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Piracy is commonly believed to be detrimental to legal suppliers, so strong enforcement against piracy is expected. However, in practice, some companies do not deter piracy actively which seems counterintuitive. To explore the rationale behind the uncommon phenomenon, this paper explores the piracy issue from the entry deterrence perspective. In particular, we study an incumbent’s entry deterrence strategy using piracy when facing a potential entrant who offers similar products in the market. The incumbent decides whether to deter the piracy, and the entrant chooses whether to enter the market by anticipating the competition in the potential market and the entry cost. By analyzing the strategies of both the incumbent and the entrant, we find that deterring piracy is not always a good strategy since piracy could be used as a deterring strategy on the entrant, which explains the practices in many companies. Specifically, we find that when the entry cost is moderate, the incumbent accommodates piracy when the entrant is more of a threat, and piracy serves as a partner of the incumbent to prevent the entry of a powerful entrant. This conclusion also holds when considering the entry deterrence cost, network effect and the entrant is a high end substitute.

Cybersecurity is an established business sector with numerous global public companies employing hundreds of thousands of professionals. Although the range of services offered continues to change and expand, experienced security executives understand the types of technologies they will need to develop and retain. In contrast, the privacy technology sector is still maturing. While many privacy tools and services are well developed and numerous businesses have gained traction by solving privacy problems, companies’ needs for privacy technology to help manage and utilize data continue to evolve rapidly. Based on a report by the Future of Privacy Forum and the Privacy Tech Alliance, this article reviews developments in the privacy technology sector and charts the services provided as companies mature. The report draws on dozens of hours of interviews with buyers and sellers as well as conversations with leading privacy tech experts and a survey sent to privacy technology companies.

The competition in the software market demands that the time required for any software product to reach the market be reduced if the product is to survive competition from other developers. The pursuit of this goal has led to the adoption of agile software development methodologies. While other agile methodologies provide guidelines as to the software engineering (SE) practices to be used during the development lifecycle, Scrum does not. The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to identify the usage and level of importance of software engineering practices in the Scrum development environment; and second, to investigate how Scrum teams adopt an appropriate set of SE techniques and whether a hybrid Scrum/Extreme Programming (XP) methodology is an appropriate approach to take. This research was conducted by examining sample data from five organizations using the Scrum methodology. The sample included a range of industries including communications and embedded systems, financial asset management, software development houses and consulting firms in South Africa. The study employed a mixed method approach. A key finding was that, regardless of the fact that Scrum does not explicitly recommend engineering practices, there was extensive use of these practices by all of the participating organizations. The study also found that the lack of software engineering practices in Scrum does not constitute a barrier to a successful adoption of Scrum, provided the 'inspect and adapt' principle inherent in Scrum is properly followed. The study discusses the findings, explains the implications and suggests future research.

Цель: статья посвящена вопросу модернизации курьерской службы путем разработки и внедрения регламентирующей методики распределения онлайн-заказов и разработке специальной системы поддержки принятия решений (СППР) для автоматизации этого процесса. Обсуждение: проанализировав рынок программных продуктов для автоматизации курьерской службы, авторами выявлен ряд их недостатков, среди которых можно выделить отсутствие вариантов выбора вида транспорта курьера при расчете его маршрута движения, а также отсутствие возможности настраивать рабочий график курьера с учетом его предпочтений. Указанные недостатки не позволяют гибко и эффективно организовать работу курьерской службы. Результаты: авторами предложены регламентирующая методика распределения онлайн-заказов по курьерам с учетом указанных выше недостатков, а также разработана архитектура СППР для ее автоматизации. Результаты апробации подтвердили возможность широкого практического использования разработанных методики и СППР.

This paper highlights the influence of knowledge on the customer relationship as the fourth core component of the CRM components which are technology, people and business processes. The fourth component emerges as a result of the advancement in technology, telecommunications, and the excess in customer information in the era of information. Moreover, this paper highlights the new fifth type of CRM namely “Showroom CRM”. Besides, the other CRM types are strategic CRM, Operational CRM, Analytical CRM and Collaborative CRM. The fifth type is a comprehensive business framework which includes the structure of the other types of CRM. Moreover, the researcher surveyed the web and listed a 250 CRM system packages and programs available in the software market. The summary and classification of the 250 CRM system is given in table (1) of appendix A of the study.

Since the education sector is associated with highly dynamic business environments which are controlled and maintained by information systems, recent technological advancements and the increasing pace of adopting artificial intelligence (AI) technologies constitute a need to identify and analyze the issues regarding their implementation in education sector. However, a study of the contemporary literature reveled that relatively little research has been undertaken in this area. To fill this void, we have identified the benefits and challenges of implementing artificial intelligence in the education sector, preceded by a short discussion on the concepts of AI and its evolution over time. Moreover, we have also reviewed modern AI technologies for learners and educators, currently available on the software market, evaluating their usefulness. Last but not least, we have developed a strategy implementation model, described by a five-stage, generic process, along with the corresponding configuration guide. To verify and validate their design, we separately developed three implementation strategies for three different higher education organizations. We believe that the obtained results will contribute to better understanding the specificities of AI systems, services and tools, and afterwards pave a smooth way in their implementation.

To adapt to the 4.0 era of industry, all kinds of enterprises must use digital means to accelerate product development and improve the efficiency of development and production. All of these require enterprises to have the complete digitizing ability, which is based on Digital Twin. To build a scientific, rational, professional, and accurate digital twin structure, the most critical technology is the industrial simulation software. By analyzing the key technologies of the popular digital twin concept, this paper points out the shortcomings of the domestic software market compared with foreign countries, and on this basis, analyses the relationship between building a perfect software eco-chain and the application of Digital Twin technology, and concludes that it is very important for China’s industrial development to build a technology-based software industry ecological chain.

In modern society, smart phone is one of the most important things for people. A number of companies which produce software for smart phones definitely acquire huge profits. In recent years, TikTok has become one of the most popular and potential app in software market. This success is not only dependent on the trend of big data era, but also closely related to TikTok’s own operation. In this paper, the author discusses three main parts, including the reason why TikTok is attractive, the approaches how TikTok can build an effectively short video recommendation, and how TikTok makes money. The reasons behind TikTok’s rapid rise are analyzed and some benefits that TikTok brings to society and other businesses are revealed.

Digital goods, such as software, are significant elements of the contemporary digital economy. The authors propose a model that characterizes dynamic profit-maximizing competitive pricing strategies of digital goods with network effects. In a two-period game theory model, an incumbent firm has a quality advantage in period 1, but the potential disrupter has a quality advantage in period 2. They analyze pricing strategies and characterize conditions under which the potential disrupter becomes an actual disrupter. They discuss implications for user adoption of digital goods and opportunities for future research.

The increase of consumption is an important motivation for the reuse of either physical or virtual products. As the software market has risen, software reuse has become a practice with favourable effects for software development companies and their clients. The most important benefits are increased productivity, reduced costs, better and easier maintenance, decreased development lead times and the improved quality of software products. Successful reuse depends on several technical and non-technical factors. The ecological impact of software is an important non-technical factor of software reuse that needs to be analysed in the context of the rapid evolution of optimization techniques. The main goal of this study is to identify ecological perspectives on software reuse. These will complete the framework of software reuse together with other technical factors, such as compatibility, and non-technical factors, such as economic and ethical implications.

A number of studies on the successes and failures of business process management (BPM) have been conducted with the aim of identifying BPM adoption success factors. The complex and comprehensive nature of BPM has resulted in the lack of a generally accepted framework for successful BPM adoption. One general means of ensuring BPM success is through the adoption of business process management software (BPMS). The fact that there is currently no consensus as to a generally accepted definition of BPM software makes it difficult to define the criteria for its selection. There are several reasons for this: (i) the size and complexity of the field, (ii) determining business needs is not always straightforward, and (iii) the BPM software market is complex and its features and capabilities vary greatly across vendors. In this article, we examine the contextual and technical perspectives of BPMS adoption and related critical success factors (CSF). The goal of this study was to propose BPMS selection guidelines with regard to the organizational, environmental and technological CSFs of BPMS adoption, to support decision makers in selecting the right BPMS. To accomplish this, we applied a multiple- case study approach and carried out a set of interviews in companies that have fully or partly adopted BPMS. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather quantitative data for those topics that can be evaluated numerically, and qualitative contextual (organizational and environmental) CSFs relevant for BPMS adoption success.

The article investigates the Ukrainian segment of the software market for reporting. We have performed the analysis of the most popular programs («Art-Zvit Plus», «М.E.Doc», «Sonata», «iFin», «1C:Zvit», «SOTA», «TAXER», «EDVZ») and describe their functional possibilities so as compare them. This allowed us to determine the software products that best meet the needs of users in relation to the formation and reporting. The purpose of the study is the analysis of software for the reporting, identifying their main advantages and disadvantages. The influence of cloud-technologies on the organization of accounting, specifically organization of reporting is revealed. Prospects for further research in this direction are the choices of software for report preparation and reporting.

The implementation of sanctions to a producer, a number of franchisers, dealers and distributers of the most popular programme product called «1С: Accounting» caused the problem of software choice for conducting accounting for a great number of entities. The aim of the article is to analyze the possibilities of programme products (for conducting accounting) presented at the Ukrainian market, to determine the possibilities of their use when providing services on accounting outsourcing. The article deals with the Ukrainian segment of software market for conducting accounting. The paper analyzes the most popular programmes («1С: Accounting for Ukraine»; «Sail-Accounting»; «Clerk»; «SAP»; «IT-Enterprise: Accounting»; «ІС-PRO»), describes their functional possibilities, and compares them. This allowed to determine the possibilities of application of above-mentioned programme products while providing the accounting outsourcing services. The paper describes the peculiarities and substantiates the safety against cyber-attacks of using «cloud» services for conducting accounting, in particular, in the course of outsourcing of the present process at the enterprise. The prospects for the further study in the current direction is to determine the peculiarities of accounting representation of the software, which is provided under the terms of «cloud» technologies.

The present paper outlines e-learning from the perspective of the advantages and disadvantages of this education system. At the same time, the limitations of e-learning are presented. The study is carried out taking into account several aspects, including: the need for educational software in the world, in general, and in Romania, in particular; the types of existing educational software: websites, encyclopedias, e-books, etc.; the software market. In the end, there are some conclusions about e-learning.

We discuss the software patent should be granted or not. There exist two types of coping in the software market; reverse engineering and software duplication. Software patent can prevent both types of copies since a patent protects an invention. If the software is not protected by a patent, software producer cannot prevent reverse engineering. However, the producer can prevent the software duplication by a copyright. It is not clear the software patent is socially desirable when we consider these two types of coping. We obtain the following results. First, the number of copy users under the patent protection is greater than that under the copyright protection. Second, the government can increase social welfare by applying copyright protection when the new technology is sufficiently innovative.

The article analyses the main features of the intellectual activity results market through the lens of the product boundaries definition. Frequently the pirated copy is not considered as a substitute for original products in legal cases. However, unlicensed computer programs should be included in the product market boundaries regardless of its legal status if the consumer considers them as substitutes. The difference between these types of products (original and pirated) are hidden not in transformation but in transaction characteristics. It is also important to take into consideration the possible complementarity between pirated and original products expressed in the information and network effects. In order to assess the buyers’ choice it is necessary to adjust the methods evaluating product market boundaries prescribed by «The Procedure of market competition analysis» of the Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service.

Kakao is a fast growing software company focused on providing innovative smartphone applications. The company is rooted in the Korean mobile communication market where customer demands for high speed connectivity have been growing sharply. Kakao maintains the top position in the category of mobile communication utility tool for the last three years and competes successfully with other new comers. However, the company faces tremendous external threat from traditional smartphone carriers, SK Telecom, KT and LG U+. Those telecommunication conglomerates view the rapid growth of Kakao as a dangerous possibility that may deprive them of revenue streams from their traditional cash cows of texting and voice calling. Moreover, traditional software champions, Naver and Daum, steadily expand their market shares by differentiating themselves. Those competitors have strong brand assets, innovation capabilities and market sensitivity. After three years in the mobile software market, Kakao faces constraints to its growth potential. Kakao tries to overcome the situation by positioning itself as a new mobile platform leader that connects potential customers and game publishers. In addition, the company wants to speed up innovation for sustaining its reputation through a financial transfusion from external investors. Instead of choosing an easier option of being merged or acquired, the company clearly sets its course to fight against external challenges. How can Kakao overcome the difficulty and sustain growth? What kind of strategic choices can be executable?

The preparation and implementation of a real estate development project requires the adoption of a large number of diverse management decisions. For the preparation of decisions often attract experts. The opinions of many experts sometimes do not agree with each other and even are mutually exclusive. For their analysis using computer-based decision support systems (DSS). The article provides an analysis of several DSS, their applicability for the preparation of the project of real estate development. The results of the comparative experiment are also presented - the advantages and disadvantages of direct and indirect discussion of the project. It is revealed that the mediated written discussion with the use of information and communication technologies has advantages over direct discussion. It has been established that the quality of the discussion improves when there is a specially trained moderator who controls the process. Analysis of the features of the implementation of real estate development projects showed that there are no group decision support systems on the software market that can meet all the requirements necessary for the effective preparation and implementation of a real estate development project.

The scientific sphere of retail sales using automated technical systems named vending machines is considered. The main problems of automation of quality management in such systems are researched. The description of the existing methods of automation of quality management is given. Possible scenarios for the development of automation systems are proposed. Recommendations for the automation of sales quality management through vending machines were formed. The assessment of state of devices and software market for vending companies is conducted. The main prospects of automation of quality management in the field of retail sales with using vending machines are defined.

Many national and regional governments and various trade associations have created and are currently developing services that aim to provide support for firms that have just begun to or which plan to operate in international markets. Consequently, the purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the role of various support services especially in the case of software small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aiming to expand internationally and accelerate their international growth. In the empirical part of the chapter, the authors review the key support organisations Finland has for its software industry. Through a descriptive empirical survey (n = 25) of the industry, we illustrate the role of various support services that are especially targeted at firms aiming to accelerate their international growth, irrespective of the phase of internationalisation. Furthermore, the authors study the use, quality and effectiveness of the internationalisation of support services from the viewpoint of managers of Finnish software SMEs. Based on our results, it is easy and logical to argue that better targeted programmes should be developed for rapidly internationalising firms in the turbulent software market. However, there are already a few innovative and better targeted programmes being offered to Finnish software firms. According to our study, in the later phases of internationalisation, the key to success is more closely linked to the availability of external funding as well as knowledge and contacts provided by international consultants.

In highly competitive technology markets, such as the market in which Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) service providers do business, it has become of fundamental importance to understand the factors that create competitive advantages. This paper presents the support from the theoretical frameworks offered by the Resource-based View (RBV) and the Market-based View (MBV) to attempt to explain the competitive advantage held by Totvs Curitiba, a franchise of Totvs, which in turn is a Brazilian company that is a market leader in ERP service provision. In methodological terms, this is a Case Study for which data was collected during interviews and by observation and review of secondary documentary sources. The results suggest that the franchise’s market-leading position was built on a relationship, which is identifiable in the results of this study, between the strategies adopted, resources controlled and competences developed.

Firms use social media marketing to promote products and collect consumer feedback for the product development process. Their practice of investing in retailer-hosted Word-of-Mouth (internal WOM) is supported by a positive feedback mechanism between internal WOM and retail sales. Internal WOM is a sales influencer: consumers can get informed about a product by a large volume of internal WOM. It is also a sales outcome: greater past sales lead to more WOM. Beyond internal WOM, consumers are shown to search widely for product information on third-party websites. Consequently, many firms also start to invest in content on third-party websites. However, little is known regarding the interplay between internal WOM and the contents of third-party websites, which have both been invested in by firms in recent years. In the context of the online software market, this study examines how WOM hosted by third-party websites (external WOM) and third-party free sampling influence the feedback mechanism between internal WOM and retail sales. Using data from Download.com and Amazon.com , we analyze the impact via a simultaneous equation model in a Bayesian hierarchical framework. We find that external WOM and third-party free sampling moderate the sales-outcome role of internal WOM in different ways. Receiving external user reviews amplifies the impact of past sales on volume of internal WOM; whereas third-party free sampling weakens the impact of past sales on internal WOM. Moreover, this impact of external WOM and third-party free sampling on the sales-outcome role of internal WOM is much more significant than their impact on the sales-influencer role of internal WOM.