Data-driven operations management: organisational implications of the digital transformation in industrial practice

Abstract

The ongoing digital transformation on industry has so far mostly been studied from the perspective of cyber-physical systems solutions as drivers of change. In this paper, we turn the focus to the changes in data management resulting from the introduction of new digital technologies in industry. So far, data processing activities in operations management have usually been organised according to the existing business structures inside and in-between companies. With increasing importance of Big Data in the context of the digital transformation, the opposite will be the case: business structures will evolve based on the potential to develop value streams offered on the basis of new data processing solutions. Based on a review of the extant literature, we identify the general different fields of action for operations management related to data processing. In particular, we explore the impact of Big Data on industrial operations and its organisational implications.     

Model averaging for treatment effect estimation in subgroups

In many clinical trials, biological, pharmacological, or clinical information is used to define candidate subgroups of patients that might have a differential treatment effect. Once the trial results are available, interest will focus on subgroups with an increased treatment effect. Estimating a treatment effect for these groups, together with an adequate uncertainty statement is challenging, owing to the resulting “random high” / selection bias. In this paper, we will investigate Bayesian model averaging to address this problem. The general motivation for the use of model averaging is to realize that subgroup selection can be viewed as model selection, so that methods to deal with model selection uncertainty, such as model averaging, can be used also in this setting. Simulations are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. We illustrate it on an example early‐phase clinical trial.     

Effects of Leadership Style,Creativity Technique and Personal Initiative on Employee Creativity

Transformational leadership is assumed to enhance employees' creativity. However, results of meta‐analytic research on the relations between transformational leadership and creativity have fallen short of expectations. The authors argue that, besides leadership style, the creativity technique that a leader employs is an important means of stimulating employees' creativity. In addition, it is assumed that leadership styles and creativity techniques may have different effects, depending on the measure of creativity output (quantitative vs qualitative). Therefore, in an experimental setting, the effects of different creativity techniques (provocation technique vs brainwriting) and leadership styles (transformational vs transactional) on both quantitative and qualitative creativity were examined. Results showed that transformational leadership and provocation technique led to higher levels of qualitative creativity than transactional leadership and brainwriting, respectively. Conversely, transactional leadership and brainwriting were more effective for quantitative creativity. The additional benefit of the provocation technique in qualitative creativity was found to be higher in the transactional leadership condition than in the transformational leadership condition. Moreover, personal initiative made a significant and independent contribution to both qualitative and quantitative creativity. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

‘Notorious Beyond Any Other European Woman of Her Generation’: The Case of Count(ess) Sarolta/Sándor Vay

The paper investigates the curious case of the Hungarian Count(ess) Sarolta/Sándor Vay, journalist and writer, but, above all, a notorious gender bender in late nineteenth-century Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The article examines her case in the context of the history of European cross-dressing and of narrative transvestism. The author argues that nineteenth-century dandyism provided an effective cultural framework for Vay’s contemporaries to accept her unconventional presence in fin-de-siècle Hungarian society. Moreover, she claims that Vay’s narrative transvestism may also be construed within the cultural phenomenon of dandyism, as her writing practices prove to be further instruments for her self-fashioning. Finally, she concludes that Vay’s gender performance and narrative transvestism become illustrative examples of instances that both frame and confuse accepted cultural patterns, destabilize gender binarism, and participate in its maintenance.     

Gentrifikation in zwei Wohngebieten von KölnGentrification in two residential areas of Cologne

We examine the process of Gentrification in two residential areas of Cologne, Germany: Deutz and Mülheim. The theory underlying the study is a phase (or stage) model of Gentrification in which indicators and their values are attributed to each phase. The hypotheses derived from the model pertain to changes in the social structure, rents and the spatial distribution of social groups such as “pioneers”, “gentrifiers” and “others”. We further assume both areas to be in different phases of Gentrification.     

Identity Constructions and Dayak Ethnic Strife in West Kalimantan,Indonesia

This article discusses the construction of Dayak identity in the context of a violent conflict between local indigenous Dayaks and migrant Madurese in West Kalimantan province between late 1996 and early 1997. The conflict was widely regarded as an ‘ethnic’ conflict and, especially for the Dayaks who were involved in the violence, the idea of a fixed, Borneo-wide, (pan-)Dayak identity versus a common Madurese enemy was crucial. This notion of a unified, homogenous Dayak category was invoked notwithstanding the fact that Dayak groups differ greatly in many respects and that ‘Dayak’ ethnic identity is highly dynamic and fluid. This paper discusses the ways in which Kanayatn Dayaks perceived and invoked their ethnic identity during the conflict and how they later interpreted the events with a particular focus on ‘Dayakness’.     

Effects of parental absence on child labor and school attendance in the Philippines

This paper uses longitudinal data from the Philippines to analyze determinants of children’s time allocation. The estimation method takes into account both the simultaneity of time use decisions, by allowing for correlation of residuals across time uses, and unobservable family heterogeneity, through the inclusion of household fixed effects. Importantly, this improved estimation method leads to different results than when applying the methods previously used in the literature. Girls suffer significantly from the absence of their mother with a reduction in time spent in school that is equivalent to dropping out completely. This effect is substantially larger when controlling for household unobservables than when not. Boys increase time spent working on market related activities in response to an absent father, although this time appears to come out of leisure rather than school or doing household chores. Land ownership substantially increase the time boys spend on school activities, whereas renting land reduces the time girls spend on school. Finally, there does not appear to be a substantial trade-off between time spent on school and work, either in the market or at home.     

Followers' Personality and the Perception of Transformational Leadership: Further Evidence for the Similarity Hypothesis

Managers and supervisors are thought to affect their followers' attitudes and behaviour. Within leadership research, behaviour of leaders and managers is usually considered as the independent variable whilst followers' reactions are considered the dependent variable. In this study, we reverse this order and investigate the degree to which the evaluation of leadership is a result of followers' perceptions and attributions. In order to corroborate and extend previous experimental research, a field study was conducted to analyse the influence of followers' personality and perceived leader personality on followers' perception of leadership within an organizational setting. The results provide further evidence that followers' personality influences the perception of transformational leadership and commitment to the supervisor. Moreover, the perception of leaders' personality was related to the perception of leadership and commitment to the supervisor. The finding that the perception of supervisors' personality mediates both the relationship between followers' personality and the perception of leadership and commitment provides support for the similarity hypothesis. Results are discussed in the light of feedback and leader development.     

Der Wandel der Konsumstruktur in Deutschland – ein Indiz für die Individualisierung von Lebensstilen oder doch die Folge soziodemografischer Entwicklungen?The change of consumption patterns in Germany – an evidence of the individualization of lifestyles or the effect of socio-demographic changes?

Following the results of different empirical studies the consumption patterns of German households changed significantly during the last decades. While this change was attributed to a dissolving correlation between lifestyle and social status for a long time, more and more studies focus on the relationship of lifestyle and socio-demographic criteria again. This report analyses the effects of social composition regarding age, income and households types on the use of income between 1978 and 2008. The results of the decomposition analysis reveal that the socio-demographic components cannot explain the change of consumption patterns in Germany. Rather it seems that different social conditions during socialisation affect lifestyles and should be considered when analysing consumption patterns.