In order to relieve small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the predicament of inadequate capital and immature technology in the beginning of new ventures as well as to realize sustainable business development, Taiwan gevernment has been heavily investing in many universities to set up incubation centers in the hope to provide start-ups abundant resources with the help of academic institution¡¦s counseling expertise; therefore, the cost and risk for start-ups in the beginning of new venture and R&D phase can be reduced and more sound and competitive SMEs could be incubated under the tutelage of incubation centers. The study mainly discusses the relationship between key success factors (KSFs) of high-tech start-ups and the counseling resources from incubation centers. Firstly, the study establishes the structure of empirical study based on the collection and discussion of domestic and foreign literatures. Since the counselling clients of incubation centers majorly consist of start-ups, the study adopts in-depth interviews to investigate these start-ups via case study. By organizing and analyzing the in-depth interviews with start-ups, the study tries to investigate the relationship between two fundimental dimentions of resources from incubation centers and enterprise characteristics, as well as the performance and competitiveness in start-ups. The objectives of this sudy are to: 1.Understand how incubation centers utilize the relevant resources from government to nurture start-ups. 2.Investigate how the resource platform of incubation center guides the KSFs of high-tech start-ups. 3.Evaluate what the three dimensional roles of resources, innovation, and values play in the competitive strategy of high-tech start-ups, and find out the KSFs therein and their future prospects. 4.Understand how start-ups and entrepreneurship influence the success of the business.

­^¤åºK­n At the beginning of the 1990s, our government has invested aggressively into the field of Semiconductors and at the same time provided many opportunities and trainings for the professionals. This has enabled for the top professionals to excel in their respective field of work thus cultivating many outstanding manufacturers for the industry. Today, majority source of the automation equipments in the field of Semiconductors remains largely imported. These preferences lead to a higher cost ratio and cost effectiveness and has provided an uneven playing ground for our native corporations ready to take the overseas player head-on. Hereby, this report will focus on the nature of the product life cycle of the field to provide an insight to a suitable business and service model for our native corporations specializing in the mid and backend of Semiconductors to conform to the rigorous demand of the industry. The report also looks into individual corporations¡¦ competitiveness and their current roles in the supply chain for the industry. Their strategy and business model will be discussed and recommendations provided to improve their current practices to fulfill the evolving markets. The proposals and recommended business model can also be applied to other industries where the electro-optical industry and the next highly anticipated environmental friendly products industries could be adopt in the near future.

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Information Technology in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / Establishing Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) is one of the options for South Africa to grow and develop the economy by creating and maintaining employment. SMMEs need to utilise technology innovation in their businesses for the sustenance of their growth and development in the market. Although Information Technology (IT) has been identified as a key enabler of businesses, the adoption of IT by small businesses is low, owing to different disparaging factors and conditions SMMEs are faced with. The factors culminate in challenges which hinder evaluation, adoption and use of new technology innovation by SMMEs to develop the business. The aim of the study is to explore the evaluation and adoption of new technology by SMMEs. The research objectives are to investigate the evaluation factors affecting decision making and choice of technology adoption, and the effect evaluation and non-evaluation of new technology has on the business. The purpose of the research is to establish the challenges SMMEs encounter with evaluating new technology by SMMEs, being that evaluation is a major contributing factor to the successful adoption of new technology by SMMEs. The study takes the form of a multiple interpretive case study employing both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews with 15 managers/owners of SMMEs. Quantitative data was collected in the form of an online survey and results were used against the qualitative data analysis process, with categories formed and patterns identified in the data samples. The research reveals that SMMEs find it increasingly difficult to obtain knowledge on available new technology for business. SMMEs are unable to adequately determine how new technology could align with the business objectives and processes. It seems that government does not play any significant role in the SMME adoption process of new technology. Most SMMEs are oblivious to any government initiative or support available to them. The cost of compliance within the Financial Service Provider (FSP) sector is high due to new standards set by legislation. The increased cost burden of compliance has led to the demise of many FSPs in the financial sector. The study further suggests that with quality evaluation and implementation procedures of new technology, the selected technology will have a positive effect on the SMME industry. SMMEs need to embrace an evaluation culture and practice to enable them to make quality decisions on new technology in order to capitalise on the potential the technology has to offer. This could lead to gaining a competitive advantage and ensuring survival and growth in the market. Guidelines on new technology evaluation and adoption are proposed to SMMEs. These guidelines will assist SMMEs to evaluate and identify all factors relating to the business environment affecting the evaluation of new technology for the business. The study provides new insight and understanding on how SMMEs evaluate new technology. The evaluation includes issues surrounding availability of information, awareness of opportunities, decisionmaking and the need for increased and visible government participation in the process of SMME new technology adoption.

IT ses idag som ett strategiskt verktyg med krav på uppnådd lönsamhet i alla IT-relaterade investeringar och projekt. Lönsamhet och kostnadseffektivitet är tillsammans med nya lagar och förordningar för bolagsstyrning viktiga faktorer som fordrar bättre IT-styrning. Att bedöma och värdera affärsnytta och nyttoeffekter av IT innebär att se vad IT’s egentliga värde är för verksamheten och dess affärsprocesser. Genom att använda någon av de nyare metoderna för nyttobedömning som också har fokus på oväntade och dolda kostnader men framför allt inkluderar skattning av snabba/långsamma nyttor och direkta/indirekta nyttor, så uppnår man bättre kontroll över verksamheten och att man fokuserar på rätt saker och gör dem på rätt sätt. Alla dessa delar inkluderas i fenomenet IT-styrning med vilket man har som övergripande mål att på olika sätt få ett bättre stöd till affärsverksamheten av IT. IT-styrning kan idag avsevärt underlättas genom användning av standardiserade ramverk som t ex ITIL och/eller COBIT. Dessa ramverk inkluderar metodik, anvisningar och processer baserade på ”best practices”. Undersökningen har visat att de medverkande företagen, åtminstone på IT-verksamhetsnivå, oftast anser att IT är en strategisk lönsamhetsfaktor. Som ett bevis för detta använder man sig också av ovan beskrivna ramverk för IT-styrning. Dock kan inget av företagen egentligen peka på någon reell användning av de nyare metoderna för nyttobedömning. Undersökningen kan inte bevisa påståendet att företagsledningen inte i tillräckligt omfattande grad inser IT’s vikt för affärerna, men det finns indikationer som talar för ett visst ointresse för IT på ledningsnivå. IT-styrningen kan genom sitt affärsfokus dock komma att ändra på det.

Abstract : Manufacturing companies in developed countries face a digital transformation that is meant to improve their productivity, but also produces a large volume of data. This data will go to waste if it is not valorized by using it to gain actionable insights, for example with business intelligence and analytics. This master’s thesis presents a systematic literature review and a multiple case-study on the subject of Business Intelligence in manufacturing companies. The first article, “Business Intelligence in Industry 4.0: Research opportunities”, present a literature review. Results show a lack of studies on the impacts of business intelligence activities on manufacturing small and medium enterprises. The strategic impacts should be studied, since they are often neglected in favor of the operational impacts such as quality improvement and operating costs reductions. The second article, “Business intelligence value creation: A multiple case study in manufacturing SMEs”, presents an exploration of the factors influencing strategic and operational business values of business intelligence. Results show the limit of the traditional models based on the Resource-Based View of the firm, which overlooks organizational factors that might be more important in smaller organizations. Contingency factors, such as organisational learning, leadership style, and the role of the owner, should be included when studying small and medium enterprises, as in these smaller organizations the lack of resources and the simpler structure affect business value of business intelligence and analytics systems differently than in larger firms. There is an interesting potential for the model suggested in this master’s thesis to understand the factors linked to business value creation in smaller organization, which should be empirically tested with a larger and more diverse sample in a future study. / Ce mémoire présente les travaux réalisés dans le cadre de ma maîtrise en Stratégie de l’intelligence d’affaires, de l’École de Gestion de l’Université de Sherbrooke. Il consiste en deux articles. Le premier est une revue de littérature systématique ayant été soumise et acceptées à la 51e édition de Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, qui a eu lieu du 3 au 6 janvier 2018. Il est présenté intégralement au chapitre deux. Le second article, présenté dans sa version longue au chapitre trois, a été soumis à la 7e édition de International Conference on Information Systems, Logistics and Supply Chain qui aura lieu du 8 au 10 juillet 2018. Les notices d’acceptation seront envoyées après la date de dépôt de ce mémoire. Toutes les preuves de soumissions sont présentées dans les annexes de ce mémoire. Les articles ont tous été rédigé par moi, Fanny-Ève Bordeleau, qui a également réalisé toutes les prises de données et les analyses, assistée de mes co-directeurs, les professeurs Elaine Mosconi et Luis Antonio De Santa-Eulalia.

The expectations on digitalization and Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) are high. The high expectations are reflected in an increasing interest for the term business value of BIM. However, the practical and theoretical understanding of its content and perspective is characterized by rationalism and positivism commercially promoted by industry. This thesis aims to reflect on, problematize and extend the theoretical understanding of the content and perspective of the business value of BIM. Perceptions about business value of BIM, the associated challenges and costs and the role of the business of BIM in a wider socio-technical context are examined among Swedish and international AEC industry actors and a large Swedish public infrastructure client. To extend the understanding of the content and perspective of the business value of BIM, the rational and process-oriented theories on the business value of IT are combined with the more interpretive and hermeneutic socio-technical systems theory. A social and cognitive dimension is thus added to the understanding of the business value of BIM and business value of IT.  By combining the two research fields and contributing with the socio-technical perspective to the theoretical understanding of business value, this thesis contributes with theory development of the understanding of business value BIM and business value of IT.  For practitioners, the thesis shows the complex, multi-dimensional and challenging aspects of implementing BIM for business value. The journey of perspectives in this thesis from positivism towards increased interpretivism also sheds light on the implications of when different perspectives exert influence on a research field (hegemony) and wishes to provide a contrast and balance to the rational and positivistic perspectives in BIM research. It also wishes to inspire future BIM research to broaden the theoretical perspectives. / Förväntningarna på digitalisering och Byggnadsinformationsmodellering (BIM) i samhällsbyggnadssektorn är höga och reflekteras i ett ökande intresse för affärsnyttan av BIM. Den praktiska och teoretiska förståelsen av innehåll och perspektivet i affärsnyttan av BIM har karaktäriserats av rationalism och positivism som upprätthållits i kommersiella syften. Denna avhandling syftar till att reflektera över, problematisera och utöka förståelsen av innehållet och perspektivet av affärsnyttan av BIM. Den upplevda affärsnyttan av BIM, de associerade utmaningarna och kostnaderna och rollen av affärsnyttan av BIM i ett bredare sociotekniskt perspektiv undersöks bland aktörer i den svenska och internationella samhällsbyggnadssektorn samt hos en stor svenskt offentlig beställare av infrastruktur. För att problematisera över och utöka förståelsen av affärsnyttan av BIM kombinerar denna avhandlingen de rationella och process orienterade teorierna inom business value of IT med den mer hermeneutiska socio-technical systems teorin. Genom att kombinera dessa två fält bidrar avhandlingen med ett socialt och kognitivt perspektiv till den teoretiska förståelsen av affärsnytta. Det teoretiska bidraget består således av teoriutveckling. För praktiker belyser avhandlingen de komplexa, multi-dimensionella och utmananande aspekterna med att implementera BIM för affärsnytta. Resan i perspektiv från positivism och rationalism mot ökad interpretivism i avhandlingen belyser också implikationerna av hur olika perspektiv får inflytande över ett forskningsfält (hegemoni) och önskar bidra med en kontrast och balans till det rationella och positivistiska perspektivet i BIM forskning. Det är också förhoppningen att avhandlingens resa i perspektiv kan inspirera framtida forskning på BIM att vidga de teoretiska vyerna. / <p>QC 20170920</p>

No description available.

The implementation of electronic business (e-business) in organisations has led to a major improvement in business performance in both developed and developing countries. This improvement as well as market forces have put pressure on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to adopt e-business. However, the e-business models adopted by SMEs are often abstruse and poorly represented, which leads to time consumption and miscommunication between the stakeholders involved, the business operations and Information Technology (IT) functions. These unclear e-business models make it difficult to evaluate its value. This research examines the elements necessary for this e-business value creation and draws from different disciplines and theories to create a comprehensive model for e-business evaluation in Southern African SMEs. Most studies done on e-business in Southern Africa have been found to be on challenges of technology, a lack of resources such as financial and user capabilities and challenges in business processes. Some gaps in the e-business literature have been found to exist on issues of alignment of business mission and strategy, entrepreneurial drive and management capabilities. The study adopted Gerbner’s theory of communication exchange for the data collection strategy and process, which posits that by studying the events of the communication exchange, one can infer about the state of the systems engaged in the exchange and their relationships. Consequently quantitative website content analysis of 100 Southern African SMEs was conducted to determine their e-business value. The results revealed that an SME that comprises of a properly aligned business mission and strategy, business processes that are enabled by e-business, an entrepreneurship orientation, management capabilities and employees as well as technology integration will achieve ebusiness value. This was seen by a positive influence of 68% on e-business value from these elements. Conversely 32% of this influence is from external elements, and future studies could explore more elements that influence e-business value. Also, a small employee size was found to not be a hindrance of e-business value. Lastly, overall infrastructural e-readiness is the same in Botswana and South Africa, which refutes claims that e-readiness is higher in South Africa than the rest of the Southern African countries. However, SMEs in Botswana lag behind when it comes to technological aspects such as technology equipment, successfully integrating their systems within the businesses; and their IT in their entire businesses and networks, forming technology interdependencies of processes with external businesses, and using online means to transfer information to clients/customers. The developed model (EBVE model) could help (1) stakeholders investigate, communicate and make appropriate decisions and (2) aid SMEs to successfully integrate e-business in their business processes and practices.

The recent increase in the amount of stored company data and exceeding interest in data analysis has resulted in new requirements on Data Warehousing solutions. This has led to the development of Data Warehouse Appliances, which this research project aims to investigate the business value of. The result is intended to support companies that are considering an investment, and give them an understanding of the technology’s benefits. The research project was conducted in two parts. Vendors of the Appliance technology were interviewed, as well as their customers. The results from the vendor interviews together with a literature study provided a knowledge base for the analysis of the user companies’ interviews. The results clearly indicate that there is value in the technology for larger companies. The research shows that although the main benefits advocated by the vendors match the perceived ones of the user companies, there are other aspects which they value even more. Examples of this include a reduced amount of administrative tasks and support from a single source. The research also reveals that the benefits estimated by the customer at the time of purchase were not their most valued benefits in hindsight. / Företag lagrar allt större datamängder och låter dessa ligga till grund för komplicerade dataanalyser, vilket ställer nya krav på deras befintliga Data Warehouse--‐lösningar. Detta har lett till utvecklingen av Data Warehouse Appliance, vars affärsnytta detta projekt syftar till att utreda. Resultatet kommer tillhandahålla beslutsunderlag för de företag som överväger en investering i tekniken. Undersökningen genomfördes i två steg. Intervjuer genomfördes med leverantörer som tillhandahåller tekniken såväl som med deras användande kunder. Resultaten från leverantörsintervjuerna tillsammans med en omfattande litteraturstudie låg sedan till grund för den analys som gjordes av intervjuerna med de användande företagen. Resultaten visar på ett verkligt värde i tekniken för företag med stora datamängder. Undersökningen visar att de fördelar som framhålls som teknikens främsta av leverantörerna bekräftas av deras användande kunder, men att det finns andra vinster de värdesätter ännu mer. Dessa inkluderar en minskad teknisk komplexitet, en minskad mängd administrativa uppgifter samt support från en enda källa. Undersökningen visar även att de faktorer som spelat störst roll vid investeringen inte är desamma som tillskrivs störst värde i efterhand.

The theme of this research is to establish how South African companies evaluate the benefits of a capital investment, in terms of ERP implementations, to the organisation. The question of whether determinable value can be quantified and the methods used to calculate such value is explored. A search is conducted for critical success factors for successful ERP implementations, key metrics used for monitoring results, and the approach of South African companies to determining benefits. The research is designed to establish what post purchase analyses of completed projects are conducted and what percentage of completed implementations are considered successful in the South African environment, as well as the possible reasons for those successes and failures. The research consists of firstly a qualitative study of the goals of value creation of ERP decisions, which included a couple of interviews with IT and Process Engineering consultants to form a basis of knowledge for why companies implement ERP systems in the first place, followed by a quantitative descriptive study of the implementation success factors and post implementation analysis, by means of a survey of South African companies. The outcome of the research shows that ERP in South Africa has matured to a level where the majority of projects are judged by the key decision makers to be successful, in contrast to expectations created by the literature review performed. It also highlights that, in the capital budgeting decision making processes followed by companies of different sizes, qualitative factors play a slightly bigger role than quantitative factors in the motivation of an ERP implementation. In addition, this research concludes that companies who identify a clear business value goal with the proposed ERP implementation, ensures buy-in from top management, perform proper planning before embarking on the project, as well as follow some kind of rigorous measurement framework, experience higher levels of ERP success than those who do not. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted