How do new entrepreneurial ventures effectively deploy linguistic frames to attract customer demand? Drawing on framing and categories research, we develop and test theory about how category dynamics shape the effectiveness of two commonly observed frames—social impact framing and innovativeness framing—in the context of prosocial categories. We test our predictions by tracking entrepreneurial ventures in the market category for massive open online courses over the category's first 10 years of existence (2012–2021). Our fixed-effects models show that higher levels of category salience increase the effectiveness of a social impact framing but decrease the effectiveness of an innovativeness framing; conversely, higher levels of category crowdedness decrease the effectiveness of a social impact framing but increase the effectiveness of an innovativeness framing.

The diffusion of AI-technology disrupts labor and industries and gives rise to a diverse range of new ventures and product innovations. Such product innovations involve the negotiation of product boundaries among actors in innovation networks, including ventures, investors, and customers. These negotiations consist of social and cognitive translations. For digital products, actors share a common understanding of resource configuration, mainly based on cognitive resonance. However, AI-driven products introduce the “black-box” problem that hinders cognitive translation-based negotiations within innovation networks, as they are not fully cognitively traceable, but emotionally resonant. Using a qualitative research approach and the notion of entrepreneurial framing, we investigate the impact of AI on the negotiation of product boundaries and digital innovation. We reveal that AI-ventures, to maintain ”cognitive” superiority, focus on cutting-edge technology while limiting negotiation to non-technology aspects, such as revenue streams and business models, creating ”cognitive moats” for non-expert actors.

The assumption that generativity engenders unbounded growth has acquired an almost taken-for-granted position in information systems and management literature. Against this premise, we examine the relationship between generativity and user base growth in the context of a digital platform. To do this, we synthesize the literature on generativity into two views, social interaction (expansion of ecosystem boundaries) and product view (expansion of product boundaries), that jointly and individually relate to user base growth. Both views help us explain how opening a platform relates to the emergence and resolution of conflicting expectations in a platform ecosystem that result in new functions and expanded use. We adopt a panel vector autoregressive approach combining data from six large transaction platforms that engaged with open-source developer communities. We found that the dominant narrative of generativity engendering growth, although generally supported by our analysis, obscures the fact that the inverse is also true; that is, growth can lead to expansion of product boundaries (inverse generativity) and that generativity can be bounded; that is, growth can stabilize ecosystem boundaries (bounded generativity). Against this background, we propose an extended generativity theory that presents generativity and growth in an integrative view and raises awareness about the limitations of the “unbounded growth” claim. We conclude that there is value in separating the two views of generativity conceptually and analytically, along with their relationship to user base growth, and we call for research on the pathways through which generativity produces growth.History: Ola Henfridsson, Senior Editor; Robert Wayne Gregory, Associate Editor.Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at doi.org/10.1287/isre.2023.1209.

Die zurückliegenden Jahre haben deutlich gemacht, welche Bedeutung Innovationen im Biotechnologie- und Gesundheitssektor für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft haben. Allgegenwärtig sichtbare Unternehmen wie Curevac und BioNTech zeigen, welchen zentralen Beitrag Ausgründungen aus den Lebenswissenschaften leisten können. Die Metropolregion Berlin hat als Ökosystem für Bio- und HealthTech Startups im vergangenen Jahrzehnt rapide an Bedeutung gewonnen. Während die Metropolregion Berlin bei digitalen Startups bereits führend ist, verbleiben für forschungsintensive Technologie-Startups im Bereich der Biotechnologie und Gesundheitswirtschaft Potenziale ungenutzt. Aus dem qualitativen und quantitativen Vergleich des Berliner Ökosystems mit dem europaweit führenden Ökosystem Cambridge (UK) sowie weiteren Standorten in Deutschland, haben wir sechs Kernherausforderungen herausgearbeitet. Diesen muss sich sich die Metropolregion Berlin stellen, um im Spitzenfeld der Ökosysteme für Bio \\\& HealthTech Startups weiter aufzuholen. Die wichtigste Herausforderung für Berlin stellt die Nachhaltigkeit eines vernetzten Ökosystems für forschungsintensive Bio- und HealthTech Startups dar. Zwar können gründungsinteressierte Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler prinzipiell auf erfolgskritische Ressourcen wie Talent, Wissen, Beziehungen, Patente und Kapital zurückgreifen, diese werden bisher jedoch nur unzureichend genutzt und sind häufig nicht in ausreichendem Maße vorhanden. Statt einem sich stetig verstärkenden regionalen Kreislauf, wie er sich im IT-Sektor entwickelt hat, geht im Bereich der

Digital data objects on viruses have played a pivotal role in the fight against COVID-19, leading to healthcare innovation such as new diagnostics, vaccines, and societal intervention strategies. To effectively achieve this, scientists access viral data from online communities (OCs). The social-interactionist view on generativity, however, has put little emphasis on data. We argue that generativity on data depends on the number of data instances, data timeliness, and completeness of data classes. We integrated and analyzed eight OCs containing SARS-CoV-2 nucleotide sequences to explore how community structures influence generativity, revealing considerable differences between OCs. By assessing provided data classes from user perspectives, we found that generativity was limited in two important ways: When required data classes were either insufficiently collected or not made available by OC providers. Our findings highlight that OC providers control generativity of data objects and provide guidance for scientists selecting OCs for their research.

Deep Tech is receiving increasing attention from investors and policy as a means to solve the most pressing societal challenges, leverage new business opportunities, and increase global economic growth. To respond to the increasing need to fundamentally understand deep tech and its implications for business and innovation policy, this PDW sets out to establish a shared understanding among information systems researchers of how we can build strong research within IS and with other management sub-disciplines. The PDW will start with a dynamic panel discussion among IS scholars with interests in deep tech from different perspectives in the disciplines (i.e. three broad themes), followed by semi-structured roundtable discussions with participants to shape emerging research opportunities for future deep tech research. The results of the workshop will be integrated into a joint statement that spells out the conceptual background of the topic and sheds light on future research directions.

With the advent of end-user and cloud computing, business users can implement information systems for work practices on their own – either from scratch or as extensions to existing systems. The resulting information systems, however, often remain hidden from managers and official IT units, and are therefore called “shadow IT systems”. When a shadow IT system is identified, the organization has to decide on the future of this system. The study uses a configurational perspective to explain outcomes of shadow IT system identification, as well as the mechanisms and contextual conditions which bring them about. For this purpose, 27 profiles of shadow IT systems were compiled by conducting 35 interviews with respondents from different positions and industries. The analysis gives insight into six distinct context-mechanism-outcome configurations explaining four outcomes that occur after shadow IT system identification, namely phase-out, replacement, continuing as IT-managed system, and continuing as business-managed system. These results contribute to the shadow IT literature and, more broadly, IS architecture and governance streams of the IS literature. They inform IT managers when these weigh decision options for identified shadow IT systems given different contextual conditions.

In this paper, we develop a new perspective on configuration processes inherent to smart service systems that brings human actors to the theoretical foreground, is informed by practice theory, and is grounded in an intervention study of smart locating systems used in home care of persons with dementia. Maintaining control of the location of persons with dementia is a major source of caregiver burden, and assistive technologies such as smart locating systems hold the promise of enhancing quality of life and reducing caregiver burden. Drawing from research on smart service systems, organizational configuration research, and practice theory, we articulate a conceptual model of configuring in practice to explain how practice elements and the capabilities of smart technologies become mutually configured. Our analysis of study participants’ experiences with the locating systems identified three distinctive configurations, characterized as enhanced smartness, degraded smartness, and fragile smartness, which developed through configuring processes. The configuring in practice model we develop here helps explain why unexpected and anticipated configurations develop and thus the conditions that facilitate or inhibit value cocreation in smart service systems.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to include several studies that define different critical success factors (CSF) which have to be considered to support the implementation of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) approaches. An analysis of such studies revealed that regional differences seem to determine the CSF for TEL approaches, certain CSF are relevant for TEL approaches in general and professionals in higher education determine which influential factors they consider when implementing TEL approaches. Thus, the question arises: in general, which influential factors do professionals in Austrian and German institutions of higher education actually consider when implementing TEL approaches? Design/methodology/approach The study is a quantitative research approach based on survey data. Findings The results show that certain influential factors seem to be generally important, such as the factors of respecting learning success or motivation. However, the outcome of the study also indicated that different mo...

The last decade has seen a rise in software-based platforms that engender entirely new ecosystems. In newly emerging platform markets, platforms compete for partners and customers in a rapidly changing environment. Yet, extant research mostly studies platforms’ supply-side and demand-side strategies in relatively established platform markets. By combining a market-level and platform-level perspective, our research aims to develop a holistic understanding about the interdependencies between business model decisions, market evolution, and performance outcomes of platforms in emerging markets. We focus on the novel context of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms, analyzing longitudinal data for 35 MOOC platforms and their ecosystems. To account for the multi-level perspective, our research applies an innovative mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative methods with quantitative measures and visualizations derived from network analysis. Our findings suggest that platforms in new markets converge towards common business models as market leaders imitate the business model innovations of its smaller competitors to manifest their market position. Based on these analyses, we derive four propositions on how the dynamics of a platform’s business model and ecosystem position affect each other and the platform’s market performance.

Research on Shadow IT is facing a conceptual dilemma in cases where previously “covert” systems developed by business entities are integrated in the organizational IT management. These systems become visible, are thus not “in the shadows” anymore, and subsequently do not fit to existing definitions of Shadow IT. Practice shows that some information systems share characteristics of Shadow IT but are created openly in alignment with the IT organization. This paper proposes the term “Business-managed IT” to describe “overt” information systems developed or managed by business entities and distinguishes it from Shadow IT by illustrating case vignettes. Accordingly, our contribution is to suggest a concept and its delineation against other concepts. In this way, IS researchers interested in IT originated from or maintained by business entities can construct theories with a wider scope of application that are at the same time more specific to practical problems. In addition, the terminology allows to value potentially innovative developments by business entities more adequately.

Service-dominant logic highlights the ability of service ecosystems to ’self-adjust’ as a reaction to sys-temic inefficiencies or external changes [1]–[3]. We contribute to the question on how focal actors shape the boundaries of service ecosystems through service innovation. This is a single case study on a digital eco-system focused on a first mover in digital platforms for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Udacity. We found two mechanisms, where Udacity shaped the boundaries of its ecosystem: ’user self-service integra-tion’ and ’gradual partner disintegration’. Through-out three phases between 2011 and 2015 they disinte-grated services from higher education, namely offer-ing courses online, designing course, and accredita-tion due to lowly perceived adaptability of universities and external pressures for finding a sustainable busi-ness model. Additionally, they disintegrated self-orga-nized solutions of user needs and re-integrated them with new actors. This led to newly shaped boundaries of the service ecosystem.

Drawing on notions of power and the social construction of risk, we build new theory to understand the persistence of shadow systems in organizations. From a single case study in a mid-sized savings bank, we derive two feedback cycles that concern shifting power relations between business units and central IT associated with shadow systems. A distant business-IT relationship and changing business needs can create repeated cost and time pressures that make business units draw on shadow systems. The perception of risk can trigger an opposing power shift back through the decommissioning and recentralization of shadow systems. However, empirical findings suggest that the weakening tendency of formal risk-management programs may not be sufficient to stop the shadow systems cycle spinning if they fail to address the underlying causes for the emergence of shadow systems. These findings highlight long-term dynamics associated with shadow systems and pose “risk” as a power-shifting construct.

In this paper, we problematize a relative absence of established ways to develop and communicate knowledge contributions (KC) from Design-oriented research (DOR) within information systems. This is problematic since it hinders the potential for knowledge accumulation within the field. Thus, for communicating KC, we propose a framework, dubbed PDSA (Prescriptive, Descriptive, Situated, and Abstract). To develop KC especially from empirical data, we suggest the use of qualitative process methods. The framework is illustrated by revisiting a published DOR study. Finally, we show how the PDSA framework serves as a template to establish firm KC in DOR. In addition, we explore contributions generated from empirical data and suggest possibilities to use qualitative process methods as means to increase transparency and rigor of KC development and communication.

Zusammenfassung Das gemeinsame Schreiben in kurzen Zeiträumen in sogenannten Booksprints hat vor allem durch digitale Technologien an Fahrt gewonnen. Plattformen zur virtuellen Kooperation und Kommunikation sowie schließlich auch zur Online-Veröffentlichung ermöglichen einen gemeinsamen, räumlich verteil-ten und parallelisierten Veröffentlichungsprozess, welcher Absprachen und Übergänge teils drastisch verkürzt. Gerade im Bereich der Hochschulen gibt es jedoch nur wenige Beispiele für Booksprints. In der folgenden vergleichen-den Fallstudie werden drei erfolgreiche Beispiele miteinander verglichen: eine beim E-Learning-Tag in Koblenz in drei Stunden erstellte Textsammlung zu persönlichen Erinnerungen an Lieblings-Lernmedien (Auwärter u.a., 2013), die Überarbeitung des Lehrbuchs Lernen und Lehren mit Technologien in sieben Tagen, an dem sich mehr als 250 Mitwirkende beteiligten (L3T 2.0, Ebner \\\& Schön, 2013) sowie ein dreitägiger Booksprint mit der Sammlung von innovativen Fallbeispielen zu neuartigen Geschäftsmodellen des Hochschulforums Digitalisierung (Bremer u.a., 2015). Eine Darstellung der Lessons Learned bzw. Empfehlungen für Nachahmer/innen schließt den Beitrag ab.

A crucial factor of improving IT-based services lies within the boundaries of understanding its usage. This is especially true for highly integrated services, like educational service (Shostack 1982), as value co-creation is based upon usage processes (Prahalad and Ramaswamy 2004; Vargo and Lusch 2004). Usage can be assumed as a process of (autonomous) resource integration between several actors. Therefore, Lusch and Vargo (2014) draw on relatively self-contained, and self-adjusting systems” (p. 161), they call service ecosystems. Self-containment and self-adjustment are a result of inherent self-supporting and loosely-coupled actors, who mainly share two things: (1) a will to co-create value, and (2) institutional logics, like rules and standards, which mediate their actors coupling. As each actor in a service ecosystem chooses on its own, which resources it integrates into value-co-creation, the number and type of actors become may become less pre-determined and less expectable for focal service suppliers. We choose to take a traditional supplier-perspective and ask: How do resource-integrating users autonomously – and therefore unexpectedly – integrate actors into value co-creation processes?

We draw on notions of power and the social construction of risk to understand the persistence of shadow IT within organizations. From a single case study in a mid-sized savings bank we derive two feedback cycles that concern shifting power relations between business units and central IT associated with shadow IT. A distant business-IT relationship, a lack of IT business knowledge and changing business needs can create repeated cost and time pressures that make business units draw on shadow IT. The perception of risk can trigger an opposing power shift back through the decommissioning and recentralization of shadow IT. However, empirical findings suggest that the weakening tendency of formal programs may not be sufficient to stop the shadow IT cycle spinning if they fail to address the underlying causes for the shadow IT emergence. These findings highlight long-term dynamics associated with shadow IT and pose risk as a power-shifting construct.

Evaluating online discussions is a complex task for educators. Infor-mation systems may support instructors and course designers to assess the qual-ity of an asynchronous online discussion tool. Interactivity on a human-to-human, human-to-computer or human-to-content level are focal elements of such quality assessment. Nevertheless existing indicators used to measure inter-activity oftentimes rely on manual data collection. One major contribution of this paper is an updated overview about indicators which are ready for automat-ic data collection and processing. Following a design science research approach we introduce measures for a consumer side of interactivity and contrast them with a producer’s perspective. For this purpose we contrast two ratio measures ‘viewed posts prior to a statement’ and ‘viewed posts after a statement’ created by a student. In order to evaluate these indicators, we apply them to Pinio, an innovative asynchronous video discussion tool, used in a virtual seminar.

Shadow IT is becoming increasingly important as digital work practices make it easier than ever for business units crafting their own IT solutions. Prior research on shadow IT systems has often used fixed accounts of good or evil: They have been celebrated as powerful drivers of innovation or demonized as lacking central governance. We introduce a method to IT managers and architects enabling a more nuanced understanding of shadow IT systems with respect to their architectural embeddedness. Drawing on centrality measures from network analysis, the method portrays shadow IT systems as most critical if they hold a central position in a network of applications and information flows. We use enterprise architecture data from a recycling company to demonstrate and evaluate the method in a real project context. In the example, several critical and yet disregarded shadow IT systems have been identified and measures were taken to govern them decently.

This paper is a report on the findings of a study conducted on the use of the social networking service NING in a cross-location e-learning setting named “Net Economy”. We describe how we implemented NING as a fundamental part of the setting through a special phase concept and team building approach. With the help of user statistics, we examine the value of the implemented social networking service with regard to the need for a social presence, as emphasized by the Community of Inquiry framework. Findings indicate that NING led to a well-meshed network of relationships among the students from the participating locations and that the development of these relationships was fundamentally influenced by the chosen phase concept and team building approach. Further, we show that with the help of social networking services, interconnections between students in virtual teams become more transparent and can be influenced systematically.