Curriculum Vitae:

Seit Januar 2018: Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter/Doktorand am Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftsinformatik und integrierte Informationssysteme der Universität Duisburg-Essen von Prof. Dr. Reinhard Schütte

Oktober 2015 - Oktober 2017: Studium der Wirtschaftsinformatik (M. Sc.) an der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität in Münster

• Thema der Abschlussarbeit: Mobile App Service Quality Dimensions and Requirements for Mobile Shopping Companion Apps

Juli 2014 - September 2014: Trainee im Bereich Sales Operations bei Atos Origin Iberia in Madrid

September 2012 - September 2015: Trainee in den Bereichen Windows Server Administration, Project Management und Master Data Management bei Atos IT Solutions and Services GmbH in Herne und Essen

September 2012 - September 2015: Studium der Wirtschaftsinformatik (B. Sc.) an der Dualen Hochschule Baden-Württemberg in Mannheim 

• Studienschwerpunkt: Intercultural Management und Logistikmanagement
• Thema der Abschlussarbeit: Entwicklung eines Bewertungsmodells für die Integration von SAP Fiori User Interface Technologien zur Unterstützung von Master Data Management am Beispiel eines Geschäftspartnerpflegeprozesses

Fields of Research:

• Wirkung von IT-Systemen
• Enterprise Systems
• Neue Architekturen für Enterprise Systems

Publications:

• Wulfert, Tobias; Woroch, Robert; Strobel, Gero; Schoormann, Thorsten; Banh, Leonardo: E-commerce ecosystems as catalysts for sustainability: A multi-case analysis. In: Electronic Markets, Vol34 (2024), No 58. doi:10.1007/s12525-024-00733-zAbstract Details Citation

  Single organizations encounter intricate challenges in meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on their own and thus are increasingly concerned with forming ecosystems. This is also the case in the e-commerce domain. It is assumed that particularly focal actors of such ecosystems have the power to foster initiatives towards more sustainability. We conducted an embedded multi-case study with 135 initiatives collected from three types of e-commerce ecosystems to uncover what sustainability goals are addressed by different ecosystem participants. This paper’s analysis explores (1) what sustainability initiatives are reported from focal actors and differences depending on a specific type of ecosystem, (2) dependencies between SDGs within the initiatives, and (3) the degree of involvement of other ecosystem actors and how they contribute to certain SDGs. Our work synthesizes existing initiatives towards sustainable development to give orientation and impulses for practice and academia as well as outlines avenues for future research at the intersection of ecosystems and sustainability.

• Schütte, Reinhard; Harr, Michael Dominic; Wulfert, Tobias; Syfuß, Dustin: Digitalisierung in der Bau-und Handwerksbranche–Herausforderungen für die Gestaltung digitaler End-to-End-Wertschöpfungssysteme. In: HMD Praxis der Wirtschaftsinformatik (2024), p. 1-21. doi:10.1365/s40702-024-01114-yAbstractPDF Details Full textCitation

  Die Bau- und Handwerksbranche zeigt seit Jahren eine verhältnismäßig niedrige Produktivitätssteigerung, verbunden mit einem geringen Digitalisierungsgrad. Angesichts von Mitarbeiterknappheit, zunehmender Komplexität von Bauprojekten und steigenden Individualisierungsanforderungen der Endkunden scheint die Digitalisierung einer der Schlüsselfaktoren zur Verbesserung der Produktivität zu sein. Der vorliegende Beitrag analysiert aus zwei strategischen Perspektiven die sich abzeichnenden Entwicklungen in dieser Branche: eine, die bestehende Wertschöpfungslogik und akteurszentrierte Sichtweise, und eine zukunftsweisende Perspektive auf plattformbasierte, service- und informationszentrierte Dienstleistungs-Ökosysteme. Die strategischen Perspektiven werden aus institutioneller Sichtweise eines Großhandelsbetriebs untersucht, welcher als zentraler Intermediär aufgrund zahlreicher Herausforderungen durch Disintermediation gefährdet ist. Die Re-Intermediation digitaler Plattformen und der Wandel hin zu serviceorientierten Geschäftsmodellen könnten disruptiv für die Leistungserstellung sein. Wenngleich eine solche Transition neue Wertschöpfungsansätze verspricht, ergeben sich für innovative Koordinations‑, Kommunikations- und Integrationskonzepte neue Herausforderungen. Basierend auf der strategischen Analyse werden die zentralen Herausforderungen, welche die mangelnde Etablierung der Technologisierung in der Bau- und Handwerksbranche zum Teil bedingen, exemplarisch anhand der Abbildung von Variantenartikeln im Stammdatenmanagement und der Auftragserfassung analysiert. Die zunehmende Variantenvielfalt in der Bau- und Handwerksbranche kann stammdatenseitig über konfigurierbare Materialien abgebildet werden. Diese Materialart bietet für Vertriebsmitarbeiter und Kunden eine Variantenkonfiguration anhand vorab definierter Merkmale. In der Belegerfassung sind zukünftig vielfältige Geschäftsvorfälle und Kundentypen zu integrieren, um das Tagesgeschäft im Vertrieb bestmöglich zu unterstützen. Die skizzierten Herausforderungen müssen durch Standardisierung und intelligente IT-Systeme bzw. Stammdatenkonzepte gelöst werden, um die konstatierten Produktivitätsdefizite überwinden zu können und die Digitalisierung der Bauhandwerker zu stärken.

  The construction and crafts sector has seen a relatively low increase in productivity for years, combined with a low level of digitalization. In light of labor shortages, the increasing complexity of construction projects, and rising demands for customization from end customers, digitalization appears to be a key factor in enhancing productivity. We analyze the emerging developments in this sector taking two strategic perspectives: one that preserves existing value creation logic and actor-centric views, and another that looks forward to platform-based, service- and information-centric business ecosystems. The strategic perspectives are explored from the institutional viewpoint of a wholesale business, which, as a central intermediary, faces potential threats from disintermediation. The re-intermediation through digital platforms and the shift towards service-oriented business models could be disruptive, transforming traditional value chains into network-like structures. While this transition promises new value creation approaches, it also poses fresh challenges for innovative coordination, communication, and integration concepts. Based on this strategic analysis, key challenges impeding the full adoption of technology in the construction and trades sector are examined, particularly through the lens of variant article representation in master data management and order processing. The increasing variety of construction materials can be managed through configurable materials in master data, allowing for predefined variant configurations by sales staff and customers. Future document processing must integrate diverse business transactions and customer types to support sales operations effectively. Addressing these challenges through standardization and advanced IT systems is essential for overcoming productivity deficits and enhancing digitalization in the trade sector.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Woroch, Robert; Strobel, Gero: Follow the flow: An exploratory multi-case study of value creation in e-commerce ecosystems. In: Information & Management, Vol61 (2024), No 8. doi:10.1016/j.im.2024.104035Abstract Details Citation

  Platform-based ecosystems dominate e-commerce, generating value through participant growth and resulting network effects. However, research has lacked any conceptualization of value creation in e-commerce ecosystems. This paper fills this gap by providing a theoretically grounded and empirically validated conceptualization of value creation and exchange, including roles, value creation activities, and value flows among participants. The model integrates insights from a systematic literature review and a multi-case study of ten leading e-commerce ecosystems. Furthermore, an extension to the e3-value notation is proposed by introducing ecosystem segments, allowing for a higher level of abstraction of meta-roles and individual ecosystem participants.

• Strobel, Gero; Wulfert, Tobias; Banh, Leonardo: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN: AN E-COMMERCE ECOSYSTEM AGENT-BASED SIMULATION. In: AIS (Ed.): Wirtschaftsinformatik 2024 Proceedings. Würzburg, Germany, 2024. Abstract Details Citation

  E-commerce is one of the most important sectors of the economy, with an expected global turnover of USD 7.4 trillion in 2024. Leading companies in the industry like Amazon and Alibaba leverage platform business models that orchestrate complex ecosystems of buyers and sellers. These ecosystems are characterized by globally intertwined networks of independent participants and multifaceted interactions, making their development hard to predict. We propose an agent-based simulation approach, following the three-step process of Haki et al. (2020), to predict the behavior of e-commerce ecosystems with a particular focus on the impact of premium subscription services. Simulation models offer the opportunity to tangibly visualize the effects of a participant's actions on the ecosystem level. Our simulation includes the key actors (i.e., buyer, seller, marketplace), their characteristics, and behaviors to draw conclusions about the evolution of the ecosystem and the strategic role of premium memberships in shaping these digital landscapes.

• Brackmann, Clemens; Wulfert, Tobias; Busch, Jan; Schütte, Reinhard: The Art of Retail Pricing: Developing a Taxonomy for Describing Pricing Algorithms. In: Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems. 2024. Abstract Details Full textCitation

  The price is the most important determinant for product sales and is highly influential for a company's success. Nevertheless, price determination often follows individuals’ rules of thumb augmented with product and economic performance indicators. With the increasing dissemination of artificial intelligence in organizations and society, the accuracy of price determination in retail might be

  enhanced by sophisticated pricing algorithms. Technological developments further increase the number of pricing algorithms and pricing tools available. Against this backdrop, we applied Nickerson et al.’s (2013) approach, proposing a taxonomy for describing pricing algorithms in retail. The taxonomy

  consists of 19 dimensions and 59 characteristics. Analyzing 70 pricing tools revealed a high specialization for selected retail domains, a focus on competitor monitoring and dynamic pricing, and a minor use of current machine learning techniques. This is a first attempt at structuring pricing algorithms and developing a price management toolbox that constructs artificial intelligence-enabled pricing algorithms.

• Muschkiet, Michel; Wulfert, Tobias; Woroch, Robert; Strobel, Gero; Banh, Leonardo: Unleashing the digital building bricks: A smart service taxonomy for retail. In: Electronic Markets, Vol33 (2023). doi:10.1007/s12525-023-00666-zAbstract Details Citation

  The increasing online competition, associated changes in customer behaviors, and effects of the pandemic in recent years have led to increasing retail store closures. This development has given rise to a downward spiral in terms of a decreasing attractiveness of local shopping places and a further reduction of stores. Research has recognized that smart services can unleash the potential to compensate for the competitive disadvantages of physical retailers by combining tailored physical and digital offerings to enhance customer-oriented value creation. However, most approaches are limited to in-store services without addressing the wider shopping experience in retail surroundings. Therefore, this paper provides a classification framework for smart services in retail evaluated against 163 use cases, as well as six service archetypes. This work contributes to understanding relevant service design elements and proposes applying the idea of a holistic customer experience to service design in physical retail environments.

• Brackmann, Clemens; Huetsch, Marek; Wulfert, Tobias: Identifying Application Areas for Machine Learning in the Retail Sector. In: SN Computer Science, Vol4 (2023). doi:10.1007/s42979-023-01888-wAbstract Details Citation

  Machine learning (ML) has the potential to take on a variety of routine and non-routine tasks in brick-and-mortar retail and e-commerce. Many tasks previously executed manually are amenable to computerization using ML. Although procedure models for the introduction of ML across industries exist, the tasks for which ML can be implemented in retail need to be determined. To identify these application areas, we followed a dual approach. First, we conducted a structured literature review of 225 research papers to identify possible ML application areas in retail, as well as develop the structure of a well-established information systems architecture. Second, we triangulated these preliminary application areas with the analysis of eight expert interviews. In total, we identified 21 application areas for ML in online and offline retail; these application areas mainly address decision-oriented and economic-operative tasks. We organized the application areas in a framework for practitioners and researchers to determine appropriate ML use in retail. As our interviewees provided information at the process level, we also explored the application of ML in two exemplary retail processes. Our analysis further reveals that, while ML applications in offline retail focus on the retail articles, in e-commerce the customer is central to the application areas of ML.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Woroch, Robert; Strobel, Gero; Schoormann, Thorsten; Banh, Leonardo: Unboxing the Role of E-Commerce Ecosystems to Address Grand Challenges. In: Proceedings of the 31st European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2023). Kristiansand, Norway, 2023, p. 1-21. Abstract Details Full textCitation

  The modern world is confronted with grand challenges, such as those codified by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. As single organizations are often not capable of addressing a broad set of goals on their own, they are increasingly concerned with creating ecosystems. This is also the case in the domain of e-commerce. Owners of focal platforms in e-commerce ecosystems have the power to implement sustainability initiatives and therefore need to be equipped with an overview of possible initiatives and actionable guidance. To unbox how e-commerce ecosystem participants consider sustainability, we conducted a multi-case study with 99 initiatives collected from sustainability reports. We found that (1) sustainability initiatives particularly focus on reducing inequality and managing climate change as well as (2) manufacturers, sellers, and service providers are the most involved ecosystem participants. Based on our findings, we (3) synthesized six categories of sustainability initiatives as measurements.

• Wulfert, Tobias: Boundary Resource Management in Innovation Ecosystems: The Case of E-Commerce. In: Electronic Markets, Vol33 (2023), p. 1-27. doi:10.1007/s12525-023-00651-6Abstract Details Citation

  Major challenges in contemporary information systems development demand new development approaches, such as innovation ecosystems, consisting of a focal innovation platform surrounded by independent developers. The attraction of third-party developers and the amplification of generativity in extension development call for sophisticated boundary resources. As demarcation points between an innovation platform and external developers, boundary resources entail a strategic value and need to be managed carefully. However, existing research does not provide an approach for the holistic management of boundary resources from design to retirement. We apply a design science research approach consisting of two design cycles involving a literature review identifying 26 application lifecycles and the analysis of eight innovation platforms in e-commerce. We evaluated the model for boundary resource management in interviews with nine domain experts. We develop an integrated boundary resource management lifecycle as a specialization of application lifecycle management for the holistic management of boundary resources in innovation ecosystems addressing third-party developers. The boundary resource management lifecycle consists of four layers: boundary resource governance, continuous communication, technical boundary resources, and supplementary boundary resources. It decouples technical and supplementary boundary resources while emphasizing their intertwined nature for ecosystem participants. Owners of innovation platforms can instantiate the reference procedure model for attracting developers.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Dennhardt, Benjamin: Establishing Successful E-Commerce Ecosystems: Evluating Strategies for Reaching a Critical Mass of Participants. In: Corporate Ownership Control, Vol20 (2023), p. 130-145. doi:10.22495/cocv20i3art9Abstract Details Citation

  Although e-commerce in general and platform business models in e-commerce report steadily increasing revenues, establishing e-commerce ecosystems is not a guaranteed success per se. Potential platform owners must carefully plan the ignition of the ecosystem to reach a critical mass of customers. This critical mass is crucial for the platform to benefit from direct and indirect network effects. However, research so far has not provided clear guidance and strategies on how to successfully establish ecosystems in e-commerce. Therefore, we evaluated and demonstrated generic platform ignition strategies in e-commerce. Our evaluation is thereby based upon an established mathematical model for two-sided markets considering utility gains from indirect network effects and costs. The heterogeneity of the individual market sides is reflected in the form of sigmoidal distribution functions. Applying this model, we show that subsidies, seeding, marquee, single side, micro market, piggybacking, opening up, and big bang marketing are potential strategies for reaching a critical mass of participants in e-commerce ecosystems. We provide guidance for practitioners on how to establish successful e-commerce ecosystems. We contribute to the body of knowledge strategies in e-commerce ecosystems by bridging critical mass and network effects.

• Hütsch, Marek; Wulfert, Tobias: Design Principles for Machine Learning Marketplaces in Enterprise Systems. In: Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). Hawaii, 2022. doi:10.24251/HICSS.2022.872AbstractPDF Details Citation

  While standardized enterprise systems (ES) have become widely accepted, this is not the case for machine learning (ML) implementations, which are mostly developed individually in company-specific projects. Necessary historical data and rare ML capabilities result in a low cross-market ML utilization. To overcome the high usage barriers of ML, it should be incorporated into ES in a standardized manner. Therefore, we propose to implement an ML marketplace. While marketplaces in ES already exist, this paper proposes a marketplace dedicated to the exchange of ML models in a federated learning approach. Accordingly, this work formulates four meta requirements based on interviews, which are structured by marketplace governance dimensions. With these meta-requirements, an ML marketplace was implemented in a design science research project, from which eight design principles are derived. The design principles address governance dimensions for making ML accessible to many companies and allow them to integrate ML into existing ES.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Woroch, Robert; Strobel, Gero; Seufert, Sarah; Möller, Frederik: Developing design principles to standardize e‑commerce ecosystems - A systematic literature review and multi‑case study of boundary resources. In: Electronic Markets (2022). doi:10.1007/s12525-022-00558-8Abstract Details Full textCitation

  Platform ecosystems have captured a variety of markets, enabling coordination, transactions, and value co-creation between independent actors. A focal platform constitutes the central nexus of e-commerce ecosystems and fosters the interaction among ecosystem participants through their boundary resources. Standardizing these interfaces simplifies ecosystem entry for developers and increases the number of participants propelling the network effects, and thus the overall value of the ecosystem. Currently, there is a lack of prescriptive design knowledge guiding platform owners in designing successful e-commerce ecosystems. Addressing this issue, we followed a dual approach, reporting on a systematic literature review in which we identified design requirements and complemented these with a multiple-case study on selected e-commerce ecosystems. Aggregating the requirements resulted in six meta-requirements and 19 design principles that foster the standardization of focal e-commerce platforms. Our design principles simplify the development of complements and enable multi-homing for developers due to possible standardization across ecosystems.

• Schütte, Reinhard; Seufert, Sarah; Wulfert, Tobias: IT-Systeme wirtschaftlich verstehen und gestalten - Methoden – Paradoxien – Grundsätze (Monograph). 1st Edition. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden 2022. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-34616-4Abstract Details Full textCitation

  

  Der Einsatz von IT-Systemen ist omnipräsent. Im Gegensatz zur Verbreitung der Systeme werden die Wirkungen der Systeme für Individuen, Unternehmen oder Gesellschaften selten betrachtet. Damit dürften viele Nutzer und Unternehmen von der Wirkung der Investition überrascht werden. Die Gefahr fehlerhafter Investitionen nimmt zu und mögliche Potenziale der IT bleiben ungenutzt.

  Das Buch vermittelt wissenschaftlich fundiertes Wissen über die Wirkung und Wirtschaftlichkeit von IT-Systemen. Aufbauend auf Grundlagen aus der Organisationslehre, Soziologie, Entscheidungstheorie, Kosten- und Leistungsrechnung wird diskutiert, welche Phänomene durch IT-Systeme induziert werden. Die mannigfaltigen Wirkungen von IT-Systemen sowie Verfahren zur Wirkungsermittlung werden beschrieben. Sämtliche Aspekte für ein holistisches Wirkungsmanagement von IT-Systemen von der Projektskizze bis zur Umsetzung in der Realität werden in einem neuen Ansatz integriert.

• Hütsch, Marek; Wulfert, Tobias: A Structured Literature Review on the Application of Machine Learning in Retail. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS). (Online Event), 2022. doi:10.5220/0011043200003179Abstract Details Citation

  Machine learning (ML) has the potential to take on a variety of routine and non-routine tasks in brick-andmortar and e-commerce. Many tasks previously executed manually are susceptible to computerization involving ML. Although procedure models for the introduction of ML across industries exist, it needs to be determined for which tasks in retail ML can be implemented. Hence, we conducted a structured literature review involving 225 research papers to derive possible ML application areas in retail along with the structure of a well-established information systems architecture. In total, we identified 20 application areas for ML in retail that mainly address decision-oriented and economic-operative tasks. We organized the application areas in a framework for practitioners and researchers to determine an appropriate ML usage in retail. Our analysis further revealed that while ML applications in offline retail focus on the article, in e-commerce the customer is pivotal for application areas of ML.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Busch, Jan: Reference Architectures Facilitating a Retailer’s Dual Role on Digital Marketplaces: A Literature Review. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS). (Online Event), 2022. doi:10.5220/0010997900003179Abstract Details Citation

  Electronic commerce and digital marketplaces (DMs) have proven to be successful business models compared with traditional brick-and-mortar retailing. Online sales and the simultaneous orchestration of participants from independent market sides on DMs (dual role) pose additional requirements for information systems. Reference architectures (RAs) can be used as blueprints for the implementation of information systems for DMs supporting a retailer’s dual role. However, RAs in retail were mostly developed for brick-and-mortar environments. The peculiarities of electronic commerce and DMs require adaptations and enhancements. Thus, we conduct a literature review following vom Brocke et al. (2009) involving 1,357 research papers to identify RAs supporting a retailer’s dual role on DMs. We identified seven DM-specific architecture requirements and analyzed RAs identified according to Angelov et al. (2012). Our analysis revealed 13 RAs with only limited support for a retailer’s dual role on DMs.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Schütte, Reinhard: Retailer’s Dual Role in Digital Marketplaces - Reference Architecture for Retail Information Systems. In: SN Computer Science. 3:206. 2022, p. 1-17. doi:10.1007/s42979-022-01098-wAbstractPDF Details Citation

  Digital marketplaces have entered the retail sector and have proven to be a successful business model compared to traditional retailing. Established retailers are increasingly launching digital marketplaces as well as participating in marketplaces of pure online companies. Retailers transforming to digital marketplaces orchestrate formerly independent markets and enable retail transactions between participants while simultaneously selling articles from their own assortment to customers in the digital marketplace (dual role). A retailer’s dual role must be supported by retail information systems. However, this support is not explicitly represented in existing reference architectures for retail information systems. Thus, we propose to develop a reference architecture for retail information systems that facilitates the orchestration of supply- and demand-side participants, selling their own articles, and providing innovation platform services. We apply a design science research approach and present nine architectural requirements that a reference architecture for a multi-sided market business model in retail needs to fulfill (dual role, additional participants, affiliation, matchmaking, variety of services, innovation services, smart services, aggregated assortment, and boundary resources) from the rigor cycle. From the first design iteration, we propose four exemplary, conceptual architectural patterns as a solution for the requirements (matchmaking for participants, innovation platform services, boundary resources, and aggregated assortment). These patterns can form a conceptual reference architecture that guides the design and implementation of information systems.

• Muschkiet, Michel; Wulfert, Tobias: Holistic customer experience in smart city service systems – a conceptual model. In: 13th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE2022). New York City, USA, 2022. doi:10.54941/ahfe1002567Abstract Details Citation

  Recent developments such as increasing online competition, changing customer behavior, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic result in a decoupling of service provision and consumption from physical service loci. This tremendously decreases city attractiveness for customers. Against this backdrop, we propose an experienceoriented and integrated perspective on service development in smart cities. Research lacks in examining how customer experience can be created in complex service systems involving multiple actors, such as smart cities. Therefore, we develop a customer experience model consisting of ten determinants (social environment, service interface, atmosphere, service selection, price, access, alternative channels, brand, city brand, and previous experience) and two moderators (situation and consumer moderators) in a design science research (DSR) approach (Peffers et al., 2007) involving an extensive literature review and the analysis of 40 international real-world smart city services. Our artifact supports researchers and practitioners in the design and evaluation of customer-oriented smart services in smart city contexts.

• Schütte, Reinhard; Wulfert, Tobias: Referenzmodelle und -architekturen: wiederverwendbare Modelle zur Unterstützung der Digitalen Transformation.. In: Roth, Stefan; Corsten, Hans (Ed.): Handbuch Digitalisierung.. Vahlen, München, 2022, p. 1-29. doi:10.15358/9783800665631-313 Details Citation
• Schütte, Reinhard; Wulfert, Tobias: Digital platforms and trading companies: the evolution of traditional business ecosystems to integrated digital business ecosystems. In: Baumann, Sabine (Ed.): Handbook on Digital Business Ecosystems: Technolgies, Markets, Business Models, Management, and Societal Challenges.. Cheltenham, UK, 2022, p. 736-736. doi:10.4337/9781839107191.00022 Details Citation
• Schütte, Reinhard; Muschkiet, Michel; Wulfert, Tobias: Smart City Experience: von isolierten Services zu Smart Service-Ökosystemen. In: Bruhn, Manfred; Hadwich, Karsten (Ed.): Forum Dienstleistungsmanagement. . Springer, Heidelberg, 2022, p. 1-25. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-37346-7_11Abstract Details Citation

  Die Integration von Smart Services zu Dienstleistungsbündeln für die Gestaltung einer holistischen Kundenerfahrung kann die Attraktivität von Städten fördern. In diesem Beitrag wird der Begriff der City Experience definiert. Darauf aufbauend werden Anforderungen für die Gestaltung, Integration und Bereitstellung von Smart Services in einer erfahrungsorientierten Smart Service-Plattform definiert. Anhand des Service-Ökosystems von Fressnapf wird abschließend ein IT-Architekturmodell für die Instanziierung einer Smart Service-Plattform in Smart Cities abgebildet.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Karger, Erik: Shaping Digital Platforms in E-Commerce: Developing an Architecture Framework. In: Proceedings of the 26th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS2022). Virtual Conference, 2022, p. 1-17. Abstract Details Full textCitation

  In 2024, the global e-commerce revenue is expected to reach USD 6.4 quadrillion, covering 21,8% of overall retail sales. Digital platforms form the core of e-commerce ecosystems, supporting various e-commerce business models with dedicated application services. In e-commerce, there are a variety of platforms with different services and architectures. Currently, however, there is no framework for digital platforms in the specific context of e-commerce. Hence, we apply a design science approach and develop a framework for digital platforms in e-commerce. We analyzed the architecture of selected digital platforms in e-commerce and conducted expert interviews. As a result, our article is the first to propose a tailored platform architecture for the e-commerce context, which is composed of four layers. The framework involves different ecosystem participants and a marketplace for the provision of third-party extensions. Furthermore, we outline future research opportunities and give an outlook on the further development of our framework.

• Woroch, Robert; Strobel, Gero; Wulfert, Tobias: Four Shades of Customer: How Value Flows in Fintech Ecosystems. In: Proceedings of the 43rd International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS2022). Copenhagen, Denmark, 2022, p. 1-17. Abstract Details Full textCitation

  The financial sector is undergoing a massive transformation, with new technologydriven players challenging established mechanisms and transforming the sector into a fast-moving market. With the gradual transition from a scale economy to a platformdriven network economy, enterprise networks are gaining strategic importance. Despite the growing interest in fintech’s, research has so far lacked a conceptualization of value creation in fintech ecosystems. Therefore, this research paper aims to analyze key players, value creation activities, and value streams based on the analysis of the business models of payment services, personal financial management, robo-advisory, peer-topeer lending, trading, and cryptocurrency. We present a holistic value network for the fintech ecosystem based on structured literature review and analysis of 171 fintech companies. We were able to show that fintech platform orchestrates multiple market sides and that customers take four distinct roles at the center of the ecosystem when using fintech services.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Karger, Erik: A bibliometric analysis of platform research in e-commerce: Past, present, and future research agenda. In: Corporate Ownership & Control, Vol20 (2022), p. 185-200. doi:10.22495/cocv20i1art17Abstract Details Citation

  An important economic sector influenced by the development of platforms is e-commerce. The most successful companies in e-commerce employ platform business models and strive to provide other companies with application services. Despite growing economic importance and rising research interest, thus far, no attempts were made to structure existing research into platforms in e-commerce. Hence, a quantitative bibliometric analysis of 7,463 platform-related papers in the context of e-commerce was conducted. The papers were published in major conferences, journals, and books from 1993 to 2021. The authors identified a continuous development of platform research in e-commerce, with the continuous development characterized by three major periods of research. Furthermore, four clusters in platform research are outlined, i.e., business models, social commerce, infrastructure, and socio-technical characteristics. These clusters can serve as a foundation for future research. The conducted bibliometric analysis contributes to scientific research by offering an objective and systematic overview of platform research in e-commerce.

• Seufert, Sarah; Wulfert, Tobias; Wernsdörfer, Jan Eric: Towards a Reference Value Catalogue for a company-specific Assessment of the IT Business Value –Proposing a Taxonomy to select IT impacts from existing Catalogues. In: Proceedings of the 29th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS). Marrakesh, 2021. Abstract Details Full textCitation

  Despite a general agreement on the business value of information technology (IT), the determination of the link between organizational performance and IT investments is still a challenge. Organizations worldwide heavily invest in IT without evidence of productivity improvements. We propose value catalogues as a starting point for the identification of IT business value in an organization. Since the values vary depending on the organizational context, a company-specific value catalogue is necessary. To avoid the repeated development of a catalogue for each new IT investment, a company-specific reference value catalogue is required. Applying a design science research method, we identified four steps to develop this reference value catalogue: catalogue selection, impact selection, hierarchy establishment, and quantification determination. In this paper, we focus on the first step, which resembles the rigor cycle, and develop a taxonomy for 32 existing IT value catalogues, which form the basis for the next three steps.

• Hütsch, Marek; Wulfert, Tobias: Implementation of Placement Optimization in Electronic Commerce: Towards a Data Generation Method to Increase Forecast Elasticity. In: Proceedings of the 25th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS). Dubai, 2021. Abstract Details Full textCitation

  Electronic commerce involves data-rich business models that offer many application areas for machine learning. In electronic commerce, retailers aim to optimize the product listing on their websites to increase revenues. The product listing on websites often uses a sales forecast for placement optimization that requires historical data, which are sometimes unavailable at small and medium retailers. Thus, we apply a design science research approach to implement three methods for systematically generating historical sales data that improve elasticity information. The non-availability of historical data is exemplified in a case study of a medium-sized German retailer. Simulating these methods for a more extensive data set revealed that the clustered data generation method generates elasticity information so that the placement optimization performs best in terms of expected profits and computational time. Additionally, we propose an enhanced process for the introduction of data science in electronic commerce.

• Seufert, Sarah; Wulfert, Tobias; Wernsdörfer, Jan; Schütte, Reinhard: A Literature-Based Derivation of a Meta-Framework for IT Business Value. In: Filipe, Joaquim; Smialek, Michal; Brodsky, Alexander; Hammoudi, Slimane (Ed.): Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS), Volume 2. SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Online Streaming, 2021, p. 291-302. doi:10.5220/0010447702910302Abstract Details Citation

  The business value of IT in companies is a highly discussed topic in information systems research. While the IT business value is an agreed upon term, its decomposition and assessment on a more detailed level is ambiguous in literature and practice. However, assessing the IT business value is pivotal for goal-oriented IT management. Therefore, we suggest a hierarchical decomposition of the IT business value along aggregated impacts and atomic impacts. We introduce a taxonomy to gain a better understanding of what types of atomic impacts may be caused by IT investments. With the help of the taxonomy, we classify a total of 957 values from existing value catalogs and derive 29 archetypal IT impacts grouped by a company’s business units. Bundling this grouping with exemplary impacts for the IT value assessment, we finally propose an IT value meta-framework for the structured business value assessment.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Schütte, Reinhard: Retailer’s Dual Role in Digital Marketplaces: Towards Architectural Patterns for Retail Information Systems. In: Filipe, Joaquim; Smialek, Michal; Brodsky, Alexander; Hammoudi, Slimane (Ed.): Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS), Volume 2. SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Online Streaming, 2021, p. 601-612. doi:10.5220/0010405306010612Abstract Details Citation

  Multi-sided markets (MSMs) have entered the retail sector as digital marketplaces and have proven to be a successful business model compared to traditional retailing. Established retailers are increasingly establishing MSMs and also participate in MSMs of pure online companies. Retailers transforming to digital marketplaces orchestrate formerly independent markets and enable retail transactions between participants while simultaneously selling articles from an own assortment to customers on the MSM. The retailer’s dual role must be supported by the retail information systems. However, this support is not explicitly  represented in existing reference architectures (RAs) for retail information systems. Thus, we propose to develop a RA for retail information systems facilitating the orchestration of supply- and demand-side participants, selling own articles, and providing innovation platform services. We apply a design science research approach and present seven architectural requirements that a RA for MSM business models needs to fulfill (dual role, additional participants, affiliation, matchmaking, variety of services, innovation services, and aggregated assortment) from the rigor cycle. From a first design iteration we propose three exemplary, conceptual architectural patterns as a solution for three of these requirements (matchmaking for participants, innovation platform services, and aggregated assortment).

• Wulfert, Tobias; Seufert, Sarah; Leyens, Christian: Developing Multi-Sided Markets in Dynamic Electronic Commerce Ecosystems - Towards a Taxonomy of Digital Marketplaces.. In: Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2021). Maui, Hawaii, 2021, p. 6133-6142. doi:10.24251/HICSS.2021.741AbstractPDF Details Citation

  Multi-sided markets (MSMs) have proven to be a successful business model in the dynamic electronic commerce environment. There exists a variety of MSMs differing in their provided features and services for their participants. Existing taxonomies often focus on value creation and business-to-business transactions. We apply Nickerson et al.’s taxonomy development approach. We especially incorporated aspects of orchestrating the distinct market sides and governance dimensions. The developed taxonomy for MSMs consists of 21 dimensions and 99 characteristics in total. We have applied our taxonomy to 44 MSMs and identified asymmetries between the market sides concerning Monetization, Network Effect Amplifiers and Provided Services. We emphasize that the taxonomy is not only an artifact for classifying the current situation of an MSM but can also be used by MSM owners to derive directions for the future development. We illustrated how these developments can be conducted by examples for five dimensions of our taxonomy

• Schütte, Reinhard; Seufert, Sarah; Wulfert, Tobias: Das Wertbeitragscontrolling als Anreicherung bestehender Vorgehensmodelle des Software Engineering. In: Linssen, O.; Mikusz, M.; Volland, A.; Yigitbas, E.; Engstler, M.; Fazal-Baqaie, M.; Kuhrmann, M. (Ed.): Lecture Notes der GI. 2019, p. 111-126. AbstractPDF Details Citation

  Häufig in der Praxis genutzte Vorgehensmodelle des Software Engineering fokussieren zwar die Erfüllung der Zeit-, Budget- und inhaltlichen Anforderungen, vernachlässigen aber die angestrebten Wertbeiträge der IT-Investition. Somit werden die eigentlichen Wirkungen der Informationssysteme häufig weder für die ex-ante zu treffende Investitionsentscheidung berücksichtigt, wo sie methodisch nur schwer zu identifizieren und quantifizieren sind, noch konsequent über den gesamten Projektverlauf überwacht. Angesichts der vielfältigen methodischen Probleme, denen sich die Wirtschaftlichkeitsanalyse von IT-Systemen ausgesetzt sieht, wird ein holistisches Vorgehen vorgestellt, das die Identifikation von Wirkungen bei einem spezifischen IT-Investitionsvorhaben, die Bewertung der Wirkungen, die Abstimmung in einer Organisation über diese Bewertung und die Realisierung der Wirkungen umfasst. Dieser Prozess wird als Wertbeitragscontrolling bezeichnet und sollte in einem Unternehmen nicht isoliert als Teilbereich des Unternehmenscontrolling etabliert werden, sondern ist vor allem im Rahmen von IT-Projekten von Bedeutung. Denn die Anreicherung von Vorgehensmodellen um Wertbeitragsrealisierungsüberlegungen ist die Voraussetzung, um ITProjekte wirtschaftlich erfolgreich umzusetzen.

• Wulfert, Tobias: Mobile App Service Quality Dimensions and Requirements for Mobile Shopping Companion Apps. In: Junior Management Science (2019), No 4(3), p. 339-391. doi:10.5282/jums/v4i3pp339-391Abstract Details Citation

  The increasing utilization of mobile apps for shopping leads retailers to provide customers with dedicated mobile shopping
  companion apps to create an omni-channel shopping experience involving traditional brick-and-mortar, electronic and mobile
  business. Mobile shopping companion apps extend the traditional and electronic services of brick-and-mortar retailers by an
  additional mobile channel providing the customer with a digital companion supporting the shopping within and outside the
  stores using mobile technology. A twofold approach is pursued in this thesis. Firstly, a structured literature review is conducted
  to identify candidate dimensions for developing a scale for measuring the service quality of mobile shopping companion apps.
  Secondly, design requirements for improving the service quality of these mobile apps are deduced from online customer reviews
  of three exemplary mobile shopping companion apps applying a qualitative content analysis. The mobile app service quality of
  mobile shopping companion apps can be measured using a hierarchical and multi-dimensional scale consisting of three primary
  dimensions, seven secondary dimensions and 22 related items. The primary dimensions interaction quality, environment
  quality and outcome quality structure the secondary dimensions responsiveness, information, security and privacy, design,
  performance, technical reliability and valence. Based on these dimensions, 22 implementation guidelines and 14 service design
  requirements are derived as potential areas for optimizing the mobile app service quality of mobile shopping companion apps
  and achieving a high overall service quality. A mobile shopping companion app should include a set of features consisting of
  16 features from three different areas. Results show that measuring the service quality of mobile shopping companion apps
  require for a tailored measurement scale. Equally, design requirements are proposed for this particular category of mobile
  apps. Retailers should provide a single mobile shopping companion app providing all features and mobile services to the
  customer.

• Wulfert, Tobias; Betzing, Jan H.; Becker, Jörg: Eliciting Customer Preferences for Shopping Companion Apps: A Service Quality Approach. In: Proceedings of the 14. Internationale Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2019). Siegen, Deutschland, 2019, p. 1220-1234. Abstract Details Full textCitation

  Shopping companion apps, which assist customers in product search and buying decisions, are an emerging phenomenon in the context of omnichannel retail. These retailer-provided apps link the digital with the physical servicescape of the store, allowing for new forms of online and at the same time physical service. So far, there is no dominant design for this type of information system. Both academia and practice lack empirical information about what customers expect from this kind of mobile app. Drawing from service quality literature as theoretical foundation, we conducted a qualitative content analysis of 1,448 customer reviews of three major shopping companion apps. The analysis yielded 23 aspects that customers expect from shopping companion apps, and that, in turn, can support establishing high mobile service quality. Our results contribute to the knowledge of m-service in retail and quality-driven app design.

Talks:

• Wulfert, T.; Woroch, R.; Strobel, G.; Schoormann, T.; Banh, L.: Unboxing the Role of E-Commerce Ecosystems to Address Grand Challenges. 31st European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2023), 14th Jun 2023, Kristiansand, Norway.
• Wulfert, T.; Karger, E.: Shaping Digital Platforms in E-Commerce: Developing an Architecture Framework. 26th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS2022), 7th Jul 2022, Virtual.
• Wulfert, T.: Introduction to the Session on Electronic Business. 26th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS2022), 7th Jul 2022, Virtual.
• Wulfert, T.; Busch, J.: Reference Architectures Facilitating a Retailer’s Dual Role on Digital Marketplaces: A Literature Review. 24th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS2022), 26th Apr 2022, Virtual.
• Wulfert, T.; Schütte, R.: Retailer’s Dual Role in Digital Marketplaces: Towards Architectural Patterns for Retail Information Systems. 23rd International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2021), 27th Apr 2021, Virtual.
• Wulfert, T.; Seufert, S.; Leyens, C.: Developing Multi-Sided Markets in Dynamic Electronic Commerce Ecosystems - Towards a Taxonomy of Digital Marketplaces. 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2021), 7th Jan 2021, Virtual.

Courses:

• Retail Enteprise Systems
• Wirkung und Wirtschaftlichkeit von IT-Systemen

Tutored Theses:

• Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung auf die Logistikprozesse im Handel: Chancen und Risiken (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Management von Big-Data-Projekten: Anforderungen an das Projektmanagement (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und -risiken der Blockchain im Web 3.0 (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen: Chancen und Risiken von Smart Connected Products im Electronic Health (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Mobile Advertising: Gestaltung von Promotionsmaßnahmen in Mobilen Shopping Apps (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Verhaltenssteuerung durch Nudging in Online Shops aus dem Business-to-Consumer Bereich: Chancen und Risiken (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen: Chancen und Risiken von Big Data in der Medizin 4.0 (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Chancen und Risiken des Mobile Payment für den stationären Einzelhandel in Deutschland (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Outsourcing von IT-Infrastrukturleistungen – Infrastructure as a Service im Vergleich zu klassischen Rechenzentrum-Outsourcing-Lösungen (Bachelor Thesis Computer Science)
• Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und -risiken der Blockchain im Supply Chain Management (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Customer Experience im Handel: Erlebnis-Shopping als Zukunft des stationären Einzelhandels (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Erweiterungsfähigkeit von Cloud-Anwendungen - Am Beispiel des Aufwandsreportings externer Mitarbeiter bei mindsquare (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Vor- und Nachteile moderner Datenbank-Technologien (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Aufbau eines Plattform-Ökosystems: Beeinflussung von Ökosystemteilnehmern mithilfe von Plattform-Governance-Mechanismen (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Implikationen der digitalen Transformation auf die Wertschöpfungskette bei Textilien – Offshoring vs. Reshoring (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Handel und Plattformen - differenzierte Entfaltung von Plattformtypen und deren strategische Bedeutung für Handelsunternehmen (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Disruptionspotential plattform-basierter Ökosysteme - Entwicklung eines Governance-Analyse-Frameworks für einen industrieübergreifenden Vergleich von Unternehmen mit Plattformen als Katalysatoren (Master Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Blockchain im Handel: Konzeption eines Rückverfolgungssystems für spezifische Warengruppen innerhalb des Supply Chain Managements eines deutschen Einzelhändlers (Master Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Identity- und Access-Management im Kontext von Industrie 4.0 - Evaluation eines Frameworks für die Integration von Smart-Production-Systems (Master Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Veränderung geschäftlicher Transaktionen in der Wertschöpfungskette durch Smart Contracts - Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und -grenzen der Blockchain-Technologie (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Plattformkonzepte aus softwaretechnischer Perspektive: Ein Literaturüberblick (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Vor- und Nachteile moderner Datenbank-Technologien (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Aufbau eines Plattform-Ökosystems: Beeinflussung von Ökosystemteilnehmern mithilfe von Plattform-Governance-Mechanismen (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Analyse des Aufgabenumfangs von Enterprise Systems: Historische Entwicklung, gegenwärtige Trends und Ausblick (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Outsourcing von IT-Infrastrukturleistungen – Infrastructure as a Service im Vergleich zu klassischen Rechenzentrum-Outsourcing-Lösungen (Bachelor Thesis Computer Science)
• Analyse ausgewählter agiler Vorgehensmodelle des Software Engineerings - Evaluation mit Fokus auf Prinzipien des agilen Manifests (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Digitale Plattformen im Handel – strategische Bedeutung unterschiedlicher Plattformtypen für Handelsunternehmen (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Digitalisierung im Handel: Analyse der Potentiale neuer Technologien für den Einsatz im stationären Einzelhandel (Bachelor Thesis Business Administration)
• Software Plattformen - differenzierte Entfaltung von Plattformschnittstellen und deren Bedeutung für Innovations- und Transaktionsplattformen (Master Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Controlling von IT-Services: Ermittlung von Kennzahlen und Prozessen zur Optimierung der IT-Service-Operations (Bachelor Thesis Computer Science)
• Veränderung geschäftlicher Transaktionen in der Wertschöpfungskette durch Smart Contracts - Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und -grenzen der Blockchain-Technologie (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Software Plattformen - differenzierte Entfaltung von Plattformschnittstellen und deren Bedeutung für Innovations- und Transaktionsplattformen (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Analyse ausgewählter agiler Vorgehensmodelle des Software Engineerings - Evaluation mit Fokus auf Prinzipien des agilen Manifests (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Einsatz von Smart Services im Gesundheitswesen: Eine Literaturanalyse (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Plattform-Governance-Dimensionen - fokussiert auf potenzielle Plattform-Preispolitiken und deren Umsetzung im E-Commerce (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Entwicklung einer Taxonomie für digitale Marktplätze für digitale und physische Produkte (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Referenzarchitekturen für Informationssysteme im elektronischen Handel: Eine Literaturanalyse (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Standardisierung im Smart Home: Eine Analyse der Boundary Resources ausgewählter Plattformen (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)
• Boundary Resources in plattformbasierten Ökosystemen: Eine Literaturanalyse (Bachelor Thesis Business Information Systems)