Search results for "Multiple case"

Internal Software Startups - A Multiple Case Study on Practices, Methods, and Success Factors

2020

Startups are often seen as drivers of innovation. In an attempt to leverage this potential, larger business organizations have founded internal startups as a subset of internal corporate ventures (ICV). These smaller organizations are intended to be more agile than the parent organization, in order to produce new service and product innovations using their own methods and practices independently of the organizational culture and methods of the parent organization. However, our understanding of ICVs is still lacking in terms of processes and success factors, and especially the more recent internal startups have scarcely been studied thus far. To approach this novel area of research, we take …

Identifying reasons for ERP system customization in SMEs: a multiple case study

2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate possible reasons for enterprise resource planning (ERP) system customization in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), with a particular focus on distinguishing influential factors of the SME context.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory qualitative research approach was employed, to identify new insights within the SME context. A multiple case study of four SMEs was conducted. Data were collected through 34 qualitative interviews with multiple informants across the four cases.FindingsThe paper reports findings from four SMEs where ERP customization has been applied to match organizational needs. First, the level and type of ERP sys…

Intelligent purchasing : How artificial intelligence can redefine the purchasing function

2021

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) can affect all of a company’s functions, not least the purchasing department. In addition to automating and optimizing existing processes, AI opens up new opportunities for purchasers to undertake new, strategic, collaborative, enduring missions. AI enables complex, strategic decision-making in an unpredictable, hostile environment. This article analyzes to what extent AI can improve the performance of the purchasing department. First, a review is undertaken of how AI is used in purchasing. Thereafter, the research follows an exploratory, inductive, and qualitative approach based on a multiple case study of the following technologies: (1) the Synertrade…

Internationalization pathways among family-owned SMEs

2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the internationalization of family firms; to investigate how the framework by Bell et al. on the internationalization patterns of firms could explain the internationalization pathways taken by family‐owned small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs); and to identify typical patterns and features in the various pathways taken by family‐owned SMEs.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reports findings from an in‐depth multiple case study with eight Finnish family‐owned SMEs.FindingsThe ownership structure had the most important role in defining the internationalization pathways followed by the family‐owned SMEs: a fragmented owners…

Stakeholder theory for the E -government context: Framing a value-oriented normative core

2018

Despite substantial investments in ICT in the public sector over the past decades, it has been hard to achieve consistent benefits. One reason for the difficulties is the gap between the expectations of key stakeholders (such as governments, businesses and citizens) and project outcomes. Though normative, descriptive and instrumental aspects of stakeholder theory have been influential in explaining stakeholder interests and relationships in the management field, e-Government researchers have rather neglected the normative core of the theory. We show how value theory can improve normative foundations in this area to provide a focused analysis of four e-Government projects. We use a multiple …

A Multiple Case Study of Artificial Intelligent System Development in Industry

2020

There is a rapidly increasing amount of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems developed in recent years, with much expectation on its capacity of innovation and business value generation. However, the promised value of AI systems in specific business contexts might not be understood, and further integrated into the development processes. We wanted to understand how software engineering processes and practices can be applied to develop AI systems in a fast-faced, business-driven manner. As the first step, we explored contextual factors of AI development and the connections between AI developments to business opportunities. We conducted 12 semi-structured interviews in seven companies in Brazi…

Initial Coin Offering (ICO) as a Fundraising Strategy : A Multiple Case Study on Success Factors

2019

Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) are some of the more prominent examples of currently used blockchain technology applications. Especially software startups have leveraged ICOs to gain funding early on in their lifecycles, going on to develop and create new blockchain based applications. Recently, larger companies such as Facebook have also begun to show interest in cryptocurrency, although thus far not for funding purposes in the form of ICOs. In this paper, we investigate factors that positively affect the abilities of companies to meet their fundraising goals via ICOs. We first identify a set of factors from extant literature and then seek to further confirm the effect of…

How to start with big data - a multiple case study

2018

Coaching strategies while teaching life skills : multiple case study of Estonian youth coaches

2014

Positive youth development and learning life skills through sports have lately gained attention in Europe and Northern America, now the phenomenon needs to be studied in Estonia, having special focus on youth coaches. The purpose of the study was to explore the coaching strategies Estonian coaches use while teaching life skills. The four sub-topics investigated were coaching strategies, coach education, the development of coaching philosophies and intentionality in teaching life skills. A multiple case study analysis was conducted and it consisted of three parts. A screening questionnaire traced the usage of teaching life skills; observations of the practices found supportive and additional…

Children’s transitions in early childhood education and care : various combinations of dis-/continuities

2023

This longitudinal multiple case study explores children’s transitions within early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Finland. In ECEC children typically transition from one group or center to another. This study explores how physical, social and philosophical discontinuities and continuities constitute these transitions. Five focus children’s transitions were followed in and between separate ECEC centers. The data include interviews with parents and educators as well as observations noted. Fabian’s discontinuity division, which argues that transition consists of physical, social, and philosophical discontinuities, was used for content analysis of interviews as primary data. Interpretat…