Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-02-23T12:19:21Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) A Theory of Power in Software Ecosystems formed by Small to Medium Enterprises _ GeorgeValença.pdf: 3429187 bytes, checksum: 8f170a2be6f42b4cf8f070f5f7ebd7b5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-23T12:19:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) A Theory of Power in Software Ecosystems formed by Small to Medium Enterprises _ GeorgeValença.pdf: 3429187 bytes, checksum: 8f170a2be6f42b4cf8f070f5f7ebd7b5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-26 / Context: the emergence of software ecosystems has changed the dynamics of software industry in the last decade. An ecosystem consists of a set of businesses functioning as a unit and interacting with a shared market for software and services, together with the relationships involving them. Software ecosystems originate in partnerships among software companies as a strategy to acquire complementary skills and features, obtain new customers, as well as divide R&D costs. In this setting, partner companies rely on each other for survival and effectiveness, which generates a network of dependent actors and a flow of power among them. Aims: the goal of this research is to develop a substantive theory to explain how power and dependence manifest in partnerships among small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) building a software ecosystem. This result enables us to describe the dynamics of partnerships in this environment, since power is a base atomic particle of relationships. Method: we performed two exploratory case studies of software ecosystems formed by SMEs. We collected rich qualitative data from eight software companies by means of twenty-seven semi-structured interviews. In addition, we considered companies’ internal documents, field notes and web-based data. Thematic analysis was adopted to organise and describe the data set. The results were interpreted in light of a theoretical framework underpinned by French and Raven’s power taxonomy and later refined in six confirmatory interviews with the companies. Finally, we performed a cross-case analysis to synthesise our findings and build the theory. Results: the resultant theory, called PRM-SECO, highlights the interactions among different power forms in addition to their correspondent source(s) in the software ecosystem. It reveals that (1) power is fluid in a software ecosystem formed by SMEs; (2) pool of customers and skill/knowledge are the most frequent power sources; (3) expert power is the fundamental power form that triggers most power capabilities held by SMEs; (4) reward power attaches the partner and is often exercised by SMEs; (5) coercive power disturbs the partnerships and is rarely exercised by SMEs; (6) referent power tends to supersede other power forms and is rarely held by SMEs; and (7) legitimate power is the most frequent power form exercised by SMEs. Conclusion: this theory provides a better understanding on how power and dependence influence the behaviour and coordination of companies within a software ecosystem. The particular focus on SMEs complements the state-of-art, since most research in the field concerns mature ecosystems governed by big players such as SAP and Apple. It is a useful lens for researchers to explore ecosystem partnerships. In addition, it is a valuable tool for companies to analyse power distribution, have insights on how to evolve their participation in the network and define sustainable strategies for ecosystem governance. / Contexto: o surgimento de ecossistemas de software tem mudado a dinâmica da indústria de software na última década. Um ecossistema consiste em um conjunto de empresas que funcionam como uma unidade e interagem com um mercado compartilhado de software e serviços, junto com os relacionamentos que as envolvem. Ecossistemas de software têm origem nas parcerias entre empresas de software como uma estratégia para adquirir competências e funcionalidades complementares, obter novos clientes, bem como dividir custos de P&D. Neste cenário, as empresas parceiras dependem umas das outras para sobrevivência e efetividade, o que gera uma rede de atores dependentes e um fluxo de poder entre eles. Objetivos: o objetivo desta pesquisa é desenvolver uma teoria substantiva para explicar como poder e dependência se manifestam em parcerias entre pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) construindo um ecossistema de software. Este resultado nos permite descrever a dinâmica das parcerias neste ambiente, uma vez que poder é uma partícula atômica de base dos relacionamentos. Método: nós realizamos dois estudos de caso exploratórios de ecossistemas de software formados por PMEs. Nós coletamos dados qualitativos ricos de oito empresas de software por meio de vinte e sete entrevistas semiestruturadas. Além disso, nós consideramos documentos internos das empresas, notas de campo e dados da web. Análise temática foi adotada para organizar e descrever o conjunto de dados. Os resultados foram interpretados à luz de um quadro teórico apoiado pela taxonomia de poder de French e Raven, e posteriormente refinados em seis entrevistas de confirmação com as empresas. Por fim, nós realizamos um processo de cruzamento de casos para sintetizar nossos resultados e construir a teoria. Resultados: a teoria resultante, denominada PRM-SECO, destaca as interações entre diferentes formas de poder, além da correspondente(s) fonte(s) no ecossistema de software. Ela revela que (1) o poder é fluido em um ecossistema de software formado por PMEs; (2) base de clientes e competências/conhecimento são as fontes de poder mais frequentemente usadas pelas PMEs; (3) poder do conhecimento é a forma de poder fundamental, que gera a maioria das capacidades de poder que as PMEs possuem; (4) poder de recompensa aproxima o parceiro e muitas vezes é exercido pelas PMEs; (5) poder coercitivo perturba as parcerias e raramente é exercido pelas PMEs; (6) poder de referência tende a suplantar outras formas de poder e raramente é detido pelas PMEs; e (7) poder legítimo é a forma de poder mais frequentemente exercida pelas PMEs. Conclusão: esta teoria oferece uma melhor compreensão sobre como poder e dependência influenciam o comportamento e coordenação de empresas em um ecossistema de software. O foco particular em PMEs complementa o estado-da-arte, uma vez que a maioria das pesquisas na área diz respeito a ecossistemas governados por grandes atores, tais como SAP e Apple. É uma lente útil para que pesquisadores explorem parcerias em ecossistemas. Além disso, é uma ferramenta valiosa para as empresas analisarem a distribuição de poder, terem ideias sobre como evoluir a sua participação na rede e definirem estratégias sustentáveis para a governança do ecossistema.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-02-23T13:43:15Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) A Theory of Power in Software Ecosystems formed by Small to Medium Enterprises _ GeorgeValença.pdf: 3429187 bytes, checksum: 8f170a2be6f42b4cf8f070f5f7ebd7b5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-23T13:43:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) A Theory of Power in Software Ecosystems formed by Small to Medium Enterprises _ GeorgeValença.pdf: 3429187 bytes, checksum: 8f170a2be6f42b4cf8f070f5f7ebd7b5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-26 / Contexto: o surgimento de ecossistemas de software tem mudado a dinâmica da indústria de software na última década. Um ecossistema consiste em um conjunto de empresas que funcionam como uma unidade e interagem com um mercado compartilhado de software e serviços, junto com os relacionamentos que as envolvem. Ecossistemas de software têm origem nas parcerias entre empresas de software como uma estratégia para adquirir competências e funcionalidades complementares, obter novos clientes, bem como dividir custos de P&D. Neste cenário, as empresas parceiras dependem umas das outras para sobrevivência e efetividade, o que gera uma rede de atores dependentes e um fluxo de poder entre eles. Objetivos: o objetivo desta pesquisa é desenvolver uma teoria substantiva para explicar como poder e dependência se manifestam em parcerias entre pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) construindo um ecossistema de software. Este resultado nos permite descrever a dinâmica das parcerias neste ambiente, uma vez que poder é uma partícula atômica de base dos relacionamentos. Método: nós realizamos dois estudos de caso exploratórios de ecossistemas de software formados por PMEs. Nós coletamos dados qualitativos ricos de oito empresas de software por meio de vinte e sete entrevistas semiestruturadas. Além disso, nós consideramos documentos internos das empresas, notas de campo e dados da web. Análise temática foi adotada para organizar e descrever o conjunto de dados. Os resultados foram interpretados à luz de um quadro teórico apoiado pela taxonomia de poder de French e Raven, e posteriormente refinados em seis entrevistas de confirmação com as empresas. Por fim, nós realizamos um processo de cruzamento de casos para sintetizar nossos resultados e construir a teoria. Resultados: a teoria resultante, denominada PRM-SECO, destaca as interações entre diferentes formas de poder, além da correspondente(s) fonte(s) no ecossistema de software. Ela revela que (1) o poder é fluido em um ecossistema de software formado por PMEs; (2) base de clientes e competências/conhecimento são as fontes de poder mais frequentemente usadas pelas PMEs; (3) poder do conhecimento é a forma de poder fundamental, que gera a maioria das capacidades de poder que as PMEs possuem; (4) poder de recompensa aproxima o parceiro e muitas vezes é exercido pelas PMEs; (5) poder coercitivo perturba as parcerias e raramente é exercido pelas PMEs; (6) poder de referência tende a suplantar outras formas de poder e raramente é detido pelas PMEs; e (7) poder legítimo é a forma de poder mais frequentemente exercida pelas PMEs. Conclusão: esta teoria oferece uma melhor compreensão sobre como poder e dependência influenciam o comportamento e coordenação de empresas em um ecossistema de software. O foco particular em PMEs complementa o estado-da-arte, uma vez que a maioria das pesquisas na área diz respeito a ecossistemas governados por grandes atores, tais como SAP e Apple. É uma lente útil para que pesquisadores explorem parcerias em ecossistemas. Além disso, é uma ferramenta valiosa para as empresas analisarem a distribuição de poder, terem ideias sobre como evoluir a sua participação na rede e definirem estratégias sustentáveis para a governança do ecossistema. / Context: the emergence of software ecosystems has changed the dynamics of software industry in the last decade. An ecosystem consists of a set of businesses functioning as a unit and interacting with a shared market for software and services, together with the relationships involving them. Software ecosystems originate in partnerships among software companies as a strategy to acquire complementary skills and features, obtain new customers, as well as divide R&D costs. In this setting, partner companies rely on each other for survival and effectiveness, which generates a network of dependent actors and a flow of power among them. Aims: the goal of this research is to develop a substantive theory to explain how power and dependence manifest in partnerships among small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) building a software ecosystem. This result enables us to describe the dynamics of partnerships in this environment, since power is a base atomic particle of relationships. Method: we performed two exploratory case studies of software ecosystems formed by SMEs. We collected rich qualitative data from eight software companies by means of twenty-seven semi-structured interviews. In addition, we considered companies’ internal documents, field notes and web-based data. Thematic analysis was adopted to organise and describe the data set. The results were interpreted in light of a theoretical framework underpinned by French and Raven’s power taxonomy and later refined in six confirmatory interviews with the companies. Finally, we performed a cross-case analysis to synthesise our findings and build the theory. Results: the resultant theory, called PRM-SECO, highlights the interactions among different power forms in addition to their correspondent source(s) in the software ecosystem. It reveals that (1) power is fluid in a software ecosystem formed by SMEs; (2) pool of customers and skill/knowledge are the most frequent power sources; (3) expert power is the fundamental power form that triggers most power capabilities held by SMEs; (4) reward power attaches the partner and is often exercised by SMEs; (5) coercive power disturbs the partnerships and is rarely exercised by SMEs; (6) referent power tends to supersede other power forms and is rarely held by SMEs; and (7) legitimate power is the most frequent power form exercised by SMEs. Conclusion: this theory provides a better understanding on how power and dependence influence the behaviour and coordination of companies within a software ecosystem. The particular focus on SMEs complements the state-of-art, since most research in the field concerns mature ecosystems governed by big players such as SAP and Apple. It is a useful lens for researchers to explore ecosystem partnerships. In addition, it is a valuable tool for companies to analyse power distribution, have insights on how to evolve their participation in the network and define sustainable strategies for ecosystem governance.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) came into the power when banking institutions started to become more and more competitive. The focus on CRM increased banks' abilities to understand their customers' current needs more precisely and also helped them to understand their customers' behaviours, such as what they have done in the past, and what they plan to do in the future. Such practice further helped banks to design strategies based on each customer's preferences in order to meet their customers' demands (Xu, et al., 2002). The adoption of the CRM within the banking industry chiefly depends on the overall adoption of IT culture within the country. Today, developed countries like the UK are enjoying innovative technologies, tailored-made systems, and have a high level of IT maturity within their banking industry. On the other hand, developing countries such as Pakistan are still dealing with several technological issues and the biggest one is the lack of IT alignment within most of their organizations especially within their banking industry (Kundi and Nawaz, 2006). Therefore, it is essential for researchers to further investigate the major IT-related problems faced by the banking industry, especially problems with the current use of the CRM system within the banking industry of developing countries i.e. Pakistan compared to banks in developed countries i.e. UK.This research has investigated and covered the overall operational issues of the CRM system within the banking industry of both developed and developing countries i.e. UK and Pakistan by using a qualitative case study research approach with two case studies, in which the Pakistani banking sector is selected as the developing country for case study one; for a developed country, the UK banking sector is selected as case study two. From the several existing UK and Pakistani banks, the researcher has selected some leading banks from the two countries and conducted several semi-structured interviews with different bank employees. Furthermore, the obtained interviews' results from both case studies are analyzed, compared, and discussed using an in-depth cross-case analysis approach and uncovered the similarities, differences, and several CRM operational issues within the banking sectors of both Pakistan and the UK.

Purpose: To explore the influence of marketing AI on marketing managers' attention allocation to leverage customer relationships in different business-to-business contexts. Method: Abductive approach and multiple case study, data collection was made by qualitative semi-structured interviews and secondary data collection. Conclusion: The study identified both similarities and differences within three main categories across two industrial clusters where marketing AI effect marketing managers’ attention allocation in B2B relationships. Marketing AI is shown to affect B2B relationships through marketing managers’ attentional selection towards efficiencies and/or new opportunities. Marketing AI is shown to influence marketing managers’ attention allocation by distorting the focus of attention on relational dynamics by introducing automated or augmented marketing AI solutions into the relationship.

In the United States, microenterprises, critical segment of the small business population, accounts for 110 million small businesses that source new jobs. Despite the increase in the number of created businesses in the U.S., more than 70% of microenterprise business owners are unsuccessful after 2 years. The multiple case study included 6 participants living in Houston, Texas, and intended to explore business strategies microenterprise event management owners used to succeed in business beyond 2 years. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was the 5-stage small business growth model and the 5-stage of the evolution of entrepreneurship theory. The data collection process consisted of interviews resulting in transcripts, review of company documents, and interview observations notes. The data analysis process while triangulating the data consisted of creating thematic codes, and clustering keywords, and ideas from the data. Development of visual aids assisted with organizing information, synthesizing, and generating new ideas. Text, word, and matrix coding queries were conducted and summarized for a cross-case analysis as relating to the interview questions. Thematic analysis and cross-case analysis revealed 3 major themes: customer relationship management, education/work experience, and promotional activities. Implications for social change include encouraging entrepreneurial and small business development programs to develop innovative curriculums that microenterprise business owners may benefit from to increase more business opportunities. An increase in microenterprises may help provide more employment opportunities that meet the needs of local communities, and improve socioeconomic conditions.

In January of 2014, GED Testing Services launched the GED 21st Century Initiative, which was comprised of 2 achievement levels: a high school equivalency standard and a college and career readiness standard. One of the most important goals of this initiative and the redesign of the 2014 GED test was to demonstrate that GED test takers are college and career ready. Using a qualitative case study cross analysis research approach focused on two Adult Basic Education (ABE) GED test preparation sites, this study focused on developing a holistic view of the GED 21st Century Initiative by addressing 5 research questions. Emphasis for the 5 research questions focused on the implementation and the impact of the GED 21st Century Initiative, preparation of the students for college and career readiness, technology integration for ABE/GED programs, and professional development for the staff of the ABE/GED programs. Study findings suggested a great need for ABE/GED programs to be restructured to include curriculum development that incorporates Common Core State Standards, Career and College Readiness Standards, computer literacy, and pathways for preparing students to enter into college or into the workforce. Providing pathways that are comprised of a comprehensive approach which includes incorporating several strategies for ABE/GED programs have proved to be a more successful approach to helping students transition to the next level. Another important finding of this study was that the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) assessment provided inaccurate scores of the students’ higher order thinking skills when compared to the 2014 GED test, which caused students to be misplaced in their GED classrooms. One other important finding this study indicated was a continuous need for professional development. Overall, participants thought that the redesign of the 2014 GED test was necessary and they remain hopeful about the benefits of the new test and the possibilities that lie ahead for their ABE/GED programs.

This master's thesis is concerned with biology teaching in alternative schools providing upper secondary education in the Czech Republic. Its aim is to describe and compare the teaching of biology at selected alternative secondary schools based on three case studies. The selected schools are Gymnázium Na Zatlance with alternative programme ALT, Gymnázium Přírodní škola and Waldorfské lyceum Praha. The chosen strategy of the performed qualitative research was a cross-case study, data were obtained by direct observation of the lessons, individual interviews with teachers, group interviews with pupils and document analysis. The concept of biology teaching in selected schools is elaborately analysed, including the description of specific lessons. In addition, the ideological basis, the organisation and evaluation in each school is analysed too. Comparison of selected schools identified common characteristic features such as emphasis on personal development of pupils, non-traditional teaching organisation, evaluation without school grades, frequent excursions, respecting approach towards pupils and deviation from systematics in biology teaching. The thesis provides a deep insight into biology teaching in alternative secondary schools, which is an under-represented area of the Czech education system....

The supplier relationship manager is one of the eight business processes of Supply chain management. There have been many researches carried out about the supply chain processes integration. However, a lack of theory has been noticed on the integration of the supplier relationship management process and no research has coped with a case study of the integration of this process between the manufacturer and its first upstream tier. The lack is also consequent when studying the obstacles to the supplier relationship management integration in Swedish construction equipment companies.

Submitted by Nayara Passos (nayara.passos@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-11T18:03:12Z No. of bitstreams: 2 TESE Alberto César Cavalcanti França.pdf: 3788012 bytes, checksum: a84eaeee00c35211070eb3130be655f2 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-11T18:03:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 TESE Alberto César Cavalcanti França.pdf: 3788012 bytes, checksum: a84eaeee00c35211070eb3130be655f2 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / CNPq / Pesquisas na área de engenharia de software indicam que o gerenciamento apropriado da motivação e satisfação no trabalho são importantes para o sucesso de projetos de software. No entanto, rara tem sido a preocupação com o uso apropriado de teorias bem estabelecidas para fundamentar tais pesquisas, o que deixa em aberto várias questões práticas sobre motivação e satisfação no contexto do desenvolvimento de softwares. Evidências apontam que o conhecimento sobre a satisfação no trabalho, neste contexto, está relativamente consolidado, mas ainda há muito a se aprender sobre as características específicas que antecedem a motivação dos engenheiros de software. Objetivo: O ponto de partida compreende teorias de Satisfação no Trabalho e das Características do Trabalho, que defendem que motivação e satisfação no trabalho referem-se a fenômenos distintos. Esta tese objetiva então clarificar quais são as características do trabalho que influenciam a motivação de engenheiros de software. Método: Este quadro teórico inicial foi evoluído baseado nos aprendizados resultantes de um estudo de múltiplos casos, executado em quatro organisações de software em Recife-PE. Durante 11 meses, dados foram coletados nestas organizações, através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, estudos diários, e análise documental. Resultados: Os resultados apontam que (1) engenheiros de software não estão conscientes sobre a distinção entre os dois fenômenos (motivação e satisfação no trabalho), (2) motivação é caracterizada pelo engajamento e concentração, (3) motivação é afetada por diversas características da tarefa do engenheiro de software, mas também pela percepção sobre o engajamento dos colegas de trabalho e pela auto-confiança técnica do trabalhador, (4) motivação contribui para a satisfação no trabalho, moderada pela informação provida sobre a performance individual dos engenheiros, e (5) o papel mediador das características pessoais do indivíduo é universal. Conclusão: Com base nestes dados, é proposta uma nova teoria de motivação e satisfação de engenheiros de software (TMS-SE) que une elementos de teorias bem estabelecidas, expandindo-as e adaptando-as à realidade específica de engenheiros de software. A TMS-SE representa um avanço em nossa compreensão do comportamento de engenheiros de software, bem como levanta novas questões e propõe um terreno organizado para futuras investigações nesta área. / Context: Previous research work in the Software Engineering field indicates that a proper management of motivation and job satisfaction at work can help software organisations to achieve higher levels of project success. However, the little concern with the adequate use of well-established theories to underpin these researches left unclear several theoretical and practical aspects of work motivation and job satisfaction in the software context. In fact, there is enough knowledge about job satisfaction factors, but not on specific characteristics of the work that motivate software engineers. Objective: The starting point of this research comprises the Job Satisfaction and the Job Characteristics theories, which argue that job satisfaction and work motivation are distinguishable phenomena, with distinct antecedents and different outcomes. Then, this thesis aims to clarify specifically what factors drive motivation of software engineers at work. Method: The initial theoretical framework was evaluated and enhanced based on findings from a multiple case study that comprised four different software organisations from Recife, Brazil. For 11 months, rich data was collected independently in those organisations, by means of semi-structured interviews, diary studies, and document analyses, and the synthesis followed a standard procedure of cross-case analysis. Results: The results point out that (1) practitioners are not aware of the distinction between work motivation and job satisfaction, (2) work motivation is characterized by engagement and concentration, (3) work motivation is affected by software engineering tasks characteristics and by the co-workers’ engagement, workload and technical confidence, (4) work motivation improves satisfaction moderated by feedback information provided about the individual’s performance, and (5) the mediating role of individual characteristics is pervasive. Conclusion: Based on these data, it was possible to draw up a new theory of motivation and satisfaction of software engineers (TMS-SE), which unites elements from well established theories, expands and adapts them to the software engineering specific context. The TMS-SE represents an advance on our understanding of software engineers’ behaviour as well as it raises new questions and provides an organised ground for future investigations in this area.

The world wide web has gone through several distinct eras since its launch in 1989, going through the eras Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0. There is an upcoming era, Web 4.0, where the web will become seamlessly integrated with people's everyday life. However, creating consumer engagement across platforms has already been recognized as challenging in Web 3.0 (Dolan et al., 2016). A type of storytelling, known for creating engagement is transmedia storytelling (TS). TS is a technique of telling one single story across multiple platforms, and when enjoyed together becomes a full experience. There is limited research conducted on the relationship between TS and the web, which became the problem of this study. The purpose of this study is to explorethe research gap and it was fulfilled by asking two research questions. The first oneestablished an understanding about the relationship between TS and Web 2.0 and 3.0, tounderstand how TS evolves and adapts to the web. Based on the built foundation, the second question aimed to explore the possibilities of TS and Web 4.0, and how they could benefit from each other and grow together. To answer our research questions this paper utilised the method of a multiple-case study that examines two cases, one in Web 2.0, and one in Web 3.0. The data was manually collected, traced and broken down into instances using reverse engineering. To analyse the data, it was rebuilt with visual mapping to understand the connections, and lastly compared to the web characteristics and TS principles. Concluding the findings and analysis, it can be established that TS evolves alongside the web, utilising and adapting to the new characteristics. In Web 2.0, TS relied heavily on offline sources such as DVD’s and TV, while in Web 3.0, it existed solely online. The participatory activity also grew from Web 2.0 to 3.0, where the users were an active part of the campaign evolving in Web 3.0. TS manages to create engagement across platforms, and benefits from new technical innovations. After the individual case reports, and cross-case analysis, it could be concluded that TS has good chances of continuing to adapt in the rise of Web 4.0. This study explored the research gap further, offering valuable insight onthe topic and opening for various further research possibilities, where TS and web cancontinue being investigated.