Talk title: Digital Technologies and Future Making

Speaker affiliation: Prof. Dr. Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin

Talk abstract: In 1995, James G. March suggested that information technologies have an influence on organizational learning in that they accentuate exploitation of the present competences at the expense of exploring future competences, or organizational futures. Since the writing of March,  information technologies - now evolved into digital technologies -  have gained computational power, connectivity, and autonomous action that potentially further exacerbate the imbalance. According to March (1995), the imbalance would render organizations disposable or  throw-away with limited life span. We examine this proposition in the light of temporal agency that March and his followers largely assumed but rarely explicitly addressed.

Talk title: City 5.0

Speaker affiliation: Prof. Dr. Dr. H.C. Jörg Becker, WWU

Talk abstract: As citizens, our access to goods and services is restricted. Digital technologies can help in overcoming restrictions as well as in shifting goods and services from the private into the public domain. In this talk, I will capture the notion of City 5.0 - a liveable city, in which the potential of digital technologies is utilized in order to eliminate citizens’ restrictions in consuming public goods and services and by that creating new goods and services or delivering them in a restriction-free manner.

Talk title: A supply chain integration maturity model enabling contextualized supply chain integration maturity assessment

Speaker affiliation: Eduardo Israel, WWU

Talk abstract: Supply chain integration (SCI) has become relevant for both practitioners and academics. Despite the growing number of publications on the topic, scholars have recognized that the research findings remain fragmented. A major criticism is the lack of a common understanding between SCI dimensions, which hinders the development of more normative studies for guiding what, how, and to which extent supply chains can be integrated. This talk presents a modular weighted-fuzzy SCI-MM that enables contextualized SCI maturity assessment and guidance.

Talk title: Understanding the meaning and management of exploration and exploitation in the context of small- and medium-sized IT consulting firms: An application of a paradox perspective

Speaker affiliation: Matthias Werner, WWU

Talk abstract: The high innovation pace in the IT sector requires IT consulting firms to innovate and learn constantly and in ever shorter cycles to ensure revenues in the long term. At the same time, IT consulting firms face high pressure to apply their current knowledge efficiently, which shapes a business model focusing on billable hours and short-term revenue. Compared to large IT consulting firms, small- and medium-sized IT consulting firms face greater resource scarcity to deal with short-term and long-term demands. This work-in-progress study aims to understand how these demands manifest and are managed in the context of small- and medium-sized IT consulting firms. Previous research frequently recurred to the concept of ambidexterity and assumed a rather conflicting relationship between activities of short-term and long-term character. This study applies a paradox perspective to identify how small- and medium-sized IT consulting firms engage in both separating and integrative practices to manage these disparate demands.

Talk title: A Process Reference Model for Operational and Real-Time Planning in Road Freight Transport

Speaker affiliation: Sandra Lechtenberg, WWU

Talk abstract: While there are successful applications of data analytics to operational and real-time planning, a structured overview of the processes and decision tasks is missing. Hence, this talk shows a process reference model for operational and real-time transport planning enabling companies to understand their operations and examine them to uncover application potential for data analytics.

Talk title: Leveraging “AI for Good” to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

Speaker affiliation: Prof. Dr. Stefan Feuerriegel, LMU Munich School of Management

Talk abstract: Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) allows for unprecedented opportunities to make important progress towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations by 2030. In this talk, we present several AI-powered tool from our research to support decision-makers in this objective.