Agile Network Businesses

"A highly readable and yet comprehensive book on network businesses that have become governable with the advent of cloud and big data computing. Vivek Kale is a master of simplifying the complex world of network theory and its relevance to business." —Jagdish N. Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing, Emory University Agile Network Businesses: Collaboration, Coordination, and Competitive Advantage reflects the shift from traditional networks to virtual and agile networks that enable businesses to operate dynamically, thereby representing markets more closely. This book enables IT managers and business decision-makers to understand clearly what network businesses and enterprises are, what they can do for them, and how to realize them. Customers in geographically dispersed markets are demanding higher quality products in a greater variety, at lower cost, and in a shorter time. Thus, enterprises have moved from a few centralized and vertically integrated facilities to geographically dispersed networks of capabilities, competencies and resources, which are the core of network businesses. Enterprises are now constructing more fluid network businesses in which each member facility focuses on differentiation and relies increasingly on its partners, suppliers, and customers to provide the rest. Network businesses have emerged as an organizational paradigm for collaboration and coordination across loosely connected individual organizations. This pragmatic book: Introduces network solutions and distributed systems that are a first step towards enabling a network enterprise. It also gives a detailed description of networks and agent system that have paved the road to network enterprises. Describes the basics of service-oriented architecture (SOA), cloud computing, and big data that are essential to network enterprises. Details the distinguishing aspects of network enterprises, which include virtual enterprises, management of network enterprises, and collaborative network enterprises. Covers such major application areas as supply, manufacturing, e-business, platform, social and wireless sensor networks. Introduces decision networks in the context of supply chain networks This book reinterprets the traditional supply chain in terms of the flow of decisions, information, and materials, which leads to reconfiguring the traditional supply chain network into mutually separate decision networks (e.g., fourth-party logistics or 4PL), information networks (e.g., wireless sensor networks), and logistics networks (e.g., third-party logistics or 3PL).

"A highly readable and yet comprehensive book on network businesses that have become governable with the advent of cloud and big data computing. Vivek Kale is a master of simplifying the complex world of network theory and its relevance to business." —Jagdish N. Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing, Emory University Agile Network Businesses: Collaboration, Coordination, and Competitive Advantage reflects the shift from traditional networks to virtual and agile networks that enable businesses to operate dynamically, thereby representing markets more closely. This book enables IT managers and business decision-makers to understand clearly what network businesses and enterprises are, what they can do for them, and how to realize them. Customers in geographically dispersed markets are demanding higher quality products in a greater variety, at lower cost, and in a shorter time. Thus, enterprises have moved from a few centralized and vertically integrated facilities to geographically dispersed networks of capabilities, competencies and resources, which are the core of network businesses. Enterprises are now constructing more fluid network businesses in which each member facility focuses on differentiation and relies increasingly on its partners, suppliers, and customers to provide the rest. Network businesses have emerged as an organizational paradigm for collaboration and coordination across loosely connected individual organizations. This pragmatic book: Introduces network solutions and distributed systems that are a first step towards enabling a network enterprise. It also gives a detailed description of networks and agent system that have paved the road to network enterprises. Describes the basics of service-oriented architecture (SOA), cloud computing, and big data that are essential to network enterprises. Details the distinguishing aspects of network enterprises, which include virtual enterprises, management of network enterprises, and collaborative network enterprises. Covers such major application areas as supply, manufacturing, e-business, platform, social and wireless sensor networks. Introduces decision networks in the context of supply chain networks This book reinterprets the traditional supply chain in terms of the flow of decisions, information, and materials, which leads to reconfiguring the traditional supply chain network into mutually separate decision networks (e.g., fourth-party logistics or 4PL), information networks (e.g., wireless sensor networks), and logistics networks (e.g., third-party logistics or 3PL).

Agile is a mainstream business strategy designed to help corporations react effectively to destabilizing forces shaping global forces. This book aims to show decision-makers how they can counter problems by developing agile networks of intranets and extranets that allow for flexible interaction.

As the spectrum of the internet of things (IoT) expands, artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted agile IoT is the way forward for sustainable finance. The depth of agile IoT has changed the financial market, and it may quickly evolve as a powerful tool in the future. The convergence of AI and IoT techniques will significantly extract valuable financial information and offer better services to customers. Some of the potential benefits of AI-assisted agile IoT for FinTech include prompt customer support, in-door client navigation, on-site queue management, improved customer experience, security and authenticity, wireless payments, increased business efficiency, self-checkout services, and business automation. There is no doubt that leveraging the complete potential of AI-assisted agile IoT will result in the creation of a new and innovative financial system. AI-Enabled Agile Internet of Things for Sustainable FinTech Ecosystems presents the advances in AI-assisted agile IoT for financial technologies (FinTech). It further explains the new applications, current issues, challenges, and future directions of the field of AI-assisted agile IoT for FinTech applications and ecosystems. Covering topics such as consensus algorithms, IoT-based banking, and secure authentication, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for business executives and managers, IT managers, librarians, students and faculty of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

An introduction to Agile development from a business perspective. This book contains practical real-world advice from over 30 coaches, executives, developers and managers who are actively using Agile in their organizations and helping others achieve Agility.

As tech giants and startups disrupt every market, those who master large-scale software delivery will define the economic landscape of the 21st century, just as the masters of mass production defined the landscape in the 20th. Unfortunately, business and technology leaders are woefully ill-equipped to solve the problems posed by digital transformation. At the current rate of disruption, half of S&P 500 companies will be replaced in the next ten years. A new approach is needed. In Project to Product, Value Stream Network pioneer and technology business leader Dr. Mik Kersten introduces the Flow Framework—a new way of seeing, measuring, and managing software delivery. The Flow Framework will enable your company’s evolution from project-oriented dinosaur to product-centric innovator that thrives in the Age of Software. If you’re driving your organization’s transformation at any level, this is the book for you.

Scientists from management and strategy, information systems, engineering and telecommunications have discussed a novel concept: Smart Business Networks. They see the future as a developing web of people and organizations, bound together in a dynamic and unpredictable way, creating smart outcomes from quickly (re-)configuring links between actors. The question is: What should be done to make the outcomes of such a network 'smart', that is, just a little better than that of your competitor? More agile, with less pain, with more return to all the members of the network, now and over time? The technical answer is to create a 'business operating system' that should run business processes on different organisational platforms. Business processes would become portable: The end-to-end management of processes running across many different organizations in many different forms would become possible. This book presents you the outcomes of an energizing and new direction in management science.