Center for Digital Strategies :: Research Projects


Electronic Collaboration Study Together, the Center for Digital Strategies and the Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik (IWI, Institute for Information Management) at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland have begun a series of studies looking at the implementation of modern information and communication technology as a key factor for corporate success in today's competitive market. The Electronic Collaboration Study was their first joint research project.


			Chemical Industry Case Studies Consumer Goods Case Study Financial Services Case Study Pharmaceutical Industry Case Study Value Chain Conference Photos

This research project looked at the types of electronic collaboration within and between companies that succeed and why they do. This was accomplished through studying examples of collaboration in European and U.S. companies, creating a research case on each, and consolidating the lessons and best practices. Five joint case studies were completed here in the U.S., and twelve European case studies were completed by IWI.

The results of the study are options for action for a successful electronic co-operation. This study:

Identified the essential business pains that lead to collaboration;
Derived critical success factors for realizing collaborative potential;
Found collaboration scenarios that are successful in business practice;
Derived patterns for successful project management; and
Defined measurement criteria to assess benefits from collaboration scenarios.

For more information on the results of the project, and on the individual case studies, please visit the Electronic Collaboration Study web site.

On May 19-20, 2004, IWI held a Value Chain Conference: Opportunities for Realtime Collaboration in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Many European companies participated, including Siemens, SAP, ABB, Degussa, Roche, Osram, Blaupunkt and OnStar (GM) Europe. Executive director Hans Brechbühl made a presentation at the conference and was a panelist on the concluding panel of the conference. More information on this conference is available at the Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik web site.