Par J. Agerfalk – författare

This SpringerBrief discusses multiple forms of open-source-inspired outsourcing: opensourcing, innersourcing and crowdsourcing. It uses a framework-based comparison to explain the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. By pointing out characteristics along with benefits and pitfalls of each approach, the authors provide nuanced and research-based advice to managers and developers facing software sourcing decisions. The differences and commonalities of these three emerging approaches are carefully analyzed. Chapters explore the primary challenges of reliability, efficiency and robustness in open-source methods. Examples from industrial cases are included, along with extensive references to recent research. The brief concludes with a comparative analysis of approaches and outlines key implications to be aware of when outsourcing. Software Sourcing in the Age of Open: Leveraging the Unknown Workforce is designed for professionals and researchers interested in outsourcing challenges. The content is also suitable for postgraduate students interested in contemporary software sourcing approaches.

Rather than deciding whether or not to get involved in global sourcing, many companies are facing decisions about whether or not to apply agile methods in their distributed projects. These companies are often motivated by the opportunities to solve the coordination and communication difficulties associated with global software development. Yet while agile principles prescribe close interaction and co-location, the very nature of distributed software development does not support these prerequisites. Šmite, Moe, and Ågerfalk structured the book into five parts. In “Motivation” the editors introduce the fundamentals of agile distributed software development and explain the rationale behind the application of agile practices in globally distributed software projects. “ Transition” describes implementation strategies, adoption of particular agile practices for distributed projects, and general concepts of agility. “Management” details practical implications for project planning, time management, and customer and subcontractor interaction. “Teams” discusses agile distributed team configuration, effective communication and knowledge transfer, and allocation of roles and responsibilities. Finally, in the “Epilogue” the editors summarize all contributions and present future trends for research and practice in agile distributed development. This book is primarily targeted at researchers, lecturers, and students in empirical software engineering, and at practitioners involved in globally distributed software projects. The contributions are based on sound empirical research and identify gaps and commonalities in both the existing state of the art and state of the practice. In addition, they also offer practical advice through many hints, checklists, and experience reports. Questions answered in this book include: What should companies expect from merging agile and distributed strategies? What are the stumbling blocks that prevent companies from realizing the benefits of the agile approach in distributed environments, and how can we recognize infeasible strategies and unfavorable circumstances? What helps managers cope with the challenges of implementing agile approaches in distributed software development projects? How can distributed teams survive the decisions taken by management and become efficient through the application of agile approaches?

Open innovation increases the profit of companies and organizations via the input and the adoption of new ideas that are transformed into new processes, products, and services. Yet, how do we ensure that adopters of such innovations focus on relevant problems and use appropriate methods?  How should we manage open innovation technologies? How can we exploit distributed knowledge and inventions? And how can we promote them successfully on the market?

With valuable lessons to be learned from academic research and industrial experiences of e.g. Intel, Nokia, Philips Healthcare, small municipalities, e-learning platforms and user communities, this book focuses on some of the key dimensions of open innovation and open innovation technologies. It is divided into three themes: theme 1 deals with open innovation as it is in use today, including theoretical underpinnings and lessons from related research fields. Theme 2 analyzes the use of open innovation in organizations today in order to extract best practices. Theme 3 presents forward-looking theoretical research as well as practical future uses of open innovation. Each chapter addresses the particular topics by presenting experiences and results gained in real life projects and/or by empirical research, and clearly states its purpose and how readers are supposed to benefit from it.

Overall, the objectives of this book are to advance and disseminate research on systematic open innovation, and to make its results available to practitioners. Thus, the intended target audience includes the international academic community, industrial enterprises, and public authorities.

This book contains the refereed proceedings of the Third Scandinavian Conference on Information Systems (SCIS), held in Sigtuna, Sweden, in August 2012.

The digitization of modern society’s information and communication structures has fundamentally changed our everyday life, economy, business, and society.  How can information systems research as an academic yet pragmatic discipline contribute to designing the interactive society? The Scandinavian IS tradition with its emphasis on engaged scholarship, action research, and socially embedded design has a lot to contribute to this discussion. The 10 papers accepted for presentation at the conference were selected from 33 submissions, and they are grouped into two main themes: the interactive society and design.