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Management of Innovation and Technology/Management Information Systems.

Information Systems.

SER (Sugar, Energy & Rum) was a company belonging to the Grupo Pellas Corporation. The company operated in four countries, had six subsidiaries, employed more than 25,000 people, had more than 43,500 manzanas of sugarcane crops in Nicaragua alone and had global annual sales of more than US$400m. In 2008, due to the negative effects of the crisis on the company’s business model (increasing costs due to higher prices for fuel and decreasing income because of low international sugar prices), the company decided to implement a business intelligence (BI) system to optimize its processes to reduce costs and increase productivity. At that time, the company had more than 100 years of data, information systems that fed into their main business processes and a culture that appreciated data as the basis for decision-making. However, there were inconsistencies among data systems, users received highly complex reports in Excel or green screens and process monitoring happened long after the tasks had been completed. As a response, SER used extract–transform–load to collect and clean data that would be used in the BI system (the case leaves the questions regarding the systems selection unsolved for discussion). Based on their business model, they selected the most critical processes and defined key performance indicators to measure the impact of changes in those processes. They considered graphic design as a tool to make the system more accepted by users and worked together with users so that reports only offered the most important information. The result was improved costs and productivity. They decreased manual time spent by 14 per cent, automated time spent by 10 per cent, and eliminated 1,556 hours of dead time for equipment in the field, which allowed them to increase productivity by US$1m just in sugar. They saved 20,000 trips from the fields to the factories, which represented more than US$1m in savings by monitoring the weight of wagons loaded with sugarcane in real time. They improved client perceptions about the company both locally and internationally by implementing a sugar traceability system.

The case “Business Intelligence at the Grupo Pellas SER Company” has as its objective to respond to the question: How does a company make its BI system implementation successful? As such, the case: Discusses what a BI system is and what it provides to a business analyses challenges, benefits and context when implementing a BI system; analyses success factors and recommendations in the BI system implementation process; analyses the process of implementing a BI and highlights the importance of the system priority questions and technological alternatives.

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CSS 11: Strategy

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate a unique opportunity to analyze the implications of two different approaches to develop and deploy a national public electronic procurement system.

The authors used multiple data collection methods. The data were collected from 2009 to 2013 from primary sources, studies, consulting work, seminars, official documents and the written press. The structure includes a teaching case, a teaching note and a discussion on the potential of case research as a powerful method to elicit valuable insights and knowledge creation.

The research shows that literature on E-Procurement and E-Government is oblivious to the disruptive character of this technology in public administration. This case allows the discussion on the consequences of this omission for the success of E-Procurement implementations. Lessons drawn are extendable to other E-Government ventures.

Despite multiple stakeholder views and a long and difficult debate among different technical platforms, the underlying problem remains unnoticed. The authors show that decisions on E-Procurement implementations should also consider organizational design and adoption of innovation strategies. By re-framing the problem, much of the complexity of the decision disappears.

Many nations around the world are developing or revamping their National Public E-Procurement Systems, this parsimonious account of a complex decision allows for the exploration and discussion of the various complexities surrounding technological innovations in public management and brings light to a critical and mostly ignore success factor associated with the choice on the implementation and operational model.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of legal protection mechanisms to sustain competitive advantage and appropriate technological intellectual capital, taking into account its degree of complexity.

The empirical analysis was conducted on a sample of Spanish biotechnology firms, devoted to human and animal health, having a specific department for carrying on R&D activities from 2001 to 2003. The hypotheses were tested by non‐parametric techniques after collecting data by sending a questionnaire as the primary source of information.

The results show that the higher the complexity of technological knowledge, the greater the protection of intellectual capital against imitation. In addition, it is proven that legal protection is an effective means of protection against imitation only when technological knowledge has a low degree of complexity.

Within the resource‐based view context, our results provide new empirical evidence about the great impact of the complexity of technological intellectual capital on evaluating the effectiveness of legal protection mechanisms and sustaining competitive advantage.

This research is of great value for strategic technological decision‐making. Although several studies present the theoretical conditions that explain how firms can create imitation “barriers”, the empirical evidence found is very scarce and controversial, especially for the Spanish biotechnology industry. The results obtained here offer new empirical evidence on the resource‐based view.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework with which to understand the issues that arise in the discussion cases included in this Special Issue and explains the role of case studies in the education of those responsible for leading organizations.

This paper is based upon the review of literature from a range of disciplines, all of which is relevant to executive learning; the analysis of the cases and papers in this Special Issue, and interviews with colleagues who use the case method.

The case method is useful in the education of managerial decision makers who face complex situations, but it is most effective when the cases contain certain essential ingredients and when the instructor is skilled in discussion leadership. These ingredients include the presence of a protagonist, the deep description of a problematic situation, the existence of at least two reasonable courses of action, and sufficient data to evaluate each alternative. The interactive nature of case discussions reinforces those values and behaviors that associate with civility.

Since some of the discussion cases were in the process of completion, it was not always possible to evaluate the experience with their use in the classroom.

The introductory paper points to broader opportunities for the use of the case method, and for its adaptation to experiential learning, than is generally recognized in academia.

The use of discussion cases in management schools, where future business leaders interact with professors and classmates in an environment of critical learning and respect for opinions of others, encourages behaviors of civility.

This introductory paper is valuable in providing a framework to integrate and make sense of the diverse topics, situations, and contexts described in the cases contained in the Special Issue.

Given the growing importance of the relationship between customer value co-creation and customer satisfaction, it is essential to assess the implications of this connection from both a managerial and an academic perspective. The literature on this link has grown enormously in recent years. However, there lacks an integrative framework to improve its understanding. Based on the use of bibliometric techniques, the purpose of this article is threefold: firstly, to shed light on the relationship's knowledge structure by identifying the main clusters of topics; secondly, to propose an integrative conceptual framework and finally, to identify future avenues of research.

The authors analyze a database of 133 recent documents dealing with this pairing to address this gap. A bibliometric coupling methodology was used. Additionally, an in-depth analysis of centrality, density and citations for the different clusters identified in the last years was performed. The authors characterize each group in the knowledge map of the relationship.

This bibliometric analysis identified seven thematic clusters. Three of these, with a more transversal nature, have fostered the growth of this literature. The subsequent clusters used theoretical frameworks present in the first three clusters, adapting them to the specific circumstances analyzed, following different patterns of evolution. The authors present the behavior of the citations in each cluster over recent years, analyzing their intellectual base, trends and development potential.

Derived from their findings, an integrative conceptual framework for explaining the knowledge structure of research in value co-creation and the customer satisfaction literature is proposed. The authors identify main topics by clusters and then detect research gaps and propose new research avenues for the future.

The purpose of this study is to identify the key factors that drive social entrepreneurship (SE) among Ecuadorian social entrepreneurs.

The study was developed following a qualitative and exploratory research design based on the identification of social entrepreneurs through the nonprobabilistic sequential sampling technique, giving a total of fifteen social entrepreneurs who were given a structured interview that was later analyzed in the ATLAS.TI software for the identification, analysis and categorization of drivers.

The results will identify eight drivers for SE, including social exclusion, public support, sources of employment, economic income, family support, environmental awareness and fair trade, as standards and values. Overall, the findings help to improve the understanding of the factors that determine the creation and development of social enterprises in the country.

Deepen and increase the literature on SE in Latin America. Contribute to reducing the knowledge gap on the topic.

Taken together, the results provide empirical evidence and help to better understand the factors that determine the creation and development of social enterprises in the country.

Identificar los factores clave que impulsan el emprendimiento social en emprendedores sociales ecuatorianos.

El estudio se desarrolló siguiendo un diseño de investigación cualitativo y exploratorio basado en la identificación de emprendedores sociales a través de la técnica de muestreo secuencial no probabilístico, obteniendo un total de quince emprendedores sociales a quienes se les realizó una entrevista estructurada que posteriormente fue analizada en el software ATLAS.TI para la identificación, análisis y categorización de impulsores.

Los resultados identificarán ocho impulsores del empresariado social, entre los que se encuentran la exclusión social, el apoyo público, las fuentes de empleo, los ingresos económicos, el apoyo familiar, la conciencia medioambiental y el comercio justo, como normas y valores. En general, los resultados ayudan a mejorar la comprensión de los factores que determinan la creación y el desarrollo de empresas sociales en el país.

En conjunto, los resultados aportan evidencia empírica y ayudan a comprender mejor los factores que determinan la creación y desarrollo de empresas sociales en el país.

Profundizar e incrementar la literatura sobre Emprendimiento Social en América Latina. Contribuir a reducir la brecha de conocimiento sobre el tema.

Identificar os principais fatores que impulsionam o empreendedorismo social nos empreendedores sociais equatorianos.

O estudo foi desenvolvido de acordo com um projeto de pesquisa qualitativo e exploratório baseado na identificação de empreendedores sociais por meio da técnica de amostragem sequencial não probabilística, totalizando quinze empreendedores sociais que foram submetidos a uma entrevista estruturada, posteriormente analisada no software ATLAS.TI para identificação, análise e categorização dos fatores determinantes.

Os resultados identificarão oito motivadores do empreendedorismo social, incluindo exclusão social, apoio público, fontes de emprego, renda econômica, apoio familiar, consciência ambiental e comércio justo, como padrões e valores. Em geral, os resultados ajudam a melhorar a compreensão dos fatores que determinam a criação e o desenvolvimento de empresas sociais no país.

Em conjunto, os resultados fornecem evidências empíricas e ajudam a entender melhor os fatores que determinam a criação e o desenvolvimento de empresas sociais no país.

Aprofundar e aumentar a literatura sobre empreendedorismo social na América Latina. Contribuir para reduzir a lacuna de conhecimento sobre o tema.

This chapter explores how network bricolage, as a form of collective entrepreneurship, develops over time and influences the shape and form of an organization. Using a historical organization study of SEUR, a Spanish courier company founded in 1942, the authors show how network bricolage is implemented as a dynamic process of collaborative efforts between bricoleurs who draw on their historical experience to build and develop an organization. Our study offers two main contributions. In combining network bricolage with ideas of collective entrepreneurship, the authors first extend knowledge about the practice of bricolage and the role of the bricoleur in the entrepreneurial context beyond start-up. Second, the authors show that, while entrepreneurs’ decisions are historically contingent, it is how entrepreneurs wed past experience with current context which informs their actions in the present, shaping the enterprise for the future.

In a project-based learning experience, the detailed monitoring of the activities in which team members participate can be useful to evaluate their work. However, the project activity produces a large amount of data that can be hardly assessed by a single project supervisor. This poses a scalability issue if the number of users or projects size increases. In this vein, the purpose of this paper is to make the assessment of online learning experiences more sustainable.

This paper describes a learning-oriented collaborative assessment method, supported by an open data framework. Also, an architecture for the extraction of different indicators to facilitate the assessment process is presented.

The assessment method and the open data framework were applied to a project-based course on web engineering. This experience has provided positive evidences because the grade measurement was backed up with assessment evidences and calculated with less effort.

At the moment, results indicate that apparently there are no significant evidences against the sustainable evaluation practices for students’ summative evaluation. Nevertheless, when more data become available, a more statistically significant analysis could be made to determine the influence of the assessment practices in the final result of the evaluated skills.

In contrast to various existing proposals for e-assessment, the strategy focuses on assessing learning experiences in software development projects. Also, the approach is based on the reuse of information from external process supporting tools by integrating a number of metrics in a non-intrusive way.