2017- Working Papers: Technology and Information Systems
A generativity factory for innovation, 35 pp.
O. Mendelson and D. Te’eni
(Working Paper no. 1/2017)
How can IT be used to enhance the capacity of innovators to innovate? This study concentrates on the design of a generativity factory that utilizes extant knowledge on supporting creativity to design tools tailored to the specific context of innovation. We build a prototype of the generativity factory according to a new design science methodology of building abstract factories, which are artifacts that create artifacts. We then evaluate the prototype factory by examining the use of two of its products: a generativity tool used in the context of designing cars and a generativity tool used in the context of camping. We conducted two in-depth field experiments with nine teams and found that users are generally more creative in conditions supported by the generativity-factory products. Additionally, we implemented generativity tools using several technologies, including wooden boards for camping and stage arts, internet-based apps for car engineering, and an application based on IBM’s Watson platform. Our main contribution lies in introducing the concept of a generativity factory as a means of bringing generativity to diverse fields of practice and research. In a world of IT enabled work, tying the generativity factory and, in future, other types of factories to the work support systems already in place may be particularly productive.
A potato salad with a lemon twist: Using a supply-side shock to study the impact of opportunistic behavior on crowdfunding platforms, 53 pp.
H. Geva, O. Barzilay and G. Oestreicher-Singer
(Working Paper No. 5/2017)
Research no.: 05070100
Research no.: 02870100
Crowdfunding platforms are peer-to-peer two-sided markets that enable amateur entrepreneurs to raise money for their ventures over the Internet. However, in allowing practically anyone to enter, such markets risk being flooded with low-quality offerings, a situation often referred to as a “market of lemons”. To empirically study the implications of this phenomenon for crowdfunding performance, we use a quasi-natural experiment in the form of an exogenous media shock that occurred on Kickstarter.com. The shock was followed by a sharp increase in the number of campaigns, particularly low-quality ones, offered on the supply side of the market; no such increase was observed on the demand side of the market. These unique conditions enable us to estimate how crowdfunding platforms are affected by the presence of an atypically large number of low-quality campaigns, while controlling for fluctuations in demand. We use two identification strategies, which enable us to control for changes in quality, to show that an increase in low-quality supply significantly decreases the performance of the average crowdfunding campaign, manifested in a lower likelihood of success (reaching funding goals) and less money raised per campaign. We also offer a new method to estimate campaign quality and study the moderating role of campaign quality in the observed effects. We find that high-quality campaigns are less affected by the “market of lemons” than low-quality campaigns are. We discuss theoretical implications as well as managerial implications for entrepreneurs and platform designers.
Engagement, search goals and conversion – The different m-commerce path to conversion; Research-in-Progress, 10 pp.
A. Goldstein, O. Raphaeli and S. Reichman
(Working Paper No. 9/2017)
Research No.: 01970100
While the use of smartphones is increasing, conversion rates for mobile platforms are still significantly lower than those for traditional e-commerce channels, suggesting that these platforms are characterized by distinct consumption patterns. In this research, using detailed event log-files of an online jewelry retailer, we analyze user engagement and navigation behaviors on both platforms, model search goals and their effect on purchase decisions, and develop a conversion prediction model. Our initial results show that while user engagement is significantly higher in PC sessions compared to mobile sessions, in buying sessions, mobile sessions reflect a higher level of user engagement than PC sessions. These results indicate that m-commerce involves more than ensuring mobile-compatibility of websites, and that mobile consumers follow a distinct path to purchase involving distinct search and browsing behaviors. Therefore, analysis of the different types of consumption behaviors is necessary to understand the factors that lead to conversion on mobile e-commerce platforms.
