Commuting on roads in densely populated cities of the developing world is fraught with high delays and uncertainties. Wide use of public transportation can ease the load on the road infrastructure, but such use is not convenient, partly due to the unpredictable nature. In this work, our goal is to improve the usability of public transportation, through better information. Such information can lead to better planning and predictability for commuters. We take a crowd-sourced approach where information about transportation units as well as road conditions is crowd sourced from commuters. The information is then processed and made available to other commuters. In this context, this paper presents a naming framework we have developed, which will enable flexible and scalable content-driven data gathering and dissemination. Based on a preliminary im plementation of the framework, we present various field experiment results which shed light on the practicality of the proposed approach as well as on technical issues which need further careful addressing.978-1-4799-8439-8/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

Purpose The books, The Innovator’s Dilemma and Fooled by Randomness were best-sellers, and both books’ authors rightly have legions of followers. Nevertheless, the dynamics each author analyzed so well continue to plague many executives. Why? Is there some way to close the analytical loop between these two extremes? Put another way, is there a practical method of being productive and profitable in “normal” environments while at the same time working to capitalize on the impact of volatile disruption? This paper presents a practical approach for doing so that builds on prior research. Design/methodology/approach This paper differentiates between the normal, linear environment of “business as usual” (BaU) and the volatile, nonlinear environments of disruption to both upside and the downside. It then profiles how to navigate each environment, illustrated by way of examples. Findings Our findings, which are supported by historical and contemporary examples, are that leading executives consistently navigate the environments of BaU and disruption due to explicit strategic decisions based on an “information advantage,” which is knowledge that their competitors either do not have or choose to ignore. Such advantages are monetized by efficient operations in BaU and by economically, which is to say strategically, benefiting from disruptive volatility to the upside and/or avoiding it on the downside, over time. Practical implications Managerial focus should be directed to potentially disruptive innovations and other kinds of ambiguous threats, which could develop to be strategically significant over time, and these need to be tracked in a meaningful way. To benefit from an information advantage, executives must selectively – that is, strategically – make small investments that could either payoff dynamically or economically mitigate the risk of extreme losses over time. Originality/value This paper offers executives a practical explanation why the environments of BaU and disruption must be analyzed and planned for separately by different functions. Doing so facilitates the efficient realization of corporate goals and objectives over time in both normal (linear) and highly volatile (nonlinear) environments.

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Purpose Apple's strategy for adding value through open innovation and acquisitions is documented. Design/methodology/approach Historical review. Findings Use of open innovation to add value. A three part strategy for acquisitions. Research limitations/implications Focus on Apple. Practical implications Strategies for open innovation. Originality/value First review of Apple acquisition strategy