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Smart Manufacturing Systems based on Cyber-physical Manufacturing Services (CPMS)

Future manufacturing is becoming “smart” – capable of agilely adapting to a wide variety of changing conditions. This requires production plants, supply chains and logistic systems to be flexible in design and reconfigurable “on the fly” to respond quickly to customer needs, production uncertainties, and market changes. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides a promising platform to achieve such manufacturing agility. It has proven effective for business process adaptation. When combined with the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) technology and the concept of cyber-physical production systems, it is expected to similarly revolutionize real-time manufacturing systems. This paper proposes a new concept of cyber-physical manufacturing services (CPMS) for service-oriented smart manufacturing systems. In addition, we propose a modeling framework that provides appropriate conceptual models for developing and describing CPMS and enabling their composition. Specifically, the modeling framework separates service provision models from service request models and proposes the use of standardized functional taxonomies and a reference ontology to facilitate the mediation between service requests and service consumptions. A 3D-printing use case serves as an example implementation of an SOA-based smart manufacturing system based on our proposed modeling framework.

The prioritization and categorization method (PCM) process evaluation at Ericsson: a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate and evaluate the prioritization and categorization method (PCM), which facilitates the active participation of process stakeholders (managers, owners, customers) in process assessments. Stakeholders evaluate processes in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and relevance against certain contextual business and industry factors. This collective evaluation serves as a foundation for the management decision-making process regarding process improvement and redesign. Design/methodology/approach – The PCM is examined based on a case study at Ericsson. In total, 55 stakeholders, representing different organizational levels and functions, assessed eight core processes. Follow-up interviews and feedback after the evaluation sessions were collected for triangulation purpose. Findings – The PCM helps Ericsson evaluate its processes within business context and industry environments. The results show that, to realize seamless end-to-end processes in the eight assessed processes, Ericsson has to make a greater effort to improve its process structures, governance and culture for fulfilling the needs of future business. Ericsson Steering Group is satisfied with the insights provided and has decided to train more stakeholders to use PCM. Research limitations/implications – This research is based on a single case within a specific organizational setting. The results may not be necessary generalizable to other business and industry settings. Organizations need to configure PCM in consideration of their own processes and business contingencies to explore and fulfil their process improvement purposes. Originality/value – This paper presents a new context-aware, easy-to-use and holistic method for business process management (BPM), the PCM. The method requires the active engagement of stakeholders, it focusses on developing dynamic BPM capabilities and fully embeds organizational contingencies and contextual factors in the decision-making regarding BPM. This paper contributes a novel method to explorative BPM.

Business model stress testing: A practical approach to test the robustness of a business model

Business models and business model innovation are increasingly gaining attention in practice as well as in academic literature. However, the robustness of business models (BM) is seldom tested vis-à-vis the fast and unpredictable changes in digital technologies, regulation and markets. The evaluation of the robustness of a BM raises several issues, such as how to describe the business model in a structured way, how to determine a relevant set of changes to test against, how to assess their impact on business model components, and how to use the results of the assessment to strengthen the business model. In this paper, we propose business model stress testing as a practical approach to evaluate the robustness of business model components. The method builds upon concepts from business model innovation and scenario planning. We illustrate our approach using a case example. Our approach enables testing individual business model components as well as the interrelation between components. The approach visualizes challenges and suggests ways to increase the robustness of BM. The stress testing approach is particularly useful in a stage of business model experimentation, i.e. if a company has to choose between alternative business models or still has to implement the business model. The underlying software tool is openly available for reuse and further development. The paper contributes to futures research literature by delivering the first method that allows to test the robustness of business models against future uncertainties.

The Framework of Business Model in the Context of Industrial Internet of Things

The purpose of this article is an attempt to develop the concept of a business model dedicated to companies implementing technologies of the Industrial Internet of Things. The proposed concept has been developed to support traditional companies in the transition to the digital market. The study was based on the available literature on the impact the Industrial Internet of Things has on the economy and business models.

The Cambridge Business Model Innovation Process

Organisations increasingly understand that meeting their sustainability ambitions does not only require new technologies, but innovation on the business model level. To facilitate the design of more sustainable business models, a range of new tools and techniques have been developed. While this resulted in the design of a wide range of promising business models, only very few are successfully implemented. The Cambridge Business Model Innovation Process is a framework developed to guide organisations’ business model innovation efforts and map the necessary activities and potential challenges. In this paper, we introduce the framework and present an exploratory attempt of applying it to a social start-up. The preliminary result of this experience led us to build a comprehensive research agenda that aims at developing tools and processes to help organisations in bridging the design-implementation gap in sustainable business model innovation.

An Explanatory Study on the Co-evolutionary Mechanisms of Business IT Alignment

Business IT Alignment is considered an enduring topic in academic and practitioners’ literature. The interest in the subject is justified by the link, demonstrated by several studies, between alignment and corporate performances. However, alignment research has not yet been translated into practices, theoretically demonstrated in literature and applied to companies. The interpretation of alignment as a function of independent factors and the underestimation of the complex nature of alignment process are considered key barriers in alignment achievement. The present study is based on a multi-case study analysis carried out in two companies that implemented alignment processes. We conceptualise alignment as a co-evolution process and derive four mechanisms and three types of parameters and explain their role in alignment implementation. The contribution is theoretical, since we analyse and describe mechanisms and factors that govern alignment, and for the practitioners, since knowledge of these mechanisms is precondition for an effective alignment implementation.