Resource Configuration Research Articles

Innovative postures in a family business: Family priorities driving resource (re)configuration

Innovative postures in a family business: Family priorities driving resource (re)configuration

To export or to FDI? A configurational approach to family firm internationalization

Using socioemotional wealth, this study advances our understanding of the various internationalization strategies family businesses adopt by exploring the governance and resource configurations that exist when family firms pursue distinct internationalization strategies. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FsQCA) on a sample of 775 Colombian family firms, our findings reveal a distinct set of resource and governance configurations that are present when family firms engage in less risky internationalization strategies such as exports, or in more risky internationalization strategies such as foreign direct investments (FDIs). The paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications.

Relationship between different resource and capability configurations and competitiveness – comparative study of Hungarian family and nonfamily firms

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify different types of resource and capability configurations among Hungarian family and nonfamily firms and explore which compositions can be considered competitive. In a rivalrous, dynamic world, understanding which sets of resources and capabilities lead to a higher level of competitiveness is vital.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a quantitative competitiveness survey carried out between November 2018 and July 2019 in Hungary. The authors used the Firm Competitiveness Index (FCI) to measure competitiveness and the resource-based view (RBV) approach to understand which configurations of resources and capabilities are responsible for a higher level of competitiveness based on 32 variables. An exploratory factor and cluster analysis were conducted to analyze the ownership's effect on firm competitiveness. The final sample size contained 111 companies, of which 53 were identified as family and 58 as nonfamily firms.FindingsFactor analysis reveals five factors determining resources and capabilities: “operational,” “leadership,” “knowledge management,” “transformation” and “networking.” Based on these factors, the cluster analysis identified five groups in terms of types of family and nonfamily firms: “Lagging capabilities,” “Knowledge-based leadership,” “Innovativeness and transformation-oriented management,” “Relationship-oriented management” and “Business operation-oriented management.” Results show that nonfamily businesses focus on operational and leadership capabilities, reaching a higher FCI than family businesses, which are likely to invest more in their networking, transformation and knowledge management capabilities.Originality/valueBy defining the different configurations family and nonfamily firms rely on to reach competitiveness, the paper applies an essential element to the Hungarian and Middle Eastern European contexts of family business research. The findings contribute to developing family business literature and point out specific resources and capabilities family firms should focus on to shift toward reaching a higher level of professionalization and competitiveness. The characterization of different types of competitiveness comparing family and nonfamily firms enables the firms to assess customized implications.

Thematic tactile maps for accessible flood mitigation planning: design and evaluation

ABSTRACT Maps are frequently employed in the natural hazard mitigation planning (NHMP) process for analyze a community’s vulnerability to hazards and illustrating the character of potential hazards. But because the encoded information of these maps relies on visual access, blind or low-vision (B/LV) people who want to contribute to their community’s NHMP efforts are therefore effectively excluded from any stage of the process involving maps. In response, we investigate tactile flood maps as an accessible tool for NHMP. Our study proposes a workflow for creating thematic tactile flood maps using existing resources, methods, and design conventions, and then evaluates those thematic tactile maps to understand user confidence amongst B/LV users. This work contributes a proposed configuration of tactile mapping resources to be used for NHMP and evaluates user confidence while using those resources. Results suggest that B/LV users respond positively to using tactile maps in a high-stakes context such as NHMP, and that tactile maps can expand the number and diversity of people who are able to contribute to NHMP. To maximize contributions, we recommend that future tactile map research invest a greater amount of attention to developing resources for B/LV people to create, edit, and distribute maps themselves.

Edge-Cloud Offloading: Knapsack Potential Game in 5G Multi-Access Edge Computing

In 5G, multi-access edge computing enables the applications to be offloaded to near-end edge servers for faster response. According to the 3GPP standards, users in 5G are separated into many types, e.g., vehicles, AR/VR, IoT devices, etc. Specifically, the high-priority traffic can preempt edge resources to guarantee the service quality. However, even if a traffic is transmitted with low priority, its latency requirement in 5G is much lower than that in 4G. Too strict latency requirement and priority-based service make resource configuration difficult on the edge side. Therefore, we propose the edge-cloud offloading mechanism, in which each edge server can offload tasks to back-end cloud server to ensure service quality of both high- and low-priority traffic. In this paper, we establish a priority-based queuing system to model the edge-cloud offloading behaviors. Based on the formulation of our system model, we propose Knapsack Potential Game (KPG) to derive an optimal offloading ratio for each edge server to balance the cost-effectiveness of the overall system. We demonstrate that KPG has low computational complexity and outperforms two baseline algorithms. The results indicate that KPG’s performance is optimal and provides a theoretical guideline to operators while designing their edge-cloud offloading strategies without large-scale implementation.

Effect of Operational Alignment on the Organizational Performance of Microfinance Banks in Kenya

Microfinance banks play a key role in complementing banks in providing financial services, especially to the poor population that lacks access to commercial banks. The performance of Microfinance banks has been on the decline in Kenya due to slow processing time, lack of new products, low number of customers and lack of staff retention. Microfinance banks offer financial services to a population that cannot get the same services from commercial banks due to the high costs. Microfinance banks in Kenya have been performing poorly in the last few years, occasioned by the closure of some of the branches of the microfinance banks, while some, like Century microfinance banks, have been acquired by other Fintech companies. These microfinance banks need to leverage and reconfigure all the resources they have to achieve and maintain sustainable competitiveness. This study sought to investigate the effect of operational alignment on the performance of Microfinance banks in Kenya. This study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive and explanatory research design to explain the phenomenon under study. Structured closed-ended questionnaires were issued to 181 respondents, with 171 responses. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for analysis and the model tested at 95% confidence levels. The results indicate that operational alignment had an aggregate mean of 4.42 and a standard deviation of 0.65. The inferential analysis indicates that the correlation coefficient value of 0.584 indicates that there is a strong relationship between operational alignment and performance in microfinance banks in Kenya. The adjusted R squared value of 0.338 implies that the operational alignment influences 33.8% of the performance of microfinance banks in Kenya. The study contributes to knowledge by bringing out the need for the configuration of resources in business and information technology as having the most effect on the performance of microfinance banks in Kenya. Information technology infrastructures are costly investments; thus, they need to be well aligned with the business infrastructure and business strategies in place. This contributes to the body of knowledge in terms of highlighting the importance of infrastructures that are well aligned with the business strategies of an organization.

Resource configurations among digital academic spin-offs: finding the technology-market fit

PurposeManaging resources is crucial for firms to gain competitive advantages and succeed, particularly for startups with limited resources. It is important to understand how digital startups in general and digital academic spin-offs (ASOs) in particular may orchestrate their resources to optimize value. This paper integrates the resource-based perspective with digital entrepreneurship to analyze the resource configurations leading to success of digital ASOs.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts an inductive approach and applies qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) on a longitudinal dataset of digital ASOs to identify the resource configurations for a successful outcome.FindingsThe authors' paper identifies two main paths to success among digital ASOs, consisting of five distinct resource configurations. The first path is termed “market exploiters” that operate in favorable market conditions where specific technological resources and research collaboration resources are lacking. The second path involves “technology explorers” that combines both technological and commercial resources to achieve success.Research limitations/implicationsBy outlining distinct pathways to the success of digital ASOs, this paper contributes to the digital academic entrepreneurship literature and the resource-based view of entrepreneurial firms. The paper also suggests implications for policymakers and managers in managing resources for the success of digital ventures.Originality/valueBy exploring the resource configurations leading to the success of ASOs commercializing digital technologies, the paper shows that favorable market conditions and complementary resource configurations can be alternative pathways to success.

POBO: Safe and optimal resource management for cloud microservices

Resource management in microservices is challenging due to the uncertain latency–resource relationship, dynamic environment, and strict Service-Level Agreement (SLA) guarantees. This paper presents a Pessimistic and Optimistic Bayesian Optimization framework, named POBO, for safe and optimal resource configuration for microservice applications. POBO leverages Bayesian learning to estimate the uncertain latency–resource functions and combines primal–dual and penalty-based optimization to maximize resource efficiency while guaranteeing strict SLAs. We prove that POBO can achieve sublinear regret and SLA violation against the optimal resource configuration in hindsight. We have implemented a prototype of POBO and conducted extensive experiments on a real-world microservice application. Our results show that POBO can find the safe and optimal configuration efficiently, outperforming Kubernetes’ built-in auto-scaling module and the state-of-the-art algorithms.

Modeling the Transformation of Configuration Management Processes in a Multi-Project Environment

Human resource management during project implementation in a multi-project environment requires addressing the resource-constrained project scheduling problem. Agile methodologies allow for greater management flexibility, necessitating an agile transformation of human resource management processes. Changes occurring in human resource management lead to modifications in the initial project team and alterations in the state of the resource pool in a multi-project environment. To ensure controllable changes in the project team and address the task of allocating (reallocating) limited resources among project tasks in a multi-project environment with subsequent optimization based on a selected criterion, it is proposed to use configuration management of human resources. Depending on the chosen level of detail, project specifics, and the implementation environment, configuration elements can be an executor, project team, or intact team. Types of equivalence applied to the set of configuration elements have been classified. A model of the configuration management process for human resources has been considered. Using the proposed model will allow for formalizing the process of implementing human resource configuration management in a multi-project environment. Constructive enumeration of configuration elements in a multi-project environment has been examined. Identifying a typical representative of the configuration and considering the given equivalence, followed by selecting a resource allocation/reallocation option that meets the specified constraints, enhances team adaptability. An example of configuration management in addressing team composition management tasks has been discussed. The proposed approach can be applied in managing human resources for agile transformation projects of critical infrastructure, particularly in the healthcare sector, during the establishment of hospital clusters and supercluster medical institutions. This is because implementing such projects necessitates continuous monitoring of changes and requirements for resource provisioning.

A review of link budget analysis of satellite communication systems

At present, the link budget of satellite systems has become an essential part of the engineering design of satellite communication systems. Through the link budget, the performance of communication equipment and the loss of signal attenuation and interference during transmission can be comprehensively analysed, and the equipment resource configuration and device parameters can be continuously optimised to meet the user's communication capacity and quality requirements while leaving appropriate margins. This study aims to explore the link budget of the satellite system, study the parameters, channel characteristics and application of the satellite link budget, and provide a theoretical basis and practical reference for the design and performance optimisation of the satellite communication system. Firstly, the research background and significance of satellite communication links are introduced, and the characteristics and advantages of other communication systems are analysed and compared from multiple dimensions. The main factors affecting the link budget, such as path loss, related atmospheric attenuation, and carrier-to-noise ratio, were mainly discussed using the parameter estimation method and comparative analysis. Then, from the perspective of channel characteristics, the critical issues of satellite link budget, including signal-to-noise ratio, code rate and other factors, are discussed. Based on the above research, this paper summarises the performance evaluation of satellite communication systems and provides a reference for practical applications.

Simcan2Cloud: a discrete-event-based simulator for modelling and simulating cloud computing infrastructures

Cloud computing is an evolving paradigm whose adoption has been increasing over the last few years. This fact has led to the growth of the cloud computing market, together with fierce competition for the leading market share, with an increase in the number of cloud service providers. Novel techniques are continuously being proposed to increase the cloud service provider’s profitability. However, only those techniques that are proven not to hinder the service agreements are considered for production clouds. Analysing the expected behaviour and performance of the cloud infrastructure is challenging, as the repeatability and reproducibility of experiments on these systems are made difficult by the large number of users concurrently accessing the infrastructure. To this, must be added the complications of using different provisioning policies, managing several workloads, and applying different resource configurations. Therefore, in order to alleviate these issues, we present Simcan2Cloud, a discrete-event-based simulator for modelling and simulating cloud computing environments. Simcan2Cloud focuses on modelling and simulating the behaviour of the cloud provider with a high level of detail, where both the cloud infrastructure and the interactions of the users with the cloud are integrated in the simulated scenarios. For this purpose, Simcan2Cloud supports different resource allocation policies, service level agreements (SLAs), and an intuitive and complete API for including new management policies. Finally, a thorough experimental study to measure the suitability and applicability of Simcan2Cloud, using both real-world traces and synthetic workloads, is presented.

FireFace: Leveraging Internal Function Features for Configuration of Functions on Serverless Edge Platforms.

The emerging serverless computing has become a captivating paradigm for deploying cloud applications, alleviating developers' concerns about infrastructure resource management by configuring necessary parameters such as latency and memory constraints. Existing resource configuration solutions for cloud-based serverless applications can be broadly classified into modeling based on historical data or a combination of sparse measurements and interpolation/modeling. In pursuit of service response and conserving network bandwidth, platforms have progressively expanded from the traditional cloud to the edge. Compared to cloud platforms, serverless edge platforms often lead to more running overhead due to their limited resources, resulting in undesirable financial costs for developers when using the existing solutions. Meanwhile, it is extremely challenging to handle the heterogeneity of edge platforms, characterized by distinct pricing owing to their varying resource preferences. To tackle these challenges, we propose an adaptive and efficient approach called FireFace, consisting of prediction and decision modules. The prediction module extracts the internal features of all functions within the serverless application and uses this information to predict the execution time of the functions under specific configuration schemes. Based on the prediction module, the decision module analyzes the environment information and uses the Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm and Genetic Algorithm Operator (APSO-GA) algorithm to select the most suitable configuration plan for each function, including CPU, memory, and edge platforms. In this way, it is possible to effectively minimize the financial overhead while fulfilling the Service Level Objectives (SLOs). Extensive experimental results show that our prediction model obtains optimal results under all three metrics, and the prediction error rate for real-world serverless applications is in the range of 4.25∼9.51%. Our approach can find the optimal resource configuration scheme for each application, which saves 7.2∼44.8% on average compared to other classic algorithms. Moreover, FireFace exhibits rapid adaptability, efficiently adjusting resource allocation schemes in response to dynamic environments.

Adjacent initial states-based differential privacy for probabilistic labeled Petri nets

Privacy protection has received widespread attention from the community of discrete event systems to protect the sensitive information of users or organizations from being leaked. The existing privacy protection methods cannot protect the state information of probabilistic discrete event systems via repeated observations, which represents the information pertaining to system resource configurations. This work introduces differential privacy into the framework of probabilistic labeled Petri nets to solve the problems pertaining to the initial state protection. For two initial states that are adjacent under a specified measure, a state differential privacy verification method is proposed by determining whether the probability distributions of observations generated from adjacent initial states are similar. An external attacker is unlikely to infer the initial state via repeated observations if the system satisfies state differential privacy for certain adjacent initial states. For a probabilistic labeled Petri net, which does not satisfy state differential privacy, a supervisory control method is proposed for enforcement. A maximally permissive controller can be constructed based on the control specification proposed in this paper. Experimental studies show that the method proposed in the paper can effectively protect the privacy of given adjacent initial states.

Expanding Capacity for Learning and Transformation: A New Look from Human Resource Configurations Towards Product Innovation in the Healthcare Industry

AbstractPrioritizing human resource (HR) practices has been found to improve innovation outcomes in organizations. However, most previous studies have concentrated on internal mechanisms, leaving a gap in our understanding of how HR practices facilitate organizations in adapting external knowledge and technology to drive innovation. To bridge this research gap, we study the mediating role of employees’ innovative work behaviour (IWB) and an organization's capacity for learning and transformation (CLT) in the relationship between HR practices that strengthen intellectual capital (IC) and product innovation. The hypotheses were tested using a time‐lagged design and survey data from the healthcare industry collected over three waves. The findings indicate that employees' IWB mediates the relationship between IC‐enhancing HR practices and the organization's CLT. IC‐enhancing HR practices are also associated with product innovation through the serial mediation effects of IWB and CLT. The study also highlights the moderating role of transformational leadership in the indirect relationship between IC‐enhancing HR practices and the organization's CLT via IWB. This research demonstrates that HR systems, although internally designed, can capture external transformations. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of the combined impact of well‐designed HR systems and leadership for driving innovation.

Configuration of Agile Operant Resources in Family Firms Through Stakeholders Partnership

Family firms are often recognized as wealthy in resources, especially in operant resources. These resources are hidden and play a phenomenal role in sustainable development. Fewer studies are available to spotlight the role of operant resources. This study aims to surface the magnificent hidden role of agile operant resources that facilitate the diverse needs of stakeholders in family firms. Data for this study were collected using in-depth interviews with complementary observations. Almost 29 interviews were considered with the owners of family firms from Pakistan. Interviews were translated and transcribed. Gioia Methodology is used to develop broader themes for discussion in terms of first-order concepts, themes and aggregate dimension that explained the mystical hidden role of agile operant resources in family firms. Research findings portrayed that Collaborative Capability, Reputational Resources, Religious Resources and Relationship Proneness are the agile operant resources which strengthen stakeholder’s partnership in family businesses. The authors proposed a conceptual model for highlighting the pertinent role of agile operant resources that facilitate stakeholder partnership in family-owned businesses (FOBs). Recent study provides the conceptual framework to academia for future research in the literature of family firms. FOBs may adopt all these agile operant resources to cater firm diverse stakeholder partnerships in today’s business world. It will open new avenues of growth and innovation for FOBs. This research can apply to all FOBs.

A Systematic Review of “The Performance of Knowledge Organizations and Modelling Human Action”

The purpose of this systematic review is to examine the performance of knowledge organizations and the role of modelling human action in improving organizational performance. Using the PRISMA scheme, a comprehensive search of relevant databases and sources was conducted to identify relevant articles. A total of 15 articles were selected based on predefined criteria, including relevance to the research question and quality assessment. The articles were analyzed and synthesized to identify key findings and trends. The findings suggest that knowledge organizations that focus on knowledge management capabilities and human resource configurations tend to perform better than those that do not. Additionally, modelling human action, such as through simulation and decision-making tools, can help organizations improve their performance by providing insights into the effects of different actions and strategies. However, the effectiveness of such models depends on their accuracy and the ability of organizations to use them effectively. Overall, this systematic review provides insights into the factors that contribute to the performance of knowledge organizations and the potential benefits of modelling human action. Future research can build on these findings by exploring additional factors that may influence organizational performance and by developing more advanced models for predicting and improving organizational outcomes.

Sensing Travel Source–Sink Spatiotemporal Ranges Using Dockless Bicycle Trajectory via Density-Based Adaptive Clustering

The travel source–sink phenomenon is a typical urban traffic anomaly that reflects the imbalanced dissipation and aggregation of human mobility activities. It is useful for pertinently balancing urban facilities and optimizing urban structures to accurately sense the spatiotemporal ranges of travel source–sinks, such as for public transportation station optimization, sharing resource configurations, or stampede precautions among moving crowds. Unlike remote sensing using visual features, it is challenging to sense imbalanced and arbitrarily shaped source–sink areas using human mobility trajectories. This paper proposes a density-based adaptive clustering method to identify the spatiotemporal ranges of travel source–sink patterns. Firstly, a spatiotemporal field is utilized to construct a stable neighborhood of origin and destination points. Then, binary spatiotemporal statistical hypothesis tests are proposed to identify the source and sink core points. Finally, a density-based expansion strategy is employed to detect the spatial areas and temporal durations of sources and sinks. The experiments conducted using bicycle trajectory data in Shanghai show that the proposed method can accurately extract significantly imbalanced dissipation and aggregation events. The travel source–sink patterns detected by the proposed method have practical reference, meaning that they can provide useful insights into the redistribution of bike-sharing and station resources.

Exploring the Role of the Purpose and Configuration of Resources Amid Grand Health Crisis

Exploring the Role of the Purpose and Configuration of Resources Amid Grand Health Crisis

A Resource Configuration Perspective to Examine Strategic Renewal: A Study of Movie Franchises

A Resource Configuration Perspective to Examine Strategic Renewal: A Study of Movie Franchises

Does Resilience Matter for Supply Chain Performance in Disruptive Crises with Scarce Resources?

AbstractIn today's disruptive world, firms and supply chains are facing massive disruptions, primarily owing to resource scarcity. We develop a model supported by the resilience and resource‐based theories to assess supply chain decision‐makers in the United States. We validate the model by employing partial least squares structural equation modeling and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. We find that supply chain agility and flexibility can support supply chain resilience, which in turn sustains supply chain performance. Furthermore, we find a mediation effect of supply chain resilience in the relationship between agility and supply chain performance, as well as between flexibility and supply chain performance. Furthermore, the findings suggest that supply chain performance under severe disruptions can be achieved when supply chains are resilient based on the combination of agility and flexibility. Our study contributes to the supply chain resilience and resource‐based theory literature by identifying that resource configuration plays a decisive role in resilience and performance in severe disruptions due to resource scarcity. Our findings suggest that not all resilience‐related resources are necessary to build resilience and support performance. Therefore, when confronted by a disruptive crisis, managers, practitioners and policymakers should identify the best resource configurations to create resilience and support performance.