No description available.

This dissertation is an interdisciplinary work that explores the intersection of humanities and technical communication by focusing on the presence and impact of software company workplace bias in technical professional communication. It focuses on workplace bias in technical communication because, when present, bias can impact the experiences that technical communicators and end-users (people who use the software) have with the software. This mixed-methods study consists of a survey, an interview, and a new diagram designed to help technical communicators mitigate biases in technical documentation. To understand better the presence and impact of bias in these workplace contexts, this study surveys and interviews technical communication professionals (TCPs) with software industry work experience. First, I introduce key relationships and terms that connect the software industry to technical communication, discuss the significance of workplace bias in technical communication, and provide an overview of the study, including its research questions, research methods, and design. Next, I present background based on a literature review, including defining and presenting workplace bias issues in the software industry and technical communication field. I also present intersectional feminism as the theoretical framework. Thereafter, I detail research methods, which include the mixed-methods design, strategies for a feminist research approach, and a detailed explanation of the survey and interview design. Next, I present survey and interview results and discuss implications from professional and scholarly technical communication lenses. Finally, I draw conclusions about workplace biases based not only on survey and interview data but also by discussing new intersectional themes that offer new bias-based perspectives and legitimize issues of intersectional feminism and social justice in technical communication.

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with its potential to be either highly beneficial or detrimental to humanity, is driving the rapid evolution of digital technologies, significantly impacting the business world and fostering new entrepreneurial opportunities. AI, characterized by its ability to learn, adapt, and make decisions, optimizes crucial elements such as time and resources, which are essential for entrepreneurial success. Generative AI (GenAI), a subset of AI, has gained unprecedented traction, exemplified by the rapid adoption of tools like ChatGPT, which democratize access to advanced technology previously limited to large corporations. The proliferation of GenAI across various business functions is ushering in a new era of entrepreneurship, where leveraging AI's efficiencies can determine a venture's success and longevity. This thesis examines GenAI's role in entrepreneurship by addressing the lack of empirical evidence through an explorative approach using interview data. It develops a framework to understand GenAI's role in different stages of the venture creation process (VCP) and offers a practical guide for entrepreneurs to leverage GenAI technologies effectively. Focusing on German tech entrepreneurs, the research uses the External Enabler (EE) framework to provide empirical evidence of GenAI's benefits in the VCP. This thesis employs an exploratory research design with semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data. A purposive and snowball sampling strategy was used to select 5 experts and 9 entrepreneurs of the software industry with relevant experience, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of GenAI's application in the VCP. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis, combining deductive and inductive methods to develop a robust category system. Triangulation of data sources enhanced the credibility of the findings, validating insights through referencing and consistency checks. This thesis identifies key enabling mechanisms of GenAI in the VCP. Additionally, it highlights inhibiting factors such as technical knowledge, trust, data security, and ethics of GenAI. The findings bridge the gap between theoretical models and practical applications, offering valuable insights for entrepreneurs, policymakers, and other stakeholders. The research underscores the importance of empirical evidence and the transformative potential of GenAI in enhancing operational efficiencies and achieving competitive advantages.

by Chow Yiu-tong, Fong Cheung-hoo. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Bibliography: leaves 182-185.

O setor de software é muito dinâmico e competitivo, o que obriga as empresas a constantemente se transformar, seja pela incorporação de novas tecnologias, pela implementação de inovações em produtos e serviços, ou pela exploração de novos modelos de negócio. Neste cenário, empresas de software, para se manterem competitivas, precisam desenvolver rotinas de inteligência tecnológica (IT) que permitam coletar, analisar e tomar decisões sobre oportunidades e ameaças tecnológicas. Empresas de diversos setores têm adotado uma técnica de IT denominada roadmap tecnológico, que sucintamente representa uma visão de futuro que identifica a rota tecnológica, ou seja, as tecnologias a serem adotadas no futuro, associadas aos produtos a serem desenvolvidos e aos mercados a serem explorados. Neste contexto, esta tese procurou responder à questão \"Como empresas brasileiras de software realizam atividades de elaboração de roadmap tecnológico?\". Com base na literatura sobre roadmaps foi possível elaborar um modelo conceitual com as principais características identificadas em termos de objetivos, fontes de informação, barreiras, processo/conteúdo e benefícios dos roadmaps. Foi adotada a metodologia de estudos de casos múltiplos, com amostragem intencional, sendo selecionadas duas empresas de pequeno, duas de médio e duas de grande porte. O modelo conceitual elaborado para esta tese se mostrou muito útil, pois permitiu descrever os casos analisando sempre as mesmas dimensões, facilitando a comparação. Foi possível verificar, por exemplo, as características da atividade de elaboração de roadmaps importantes para todas as empresas estudadas, bem como aquelas importantes apenas para empresas de grande porte. Os casos evidenciam que há duas importantes influências do porte da empresa sobre a atividade de elaboração de roadmaps. Primeiro, a complexidade das interações internas e externas durante todo o processo é maior nas grandes empresas. Segundo, a organização do processo também é mais elaborada nas grandes empresas. Adicionalmente, este estudo permitiu identificar particularidades do setor de software com relação à elaboração de roadmaps: a) Foco no curto prazo - as empresas pesquisadas possuem foco no curto prazo, em geral trabalhando nas decisões tecnológicas e de funcionalidades para a próxima versão de seus produtos; e, b) Gestão de códigos do software - a estratégia da empresa sobre códigos ativos (ou seja, vigentes em clientes) a serem mantidos está relacionada ao roadmap e pode limitar o potencial de crescimento da firma. Visando cobrir um hiato existente entre a prática das empresas estudadas (foco em curto prazo) e a literatura (foco em longo prazo), é apresentada nesta tese uma proposta de metodologia para elaboração de roadmap tecnológico de longo prazo para empresas de software. Este estudo traz contribuições práticas e teóricas. Empresas de software, e eventualmente de setores correlatos, podem se beneficiar deste estudo por permitir comparar sua atividade de elaboração de roadmaps com a das empresas estudadas, bem como identificar pontos para aprimoramento à medida que planeja crescer. Do ponto de vista acadêmico, este estudo oferece diversas contribuições. Primeiramente, o modelo conceitual adotado nesta tese pode ser utilizado em outros estudos sobre roadmaps, inclusive em outros setores. Os estudos de caso evidenciam como a atividade de elaboração de roadmaps se diferencia em empresas de diferentes portes. Por fim, foram identificadas particularidades das empresas de software na atividade de elaboração de roadmaps. / The software industry is highly dynamic and competitive. Companies competing in this industry must continuously transform themselves, through the incorporation of new technologies, innovation in products and services, or the exploration of new business models. Given this scenario, in order to remain competitive, software companies should develop technological intelligence (TI) routines to enable them to collect, analyse and make decisions regarding technological opportunities and threats. Companies from different industries are adopting a TI technique named technological roadmapping, which succinctly presents a future vision that identifies a technological path, that is, the technologies to be adopted in the future, together with the products to be developed and markets to be explored. Against this backdrop, this thesis addresses the question of \"How do Brazilian software companies carry out technological roadmapping activities?\" Based on the literature on roadmaps it has been possible to develop a conceptual model with the main characteristics in terms of objectives, sources of information, barriers, components and benefits of roadmaps. A multiple case studies methodology was adopted, with an intentional sample. Two small, two medium and two large companies were selected. The conceptual model developed for this thesis proved effective, as it enabled the description of the cases while always analysing the same dimensions, which facilitated the comparison. It was possible to verify, for example, the characteristics of the roadmapping activity important for all the companies studied, as well as those important only for large companies. The cases show that there are two important influences on roadmapping activities stemming from the size of the firm. First, the complexity of internal and external interactions throughout the process is greater for large companies. Second, the organization of the process is also more developed in large companies. Furthermore, this study identified some characteristics unique to the software industry with regards to the development of roadmaps: a) Focus on the short term - the companies surveyed have focused on the short-term, typically working with technology decisions and features for the next version of products; and, b) Management of software codes - the company\'s strategy for active codes (i.e. currently used with clients) to be maintained is related to the roadmap and may limit the potential growth of the firm. With a view to bridging a gap that exists between the practice of the companies studied (focus on short-term) and literature on the subject (focus on long-term), a proposed methodology for developing a long-term technological roadmap for software companies is presented in this thesis. This study presents theoretical and practical contributions. Software companies, and possibly related industries, can benefit from this study by comparing their roadmapping activities to those from the companies studied, and identifying points for improvement as they plan to grow. From an academic perspective, this study offers several contributions. First, the conceptual model adopted in this thesis can be used in other roadmap studies, including in other sectors. The case studies show how the roadmapping activities differ in firms of different sizes. Finally, characteristics specifically related to software companies in the roadmapping activity have been identified.

Innovation ecosystem strategy is often adopted by platform technology owners to seek complementary innovation from resources located outside the firm to exploit indirect network effect. In this dissertation I aim to address the issues that are related to the formation and business value of platform innovation ecosystems in the enterprise software industry. The first study explores the role of three factors - increased payoff from access to platform owner's installed base, risk of misappropriation due to knowledge transfer, and the extent of competition - in shaping the decisions of third-party complementors to join a platform ecosystem. The second study evaluates the effect of participation in a platform ecosystem on small independent software vendors' business performances, and how their appropriability strategies, such as ownership of intellectual property rights or downstream complementary capabilities, affect the returns from such partnerships. Built upon resource based view and theory of dynamic capabilities, the third study reveals that users' co-innovation in enterprise information systems, measured by their participation in online professional community networks, constitute a source of intangible organizational asset that helps to enhance firm level IT productivity.

Thesis (MPhil (Informations Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This research utilises theories of organisational knowledge creation from the field of knowledge management to analyse the manner in which the industrialisation of the software development industry is likely to occur. The aim of the research is to prove the following hypothesis: If the software development industry moves towards industrialisation, then knowledge assets in the format of universal production templates will come into being. The research commences by providing background information on the state of practise of software engineering by giving an overview of the changes in the industry over the past four decades. The software development industry is consequently presented from the viewpoint of the proponents of a craftsmanship based approach to software development, and from the viewpoint of those proposing that industrialisation will offer a solution to the problems besetting the industry. In this discussion the terms industrialisation as well as economies of scale and scope are defined. Potential paths and drivers that will allow the industrialisation of the industry are presented – software factories as a path towards industrialisation, and cloud computing as a driver for industrialisation. In order to supply a knowledge management perspective, the theories of Ikujiro Nonaka and Max Boisot are presented. These theories assume different perspectives on the creation of organisational knowledge, but an attempt is made to reconcile the differences between the two theories. Particular attention is paid to the economic meaning and implications of knowledge, information and data as factors of production. The concept of knowledge assets are examined in detail, and placed into the context of software development. In the last chapter the research and conclusions of the previous chapters are consolidated, to prove the central hypothesis of this work.

The interest in the phenomenon of industrial agglomeration dates back to the late 19th century (particularly, the work of Alfred Marshall). The late 20th century saw a renaissance in this interest, for example, in the ‘new geographical economics’ (e.g. Krugman) and Porter’s framework of competitive forces. Subsequently, clustering has come to be seen as a feature of high technology industries, despite the difficulty to gather empirical evidence to underpin this assertion and to corroborate underlying cluster-related mechanisms that would result in benefits for firms in clustered environments.This thesis extends the discourse on rationales of clustering into the field of the management software industry sector. Its objective is to use the example of the cluster around the German software giant SAP in South-western Germany as a model to explore the strengths and characteristics of clustering in this industry context. A survey-based research design was selected and interview responses were collected from 206 management software firms located throughout Germany. The empirical analysis was based on two complementary statistical approaches. The SAP cluster was compared to two control groups, one consisting of firms from non-clustered regions, the other of firms from other clustered locations. Diversities between environments were analysed using bivariate statistical techniques. The findings of this descriptive analysis substantiate disparities between the SAP cluster and the non-clustered control group. Beneficial effects available to SAP cluster firms can be observed in respect to nearly all factors analysed, i.e. access to specialised human resources, access to investment capital, demand proximity, knowledge spillover externalities, spin-off activity and the accumulation of social capital.This in-depth comparative perspective is complemented through a holistic evaluation employing structural equation modelling. Among the key findings of this analysis are the significant links between location in the SAP cluster and superior growth performance, in which long term professional networks and social capital derived from major software vendors (particularly SAP) act as mediators. Structural equation modelling also highlights a positive effect of being located in the SAP cluster on knowledge spillover externalities, which is mediated by the cultural environment in the SAP cluster. Finally, the SAP cluster environment stimulates spin-off activity, which functions as an important mediator in the accumulation and retention of social capital held with players in the industry. In sum, the empirical analysis suggests that a wide-ranging network of factors exists, in which social capital functions as a catalyst in the mechanisms resulting in benefits available to SAP cluster firms.

Orientador: Jose Maria Ferreira Jardim da Silveira / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T18:29:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vieira_ErivaldoCosta_M.pdf: 624383 bytes, checksum: e056c8e7fd377525c15548f62773b5e1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar capacidade que o instrumental teórico microeconômico tem para explicar a estratégia competitiva das empresas do setor de software de gestão integrada (ERP), mais especificamente pela análise da indústria brasileira de software de gestão, tendo como fundamento o trabalho de Shapiro e Varian (1999). Este trabalho está dividido em três fases principais, nas quais foram utilizadas três formas de pesquisa: revisão bibliográfica, pesquisa documental e pesquisa de campo (estudo de caso ou multicaso, já que envolve mais de um sujeito, mais de uma situação). A partir destes elementos elaboram-se considerações sobre as potencialidades e limitações do instrumental teórico microeconômico de explicar o comportamento dos agentes no referido setor / Mestrado / Mestre em Ciências Econômicas

O setor de software é muito dinâmico e competitivo, o que obriga as empresas a constantemente se transformar, seja pela incorporação de novas tecnologias, pela implementação de inovações em produtos e serviços, ou pela exploração de novos modelos de negócio. Neste cenário, empresas de software, para se manterem competitivas, precisam desenvolver rotinas de inteligência tecnológica (IT) que permitam coletar, analisar e tomar decisões sobre oportunidades e ameaças tecnológicas. Empresas de diversos setores têm adotado uma técnica de IT denominada roadmap tecnológico, que sucintamente representa uma visão de futuro que identifica a rota tecnológica, ou seja, as tecnologias a serem adotadas no futuro, associadas aos produtos a serem desenvolvidos e aos mercados a serem explorados. Neste contexto, esta tese procurou responder à questão \"Como empresas brasileiras de software realizam atividades de elaboração de roadmap tecnológico?\". Com base na literatura sobre roadmaps foi possível elaborar um modelo conceitual com as principais características identificadas em termos de objetivos, fontes de informação, barreiras, processo/conteúdo e benefícios dos roadmaps. Foi adotada a metodologia de estudos de casos múltiplos, com amostragem intencional, sendo selecionadas duas empresas de pequeno, duas de médio e duas de grande porte. O modelo conceitual elaborado para esta tese se mostrou muito útil, pois permitiu descrever os casos analisando sempre as mesmas dimensões, facilitando a comparação. Foi possível verificar, por exemplo, as características da atividade de elaboração de roadmaps importantes para todas as empresas estudadas, bem como aquelas importantes apenas para empresas de grande porte. Os casos evidenciam que há duas importantes influências do porte da empresa sobre a atividade de elaboração de roadmaps. Primeiro, a complexidade das interações internas e externas durante todo o processo é maior nas grandes empresas. Segundo, a organização do processo também é mais elaborada nas grandes empresas. Adicionalmente, este estudo permitiu identificar particularidades do setor de software com relação à elaboração de roadmaps: a) Foco no curto prazo - as empresas pesquisadas possuem foco no curto prazo, em geral trabalhando nas decisões tecnológicas e de funcionalidades para a próxima versão de seus produtos; e, b) Gestão de códigos do software - a estratégia da empresa sobre códigos ativos (ou seja, vigentes em clientes) a serem mantidos está relacionada ao roadmap e pode limitar o potencial de crescimento da firma. Visando cobrir um hiato existente entre a prática das empresas estudadas (foco em curto prazo) e a literatura (foco em longo prazo), é apresentada nesta tese uma proposta de metodologia para elaboração de roadmap tecnológico de longo prazo para empresas de software. Este estudo traz contribuições práticas e teóricas. Empresas de software, e eventualmente de setores correlatos, podem se beneficiar deste estudo por permitir comparar sua atividade de elaboração de roadmaps com a das empresas estudadas, bem como identificar pontos para aprimoramento à medida que planeja crescer. Do ponto de vista acadêmico, este estudo oferece diversas contribuições. Primeiramente, o modelo conceitual adotado nesta tese pode ser utilizado em outros estudos sobre roadmaps, inclusive em outros setores. Os estudos de caso evidenciam como a atividade de elaboração de roadmaps se diferencia em empresas de diferentes portes. Por fim, foram identificadas particularidades das empresas de software na atividade de elaboração de roadmaps. / The software industry is highly dynamic and competitive. Companies competing in this industry must continuously transform themselves, through the incorporation of new technologies, innovation in products and services, or the exploration of new business models. Given this scenario, in order to remain competitive, software companies should develop technological intelligence (TI) routines to enable them to collect, analyse and make decisions regarding technological opportunities and threats. Companies from different industries are adopting a TI technique named technological roadmapping, which succinctly presents a future vision that identifies a technological path, that is, the technologies to be adopted in the future, together with the products to be developed and markets to be explored. Against this backdrop, this thesis addresses the question of \"How do Brazilian software companies carry out technological roadmapping activities?\" Based on the literature on roadmaps it has been possible to develop a conceptual model with the main characteristics in terms of objectives, sources of information, barriers, components and benefits of roadmaps. A multiple case studies methodology was adopted, with an intentional sample. Two small, two medium and two large companies were selected. The conceptual model developed for this thesis proved effective, as it enabled the description of the cases while always analysing the same dimensions, which facilitated the comparison. It was possible to verify, for example, the characteristics of the roadmapping activity important for all the companies studied, as well as those important only for large companies. The cases show that there are two important influences on roadmapping activities stemming from the size of the firm. First, the complexity of internal and external interactions throughout the process is greater for large companies. Second, the organization of the process is also more developed in large companies. Furthermore, this study identified some characteristics unique to the software industry with regards to the development of roadmaps: a) Focus on the short term - the companies surveyed have focused on the short-term, typically working with technology decisions and features for the next version of products; and, b) Management of software codes - the company\'s strategy for active codes (i.e. currently used with clients) to be maintained is related to the roadmap and may limit the potential growth of the firm. With a view to bridging a gap that exists between the practice of the companies studied (focus on short-term) and literature on the subject (focus on long-term), a proposed methodology for developing a long-term technological roadmap for software companies is presented in this thesis. This study presents theoretical and practical contributions. Software companies, and possibly related industries, can benefit from this study by comparing their roadmapping activities to those from the companies studied, and identifying points for improvement as they plan to grow. From an academic perspective, this study offers several contributions. First, the conceptual model adopted in this thesis can be used in other roadmap studies, including in other sectors. The case studies show how the roadmapping activities differ in firms of different sizes. Finally, characteristics specifically related to software companies in the roadmapping activity have been identified.