Technology and Innovation Commons^™

A Little Common Sense Is A Dangerous Thing: The Inherent Inconsistency Between Ksr And Current Official Notice Policy, Eli M. Sheets

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “The question of whether an invention is an obvious variation of existing technology is one that has troubled courts for decades. From its roots in nineteenth century case law to the recent Supreme Court decision KSR v. Teleflex, Inc., the doctrine of obviousness has waxed and waned—moving through a variety of judicially-created tests to a current state that is still far from perspicuous.

This paper will examine obviousness through a particular lens: the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO,” “PTO”) tool known as “official notice”—the practice of declaring a patent application’s claims unpatentable as obvious based on undocumented reasoning, …

Business And Data Analytics: New Innovations In The Management Of E-Commerce, Robert J. Kauffman, Jaideep Srivastava, Jamshid Vayghan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The success of many different kinds of e-business operations depends on data and information, and how they are used to optimize operations, drive sales and marketing, and grow the business. The ability to manage and safeguard data as a strategic asset, transform it into actionable information, and use it as a strategic differentiator is a key contributor to the success of any business operation. What makes this an even more interesting challenge is the speed at which data have been growing in recent years, due to social networking, the Internet, mobile telephony and all kinds of new technologies that create …

The Effects Of Culture And Structure On Strategic Flexibility During Business Model Innovation, Adam J. Bock, Tore Opsahl, Gerard George, David M. Gann

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study uses responses from 107 multinational firms to reveal CEO perceptions of the drivers of strategic flexibility during business model innovation. While the positive effect of creative culture is confirmed, partner reliance reduces strategic flexibility during business model innovation. Further, structural change is disaggregated into efforts that either focus managerial attention on core activities or reconfigure existing activities. CEOs perceive that structural flexibility requires structural simplification while retaining control of non-core functions. We find that the relative magnitude of business model innovation effort moderates the effect of reconfiguration on strategic flexibility. The implications for theories of organizational design and …

The Central Role Of Information Systems In Managing Crises, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Important decisions should be taken with the best information available. Such an axiom may not apply, however, in large-scale emergency situations where officials would find themselves in a bind, unable to access accurate data yet faced with huge responsibilities to be effective at work. These complexities led a team of researchers, including SMU's associate professor of accounting, Gary Pan, to examine how information systems may facilitate management and coordination work at times of crises.

Wind Turbine Safety: Developing A Technician Training Course, Isaac Slaven, Ed Dennis

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

This article examines the development of a safety course for prospective wind technicians. The goal was to increase student interest in safety topics related to the wind turbine industry and to maintain the material within the OSHA-10 topics guidelines.

Wind Turbine Safety: Developing A Technician Training Course, Isaac Slaven, Ed Dennis

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

This article examines the development of a safety course for prospective wind technicians. The goal was to increase student interest in safety topics related to the wind turbine industry and to maintain the material within the OSHA-10 topics guidelines.

Containment And Virtualization Slot Technology And The Remaking Of The Casino Industry, Kah-Wee Lee

Occasional Papers

This paper examines how the casino industry was transformed by slot technology between 1950 and 1990. The criminalization of slot machines in the 1950s led to their massive evacuation into Las Vegas casinos. In this concentrated environment, slot machines revealed to casino operators an automated surveillance technology that could disassemble the player into streams of virtual data, not through any overt means, but through the very activity of play itself. Slot managers and gaming technologists found themselves empowered professionally as they experimented with ways to transform data into profits. From the 1970s to the 90s, this technological development effectively linked …

Intellectual Capital And Firm Performance: An Empirical Study Of Software Firms In West Africa, Mohammed-Sani Abdulai, Youngsun Kwon, Junghoon Moon

The African Journal of Information Systems

This study investigates factors instrumental to the success of software industries of the 3I Nations (India, Ireland and Israel), examines the relationship between its elements, and studies the performance of software firms in West Africa. The study draws on concepts from multiple theoretical perspectives to develop a model for assessing the relationship between intellectual capital of software firms and their performance. The developed model was experimentally validated through a field survey of 83 software companies in West Africa using the Partial Least Square method. The survey results show significant relationship between the elements of intellectual capital and competitive capabilities of …

January 18, 2012, Lumpkin College Of Business And Applied Sciences

Curriculum Committee

No abstract provided.

Bringing Bottom Of The Pyramid Markets And Consumers Into The Economic Mainstream, Al Hammond

Social Space

Governments and markets have failed to adequately serve the four billion consumers at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP). Al Hammond explains why this is so and outlines strategies for how different players can harness the growth of the BOP market.

Forecasts For A Fairer Future, Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg

Politics

A system delivering weather details via short message service (SMS) to farmers in Kenya makes use of traditional and modern forecasting methods, alerting them to periods of heavy rain or drought. The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), a climate research institute representing seven east African countries, is working on a system using cell phones to help farmers address the negative impacts of climate change. The new system makes use of the Nganyi's traditional forecasting techniques combined with data from the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD). KMD staff compile the resulting information and enter it into a database. The information …

Long Live Design Science Research! .... And Remind Me Again About Whether It Is A New Research Paradigm Or A Rationale Of Last Resort For Worthwhile Research That Doesn't Fit Under Any Other Umbrella, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

There is broadening and increasingly unquestioned acceptance of design science research (DSR). Recently, DSR may have provided an important bridge for overcoming or bypassing artificial barriers to accepting the legitimacy of certain types of research, but in some cases it is not obvious how DSR actually contributed to the research. Perhaps it is time to retire the assumption that DSR is somehow a new and different paradigm for doing research and to move on. Recognizing that the information-systems discipline is quintessentially rooted in design, this panel examines whether we actually need DSR to legitimize research that produces interesting and valuable …

Genuinely Service-Oriented Enterprises: Using Work System Theory To See Beyond The Promise Of Efficient Software, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

The concept of service-oriented enterprise has great potential. Taken literally, however, it raises many issues, including practical difficulties of creating a service-oriented enterprise in the computer science sense and the huge leap from flexible IT infrastructure to an enterprise that is genuinely oriented toward providing services for customers and employees. This paper is a conceptual contribution showing how work system theory can help in seeing analysis and design issues beyond technical architectures that have dominated research to date. After summarizing background concepts related to service, service systems, and the vision of service-oriented enterprises, this paper explains how work system theory …

The Knowledge Cube: Scaffolding For A Body Of Knowledge About Information Systems, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper answers calls for a body of knowledge (BoK) for the IS field. Its new approach for thinking about a BoK provides a path for addressing a longstanding problem in the IS discipline. The paper proposes organizing knowledge as a three dimensional "knowledge cube" that goes beyond compilations of categories of knowledge, sets of generalizations, and sets of documents. The structure of the knowledge cube is based on recognition that "work system in general" is a general case whose subordinate cases include information system in general and project in general. In turn, the special cases have their own special …

A Work System Front End For Object-Oriented Analysis And Des, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper proposes that basic ideas from the work system theory (WST) and the work system method (WSM) might become a front end to object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD). After describing the background motivation and summarizing work system concepts, it uses a hiring system example to show how two tools from WSM can be used as a front end for OOAD, in effect, a step before creating use case diagrams. Potential benefits of this approach stem from a business-oriented question, "how can we improve this work system's performance," rather than an IT-oriented question, "how can we create an IT artifact …

Metamodel For Service Analysis And Design Based On An Operational View Of Service And Service Systems, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This paper presents a metamodel that addresses service system analysis and design based on an operational view of service that traverses and integrates three essential layers, service activities, service systems, and value constellations. The metamodel's service-in-operation perspective and underlying premises diverge from a view of service systems as systems of economic exchange that has appeared a number of times in the journal Service Science.

In addition to the metamodel itself, this paper's contributions include an explanation of eight premises on which it is based plus clarifications concerning concepts such as service, service system, customer, product/service, co-production and co-creation of value, …

Beckon The Dragon: How Businesses Can Attract The Chinese Consumers Through Digital Marketing, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

With a population of more than 1.3 billion people, China is one market that any business would be remiss not to attract. But, with the population spread over an area of 9,600,000 sq km, how do businesses ensure their messages get through to their potential customers?

Business Strategies For Emerging Markets: Agility, Size And Taste, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Success in a new emerging market depends on many factors, such as market size, its purchasing power, and competition. Marketing strategies are critical for success too. While many companies have traditionally opted to localise their brands, a group of speakers at SMU's Centre for Emerging Markets believe that businesses need to be far more agile in differentiating themselves for local customers – especially as markets become increasingly global and homogenous.

The Impact Of Social Networking Sites On College Students' Consumption Patterns, Whitney Sue Thoene

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This research study examines the effect of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, on the purchasing habits of college students by testing for correlations between recommendations on social media and consumption patterns. Moreover, the research also examines the role of gender and social media usage frequency on consumption patterns. Findings revealed that both Facebook and Twitter are being used to obtain sales information and promotions. Furthermore, gender has an impact on both social networking sites. Additionally, this study found the higher the frequency of social media usage the more likely customers are to shop at the businesses they have befriended.

The Innovative Success That Is Apple, Inc., Katherine Johnson, Yang Li, Hang Phan, Jason Singer, Hoang Trinh

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Apple, Inc. has been a successful company for years now. However, the company faces issues just like any other company. How Apple responds to these issues is in conjunction to the strengths and weaknesses of the firm. The business-level strategy of Apple also has much to do with how the company approaches various situations. The diversity and organization of the firm itself helps to address any issues that may arise. Competing in high level competitive industries also requires Apple Inc. changing day by day in order to overcome its competitors.