TY - JOUR A1 - Bender, Benedict T1 - The impact of integration on application success and customer satisfaction in mobile device platforms JF - Business & information systems engineering : the international journal of Wirtschaftsinformatik N2 - Digital software platforms allow third parties to develop applications and thus extend their functionality. Platform owners provide platform boundary resources that allow for application development. For developers, platform integration, understood as the employment of platform resources, helps to realize application functionality effectively. Simultaneously, it requires integration effort and increases dependencies. Developers are interested to know whether integration contributes to success in hypercompetitive platform settings. While aspects of platform participation have been studied, research on a comprehensive notion of integration and related implications are missing. By proposing a platform integration model, this study supports a better understanding of integration. Concerning dynamics related to integration, effects were tested using information from over 82,000 Apple AppStore applications. Regression model analysis reveals that application success and customer satisfaction is positively influenced by platform integration. To achieve superior results, developers should address multiple aspects of integration, such as devices, data, the operating system, the marketplace as well as other applications, and provide updates. Finally, the study highlights the importance for all platform participants and their possibilities to employ integration as a strategic instrument. KW - Integration KW - Digital platforms KW - Boundary resources KW - Application success KW - Customer satisfaction KW - Mobile device platforms Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-020-00629-0 SN - 2363-7005 SN - 1867-0202 VL - 62 IS - 6 SP - 515 EP - 533 PB - Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH CY - Wiesbaden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bender, Benedict A1 - Bertheau, Clementine A1 - Körppen, Tim A1 - Lauppe, Hannah A1 - Gronau, Norbert T1 - A proposal for future data organization in enterprise systems BT - an analysis of established database approaches JF - Information systems and e-business management N2 - The digital transformation sets new requirements to all classes of enterprise systems in companies. ERP systems in particular, which represent the dominant class of enterprise systems, are struggling to meet the new requirements at all levels of the architecture. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reconsider the overall architecture of the systems and address the root of the related issues. Given that many restrictions ERP pose on their adaptability are related to the standardization of data, the database layer of ERP systems is addressed. Since database serve as the foundation for data storage and retrieval, they limit the flexibility of enterprise systems and the chance to adapt to new requirements accordingly. So far, relational databases are widely used. Using a systematic literature approach, recent requirements for ERP systems were identified. Prominent database approaches were assessed against the 23 requirements identified. The results reveal the strengths and weaknesses of recent database approaches. To this end, the results highlight the demand to combine multiple database approaches to fulfill recent business requirements. From a conceptual point of view, this paper supports the idea of federated databases which are interoperable to fulfill future requirements and support business operation. This research forms the basis for renewal of the current generation of ERP systems and proposes to ERP vendors to use different database concepts in the future. KW - database KW - enterprise system KW - ERP system KW - requirements KW - problems KW - future Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-022-00555-6 SN - 1617-9846 SN - 1617-9854 VL - 20 SP - 441 EP - 494 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bender, Benedict A1 - Gronau, Norbert T1 - Coring on digital software platforms BT - Fundamentals and Examples from the Mobile Device Sector JF - Schriften zur Business Analytics und zum Informationsmanagement N2 - Today’s mobile devices are part of powerful business ecosystems, which usually involve digital platforms. To better understand the complex phenomenon of coring and related dynamics, this paper presents a case study comparing iMessage as part of Apple’s iOS and WhatsApp. Specifically, it investigates activities regarding platform coring, as the integration of several functionalities provided by third-party applications in the platform core. The paper makes three contributions. First, a systematization of coring activities is developed. Coring modes are differentiated by the amount of coring and application maintenance. Second, the case study revealed that the phenomenon of platform coring is present on digital platforms for mobile devices. Third, the fundamentals of coring are discussed as a first step towards theoretical development. Even though coring constitutes a potential threat for third-party developers regarding their functional differentiation, an idea of what a beneficial partnership incorporating coring activities could look like is developed here. KW - coring KW - digital platforms KW - digital marketplaces KW - mobile software ecosystems Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-658-34798-7 SN - 978-3-658-34799-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-34799-4_4 SN - 2946-0670 SN - 2946-0662 SP - 45 EP - 77 PB - Springer CY - Wiesbaden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bender, Benedict A1 - Heine, Moreen T1 - Government as a Platform? BT - the power of platforms to support personalization of public services JF - Journal of Data Intelligence N2 - Digital platforms, by their design, allow the coordination of multiple entities to achieve a common goal. In the public sector, different understandings of the platform concept prevail. To guide the development and further re-search a coherent understanding is required. To address this gap, we identify the constitutive elements of platforms in the public sector. Moreover, their potential to coordinate partially autonomous entities as typical for federal organized states is highlighted. This study contributes through a uniform understanding of public service platforms by providing a framework with constitutive elements, that may guide future analysis. Apart from chance regarding coordination, platforms are well suited to support contextual eGovernment targets. Among them is service personalization. Highly individualized service offerings support targets such as No Stop government. To this end, the paper extends the framework for service personalization in the public sector and exemplifies related aspects using a reference case. KW - Public service platforms KW - Digital platforms KW - Government as a platform KW - Public sector KW - Platform economy KW - Federal states Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.26421/JDI3.1-5 SN - 2577-610X VL - 3 IS - 1 SP - 169 EP - 187 PB - Rinton Press CY - New Jersey ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fabian, Benjamin A1 - Bender, Benedict A1 - Hesseldieck, Ben A1 - Haupt, Johannes A1 - Lessmann, Stefan T1 - Enterprise-grade protection against e-mail tracking JF - Information Systems N2 - E-mail tracking provides companies with fine-grained behavioral data about e-mail recipients, which can be a threat for individual privacy and enterprise security. This problem is especially severe since e-mail tracking techniques often gather data without the informed consent of the recipients. So far e-mail recipients lack a reliable protection mechanism. This article presents a novel protection framework against e-mail tracking that closes an impor- tant gap in the field of enterprise security and privacy-enhancing technologies. We conceptualize, implement and evaluate an anti-tracking mail server that is capable of identifying tracking images in e-mails via machine learning with very high accuracy, and can selectively replace them with arbitrary images containing warning messages for the recipient. Our mail protection framework implements a selective prevention strategy as enterprise-grade software using the design science research paradigm. It is flexibly extensible, highly scalable, and ready to be applied under actual production conditions. Experimental evaluations show that these goals are achieved through solid software design, adoption of recent technologies and the creation of novel flexible software components. KW - E-Mail Tracking KW - Enterprise-grade KW - Anti-Tracking Infrastructure KW - Software Prototype Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2020.101702 SN - 0306-4379 IS - 97 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grum, Marcus A1 - Bender, Benedict A1 - Alfa, A. S. A1 - Gronau, Norbert T1 - A decision maxim for efficient task realization within analytical network infrastructures JF - Decision support systems : DSS ; the international journal N2 - Faced with the increasing needs of companies, optimal dimensioning of IT hardware is becoming challenging for decision makers. In terms of analytical infrastructures, a highly evolutionary environment causes volatile, time dependent workloads in its components, and intelligent, flexible task distribution between local systems and cloud services is attractive. With the aim of developing a flexible and efficient design for analytical infrastructures, this paper proposes a flexible architecture model, which allocates tasks following a machine-specific decision heuristic. A simulation benchmarks this system with existing strategies and identifies the new decision maxim as superior in a first scenario-based simulation. KW - Analytics KW - Architecture concepts KW - Cyber-physical systems KW - Internet of things KW - Task realization strategies KW - Simulation Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2018.06.005 SN - 0167-9236 SN - 1873-5797 VL - 112 SP - 48 EP - 59 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haase, Jennifer A1 - Vladova, Gergana A1 - Bender, Benedict T1 - Dating on a different stage, but with the same habits BT - an analysis of offline vs. online dating behavior JF - PsyArXiv N2 - This study aims to compare online vs. offline flirting and dating behavior using the example of the location-based real-time dating (LBRTD) app Tinder, a popular dating platform. We focus on persons' self-descriptions like self-esteem, social desirability, state social anxiety, and adjustment behavior on Tinder and the perceived data privacy of the app. Data was gathered using a survey approach with Tinder users reporting their behavior in offline and online settings. The comparison between offline and online behavior was made using Response Surface Analysis. The results suggest that the different conditions of the natural and digital worlds do not influence the individual's behavior and emotional perception. The results are analyzed and discuss gender, age, motivation to use the app, and the user's relationship status. KW - Online behavior KW - Online Dating KW - Data Privacy KW - Self-esteem KW - Tinder Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/kj68b IS - 245 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Haupt, Johannes A1 - Bender, Benedict A1 - Fabian, Benjamin A1 - Lessmann, Stefan T1 - Robust identification of email tracking BT - a machine learning approach JF - European Journal of Operational Research N2 - Email tracking allows email senders to collect fine-grained behavior and location data on email recipients, who are uniquely identifiable via their email address. Such tracking invades user privacy in that email tracking techniques gather data without user consent or awareness. Striving to increase privacy in email communication, this paper develops a detection engine to be the core of a selective tracking blocking mechanism in the form of three contributions. First, a large collection of email newsletters is analyzed to show the wide usage of tracking over different countries, industries and time. Second, we propose a set of features geared towards the identification of tracking images under real-world conditions. Novel features are devised to be computationally feasible and efficient, generalizable and resilient towards changes in tracking infrastructure. Third, we test the predictive power of these features in a benchmarking experiment using a selection of state-of-the-art classifiers to clarify the effectiveness of model-based tracking identification. We evaluate the expected accuracy of the approach on out-of-sample data, over increasing periods of time, and when faced with unknown senders. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Analytics KW - Data privacy KW - Email tracking KW - Machine learning Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2018.05.018 SN - 0377-2217 SN - 1872-6860 VL - 271 IS - 1 SP - 341 EP - 356 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Panzer, Marcel A1 - Bender, Benedict T1 - Deep reinforcement learning in production systems BT - a systematic literature review JF - International Journal of Production Research N2 - Shortening product development cycles and fully customizable products pose major challenges for production systems. These not only have to cope with an increased product diversity but also enable high throughputs and provide a high adaptability and robustness to process variations and unforeseen incidents. To overcome these challenges, deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) has been increasingly applied for the optimization of production systems. Unlike other machine learning methods, deep RL operates on recently collected sensor-data in direct interaction with its environment and enables real-time responses to system changes. Although deep RL is already being deployed in production systems, a systematic review of the results has not yet been established. The main contribution of this paper is to provide researchers and practitioners an overview of applications and to motivate further implementations and research of deep RL supported production systems. Findings reveal that deep RL is applied in a variety of production domains, contributing to data-driven and flexible processes. In most applications, conventional methods were outperformed and implementation efforts or dependence on human experience were reduced. Nevertheless, future research must focus more on transferring the findings to real-world systems to analyze safety aspects and demonstrate reliability under prevailing conditions. KW - Machine learning KW - reinforcement learning KW - production control KW - production planning KW - manufacturing processes KW - systematic literature review Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2021.1973138 SN - 1366-588X SN - 0020-7543 VL - 13 IS - 60 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Panzer, Marcel A1 - Bender, Benedict A1 - Gronau, Norbert T1 - A deep reinforcement learning based hyper-heuristic for modular production control JF - International journal of production research N2 - In nowadays production, fluctuations in demand, shortening product life-cycles, and highly configurable products require an adaptive and robust control approach to maintain competitiveness. This approach must not only optimise desired production objectives but also cope with unforeseen machine failures, rush orders, and changes in short-term demand. Previous control approaches were often implemented using a single operations layer and a standalone deep learning approach, which may not adequately address the complex organisational demands of modern manufacturing systems. To address this challenge, we propose a hyper-heuristics control model within a semi-heterarchical production system, in which multiple manufacturing and distribution agents are spread across pre-defined modules. The agents employ a deep reinforcement learning algorithm to learn a policy for selecting low-level heuristics in a situation-specific manner, thereby leveraging system performance and adaptability. We tested our approach in simulation and transferred it to a hybrid production environment. By that, we were able to demonstrate its multi-objective optimisation capabilities compared to conventional approaches in terms of mean throughput time, tardiness, and processing of prioritised orders in a multi-layered production system. The modular design is promising in reducing the overall system complexity and facilitates a quick and seamless integration into other scenarios. KW - production control KW - modular production KW - multi-agent system KW - deep reinforcement learning KW - deep learning KW - multi-objective optimisation Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2023.2233641 SN - 0020-7543 SN - 1366-588X SN - 0278-6125 SP - 1 EP - 22 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Panzer, Marcel A1 - Bender, Benedict A1 - Gronau, Norbert T1 - Neural agent-based production planning and control BT - an architectural review JF - Journal of Manufacturing Systems N2 - Nowadays, production planning and control must cope with mass customization, increased fluctuations in demand, and high competition pressures. Despite prevailing market risks, planning accuracy and increased adaptability in the event of disruptions or failures must be ensured, while simultaneously optimizing key process indicators. To manage that complex task, neural networks that can process large quantities of high-dimensional data in real time have been widely adopted in recent years. Although these are already extensively deployed in production systems, a systematic review of applications and implemented agent embeddings and architectures has not yet been conducted. The main contribution of this paper is to provide researchers and practitioners with an overview of applications and applied embeddings and to motivate further research in neural agent-based production. Findings indicate that neural agents are not only deployed in diverse applications, but are also increasingly implemented in multi-agent environments or in combination with conventional methods — leveraging performances compared to benchmarks and reducing dependence on human experience. This not only implies a more sophisticated focus on distributed production resources, but also broadening the perspective from a local to a global scale. Nevertheless, future research must further increase scalability and reproducibility to guarantee a simplified transfer of results to reality. KW - production planning and control KW - machine learning KW - neural networks KW - systematic literature review KW - taxonomy Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2022.10.019 SN - 0278-6125 VL - 65 SP - 743 EP - 766 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vladova, Gergana A1 - Ullrich, André A1 - Bender, Benedict A1 - Gronau, Norbert T1 - Students’ acceptance of technology-mediated teaching – How it was influenced during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 BT - A study from Germany JF - Frontiers in psychology / Frontiers Research Foundation N2 - In response to the impending spread of COVID-19, universities worldwide abruptly stopped face-to-face teaching and switched to technology-mediated teaching. As a result, the use of technology in the learning processes of students of different disciplines became essential and the only way to teach, communicate and collaborate for months. In this crisis context, we conducted a longitudinal study in four German universities, in which we collected a total of 875 responses from students of information systems and music and arts at four points in time during the spring–summer 2020 semester. Our study focused on (1) the students’ acceptance of technology-mediated learning, (2) any change in this acceptance during the semester and (3) the differences in acceptance between the two disciplines. We applied the Technology Acceptance Model and were able to validate it for the extreme situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. We extended the model with three new variables (time flexibility, learning flexibility and social isolation) that influenced the construct of perceived usefulness. Furthermore, we detected differences between the disciplines and over time. In this paper, we present and discuss our study’s results and derive short- and long-term implications for science and practice. KW - COVID-19 KW - digital learning KW - discipline differences KW - e-learning KW - TAM KW - technology acceptance KW - technology-mediated teaching KW - university teaching Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636086 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 12 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER -