Esko Penttinen

Aalto University · Information Systems Science

To manage their increasingly ambitious environmental agendas successfully, companies need better and more versatile data, yet the elements and mechanisms through which businesses and the environment benefit from data remain poorly understood. A single‐case‐study setting was designed for examining the perceived value of data for environmental sustai...

Organisations' increasing adoption of lightweight automation, such as robotic process automation (RPA), raises concerns about the associated systems' robustness and security, with data-security concerns becoming further accentuated when tools of this sort are deployed for handling of potentially sensitive data. However, literature on designing thes...

Increasing utilization of data, enabled by digitalization, constitutes a major driver toward circular economy but is not without potential paradoxical tensions. A two-round disaggregative Delphi study and analysis of the qualitative material generated in it explored these tensions. They were found to cohere around three themes: consumer concurrence...

Organizations replace their legacy systems for technical, economic, and operational reasons. Replacement is a risky proposition, as high levels of technical and social inertia make these systems hard to withdraw. Failure to fully replace systems results in complex system architectures involving manifold hidden dependencies that carry technical debt...

Cognitive automation powered by advanced intelligent technologies is increasingly enabling organizations to automate more of their knowledge work tasks. Although this often offers higher efficiency and lower costs, cognitive automation exacerbates the erosion of human skill and expertise in automated tasks. Accepting the erosion of obsolete skills...

Digital trace data derived from organizations’ information systems represent a wealth of possibilities in analyzing decision-making processes and organizational performance. While data-mining methods have advanced considerably over recent years, organizational process research has rarely analyzed this type of trace data with the objective of better...

Judging in competitive sports is prone to errors arising from the inherent limitations to humans’ cognitive and sensorial capabilities and from various potential sources of bias that influence judges. Artistic gymnastics offers a case in point: given the complexity of scoring and the ever-increasing speed of athletes’ performance, systems powered b...

Robotic process automation (RPA) has emerged as a technology promising various quick wins: fast deployment, immediate efficiency gains, and low investment requirements. These promises have resulted in large-scale deployment of RPA in diverse industries. However, the choice of operation model remains tricky. The paper identifies three key decisions...

The paper applies a flow-oriented perspective to examine how temporal conditioning of the flows of people and digital technologies dynamically shape socio-technical formation and the transformation process of an AI (artificial intelligence) system. Drawing on an in-depth case study of a financial accounting services company that was developing and...

Greater understanding of gamers’ preferences (what it is in the game that they value) and motivations (why they play the game) provides cues for game developers’ better response to consumer desires and drives. Complementing insights from literature that identifies a wide variety of antecedents to both preferences and motivations, the article addres...

Self-service technologies (SSTs) increasingly permeate retail space. Yet, sometimes retailers decide to revert to human-delivered service mode by discontinuing their incumbent SST. In this study, we examine how selfcheckout (SCO) discontinuance affects customers’ perceptions of SCO technology and purchase behavior. We conduct a natural field experi...

Self-service technologies (SSTs) increasingly permeate retail spaces. To make their SST investments worthwhile, retailers need to turn enough customers into SST users. Previous research has uncovered the significance of habitual behaviour stemming from prior experience and situational factors from the environment on SST use. However, consumers are...

Nokia Software is spearheading the development of artificial intelligence solutions in the field of telecommunications. The company aims to seize the opportunities of 5G networks with its Telco AI: a powerful artificial intelligence tool for telecom operators that allows a simultaneous optimization of network services and the business behind it. As...

The paper presents an approach for implementing inscrutable (i.e., nonexplainable) artificial intelligence (AI) such as neural networks in an accountable and safe manner in organizational settings. Drawing on an exploratory case study and the recently proposed concept of envelopment, it describes a case of an organization successfully "enveloping"...

Huge increases in computing capacity and data volumes have spurred the development of applications that use artificial intelligence (AI), a technology that is being implemented for increasingly complex tasks, from playing Go to screening for cancer. Private and public businesses and organizations are deploying AI applications to process vast quanti...

In this paper, we investigate the initial reactions and perceptions of knowledge workers to a planned implementation of robotic process automation (RPA). Using purposive sampling, we conduct a case study in an industry in which workers’ jobs are notoriously vulnerable to automation: we study an accounting firm that is planning to introduce RPA into...

While remote work allows organisations to offer their employees flexibility and harness global talent and markets for business growth, inability to rely on physical interactions between employees imposes challenges specific to operations in highly virtual work environments. Among these characteristic issues are challenges associated with organisati...

Knowledge work organizations are increasingly leveraging automation to enhance and transform their business processes. Many types of automation tools are being deployed in a large variety of information processing tasks, requiring effective management of human-automation cooperation. Yet, conceptual understanding of human-automation hybrid work rem...

Prior literature informs us that a company's decision to outsource a business process depends on process characteristics such as how frequently the process is performed or how specific the assets required by the process are. In this article, we compare the effects of accounting process characteristics on outsourcing decisions across users of tradit...

Prior literature has identified several outsourcing motivations, such as cost reduction and access to expertise, and deciphered the influence of these variables on outsourcing decisions. In another stream of outsourcing studies, researchers have gauged the degree of outsourcing, unearthing how companies may choose to outsource a set or processes in...

Standard Business Reporting (SBR) is a consolidated reporting model for the digital transmission of financial data to several statutory bodies. It requires the development of a national taxonomy, which facilitates the joint tax, statistics and financial reporting through a common government gateway, thus reducing the administrative burden of statut...

Business-to-Business platforms provide connectivity and data exchange services and compete in several dedicated services, such as electronic invoicing (e-invoicing). Thus far, little research has examined the factors that influence firms’ choice among competing platforms: Which platform features matter, and in what proportion in the decision maker’...

In this paper, we study how continuities are constructed in virtual work environments by comparing two firms with differing degrees of virtuality. Using Organizational Discontinuity Theory and drawing on a qualitative study of two accounting firms operating in Finland, we observe virtual work discontinuities in the two firms and identify constructe...

Recent literature has identified two main types of IT-enabled innovation and labelled them as lightweight IT and heavyweight IT. In this study, we look into robotic process automation (RPA) as lightweight IT and traditional back-end system automation as heavyweight IT and study how a case company Telco makes the choice between these two alternative...

An online poker site is a good example of a dual-purposed information system that is used for both fun and making money. In this study, we address the platform selection problem associated with online poker sites by investigating the features online gamers value when selecting a platform. We test the differences in preferences for online gaming pla...

Self-checkouts (SCOs) have become an integral part of many retail servicescapes. While SCOs have the potential to improve service while simultaneously cutting operations costs, achieving satisfactory utilization rates for them can be challenging. As these systems come with high investment costs, it is important for managers to understand how custom...

IS automation pervades business processes today. Thus, concerns have been raised about automation's potential deskilling effects on knowledge workers. We conduct a revelatory case study about an IT service firm where a managerial decision was taken to discontinue a fixed assets management (FAM) software that provided seemingly effective automation...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine what kinds of capabilities are required by process industry companies as they move toward servitization. The authors proceed in two steps. First, the authors explore the capabilities needed in servitization with a qualitative multiple case study. Second, the authors link the identified capabilities t...

This teaching case deals with onboarding and partnering issues of electronic invoicing service providers. The students are expected to familiarize themselves with e-invoicing, a current form of many-to-many inter-organizational information systems that is being adopted widely, understand the business model of an e-invoicing service provider, and de...

In addition to large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly engage in business process outsourcing (BPO) of professional services as they delegate routine processes such as accounting, recruitment and law to outsourcing service providers. In this study, we explore the outsourcing profiles of SMEs and use those profiles...

OpusCapita Group is a Finnish company offering financial processes and outsourcing services to medium-sized companies and large corporations. OpusCapita particularly focuses on comprehensive Purchase-to-Pay and Order-to-Cash processes. In hopes to stay ahead of the curve in financial process automation, OpusCapita is betting on Robotic Process Auto...

Standard Business Reporting (SBR) initiatives have developed in a number of countries as a means of reducing the administrative burden of statutory financial reporting. An SBR programme is an example of a complex and innovative project that requires the co-ordination of public and private constituencies. Drawing on the qualitative findings of a lon...

The accounting industry is being disrupted by the introduction of cloud-based accounting information systems (AIS) that allow for a more efficient allocation of work between the accountant and the client company. In cloud-based AIS, the accountant and the client company as well as third parties such as auditors can simultaneously work on the data i...

High Reliability Organizations (HROs) operate in risky and safety-critical environments where failure avoidance overrides cost efficiency and other traditional performance measures. Research on military, air traffic control, and similar domains has identified five key HRO characteristics: preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify interpret...

We study the consumer selection of mobile platforms through switching costs and network effects. We operationalize switching costs using five dimensions (search cost, learning cost, contractual cost, complementary investments, brand relationship cost) and network effects using two dimensions (same and cross side network effects). We draw on four fo...

This teaching case considers Kluuvin Apteekki, a small pharmacy business whose CEO faces critical decisions whether or not (1) to outsource its accounting processes and (2) to start using cloud-based accounting information systems. The main learning outcome of the case is related to the development of the skills and competencies in creating a stron...

The growing use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) represents a fundamental change for financial information flows. In a number of countries XBRL has already been put to practical use, for instance through implementation within the financial processes of non-listed companies. This fictional case is designed to help identify the benefi...

In this paper, we examine outsourcing of disaggregated information-intensive services. Drawing on the theoretical streams of Global Information-Intensive Service Disaggregation and Transaction-Cost Economics, we formulate our research model to understand the phenomenon of disaggregation in the context of cloud computing. The model encompasses frequ...

Based on earlier work on technology adoption, we formulate a research model to tap into the interplay between intention to use and actual use of IT. We draw on a large-scale empirical study on self-service checkout (SCO) technology. Our findings indicate that perceived waiting time acts as an important trigger for intention to use turning into actu...

Companies aim to make their supply chains more efficient by using modern information technology (IT). Owing to limited resources there is a need to prioritize IT projects and those generating the highest business value should be implemented first. In this paper, we first develop the theoretical foundations for the prioritization decision and then i...

Executive Summary eReading devices and content (books, magazines and newspaper) markets have mushroomed in recent years, but they are still at an embryonic stage in Finland. The main objective of this study is to propose viable approaches to developing eReading business models for distributing chargeable newspaper, magazine and book content in the...

In this paper, an ANP (Analytic Network Process) model is developed to aid a buyer company in prioritizing suppliers for adopting electronic invoicing. The case company is a leading Finnish textile and clothing design company. Because implementing e-invoicing with all the suppliers at the same time would require too many financial and other resourc...

Recent developments in the area of electronic accounting information systems have enabled accounting firms to move their focus from paper-based, mandatory business reporting and book-keeping to value-added services, such as providing cash flow forecasts to their customer companies (typically SMEs). In this study, we explore the usage of cash flow f...

In this article, we examine the effects of the implementation of electronic invoicing on buyer-seller relationships. We apply the framework by Cannon and Perreault (1999) to analyze the changes in the relationship connectors between the two parties. Drawing on qualitative interview data from a single case study, we find that the implementation of e...

Today, many manufacturing companies are focusing on their service operations, which are often seen as a better source of revenue than the traditional product business. E-services can accelerate this process by offering companies new ways to control products and monitor equipment from a distance. This chapter describes the changes which are taking p...

Today, many manufacturing companies are focusing on their service operations, which are often seen as a better source of revenue than the traditional product business. E-services can accelerate this process by offering companies new ways to control products and monitor equipment from a distance. This chapter describes the changes which are taking p...

We assess the effect of external pressure in IS adoption in the inter-organizational settings of electronic invoicing. Electronic invoicing has been hailed as one of the biggest savings generators for businesses in recent years. However, the adoption in different countries has been much slower than anticipated. Based on earlier literature on diffus...

In this paper, we examine the effects of the implementation of electronic invoicing on buyer-seller relationships. We apply the framework by Cannon and Perreault [1] to analyze the changes in the relationship connectors between the two parties. Drawing on qualitative interview data from a single case study, we find that the implementation of electr...

In this paper, we build an evaluation tool for assessing the business impacts of an electronic order-topayment cycle. Based on a literature review and expert interviews, we formulate a three-stage model which includes performance indicators for electronic order, electronic invoice, and electronic payment processes. In addition, we pinpoint the inte...

This paper examines the adoption of electronic invoicing in Finnish organizations. Drawing on qualitative interview data from four companies and two public organizations, our objective is to find factors affecting the rate of adoption of electronic invoicing. We begin with Rogers (1995) model and examine and illustrate the factors of relative advan...

Today, many manufacturing companies are focusing on their service operations, which are often seen as a better source of revenue than the traditional product business. E-services can accelerate this process by offering companies new ways to control products and monitor equipment from a distance. This chapter describes the changes which are taking p...

Today, many traditional manufacturing firms are focusing on their service operations, which are often seen as a better source of revenue than the first-time installations. Information and communications technology (ICT) can accelerate this process by offering efficient ways to deliver services to the customers and by allowing companies to transform...

We analyze the strategic repositioning of firms through changes in their market offerings and buyer–seller relationships. Based on literature from strategy, marketing, economics, and information systems, we formulate a two-by-two matrix to examine alternatives for positioning. We evaluate the framework with four case studies of companies that have...

Today, many traditional manufacturing firms are focusing on their service operations, which are often seen as a better source of revenue than the first-time installations. Information and communications technology (ICT) can accelerate this process by offering efficient ways to deliver services to the customers and by allowing companies to transform...

Today, many traditional manufacturing firms are focusing on their service operations, which are often seen as a better source of revenue than the first-time installations. Information and communications technology (ICT) can accelerate this process by offering efficient ways to deliver services to the customers and by allowing companies to transform...

In this study, we explore the role of information technology in the seller’s decision to formulate an offering. On the basis of a review of existing studies, we identify three dimensions characterizing the nature of a company’s offering as a part of a comprehensive business model. We analyze offerings on the continuum from product-oriented to servi...

In this paper, we assess the carbon footprint of paper versus electronic invoicing practices. Based on expert interviews and a case study, we develop process charts for each process (paper vs. electronic, outgoing vs. incoming) and pinpoint the main differences between the paper-based invoicing and electronic invoicing. Our findings indicate that m...

Bundling of information goods (such as software and digitized music or TV) is omnipresent in todayâÄôs business-to-consumer environment. However, a surprisingly small number of articles address this issue within the information systems science (ISS) literature. By conducting a thorough literature review on the subject, this article shows that a lio...

In this paper, we compare the differences in the value creation models of electronic invoicing operators. We apply the e-business value creation model by Amit & Zott (2001) and compare the four dimensions of value creation logics (efficiency, complementarities, lock-in, and novelty) between the main Finnish and Italian e-invoicing operators. Based...