A Management approach for interdisciplinary Research networks in a knowledge-based Society - Case study of the cluster of Excellence ""Integrative Production technology for high-wage countries
Due to globalisation, innovations in low-wage countries take place in increasingly faster cycles for several years. By this means, the pressure on high-wage countries rises in order to keep up their knowledge advantage within diverse branches. Because of the fact that new knowledge is established more and more among interfaces of various disciplines, different demands arise with regard to an adequate institutional framework. Thus, the nationwide initiation of so-called Clusters of Excellence in Germany can be classified as a measure which has the target to support innovation activities within knowledge intensive networks. However, highly complex and heterogeneous research networks are in need of an appropriate management approach which supports the cross linking of various disciplines and increases the scientific output, but a corresponding approach is not established yet. Therefore, the so-called Cross Sectional Processes in the Cluster of Excellence `Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries' at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, aim at creating management approaches to fit the needs of huge, heterogeneous, highly complex and dynamic research clusters. Moreover, the aim of the investigations is to design, implement and evaluate a management approach transferable to similar clusters and networks in future in order to foster interdisciplinary innovation activities in networks.
Publication network visualization as an approach for interdisciplinary innovation management
Interdisciplinary research is currently the central scientific approach, assumed to be the answer to large-scale research problems (e.g., health and aging, economics and production in high-wage countries). Although it is quite popular, there is still a lack of knowledge about how to measure, steer, support, and manage interdisciplinary success. This paper presents an approach to analyze, steer, and manage the structure and success of interdisciplinary cooperation by implementing a publication network visualization tool into an interdisciplinary research cluster. The presented study is an exploratory interview study addressing the significance of mixed node publication visualization usage within interdisciplinary teams. Members of a sample research group (N = 5) were asked to evaluate the publication visualization approach in order to find out more about the usefulness of such a tool for the interdisciplinary workflow. First results show that benefits of such a tool are seen in the ease of finding potential partners for cooperation. Barriers were seen, on the one hand, in the limitation of parameters that can be visualized, and on the other hand, in effects that could follow an implementation (e.g., pressure to publish, competition among team members, etc.).
An empirical study of the relationships between IT infrastructure flexibility, mass customization, and business performance
Information technology (IT) infrastructure deserves serious attention from both the practitioner and academic communities, especially concerning the factors for IT infrastructure flexibility. The issue of flexibility is viewed as a critical aspect of IT infrastructure, because organizations are faced with an ever-increasing rate of change in their business environments. One effort most business sectors have made to prepare for this change is the trend toward mass customization. Recently, many organizations have embraced mass customization in an attempt to provide unique value to their customers in a cost-efficient manner.The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate a sequential relationship between IT infrastructure flexibility, mass customization, and business performance. The process involves an investigation of the critical factors for IT infrastructure flexibility, along with the firm's mass customization and business performance indicators. The findings of this study provide evidence that integration and modularity of an organization's IT infrastructure facilitate the organization's effort to accommodate mass customization. Additionally, the flexibility of the IT personnel, the human component of IT infrastructure, and mass customization directly affect the organization's business performance.