The rise in “open innovation” contests has helped companies broaden their research and development while reducing their cost and risk of failure. Such contests easily reach large numbers of external problem solvers with a variety of backgrounds, potentially leading to faster, cheaper and better solutions. These contests also have piqued researcher Pei-yu Chen’s interest in how to make them work more effectively.
There’s a cloudy forecast ahead for corporate IT shops, and it’s getting cloudier fast. Analysts at Gartner predict that Infrastructure-as-a-Service, or cloud-based computing, will reach a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent through 2016. As enterprises adopt cloud computing models, they’ll need to make other changes, too, say researchers at the W. P. Carey School of Business.
Companies have invested heavily in information technology known as Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) systems, which generate everything from basic budget and financial statements to complex forecasts of how to best meet consumer demand. But too few firms are using the systems to their full potential, according to Professor Robert St. Louis and doctoral student Jeremy Glassman.
Toddlers must learn to portion out toys and treats: similarly, organizations face a learning curve when transitioning to shared services. Companies and managers must be willing to change — and education is essential. Tim Olsen, clinical assistant professor of information systems at the W. P. Carey School of Business, has studied these transitions and has identified the lessons that lead to success.
Anyone who’s ever clicked an “add to cart” button after reading an online review knows that such feedback can be a powerful motivator. For companies looking to give employees access to business intelligence (BI) insights via mobile apps, the kind of feedback that shows up in app store ratings is likely to be a powerful development resource, according to Information Systems Professor Michael Goul.
Opportunism in business relationships, such as those between consultants and clients, goes beyond harmlessly stretching the truth. It is, as Gregory Dawson notes, “self-interest seeking with guile,” and its intent is to gain an advantage over others via lying, cheating or other forms of chicanery. So what’s the best way to constrain this behavior? Dawson has been researching your options, and he’s found that legal constraints may not work as effectively as the stigma of a tainted reputation.
