Proving the Science

This chapter is about the process by which an inventor (a physician) secures the expertise he needs to determine if his observations and resulting patent have commercial value. It is also about the process by which the university accepts the engagement. A physician with an unproven patent contracting with a university for market and scientific research that would establish the commercial viability of his invention. It explores patterns of social networking, searching, communications, and negotiations theory to describe an inventor’s quest for evidence that his invention worked. The chapter outlines the process by which the physician searched his network to find resources outside of his field of expertise that could guide his next steps in evaluating the commercial potential of his invention. In addition, it describes the information gathering and negotiation process leading to a university contract. The case illustrates that the issuance of a patent does not represent either technical proficiency or market potential for an invention.

Social Networking for Distance Caregiving and Aging in Place

This case examines the business development process for launching a social network targeting older adult caregivers many of whom have chronic health conditions. An older adult becomes a member of a social network called iShare-With-U.biz to monitor online one or more health conditions. He or she invites family and friends to join a private network for support in distance caregiving, staying connected in personal health management, and socializing using common social networking features. Web site design is discussed in terms of usability by older adults. Health Web sites and social networks are assessed in terms of usage by age group. Options for revenue generation are identified when taking into account free and fee-based Web site membership. The case concludes with a discussion of challenges facing online startups given rapid changes in technology, minimal barriers to market entry, and a near saturation point for Web sites with social networking capabilities.

Case "Mobile-INTEGRAL"

The case “Integral” is about how a multinational company specializing in machinery goods uses high technology in its field support and mandated safety solutions to migrate its customer relationships into partnerships of growing scope and with new revenue streams. The key technologies are in-situ equipment monitoring and wireless communications. The key management ingredients are top management’s understanding and respect for operational issues. The history of the case also illustrates the importance of the strategic choice of the in-house vs. in-sourced nature of the needed technical expertise, and of a gradual deployment compatible with the fast technology evolution.

Institutional Innovation and Entrepreneurial Deployment of a Software Product

This chapter represents entrepreneurship as a temporal evolution of the creation and control over assets. The value of the asset lies in its transactional relations with other assets in the ecosystem or in other words being part of the architecture of related assets. It is argued that the deployment of financial trading software, as a product in brokerage houses in the emerging securities trading ecosystem in India by the software firm called Financial Technologies (FT), hastened institutionalization of new rules governing transactions embedded in the software design. As a result, FT implicitly collaborated with the regulator and other ecosystem participants who coordinated the innovation in design of the ecosystem. The software firm went on to expand the market for its own products (trading software) by incubating exchange ventures. This was achieved through a strategy of spawning of linked subsidiaries that led to both a growth of the trading ecosystem and further entrenchment of the innovated ecosystem.

The Egyptian National Post Organization Past, Present and Future

Over the last 20 years, the international postal sector has changed drastically due to several forces, including globalization, changing technology, greater demands for efficient services and market liberalization. For Egypt, keeping up with the changing atmosphere in the global market meant investing in information and communication technology. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), as part of its efforts to transforming government performance using ICT, chose the Egyptian National Post Organization (ENPO) as a model for ICT integrated government portal. The selection was due to ENPO’s extensive network, the public’s confidence and its trust in the organization. The case of ENPO, capitalizing on public-private partnership models, proved successful when reflecting ICT deployment for organizational transformation within the context of an emerging economy. In addition to its importance in providing eGovernment services to citizens, ENPO is evolving as a critical medium for effectively developing Egypt’s eCommerce. This case study takes an in-depth look at how ICT has improved the quality and range of services offered by ENPO, while asserting the magnitude of its impact on the country’s emergence as a competitor in today’s global postal market.

Technology Innovation Adoption and Diffusion

The literature on technology innovation adoption and diffusion is vast. In this chapter, we organize and summarize some of the major perspectives from this body of literature, contrasting various theoretical perspectives on how innovations are adopted and shaped by organizational processes and structure. We first introduce the technology acceptance model, and innovation diffusion theory; and then we categorize viewpoints about organizational innovativeness. Drawing from this framework, for our case study background we introduce adaptive structuration theory, redefining some of its conceptual relationships in “structuration agency theory,” putting primacy on the actions of agents and the means by which they operate through and around institutional structures. We then present a case study example of an expert decision support system, and we conclude with a discussion of implications for managers and entrepreneurs.

Paradigms, Science, and Technology

This chapter explores the concept of paradigms, science, and technology in the context of information technology (IT). Therefore, the linear model of Francis Bacon and Thomas Kuhn’s notion of scientific paradigms are reviewed. This review reveals that the linear model has to be advanced, and supports the adoption of Kuhnian ideas from science to technology. As IT paradigms transform business processes, a five-level concept is introduced for deriving managerial implications and guidelines. Within the case of e-customs, a European-funded project tries to ease border security and control by adopting a common standardized e-customs solution across the public sector in Europe. The rise of the IT paradigm within customs and its effect on business operations will be explained. This chapter contributes to the research in diffusion and adoption of innovation using science progress and the interplay of science and technology as dominant concepts.

Use of the Concern-Task-Interaction-Outcome (CTIO) Cycle for Virtual Teamwork

This chapter introduces the CTIO (Concern-Task-Interaction-Outcome) Cycle as a means of studying team member interaction using face-to-face and virtual interaction media in retail banking. The type of interaction is discussed in terms of different conceptual cycles having a linkage in the framing of the CTIO Cycle. In the past, routine teamwork using face-to-face communication was important. Today, with emerging technologies for retail banking organizations, teamwork through virtual communication has been gaining importance for increased productivity. This chapter addresses different problem-solving cycles, each of which relates to the mode of interaction medium (whether face-to-face or virtual) used by team members, facilitators, or managers to resolve problems in the workplace. The chapter focuses on understanding the relationship between face-to-face and virtual interaction variables. This is important to researchers in identifying retail banking trends using hybrid teams and virtual group networks with routine teamwork. Using virtual over face-to-face interactions in the different data life cycles linkages are gaining importance from the perspectives of data and information quality. This can be attributed to the increased use of technologies and virtual network features. Current trends are leading to the triangulation of continuous improvement, routine teamwork, and virtual teamwork in support of retail banking organizations achieving productive performance.

A Case on University and Community Collaboration

Small businesses are viewed as the backbone of America and integral in the recovery of any economic downturn. Creative approaches to university and community collaboration are being explored to achieve high rates of success in launching, sustaining, and growing small businesses. One such approach, the Entrepreneurial Training Services (ETS) program, is being studied by Sci-Tech University as a means of technology innovation and regional economic development. The ETS Program has several unique features including: the entrenchment of a large number of adults in the program, an intensive training approach that is implemented in a short time frame, personalized mentoring offered to each entrepreneur in the program, and the leveraging of resources with a large, diverse group of community partners. The case profiles the region using Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis, identifies an ETS framework on which the program is based and explains the process of implementation. The case concludes with challenges facing the university and local community in offering the ETS Program to a large and diverse group of entrepreneurs. It also summarizes benefits and successes from initial implementation efforts.

Collaboration, Innovation, and Value Creation

This chapter describes the entrepreneurial vision and business model of Wikimedia, particularly the successes and challenges of its innovations, the wiki and Wikipedia. The case study first traces the history of how Wikimedia was founded, as such providing a rich descriptive background, using information obtained from scholarly news sources and websites. This historical overview is followed by a description of Wikimedia’s business model, including the sources of capital and flows of revenues. The business model is then compared and contrasted to other Internet business models such as Knol, Google’s open encyclopedia. This is followed by a discussion of a balanced scorecard to analyze how the wiki business model generates value. Finally, the case explores the use of Wikipedia from a societal and ethical perspective and provides an illustrative example of its use for collaborative work in a funded academic research project.