Journal of Strategy and Management

David, Alexandra ; Terstriep, Judith

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-03-2015-0025

Purpose – In the search for appropriate solutions to cope with ever increasing road traffic, cities and urban agglomerations across Europe are placing great emphasis on new transport and mobility solutions, and electric mobility in particular. Being located at the intersection of the three constituent sectors automotive, information and communication technologies and green energy, electric mobility is perceived as future-oriented sector. Innovation in the sector not only requires the collaboration and exchange of knowledge, but also an increase in skilled workforces and distinct job qualifications. These demands emerge, on the one hand, through the electrification of cars, which results in structural changes in the entire value chain. On the other hand, growing customer and service orientation further accelerate such developments. So far, the knowledge about the concrete demands for engineers as knowledge carriers and innovation driver is rather scarce. To shed some light on this issue, the purpose of this paper is to discuss companies’ altered demand for engineers in electric mobility and the role of networks (e.g. clusters). Design/methodology/approach – This paper discusses two regions characterised as traditional automotive regions (Stuttgart in Germany and Alsace/Franche-Comté in France) and the shift in demands of the companies in these regions using the engineering workforce as an example. Electric mobility related companies were surveyed and asked about their current need of engineers. In addition, the survey investigated the companies’ ways of recruiting engineers, their spatial scope of search for employees and the skills and thematic courses needed to solve the lack of qualifications. The survey results are discussed against a background of regional framework settings and influencing factors of both the regions analysed. Findings – This paper finds that there is a shift in qualification demands of engineers involved in the sector of transport and mobility. Initiated by the processes along the entire value chain, new skills are required by companies. The current engineers are asked to mix their technical know-how with service orientation and knowledge of new markets. Originality/value – The world is becoming increasingly mobile. Within the last decades, the number of daily commuters has expanded producing high capacities of road traffic. This has brought several challenges for cities and regions. To face them new transport and mobility concepts are of key importance for cities and regions. Along these lines, well-skilled human capital in the form of engineers is needed to expand the concepts with their skills and knowledge.

Kendel, Adnane ; Lazaric, Nathalie

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-04-2015-0034

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study business models (BMs) for smart meters (SMs) and discuss related issues in the French institutional context. Because SM introduce deregulation on both the demand and supply sides, the authors argue that they represent an opportunity to “unlock” the system by enabling feedback to consumers. The authors discuss the empirical findings from the TICELEC ( Technologies de l’Information pour une Consommation Electrique – Information Technology for Sustainable Electricity Consumption Behaviors) project which is an experimental initiative to measure potential energy savings through the implementation of SM, and to test behavioral change. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data are from the TICELEC project and refer to a municipality in southern France. The project was designed to show the qualitative changes deriving from a new technology, and the quantitative changes in the form of real reductions in residential electricity consumption in the short and medium terms. The authors discuss these changes and their potential replication, and examine the nature of the feedback provided to users and the implications for SM BMs for France and for smart cities more generally. Findings – The authors suggest that the opportunities provided by SM have to be compared with other kinds of intervention such as self-monitoring procedures. The results show that any intervention is important for moderating the sole impact of SM. The findings on the importance of changes to “energy habits” relate mainly to “curtailment” and “low efficiency” behaviors, which represent less costly changes. The lessons learned for BM developments linked to SM include incentive systems, smart tariffs, and technologies to increase potential behavior changes and energy savings in this field. Research limitations/implications – The authors’ analysis of the content of behavioral change shows that curtailment behavior and low-efficiency behavior remain dominant when SMs are implemented. Promoting high-efficiency behaviors is always difficult for reasons of cost. Thus, SM should be combined with other measures such as incentives systems, e.g. “smart tariffication,” and new services to increase their impact. Practical implications – A proper combination of smart tariffs and SMs to reduce peaks in demand would appear to be critical to boost SM development. It will also be important to integrate SMs with smart grids to improve energy efficiency and exploit renewables and energy storage in electricity networks. Social implications – SMs are important but any interventions that motivate households to change their energy habits also help in the French context. SMs enable households to try to reduce their energy consumption but they are not the solution. Originality/value – There are no detailed results published for France. Utilities such as Electricite Reseau Distribution France, have introduced R & D programs oriented to the deployment of SM which have been tested since 2009 (e.g. see the local LINKY meter projects in Lyon and Touraine). The empirical data are from the TICELEC project and refer to a municipality in southern France. The project was designed to show the qualitative changes deriving from a new technology, and the quantitative changes in the form of real reductions in residential electricity consumption in the short and medium terms. The authors discuss these changes and their potential replication, and examine the nature of the feedback provided to users and the implications for SM BMs for France and for smart cities more generally.

Dupont, Laurent ; Morel, Laure ; Guidat, Claudine

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-03-2015-0027

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss how French universities can play a key role in generating Smart City (SC) through an innovative Public-Private Partnership (PPP) dedicated to urban transformation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors led an action-research study for five years with several research and pedagogic projects, including users or citizens. Findings – The paper points out main factors of SC development. It also presents shared demonstrators’ characteristics, including industrial scale, sustainability, and citizens’ participation. Research limitations/implications – This research is experimented with only one regional multi-case study. Practical implications – Practical implications of this paper include a University of Lorraine diversification strategy through the “Chaire REVES” supported by public and private partners. Social implications – At the regional level, industrial-university-territorial partnerships could tackle both societal and economical issues “with,” “for,” and “by” citizens. Originality/value – Based on the Living Lab concept, this case study shows a concrete regional university strategy involving: user-centric design, collaborative processes, citizens’ workshops, and new financial and organizational answers enabling collaboration between private companies and public institutions. The paper also argues that innovative PPPs involving users are necessary for developing SC.

Capdevila, Ignasi ; Zarlenga, Matías I.

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-03-2015-0030

Purpose – In recent years, the term “smart city” has attracted a lot of attention from policy makers, business leaders and citizenship in general. Although there is not a unique definition of what a smart city is, it is generally accepted that “smart” urban policies refer to local governments’ initiatives that use information and communication technologies in order to increase the quality of life of their inhabitants while contributing to a sustainable development. So far, “smart city” approaches have generally been related to top-down processes of technology diffusion. The purpose of this paper is to present a broader view on “smart” initiatives to analyze both top-down and bottom-up dynamics in a smart city. The authors argue that these two perspectives are complementary and its combination can reinforce the collaboration between different city stakeholders. Top-down and bottom-up initiatives are not opposed forces but, on the contrary, can have a synergistic effect on the innovation capacity of the city. Both perspectives are illustrated by providing examples of different “smart” aspects in the city of Barcelona: smart districts, open collaborative spaces, infrastructures and open data. Design/methodology/approach – To illustrate the arguments, the authors analyze the case of the city of Barcelona providing examples of top-down and bottom-up initiatives in four different smart city aspects: smart districts, open collaborative spaces, infrastructures and open data. The research method is based on a case study (Yin, 1984). The primary data consisted on interviews to city council representatives as well as managers of local public institutions, like economic development offices, and local organizations like for instance coworking spaces. The authors interviewed also specialists on the innovation history of the city in order to validate the data. In addition, the authors used secondary data such as reports on the 22@, and documentation on the Barcelona innovation policies, as well as doing a compilation of press articles and the online content of the institutional webpages. All together, the authors have followed a data triangulation strategy to seek data validation based on the cross-verification of the analyzed data sources. Findings – The analysis suggests that the top-down and bottom-up perspectives are complementary and their combination can reinforce the collaboration between different city stakeholders. Top-down and bottom-up initiatives are not opposed forces but, on the contrary, can have a synergistic effect on the innovation capacity of the city. Both perspectives are illustrated by providing examples of different “smart” aspects in the city of Barcelona: smart districts, open collaborative spaces, infrastructures and open data. Research limitations/implications – Nevertheless, the analysis has its limitations. Even if the authors have emphasized the importance of the bottom-up initiatives, citizens do not have often the resources to act without governmental intervention. This is the case of services that require high-cost infrastructures or regulatory changes. Also, as it usually happens in the case of disruptive technology, it is hard for citizens to understand the possibilities of its use. In these cases, firms and institutions must play an important role in the first phases of the diffusion of innovations, by informing and incentivizing its use. It is also important to note that some of the emerging usages of technology are confronted to legal or regulatory issues. For instance, distributed and shared Wi-Fi networks might be in opposition to economic interests of internet providers, that often difficult its expansion. It is also the case of services of the sharing economy that represent a menace to established institutions (like the tensions between Uber and taxi companies, or Airbnb and hotels). In these cases, city halls like it is the case in Barcelona, tend to respond to these emergent uses of technology by regulating to ensure protection to existing corporate services. Practical implications – In conclusion, the transformational process that leads a city to become a smart city has to take in consideration the complexity and the plurality of the urban reality. Beyond considering citizens as being users, testers or consumers of technology, local administrations that are able to identify, nourish and integrate the emerging citizens’ initiatives would contribute to the reinforcement of a smart city reality. Originality/value – The contribution of the paper is to go beyond the generalized technologic discourse around smart cities by adding the layer of the citizens’ initiatives.

Zhong, Junying ; Nieminen, Marko

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-03-2015-0026

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the RISE model on service innovation in coopetitive business environment. The case study illustrates why and how Chinese providers utilize ecosystems for innovative mobile payment service development to achieve coopetitive advantage based on firms’ superior resources. Design/methodology/approach – The companies in the case study include Alipay (third-party actor), Bestpay (mobile operator), and UnionPay (banking). Empirical data comes from semi-structured interviews complemented with observations and documents. The analysis of the data follows grounded theory guidelines: creation of a theoretical framework, data collection, and interpretation of the data using the coding strategies of open coding, axial coding, and selected coding. Findings – Inter-organizational co-innovation appears as a successful strategy for mobile payment service innovation. In addition to strategic choice on this, understanding of superior and inferior resources and capabilities influence firms’ coopetitive advantages in a coopetitive service development environment. Ecosystems are formed along with the innovating activities, and difficulties are caused by coopetition challenges. The RISE model enables the analysis and selection of strategic patterns for service innovation in a coopetitive environment. Originality/value – The paper contributes to resource-advantage theory and platform ecosystem theory. The theories are used to analyze and model the effects of strategy execution for achieving win-win relationships in inter-organizational co-innovation. This paper helps executives to match their service innovation strategies to platform ecosystem architectures, as well as to understand how resource-advantage challenges affect the execution strategy of setting up their platform ecosystems.