Narrow Results

This study investigates the critical success factors (CSFs) of marketing automation (MA) for business-to-business (B2B) IT companies. The research employs a distinctive approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods to study the cause–effect phenomena and ascertain the rank of the CSFs to address the lack of comprehensive research in the existing literature. Utilizing the technology acceptance model (TAM) and DeLone & McLean’s information system success model (D&M ISSM) as a theoretical framework, the study underscores the underexplored domain of MA in the B2B IT sector. Expert interviews and the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method (DEMATEL) are employed to understand and rank CSFs comprehensively. Methodological triangulation is applied to the findings of expert interviews and DEMATEL analysis to confirm the CSFs of MA. The study finds that “system integration,” “flexibility and adaptation,” “personalized information,” and “general satisfaction” are the highest-ranked CSFs for adopting MA among B2B IT firms. This study provides valuable insights for managers in B2B IT companies on the CSFs driving MA adoption and effectiveness, enabling them to make informed decisions and optimize their MA strategies.

The success of a customer relationship management (CRM) strategy depends on the adequate use of technology, including CRM software. This paper offers empirical evidence regarding critical success factors for CRM software adoption, namely, implementation project management and services provided by information technology consultants. Data analyses involving 208 business customers of an international CRM software provider show that (1) successful management of the implementation project is a fundamental prerequisite for the firm to take full advantage of CRM software; (2) perceptions of tangible offers, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and training services provided by CRM consultants affect CRM success; and (3) the successful management of an implementation project mediates the effects of consulting service quality on successful CRM software adoption. These findings point to the relevance of service in the CRM software industry from the perspectives of both the professionals involved and the potential adopters of CRM software.

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) have been established as an innovative capital-raising method. Nevertheless, numerous cases of ICO fraud are having a negative impact on investors. In particular, the lack of legal certainty (e.g., creditor protection) and the lack of direct participation in a company’s success (e.g., profit distribution) have led to an increasing number of security token offerings (STOs). These offer investors a degree of legal certainty and direct participation in company profits. However, to date, little scientifically-based knowledge exists regarding the factors that influence the funding success of an STO. We address this research gap by first identifying possible success factors for funding and then systematically analyzing 38 STOs that have already been carried out in order to determine the influence of those factors. Our analysis indicates that high-quality prototypes and high-quality teams are major drivers of STO funding success. Based on these results, we discuss the implications for science and practice, outline the limitations of our work, and identify further research needs.

This paper investigates how information technology (IT) companies in Malaysia, particularly those with Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status, perceived the importance and degree of implementation of knowledge management (KM) success factors in their organisations and how these factors impact on their performance. Data were generated from a questionnaire survey of 427 middle managers from 194 MSC-status companies operating in Malaysia. Although the IT companies are highly aware of the importance of KM, the factors were only moderately implemented, with the exclusion of removal of organisational constraints. Some significant interactions were found between the KM success factors and organisational performance. Such significant findings provide important information on whether the MSC-status companies perceived KM as important to their success. In addition, based on the empirical results, recommendations are made on how the companies could improve their performance by narrowing the gaps through better organising their KM practices from the right perspective. This paper provides new information not only in terms of filling the gap of the newness of KM practices in Malaysia, it also has implications on the relationships between KM success factors and the performance of the MSC-status IT organisations in Malaysia.

Enterprise content management (ECM) is a new and fast growing area. It is still undergoing the same defining process as predecessor systems such as decision support and enterprise resource systems. A qualitative case study was conducted to identify key factors that impact the success of ECM systems implementations. A theoretical framework was developed from the information systems (ISs) literature resulting in a research model defining five categories of factors that impact ECM implementation success with these questions: Are there managerial, user, task, technological and content related factors that impact ECM implementation success? The research model was tested using a mix methods approach. Content analysis of the project documentations and interviews of 15 team leads and members that implemented ECM systems within their departments in their organization. The results included 12 factors that were supported by the interview data as well as the content analysis of related project documents.

The ability to measure performance is both fundamental to and critical in successful product development. Previous research has focused on adding new measurements, not on evaluating those currently used. The performance measurement evaluation matrix (PMEX) is a tool to evaluate the performance-measurement system based on success factors in the development of software-intensive products. Three case studies have been conducted to test the PMEX and the results indicate that the PMEX enables managers to determine explicitly what is and what is not measured. Time, cost, and quality seem to be the focus of the performance measurements while technology and planning activities are absent.

Literature on the champion theory proposes the informal character of the champion’s role and also notes difficulties in institutionalizing it. Nevertheless, formally institutionalized roles that seem to fit the description of a champion can be recognized in organizations, especially as enablers of open innovation activities. However, research cannot answer how this institutionalization occurs and which factors influence it. To answer these questions, we investigate a unique single case in which a champion role was institutionalized in the purchasing department of a multinational company. The new role’s task is to identify, select, and integrate supplier innovations. Our results indicate that the informal role of the champion can be successfully institutionalized when certain success factors are considered, which are management commitment, use of success stories, and matching of champions with research and development teams. We contribute to innovation management literature by using the well-established champion theory to explain how and why large multinational companies formally establish the role of the innovation champion. Our research offers pathways for further research about both, the antecedents and the consequences of role formalization. Practitioners can build on the success factors derived in this study when formally implementing innovation champions as enablers of open innovation activities.

Mobile business ecosystems are based on product innovations and complements created on platforms facilitating transactions between groups of users in a multi-sided market. The purpose of this research is to present a model of success factors (SF) of mobile ecosystems. This research establishes an empirical framework based on the Android ecosystem, which has been analyzed in-depth on firm and ecosystem level, identifying 16 success factors. The main theoretical contribution is a model that identifies SF of platforms, which are related to the identification of the role of users and complementors in increasing innovation success. The model advances research in innovation platforms.

There is no consensus in the literature on how to apply Lean Product Development (LPD) successfully. This paper presents a literature review aiming to fill this gap. The key success factors in and barriers to successful implementation of LPD were gathered and categorized by means of a thematic reading. The question of the context’s influence on these factors is also posed, and a proposition is made to prioritize the notion of configurations rather than frameworks. From an academic perspective, this research gives an overview of the LPD implementation’s key factors and opens up a discussion on the pertinence of the notion of framework in this field. On the practitioner side, this paper helps organizations to reflect on the main factors to consider when implementing LPD.

Small business and entrepreneurship have been at the heart of Pakistan's economy for almost 60 years, yet little (if any) research has been conducted that identifies factors crucial for small business success in Pakistan. In the past, studies identifying factors crucial for small business success have focused primarily on the United States and Western Europe. This paper presents survey results from 265 small business owners located in and around Karachi, the largest city and hub of economic activity in Pakistan. The survey was designed to identify the internal and external factors that Pakistani small businesspersons believe are critical for success.

One hundred fifteen female and 252 male entrepreneurs from Atlantic Canada and Ontario were compared to identify gender similarities and differences in terms of their perceptions of success as well as comparing general success factors present in the literature. Gender comparisons were based on a Success Factors' scale derived from the literature and on objective as well as subjective Performance Indicators. Factor analyses and other statistics revealed a positive relation between subjective and objective performance indicators, as well as a particular importance of government programs geared to entrepreneurs among female respondents. Both genders received considerable spousal support.

Innovation researchers increasingly pay attention to service industries, resulting in a large amount of literature on success factors in new service development. However, the role of individual co-workers in innovation is still underexposed.

This paper investigated the drivers of innovative behaviour of individual co-workers, which is considered to be a major determinant of incremental innovation. From the literature seven constructs were derived that are often discussed as drivers of innovation, but have not been tested as determinants of individual co-workers' innovative behaviour. Survey data were collected from 360 persons working in knowledge-intensive service firms. Based on a regression analysis, it appeared that perceptions of job challenge, autonomy, strategic attention and external contacts are positively related to innovative behaviour of individual co-workers. Also, operating in a market where firms compete on differentiation had a positive impact. On the other hand, a firm climate supportive to innovation and a high variation in demand did not affect innovative behaviour in a direct manner.

This review examines 43 recent papers about factors behind success and failure of innovative projects. Nine out of the 43 papers report a larger number of possible causes for success or failure and provide some rank ordering. Analyzing these rankings we find that the nine studies have a significant degree of similarity among the ten highest-ranking success factors; however, there is little similarity among lower ranking factors. The various studies remain either inconsistent or inconclusive with respect to factors such as strength of competition, R&D intensity, the degree to which a project is "innovative" or "technologically advanced" and top management support. Agreement exists, however, about the positive impact on innovative success of factors such as firm culture, experience with innovation, the multidisciplinary character of the R&D team and explicit recognition of the collective character of the innovation process or the advantages of the matrix organization.

The need for effective and efficient Product Innovation (PI) is a great challenge for organisations in today’s hypercompetitive global markets. Many research studies addressed problems/obstacles to successful PI from various perspectives. Many other studies proposed factors to help companies mitigate such problems. Here, the primary objective is to propose an integrated model, to empirically test this model, and get insights about which factors, if managed appropriately, will help reduce the obstacles to PI in practice. A questionnaire was developed, pilot tested, and used to collect data from 47 PI managers. The results support the theoretical importance of a formal PI process, characteristics of the company environment, and the availability of specific resources as important factors to reduce obstacles to company PI. Based on the results recommendations are made to practitioners and researchers in this important area.

The analysis of the importance of supply side and demand side factors with regard to innovative behavior is quite old. In this paper, these two categories are used to distinguish and examine the relevance of several success factors for collaborative innovation projects on the firm level in the German energy sector. The literature emphasizes that solving environmental problems requires extensive technological change. On the other hand, due to higher prices the market push is weaker. Regulatory factors are therefore designed to stimulate environmental innovations. The relative influence of these three categories on project performance is investigated on the basis of a sample of 128 German collaborative energy innovation projects in the development phase using a scale-based approach and structural equation modeling at the firm level. The results confirm the importance of supply side factors followed by demand side factors. In contrast to literary assumptions, R&D subsidies played no significant role.

Introducing existing, improved or radically new process technology in the process industries is not finished until it is operating well at the firm’s premises; a fact of growing importance in the perspective of digital transformation. However, since it is uncommon for firms in the process industries to develop own process technology, they are dependent on suppliers for the acquisition of new equipment. Relying on the development of an organisational framework, the authors’ industrial experiences, and a literature review, success factors for inter-firm process technology transfer were initially developed. To facilitate the company use, and as an illustrative case, the success factors were afterwards included in a survey to informants in the petrochemical industries. The findings indicate that companies would benefit from the development of an internal guide for inter-firm process technology transfer. The success factors could not only be used as components in such a manual, but also serve as a “check-list” for internal improvement programs for process technology transfer.

This study empirically analyses the effects of five critical success factors on the front end of innovation and new product development success. Data from a self-developed questionnaire on a cross-industry sample of 77 German-based small- and medium-sized firms were collected through an online survey. Accouting for factors not included in previous studies, the results indicate that strategic alignment, creative encouragement, and external collaboration are the key predictors of front-end success. Surprisingly, the impact of process formalisation and the importance of cross-functional collaboration for front-end success could not be supported. We conject that collaboration in the front end of innovation must exceed simple communication and information exchange to significantly effect front-end success. Managerial implications of this study include the need for an internal search for ideas by fostering employees’ creative abilities while simultaneously remaining open to external input. Also, activities in the front end of innovation should be aligned with the organisation’s overall business strategy to promote successful ideation.

Creativity has been identified as a critical activity in distributed product development. Various methods and tools support distributed product development and distributed teams in general, but none with a focus on creative problem solving. To tackle this challenge, a systematic literature review has been conducted to gather the influencing factors on distributed creativity to be used as a starting point for supporting creativity in distributed product development teams. Within this submission, an impact model is developed, focusing on the success factors of creativity. Furthermore, the interconnection between the factors is modelled. Barriers to creative problem solving are included as well but will be the focus of a following publication.

Digital transformation has emerged as a critical strategy in today’s dynamic business environment. However, the high failure rate of digital transformation initiatives underscores the need for a deeper understanding of the factors that drive success. This study conducts a comprehensive examination of digital transformation success factors through a systematic literature review. Through a bibliometric analysis of 34 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2017 and 2023, the study evaluates research areas, temporal trends, geographical distributions, journals, significant keywords, and principal authors based on co-authorship. It unveils the current digital transformation research landscape, synthesises 119 enabling factors into 13 core dimensions for successful digital transformation, and presents a new and holistic digital transformation model. This model offers valuable guidance for practitioners in the field and organisations navigating transformation challenges.

This study investigates how project-specific factors, the project creator, and campaign signals influence crowdfunding success in France. Analysing 424 projects from the KissKissBankBank platform, the research employs Generalised Linear Models to identify significant success factors. The findings reveal that signals such as publications, geographical location, project category, the creator’s past experience, the number of backers, and the funds raised positively affect campaign success. Contrary to our research hypotheses, signals related to factors such as video, the length of the project description, fundraising duration, and goal amount negatively impact success. Additionally, signals related to factors such as comments, readability of the project description, facial trust, and gender were found to be insignificant. This study provides valuable insights for young entrepreneurs, helping them identify crucial signals for crafting effective crowdfunding strategies, thereby enhancing the likelihood of their campaign success. It also serves as a resource for potential backers, enabling them to make informed investment choices before committing to crowdfunding projects.