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Karan Menon: Industrial Internet based technologies creates business value for manufacturing companies

Tampere University
LocationKorkeakoulunkatu 8, Tampere
Hervanta campus, Pieni sali 1 of the Festia building, and via remote connection
16.10.2020 9.00–13.00
Entrance feeFree of charge
Karan Menon
The focus of doctoral research of Karan Menon is creating value from industrial internet based technologies for manufacturing companies. Dissertation addresses the following question: How to create value from industrial internet enabled data and information management for manufacturing companies?

The "Industrial Internet" creates a situation where the smart and connected products create up-to-date information on their status as well as conditions from within the customer’s real-time environment. The basic idea behind industrial internet enabled technologies is that they provide a digital identifier that uses the internet to relay data to the different actors of the delivery and value chains as well as creates new opportunities to earn for the manufacturing companies. The baseline assumption is that the focus will shift from the (one- time) delivery of products and services to customers to the optimisation of their (continuous) use in the customer’s real-time environment. This digitalisation of the products and services is rapidly shaping traditional business models, breaking the prevailing sector boundaries in business life and the public sector alike. 

Industrial internet based technologies are expected to pose several challenges to existing companies including high investments, disrupted existing business models, effective data and information management and employees’ fear to be replaced. These challenges are harmful for both large companies as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In essence, this dissertation addresses the research topic of overcoming the data and information management related challenges brought in by industrial internet based technologies that hinder business value creation for manufacturing companies and their customers.

In this doctoral research Karan Menon illustrated the process of creating a systematic and step-by-step maturity model for industrial internet enabled technologies through detailed design guidelines. Furthermore, Menon’s collaborative work with West Virginia University (USA) led to the understanding of the impact of data and information management through platforms and their openness. This platform openness brings up various long-term impacts, such as, switching costs and lock-in to name a few. These long- term impacts, especially the impacts related to switching costs, give a perspective to the managers on the decisions they should make while selecting a platform. Finally, the impact of industrial internet enabled data and information on advanced business models is studied using a morphological box framework.

“The idea behind a morphological box for business models, such as, the advanced non-ownership business models, is to help manufacturing companies to design their future advanced business models in a systematic way”, tells Menon.

Menon’s expertise on value creation as well as business model development through industrial internet based technologies for manufacturing companies, from his doctoral thesis along with supervision from Professor Hannu Kärkkäinen, led to two large successfully funded Business Finland projects (SNOBI and FutureSpaces). Such academic achievements also attracted funding from private foundations such as Suomen Kulttuurirahasto, Jenny ja Antti Wihurin rahasto and Tekniikan Edistämissäätiö. The results from the SNOBI and FutureSpaces projects have the potential to highlight Tampere University amongst the top in the field of advanced business models such as pay-per-use, pay-per-output and pay-per-outcome type of business models for manufacturing companies.

Karan Menon was born in Vadodara, India and came to Finland in the year 2007 as a master’s degree student. He currently works as a Doctoral Researcher at Tampere University and is leading the SNOBI and FutureSpaces Business Finland projects with Professor Hannu Kärkkäinen.

The doctoral dissertation of M.Sc. (Tech) Karan Menon in the field of information and knowledge management titled Industrial Internet Enabled Value Creation for Manufacturing Companies - A data and information management perspective will be publicly examined in the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences at Tampere University starting at 12:00 noon on Friday 16.10.2020 in Pieni sali 1 of the Festia building, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, Tampere. The opponent will be Professor Jens Pöppelbuss from Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. The custos will be Professor Hannu Kärkkäinen from the Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University, Finland.

The public defense proceedings can be viewed live via https://echo360.org.uk/section/aeb9013b-5ce3-4d3f-a6b2-981db3d1546e/public

The dissertation is available online at http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-1701-0