O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&DReturn

This study examines the links between conspicuous consumption and user activity on social media platforms, focusing on Generations Z, Y, and X. A set of statements focusing on conspicuous consumption, consumer behaviour on social media, and their food consumption habits was developed and tested on a sample of 679 respondents from the Czech Republic comprising these generations. Factor analysis was used to group tested statements into factors, and regression analysis was used to examine their association with salient consumption patterns. While the link between social media activity and conspicuous consumption was only confirmed for Generation X, the online behaviour of Generation Z, the confirmed influence of influencers on the purchasing behaviour of this generation, suggests a potential link that requires further  investigation.

Global mergers and faster business cycles create weakly harmonized supply chain (SC) systems. Industry 4.0’s smart digitalization opportunities significantly alter business model innovation rates. Consequently, the complexity of aligning value exploration and exploitation has increased, often missing the needed integration level. A holistic systems engineering (SE)-driven methodology for innovation, transformation, and optimizing smart SC systems is not available so far. Case studies at SAP SE's development organization for Industry 4.0 SCM solutions and three automotive companies explored objectives, obstacles, and methods for digital transformation. The results were synthesized into a holistic SC business model transformation and optimization methodology. Complementary to traditional SCM, the study proposes SE-driven meta-modelling to improve the performance, resilience, and synchronization of end-to-end supply chains. Moreover, holistic simulations and evaluation methods for the ambidexterity of SC business models have been developed, enhancing the effectiveness of value exploration and exploitation, and innovation productivity by holistically viewing emergence and convergence throughout SC capabilities' life cycles. Ambidexterity management and dynamic capabilities are addressed by SE methods like capability engineering and complex dynamic systems theory, integrated into a concise SE model.

In recent decades, digitalization has become increasingly important in the construction industry. Building Information Modeling (BIM), a digital planning method, is becoming increasingly important in the infrastructure sector. Infrastructure planning implementation is complex, so engineering firms still use conventional planning. This study sheds light on the influence of Building Information Modelling (BIM) on increasing productivity in the construction industry. Through a combination of qualitative interviews and quantitative data analysis, an in-depth understanding of the implementation processes, challenges and benefits of BIM was developed. Particular focus was placed on identifying components of success for the effective implementation of BIM in infrastructure engineering firms. The results show that BIM contributes significantly to increasing efficiency by improving the accuracy of project planning, facilitating communication between project participants and reducing the error rate in the execution phase. The study emphasises the need for a clear strategy and training to fully exploit the potential of BIM and provides valuable insights for companies planning to implement BIM.

The research presented aims to close a gap in the measurement of digital maturity for the domain of service which was identified through a systematic literature review. The study provides a holistic Digital Service Transformation Maturity Self-Assessment Model for service provider companies in a B2B-context based on analysis of different digital maturity models and by means of a qualitative approach through expert feedback in a Delphi-process and additional complementary literature review to define maturity assessment items. The presented Digital Service Transformation Maturity Model comprises 8 factors, 27 subfactors and 403 related specific assessment items describing digital maturity from a holistic point of view. The model has been further converted into a simple and practical tool to self-assess and visualize current state of digital maturity. The assessment model finally was pilot tested and the outcomes are also outlined in this article. The designed model provides practical implications for the ease of evaluating and improving digital maturity levels in every aspect of its factors and contributes to the successful management of digital transformation in service provider organizations by offering effective guidance how to move to the desired future maturity level based on a solid understanding of current digital maturity accomplishments.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the service sector. This paper aims to assess how firms in the service sector changed their behavior during the covid-19 pandemic regarding innovations and using flexible forms of work. We obtained responses from approximately 300 companies operating in the Moravian-Silesian region service sector through a questionnaire survey. We show that the most common innovation firms use organizational and process innovation. Moreover, we found that larger, younger, and more internalized firms enjoyed more innovation during the pandemic than others. While changes in part-time jobs and agreements held outside the employment relationship are temporary, changes in home office use and outsourcing appear to be permanent.

In the context of business performance assessment, current research often focuses on evaluating effects of innovation projects with start-ups. Subsumed as corporate venturing (CV), investigating the impact of these projects is becoming increasingly important. Thus, the number of studies on the ex-post value of corporate venturing projects (CVP) has steadily increased over the last years. In contrast, this research attempts to cover the evaluation of CVP in the period between from the contract conclusion to termination. By conducting interviews, this research primarily aims at identifying indicators applied for evaluating CVP performance during the cooperation of subjects in the automotive industry. The results obtained show that evaluation is mostly based on subjective criteria and that no formal indicators are implemented to manage CVP during the collaboration phase. This research contributes to literature by revealing practically applied CVP performance indicators during the collaboration phase and by discussing their weaknesses.

This study explores how supply chain management (SCM) information system (IS) capabilities can lead to superior business performance, and what are the detailed capabilities and methods to master volatility and uncertainties in business environments. Key concepts in SC modelling have been identified for decreasing SC complexity and increasing SC agility and key methods for supply network planning and synchronisation for optimising business performance and objectives that are often contradicting at the same time. The study developed a best practice recommendation for profit-optimised SCM for companies with capital intensive and capacity constrained resources such as in the steel companies and others of the industry, and for managing their integration between SC domains and between technological and organisations' needs simultaneously. Finally, the study shows how Industry 4.0 innovations such as Smart Services and blockchain technology can provide new value potentials such as cross-organisational network effects and increased autonomy in SC ecosystems, and concludes with suggestions for further research in needed rules and semantics for SC ecosystem collaboration.

A model for managing strategic alignment and dynamic capabilities (DC) of Supply Chain Management (SCM) information systems (IS) has been developed and applied to a traditional German steel company and a highly innovative Austrian steel company. Different concepts of leading researchers have been combined to get a holistic and detailed view of IS capabilities' impact on strategic fit. The model enables companies to identify ideal levels to strategic fit needed from SC integration and its antecedents for predefining architectural artefacts as sources for dynamic capabilities. The study contributes to new insights into the IT productivity paradox, where possibilities from IS investments remain unused. Essential concepts for optimising SC performance by reducing SC complexity and increasing SC agility have been identified and integrated. The study highlights value enabler and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods of digital SC models and how the model's ontology can be used to increase alignment autonomy. Finally, the approach supports organisational learning and development of cognitive profiles through collective assimilation and sensemaking effects.