted by many companies. This paper seeks to focus on how a competent follower of RD exa...

Case study: The impacts of social capital on information technology outsourcing decisions: A case study of a Taiwanese high-tech firm

This case study examines how social ties which are embedded in industrial networks and which have evolved over time may impact information technology (IT) outsourcing decisions. Our findings show that prior relationships do affect ongoing IT outsourcing decisions in the various dimensions. The results also show that social capital may be a double-edged sword that is both a resource in facilitating IT outsourcing and a burden that undermines the rationality of decision makers.

Internal learning climate, knowledge management process and perceived knowledge management satisfaction

Effective knowledge management (KM) has been a topic of great interest and extensively studied by organization researchers. Yet there is little research that attempts to explain the organizational KM performance in terms of employees’ satisfaction. To address this gap, this paper proposes a path model employing a number of constructs: innovativeness, interfunctional coordination, the KM processes of socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization, and employees’ perceived KM satisfaction. Empirical testing of the model is based on a sample of 157 enterprises from the Taiwanese information service industry. The results show that 10 of the 16 hypothesized relationships are supported by empirical data. The implications of these findings for knowledge management are discussed.

Semantic-based facial expression recognition using analytical hierarchy process

In this paper we present an automatic facial expression recognition system that utilizes a semantic-based learning algorithm using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). All the automatic facial expression recognition methods are similar in that they first extract some low-level features from the images or video, then these features are used as inputs into a classification system, and the outcome is one of the preselected emotion categories. Although the effectiveness of low-level features in automatic facial expression recognition systems has been widely studied, the success is shadowed by the innate discrepancy between the machine and human perception to the image. The gap between low-level visual features and high-level semantics should be bridged in a proper way in order to construct a seamless automatic facial expression system satisfying the user perception. For this purpose, we use the AHP to provide a systematical way to evaluate the fitness of a semantic description for interpreting the emotion of a face image. A semantic-based learning algorithm is also proposed to adapt the weights of low-level visual features for automatic facial expression recognition. The weights are chosen such that the discrepancy between the facial expression recognition results obtained in terms of low-level features and high-level semantic description is small. In the recognition phase, only the low-level features are used to classify the emotion of an input face image. The proposed semantic learning scheme provides a way to bridge the gap between the high-level semantic concept and the low-level features for automatic facial expression recognition. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed method is excellent when it is compared with that of traditional facial expression recognition methods.

The role of IT in achieving operational agility: A case study of Haier, China

Abstract Operational agility has increasingly become essential for survival and prosperity for contemporary organizations. Given its significant role in a turbulent business environment, this concept has garnered considerable research attention over the past ten years. However, due to the complex nature of operational agility, how to achieve this important organizaitonal capability is still not clearly understood. Thus the present study attempts to open this black box through examing a case study of Haier, the largest household appliances producer in China. The findings of this case highlight the significant role played by IT leveraging competence in achieving operational agility. It shows that IT leveraging competence helps enhance firms ability to process information in a turbulent business environment, which results in information processing efficiency and information processing effectiveness. With the enhancement in the ability to process information, the focal firm is capable to sense and respond to market changes more readily.

A semantic learning for content-based image retrieval using analytical hierarchy process

In this paper, a new semantic learning method for content-based image retrieval using the analytic hierarchical process (AHP) is proposed. AHP proposed by Satty used a systematical way to solve multi-criteria preference problems involving qualitative data and was widely applied to a great diversity of areas. In general, the interpretations of an image are multiple and hard to describe in terms of low-level features due to the lack of a complete image understanding model. The AHP provides a good way to evaluate the fitness of a semantic description used to interpret an image. According to a predefined concept hierarchy, a semantic vector, consisting of the fitness values of semantic descriptions of a given image, is used to represent the semantic content of the image. Based on the semantic vectors, the database images are clustered. For each semantic cluster, the weightings of the low-level features (i.e. color, shape, and texture) used to represent the content of the images are calculated by analyzing the homogeneity of the class. In this paper, the values of weightings setting to the three low-level feature types are diverse in different semantic clusters for retrieval. The proposed semantic learning scheme provides a way to bridge the gap between the high-level semantic concept and the low-level features for content-based image retrieval. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed method is excellent when compared with that of the traditional text-based semantic retrieval techniques and content-based image retrieval methods.

Design and implementation of an ontology-based information technology outsourcing evaluation system using AHP

Adopting IT is essentially an organisational innovation process. In particular, recent emphasis on IT adoption has raised the level of interest and concern about IT outsourcing, which is the practice of turning over part or all of an organisations IT functions to external service providers. However, evaluating IT outsourcing decisions is still problematic. To address this issue, a new evaluation system using the ontology-based approach and analytic hierarchical process is proposed. The proposed system aims to facilitate the selection of appropriate measures and transform the selected criteria into a hierarchical framework that is suitable for conducting subjective comparisons. A prototype system is implemented and shown by an exemplary case. The implications, limitations and future works of the proposed system for the evaluation of IT outsourcing decisions are discussed.

An integration framework of innovation assessment for the knowledge-intensive service industry

As innovation becomes critical in the trend of the knowledge economy and there is significant growth in the knowledge-intensive service industry (KISI), this study tries to explore the nature of the KISI and the concept of innovation measurement. We suggest the three dimensions of the assessment – capability, behaviour and performance – as the basic conceptual building stones linking the system view of innovation and the target – KISI – to establish an integration framework. An illustrative case of the Industrial Technology and Research Institute (ITRI), the largest nonprofit R&D institute in Taiwan, was conducted to show the actual application of the framework. The integration framework provides better support to the explanation of the assessment results with the diagnostic and strategic management of innovation problems. It is helpful to reveal in-depth issues, such as the innovation performance may not be good in spite of good capability, or that a good performance may not be sustainable due to weak capability and aberrant behaviour. An assessment with higher resolution may be needed to produce more significant indicators for the specific types of KISI in future research.

Understanding the roles of business ecosystems in large public IT infrastructure project development: The case of M-Taipei

Abstract This case study examines how public–private business ecosystems play a critical role in pubic IT infrastructure project development. In studying the worlds foremost wireless “cyber city,” the M-Taipei project, we argue that the symbiotic nature of relationships in business ecosystems is of critical importance in conducting the public IT project. Based on the case data, we differentiate three forms of business ecosystems – knowledge-oriented, resource-oriented, and business-oriented which emerged in the different phases of project development. We hope to provide a foundation for future discussions on this increasingly important view of research and practice.

Resource fit in digital transformation

Purpose – The implementation of e‐banking projects highlights the importance of digital transformation for contemporary organizations in order to survive and achieve competitive advantage in a digital economy. This paper aims to explore the development process of digital transformation through an e‐banking project based on the resource fit concept.Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative method of case study is applied. In total, 17 in‐depth interviews and secondary data were collected and analyzed.Findings – Numerous researches related to e‐banking have focused on either the resource‐based theory or strategic fit perspective, but not on both. This paper makes a unique contribution by constructing a resource fit framework that integrates these two theories. This framework offers a theoretical advancement in the resource fit literature. It includes four dimensions: external resource fit, internal resource fit, external capability fit, and internal capability fit. Through an actual empirical case exami...