Digital Technologies and Transformation in Business, Industry and Organizations

Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 210
Ruben Pereira
Isaias Bianchi
Álvaro Rocha Editors
Digital
Technologies and
Transformation in
Business, Industry
and Organizations
Studies in Systems, Decision and Control
Volume 210
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Ruben Pereira · Isaias Bianchi · Álvaro Rocha
Editors
Digital Technologies
and Transformation
in Business, Industry
and Organizations
Editors
Ruben Pereira Isaias Bianchi
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
(ISCTE-IUL) Santa Catarina, Brazil
Lisbon, Portugal
Álvaro Rocha
ISEG
University of Lisbon
Lisbon, Portugal
ISSN 2198-4182 ISSN 2198-4190 (electronic)

Studies in Systems, Decision and Control
ISBN 978-3-031-07625-1 ISBN 978-3-031-07626-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8
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Preface
Digital transformation marks a rethinking of how an organization uses technology,

people, and processes in pursuit of new business models and new revenue streams,
driven by changes in customer expectations around products and services. For many
enterprises that build traditional goods, this means building digital products, such
as a mobile application or an e-commerce platform. To do so, they must use and
integrate digital technologies. The pace of change is increasing. Organizations need
to adapt or risk to disappear under innovators’ entrance in the market. Managers are
now pressed to make decisions.
With new digital technologies growing in an exponential rate in the last few
decades, organizations are facing even more complex contexts. Organizations are
then adopting agile methodologies and philosophies to hasten solutions and foster
innovation. Plus, customer centricity reigns in times of more informed and demanding
customers.
From strategy to operations, all organizations’ layers are being challenged
by digital transformation. Moreover, different industries and sectors are different
maturity levels and face different challenges.
This book provides a reference manual to assist professionals and academics on
further insights regarding: the impact of digital technologies in business, how to
implement digital technologies, solutions for specific digital technologies barriers,
and much more.
This book contains 12 chapters written by authors from several countries around
the world. Different research methodologies such as Systematic Literature Review
(SLR), case study, survey among others will inspire academics and practitioners upon
opportunities and challenges in digital transformation.
Lisbon, Portugal Ruben Pereira

Santa Catarina, Brazil Isaias Bianchi
Lisbon, Portugal Álvaro Rocha
v
Contents
Benefits and Challenges of Remote Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Joana Fialho
IT Innovation to Enhance Energy Efficiency on Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Manuel Casquiço
Shared Autonomous Vehicles Ontology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Pedro de Sousa Boieiro, Miguel Mira da Silva, Flavia Maria Santoro,
and António Reis Pereira
Bibliometric Analysis of Financial Services Technology
Companies—FinTech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Maria Teresa Cuenca-Jiménez, Vicente Ripoll Feliu,
and Carlos Lassala Navarré
Digital Transformation in a Car-Rental Company: A Case Study . . . . . . 103
Paulo de Carvalho Pinto, Miguel Moreno de Paiva,
and Miguel Mira da Silva
Blockchain-Based System to Ensure the Integrity of Used Vehicle
Purchase Transactions: Under Researchers’ Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
José Leonardo Sayán Barreto, Rodrigo Arturo Beuzeville Espinoza,
and Guillermo Antonio Dávila
Digital Adaptation in Education: A Case Study and Intervention
Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Catarina Falcão da Palma Ferreira and Patrícia Costa
Blockchain and New Digital Technologies: Explaining the Bitcoin
Volatility with a Generalized Autoregressive Conditional
Heteroskedasticity Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Leonardo Flach, Realdo de Oliveira, Jonatas Dutra Sallaberry,
and Luísa Karam de Mattos
vii
viii Contents
Risks and Challenges of Scrum: A Systematic Literature Review . . . . . . . 181

Pedro Filipe Soares
Successful Implantation of Enterprise IT Applications in SMEs:
A TOE-Based Framework of Influencing Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Irving Reascos and João A. Carvalho
Industry and Tech Competencies in Hospitality Sector: Higher
Education Students’ Perceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Maria José Sousa, Pére Mercatore Melé, Álvaro Rocha,
Susana Mesquita, and Sérgio Maravilhas
Using Mobile Dashboards to Track Real Estate Brokers
Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
João Antão and Ruben Pereira
Benefits and Challenges of Remote Work
Joana Fialho
Abstract The adoption of remote work is constantly growing, not only due to tech-
nological advances, but also due to restrictions imposed by COVID-19. Therefore, is
very useful to gather in a single document all the benefits and challenges of remote
work, for both employees and companies that are committed to adopting this new
way of working. With this Systematic Literature Review, it was possible to identify
that there are many advantages and benefits for employees, who can perform their
work remotely and not so many disadvantages or challenges, which are mainly due
to social isolation at a physical and psychological level. From the point of view
of companies, the advantages and benefits are related to those that employees can
obtain, since the well-being and happiness of employees are extremely important for
companies, on the other hand, the challenges of companies involve the mutual trust
that must be acquired, the adoption of good monitoring techniques and the provision
of technological resources, so that this new way of working is possible and beneficial
for everyone.
Keywords Remote work · Advantages · Benefits · Challenges · Procedures ·

Employees · Companies
1 Introduction
With the increasing advances in telecommunications systems and technology in

general currently with so many means of communication available, companies must
consider the adoption of remote work as a very smart business strategy. There are
many benefits that companies can obtain from the adoption of this strategy, which
allows them to become or remain more competitive in the global market [1, 2].
There are also many benefits that can be obtained by employees, like a better balance
between personal and professional life, obtained through the mobility and flexibility
acquired with remote work, which has a positive influence on job satisfaction [3].
J. Fialho (B)
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisbon, Portugal
e-mail: joana_patricia_fialho@iscte-iul.pt
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 1

R. Pereira et al. (eds.), Digital Technologies and Transformation in Business, Industry
and Organizations, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 210,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_1
2 J. Fialho
This Systematic Literature Review is based on 31 articles most of them are recent
publications between 2019 and 2021, due to increasement in remote work adoption
because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its insights will be further detailed.
In previous literature it was clear that there are types of work where remote
work fits better compared to others [4–7], but when it is possible to adopt measures
to reduce its challenges everyone benefits from the adoption of the remote work
strategy [8, 9]. The benefits include reducing people’s stress, which results in more
time available to work better [1], cost reduction with travels for employees and with
offices for companies [1, 10], and is also considered very important that companies
may be able to hire more qualified or new-generation people because this type of
work conditions satisfies more employees necessities [11].
This subject is considered very important because it can provide information
about the best strategies to be adopted to face the challenges, as even if certain
administrations do not accept a remote work adoption as a step for development
[1], there are future situations that may force the sudden adoption of remote work
strategies like the emergence of a worldwide pandemic such as COVID-19 [12–14]
or even due to natural disasters such as hurricanes [15].
It should be noted that despite being a very important topic, there are still not
enough papers about it, and as mentioned most of them are recent, so it is useful to
carry out more research and gather more information on this subject.
This research aims to gather information about the benefits and challenges of
remote work adoption for both employees and companies. With this information
will be presented the best procedures to be carried out by companies, when they
choose the remote work strategy and what procedures should be done by employees
to mitigate any challenge that may arise.
This literature review will be divided into the following structure: in Sect. 2 the
methodology used (SLR) is demonstrated, in Sect. 3 the theme will be developed with
a presentation of the challenges and benefits for companies and employees, as well
as some strategies to mitigate these challenges and Sect. 4 contains the conclusion
and limitations of the literature carried out.
2 Methodology
The methodology used was the Systematic Literature Review (SLR), to be able to
gather and synthesize all the existing information on the subject. This methodology
is very useful as it allows to rigorously improve existing literature, based on the steps
referred in Table 1.
Benefits and Challenges of Remote Work 3
Table 1 Systematic literature review stages
2.1 Review Protocol
This section will be presented with the search strings, filters used, databases chosen
to obtain the analyzed articles and quality criteria filters. The following Table 2
identifies the three search strings or keywords used in each one of the databases to
obtain articles that adjust better to the subject of this literature review.
In Table 3 we can see the three databases used to place the keywords already
presented and then obtain the number of articles already mentioned in Table 1.
The following quality criteria in Table 4 were used as manual filters at the end of
the extraction of all articles that went through previous filters. In quality criterion
1, quality newspapers Q1 and Q2 and quality conferences A/A1 and B/B1 were
Table 2 Keywords used in

Keywords
databases
“Remote Work” AND Challenges
“Remote Work” AND Advantages
“Remote Work” AND Benefits
4 J. Fialho
Table 3 Databases used for

Databases
research
Web of knowledge
ACM Digital Library
Scopus
Table 4 Quality criteria

Quality criteria
Quality criteria 1 Only Q1 and Q2 journals, only A/A1 and
B/B1 conferences
Quality criteria 2 At least 5 citations
considered, these quality values were taken from Scimago Journal & Country Rank
and Conference Ranks respectively. All the filters used will be mentioned in Table 5.
Table 5 Filtration process

Database Keywords No filter Filter 1 Filter 2 Filter 3 Filter 4 Filter 5
Web of “Remote Work” 105 78 74 38 10 9
knowledge AND Challenges
“Remote Work” 24 20 18 12 3 3
AND Advantages
“Remote Work” 48 35 33 17 8 8
AND Benefits
ACM Digital “Remote Work” 292 7 7 4 2 1
Library AND Challenges
“Remote Work” 363 2 2 2 1 0
AND Advantages
“Remote Work” 290 6 6 4 3 1
AND Benefits
Scopus “Remote Work” 826 108 91 60 22 4
AND Challenges
“Remote Work” 292 27 21 15 4 1
AND Advantages
“Remote Work” 605 54 50 30 13 6
AND Benefits
Total 2845 337 302 182 66 33
Legend Filter 1: Abstract; Filter 2: Articles and Conferences; Filter 3: Duplicates; Filter 4: Quality
criteria 1; Filter 5: Quality criteria 2
2.2 Applying Filters and Get Final Articles
To obtain the 33 article names to be extracted from the databases several sequenced
filters were applied. First, no filter was applied to get an idea of how many papers
exist with these search strings, then the filter 1 was applied where it only wanted
the keywords in the abstract section of the papers, after it was applied the document
type filter where only articles and conferences were considered, filter 2. Manually,
for the articles obtained previously, duplicates were eliminated, filter 3, filter 4—the
quality criteria 1 was applied next where only Q1 and Q2 journals and A/A1 and
B/B1 conferences were considered, finally the filter 5—the quality criteria 2 only
extract the documents with at least 5 citations. This entire explanation is summarized
in Table 5.
It is important to mention that 33 names of articles were obtained for extraction
after applying all the filters, but three of them were not possible to totally extract.
For this reason, contact was made with the authors of each article to request the full
article explaining the objectives and the need for reading them. There was only one
answer providing one of the articles. Thus, of the 33 articles, only 31 were obtained.
2.3 Perform Data Extraction and Analysis of the Sample
By reading the collected papers, it was possible to identify six important concepts
that fit the subject of remote work adoption, which are important during this literature
review. These concepts are “Benefits of remote work for employees”, “Challenges of
remote work for employees”, “Benefits of remote work for companies”, “Challenges
of remote work for companies”, “Procedures to mitigate the employees’ challenges”
and “Procedures to mitigate the companies’ challenges” this literature review is based
on them. In Table 6 the articles are associated with each one of the concepts.
It should be noted that most of the articles collected refer to the concept “Benefits
of remote work for employees” (17) and the concept “Challenges of remote work
for employees” (16), the least mentioned concepts in the articles are “Challenges
of remote work for companies” (5) and “Procedures to mitigate the employees’
challenges” (5). This fact shows that the articles give more attention to the benefits
and challenges of workers.
3 Review
This review will be separated into two different interest parts one talks about the
companies and the other one about the employees. It is noted that there is a big linkage
between them, because when employees are satisfied with their job the company
benefits from it in the way that satisfaction generates more productivity, on the
6 J. Fialho
Table 6 Important concepts about the remote work adoption

Articles Concepts
Benefits for Challenges Benefits for Challenges Procedures Procedures
employees for companies for for for
employees companies employees companies
[10] x x x x x x
[16] x x
[17] x x x
[4] x
[18] x x
[8] x
[19] x
[1] x x x x x
[2] x x x
[11] x x x x
[20] x x x
[21] x x
[12] x x
[22] x
[23] x x x x x x
[24] x
[5] x
[25] x
[14] x x
[6] x
[26] x x x
[27] x x x
[28] x
[9] x x x
[29] x
[30] x
[31] x x x x
[32] x x
other hand, a low level of satisfaction generates more employee turnover which
is undesirable for companies [21]. Some organizational measures can help in the
personal achievement and satisfaction of employees increasing their productivity
[31].
3.1 Benefits of Remote Work for Employees
There are a lot of benefits that remote work can bring to employees that are very
appealing and very important for life quality. With the analysis of all the articles
obtained, it was possible to identify which benefits were most and least impactful,
based on the principle that the most mentioned are the most impactful, they are
identified in Table 7.
Quality of life is inherent to each one of the benefits identified with the adoption
of remote work [1], which is a decisive characteristic [23]. With the possibility of
saving time and money on travel, there is room for a healthy balance between personal
and professional life [29]. Due to the lack of need for travel, it is possible to obtain
several benefits such as the opportunity to save money [6] and chose the preferred
place to live [12], which contributes additionally to personal satisfaction and for the
economic development of the most rural areas [27]. By reducing travel necessities
opportunities are given to more people as older or disabled people [1], and there will
be less environmental pollution and less traffic [27], less traffic is closely related
to the reduction of stress which is one of the identified benefits of the adopting of
remote work [26].
Table 7 Benefits of remote work for employees in each article

Concepts Articles
Benefits for employees Flexibility of time and location [1, 10, 11, 20, 23, 27, 29, 31, 32]
(balance between work and
personal life)
Reduced travel/clothing costs [1, 6, 9, 16, 20, 23, 31, 32]
and less time spent on travel
Feeling of confidence (morale, [1, 20, 23, 31]
autonomy)
Reduction of pollution and [2, 9, 23, 27]
traffic
More job opportunities (seniors, [1, 12, 23]
disabled, parents with young
children)
Less agglomeration and greater [18, 27]
rural regeneration
Possibility of living in desired [9, 12]
places
Less unnecessary time spent on [9, 23]
socializing
Less stress [26, 32]
More informal work atmosphere [1]
Working outside dangerous [19]
locations (dangerous work)
8 J. Fialho
Working remotely and outside the remit of leaders, gives employees a sense of
trust, which translates into appreciation [1]. The acquired feeling of trust leads to
the desire to not disappoint the managers, which helps in the attitude towards the
organization [31], translates into morale felt by the employees [23] and leads to an
increase in employee autonomy due to reducing the invasion of privacy [21].
All these benefits are further complemented with the reduction of stress through
a more casual professional atmosphere increasing relaxation [1] and through the
reduction of unnecessary social interactions, which adds to stress reduction and
allows employees to not waste energy and time needed to work [9].
3.2 Challenges and Solutions of Remote Work for Employees
Remote work is often seen as a double-edged sword [20] because there are not
only benefits to remote working, for example distancing co-workers and leaders and
changing the workspace can create obstacles to the satisfaction of some employees.
Table 8 presents the main challenges to the adoption of remote work from the
perspective of employees.
According to most references in the articles, the main challenges to the adoption of
remote work by employees are caused by physical distance. Isolation, derived from
the lack of interactions with people, can have negative implications for people’s health
[28]. The lack of communication with colleagues and supervisors often translates into
a lack of belonging to the team [5], a decrease in identification with the organization
[31] and an impediment to career progression due to lack of visibility [1]. This lack of
visibility influences the way leaders choose to monitor the work of employees, which
can be sometimes intrusive and irrational, interfering with the privacy of employees
[17].
The use of ICT to communicate with co-workers can generate stress, espe-
cially when there are many communication platforms to use and colleagues do not
realize that the employee is busy trying to always interrupt their work, generating
“technostress” [21, 26].
When workers are in their private spaces such as at home it becomes complicated
to make a clear separation between work and personal life [32] which facilitates
excessive working hours [26]. At home sometimes there are children present, which
makes it difficult to concentrate on work [24], to avoid possible interruptions an
adequate space is required to carry out remote work [23] possibly not be able at
home. Remote work can result in colleagues working in different time zones, which
implies greater communication skills [10].
One of the main challenges that cause the greatest impediment to remote work is
not having access to adequate technological equipment [32], for example, if there is
no access to reliable WI-FI it becomes impossible to carry out remote work.
Remote work satisfaction depends a lot on the personality in question and on the
type of work performed, self-discipline is an essential characteristic of the individual
[0] as it prevents distractions [23] and helps to mitigate two of the challenges such
Table 8 Challenges of remote work for employees in each article

Concepts Articles
Challenges for employees Lack of interactions with [1, 5, 10, 20, 23, 24, 27, 28, 31, 32]
people (isolation)
Lack of communication [1, 4, 5, 14, 27, 31]
Not clear separation [10, 23, 26, 32]
between work and private
life
Lack of visibility in the [1, 10, 14, 23]
company (block career
advancement)
Intrusive and irrational [1, 14, 17]
forms of labor
surveillance
“Technostress” [21, 23, 26]
(ICT-derived stress)
Different working hours [10]
from colleagues
Lack of routine to [10]
structure the day
Possibility of abuse of [22]
harmful substances to
health
Working remotely with [24]
children at home
Have the technological [32]
means adapted
Requires self-discipline [23]
Availability of adequate [23]
space at home
as lack of routine to structure the day [10] and incurrence in the consumption of
substances harmful to health [22].
To reduce the challenges created by the adoption of remote work, this review lists
the procedures to be adopted by employees in Table 9.
Employees should resort to networks of friends and family to avoid social isola-
tion, which is one of the greatest problems of remote work for employees [10].
Preferring video calls with co-workers can help with mutual understanding, avoid
communication problems [16] and helps to become visible to leaders. Communica-
tion between distant colleagues must be done explicitly and unambiguously to save
work time [10].
The stress caused by ICT can be reduced if employees strive to gain autonomy
at work [21]. Promoting self-discipline [9] is very important to not let distractions
neglect work productivity.
10 J. Fialho
Table 9 Procedures to
Concepts Articles
mitigate the remote work
challenges for employees Procedures for employees Use video calls with [16, 23]
colleagues
Autonomy acquisition [21]
Sending explicit emails [10]
Use networks of friends [10]
and family
Promote self-discipline [9]
3.3 Benefits of Remote Work for Companies
Increasing productivity is clearly in the sights of all companies and finding effective
ways to do this is in the interest of all managers. As previously explained, company
employees obtain several benefits from the adoption of remote work, this fact implies
an increase in satisfaction and productivity [1] desired by all companies. Based on
this reasoning, companies derive the main benefit related to remote work from the
benefit of employees, some studies show an increase of more than 20% in employee
productivity with the adoption of remote work [9].
It should be noted that the better and more pleasant the conditions given to
employees, the easier it becomes to attract and retain the best employees [23], the offer
of remote work also allows to broaden the range of candidates dispersed throughout
the territory [18]. If there is a preference on the part of employees to remain in a
remote work regime, it leads to a better relationship with leaders [23].
Companies clearly benefit from reduced infrastructure costs [31], as the office
space for the presence of workers is unoccupied [8] there are no longer, for example,
costs with electricity and cleaning.
As employees are often working from home and as such cannot always dissociate
their professional and personal lives [26] they tend to carry out extra hours of work
more easily [1], which is beneficial for the companies. The fact that the employee
works from home also helps to reduce absences and delays [23], as it is easier to start
work without the complication of traveling.
Today, an attractive and well-regarded company is a company [23] that values
the well-being of employees, doing everything they can to ensure that they have a
better quality of life. Worker satisfaction is considered in many rankings in which
companies participate to gain visibility. Table 10 is presented with the resume of all
the mentioned benefits above, that were found in the articles.
Table 10 Benefits of remote work for companies in each article

Concepts Articles
Benefits for companies Costs reduction (mainly infrastructures) [1, 9, 10, 23, 26, 31]
Ability to attract the best candidates [1, 2, 11, 18, 26]
Reduced turnover, retention of good employees [1, 23, 26, 31]
Improved productivity associated with less stress [1, 9, 12, 31]
or greater satisfaction
Easier for employees to work more hours [1, 26]
Creating a positive organizational image [1, 23]
Free up office space [8]
Better employee-leader relationship [23]
Reduction of absence and delays [23]
3.4 Challenges and Solutions of Remote Work for Companies
Although the advantages for companies are quite appealing, there are also some
disadvantages that if not overcome can make the strategy of adopting remote work
not indicated and with obstacles to productivity.
Physical distance represents challenges for both individuals and companies. Diffi-
culties inherent to physical distance cause, for example, problems in the procedure
for evaluating employees, which implies modifying these operational and adminis-
trative procedures [23]. This challenge in the performance evaluation is also caused
by the difficulty in monitoring the work of employees as there is a need to monitor
digitally without intrusion into the private life of individuals [17].
With the course of remote work, employees sometimes tend to become sloppy
with their work due to the isolation they feel [1] but also due to the poor monitoring
that the company does. Due to the interdependence of tasks performed by employees,
remote work becomes complicated [23] as there will always be a greater need for
constant communication and presence between team members, leading to possible
stressful situations arising from ICT making this type of work more complicated.
If the company in question does not have the necessary technologies to provide
employees with the ability to carry out their work remotely, for example, if it is not an
information technology (IT) company, then the initial costs of adopting this strategy
will be large as there will be a need to provide, for example, laptops and mobile
phones with free communications to all employees [1]. In terms of technology, the
company must also be updated with protected software that allows communication
and information between members of the same team, which implies technical support
for employees [23].
There is the challenge of the administration refusing to adopt the remote work
strategy [1], often considering that the employees will take advantage of the situation
by not carrying out their work, which until now has been proven to be untrue. This
idea of thinking that employees are not working because they are not present in the
12 J. Fialho
Table 11 Challenges of remote work for companies in each article

Concepts Articles
Challenges for companies Difficulty in evaluating employees [1, 10, 23]
More difficult monitoring [11, 17]
May result in a less competent worker over time [1, 23]
Initial costs for the adoption of the work [1]
Administration may not accept the concept of remote [1]
work
Customers and community doubt that employees are [1]
working
Task interdependence [23]
Inadequate technology and lack of technical support [23]
workplace [1] is not correct and can be shared by company management, customers
and the community in general who often do not have enough information on the
subject. The Table 11 summarize the challenges of remote work for companies.
A very important part of this research focuses on how companies can properly
and safely adopt remote work, making it difficult for undesirable challenges to arise.
Companies and their work requirements are the major players in the well-being
of employees when it comes to remote work and there is a need to adopt several
procedures to ensure employee satisfaction [11].
There are several techniques that can be adopted like directing leaders to adopt
delegation and results-based performance management systems [2], as they are no
longer able to follow the employee’s work through developments. If you want to
know about the development and commitment over time in the employee’s work, it is
possible by dividing the employees into work teams [10] where each element carries
out a periodic hetero evaluation of the colleagues. However, it is not always possible
to adopt the same monitoring systems for all types of work and this adaptation is
necessary [11].
Creating communication opportunities between employees is another advanta-
geous measure to avoid disconnection and for leaders to be aware of the employee’s
commitment, helping with monitoring and evaluation, it can be done through the
creation of regular status meetings, intranet systems for email, newsletters, and social
events [2].
The right communication leads to trust which leads to better communication [2].
Trust between each other is extremely important in remote work, as leaders must trust
that employees are doing their jobs and employees must trust that they will not be
overlooked by their leaders, this trust is generated through communication. Commu-
nication is also linked to technical or emotional support [2] between colleagues
and leaders, so trust and support also go together [2]. Figure 1 presents a graphic
demonstration of this linkage between these three success factors for remote work.
Organizations and their leaders can avoid misunderstandings among employees
that make it difficult to carry out their jobs effectively and that improve the stress
Fig. 1 Linkages between success factors [2]
of individuals, for this, they must develop cultural norms that focus on effective and
simplified communication [30].
The adoption of measures so that employees remain satisfied and productive in
remote work is very important, these tend to be effective when they go through
the employee’s motivation, inspiring them to achieve goals and never discouraging
promotion and career advances [31].
Companies must provide the necessary technologies and tools to employees so
that they can perform remote work [1], these tools such as computers, mobile phones
and free communication must be accompanied by training for their use and for
employees to learn techniques of time control and self-discipline to be successful
when they work remotely [23].
When adopting a new technique or organizational strategy, benchmarking is very
important allowing companies to analyze the best practices used by other organiza-
tions in the same type of sector. Regarding the implementation and development of the
remote work strategy benchmarking is important to increase the chances of success
[2]. Another important technique for the success of remote work is the creation of
“skunk works”, which are groups of employees who adopt remote work within the
organization and with them, it is possible to deal with the challenges that are being
created after overcoming the problems to extend remote work to all employees [25].
It is common to have workers who do not appreciate the full adoption of remote
work for many reasons such as the problem of lack of social interaction and isolation
or lack of conditions at home [9], to meet the needs of all employees and create
balance, a good strategy is the adoption of hybrid work models reaching 80% of the
employees’ work expectations [31]. There are experiences carried out for example
in Canada, Holland and New Zealand where a four-day workweek was adopted with
positive results [31], in this sense giving the opportunity to have more days working
at home is enticing and something to be aware of. The Table 12 summarize the
procedures that companies must adopt to mitigate the remote work challenges.
14 J. Fialho
Table 12 Procedures to mitigate the remote work challenges for companies

Concepts Articles
Procedures for companies Delegating and having results-based performance [1, 2, 11, 23, 31]
management systems
Adopt adequate monitoring for each type of work [11, 14, 17, 20]
Create communication opportunity [2, 20, 23, 27]
Standards focused on simplified and effective [14, 30, 31]
communication
Provide technology and technological support to [1, 2, 23]
teleworkers
Provide training of different types [2, 31]
Adopt hybrid work or give employee choice [9, 31]
Use the benchmarking technique [2]
Approaches to “skunk works” [25]
Splitting a project into working elements [10]
Motivate employees to achieve goals [31]
4 Conclusion
A change to remote work should be considered by business administrations. The

COVID-19 pandemic has forced the adoption of remote work in many companies
that have realized this is a win–win strategy, despite imposition never being well
seen. It is expected that there will continue to be an evolution towards the adoption
of remote work, since technological evolution already allows many types of work to
be carried out remotely. There are many benefits, such as reduction of world pollution
or a better quality of life obtained through the balance between the professional and
private life of employees, which translates into satisfaction and in turn into an increase
in productivity, thus being beneficial for people as a whole and as individuals and
for companies as well.
The application of the measures is important to mitigate the undesirable effects of
this strategy, everyone should be prepared to initiate it or to continue to practice it.
It is essential that employees and companies have the technological ways to practice
remote work, such as materials and technical support. All colleagues and leaders
should prioritize regular communication via video calls, avoiding misunderstandings
and contributing in some way to monitoring. Companies must also modify their
performance evaluations if it is not done already, having to be based on results and
not so much on the process.
This is a step to trust, where employees commit to deliver results and remain
self-disciplined and companies trust the process generating morale and employee
satisfaction. On the other hand, employees trust that companies will not neglect them,
this trust generates more communication and in turn, generates greater support. In
this way, are obtained very positive conditions that help remote work to be successful.
This SLR contributed to identify the main benefits and challenges that the work
brings, but also the best ways to mitigate the identified challenges, providing a positive
experience to the stakeholders. This is a review that interconnects important concepts
about the thematic of interest to employees and business administrations.
Regarding the limitations of this review, it could be interesting to investigate
which types of work and areas of the industry are best and worst suited to remote
work, since the conclusions on satisfaction and the measures to be taken to mitigate
challenges may be different. It is important to carry out a study after the COVID-19
pandemic, as we are experiencing a pandemic that forced the adoption of remote
work, which may also have influenced many conclusions of existing studies.
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ijrobp.2020.06.062
IT Innovation to Enhance Energy
Efficiency on Buildings
Manuel Casquiço
Abstract Energy consumption is increasing, and buildings are responsible for 40%
of that amount. With innovative technologies such as Information Technology (IT)
and digital innovation, the usage of energy can be reduced. The high number
of projects that are being developed and explored around the world brings posi-
tive expectations but also big challenges: complexity, risks, different technologies,
resources, costs, data usage, data protection and privacy, all these are situations that
must be managed. Using a systematic literature review, different frameworks were
identified, based on IT concepts, that can allow the adequate management of energy
efficiency through IT governance processes and create value for organizations, based
on ITIL or COBIT, supported by an agile methodology, such as SCRUM.
Keywords Information technology · Governance models · Energy efficiency ·

Buildings
1 Introduction
Energy consumption in buildings accounts for 40–50% of global energy demand

and it is responsible for 19% of global greenhouse gas emissions [1]. U.S. buildings,
alone, command seven percent of worldwide primary energy consumption [2].
There are two reasons that support this affirmation: one it is the fact that we spent
most of our time inside of buildings, estimated between 80 and 90%, second, we
have changed our lifestyle, increasing energy consumption, therefore it is important
to understand how we can improve their comfort and energy efficiency. Concepts that
have been around for a few years, such as smart cities, are now starting to become a
reality, using new technologies that give people the tools to manage various processes,
including energy [3].
European Union (EU) is actively working on energy efficiency on buildings,
publishing several related legislations, i.e., under the Energy Efficiency Directive
M. Casquiço (B)
e-mail: manuel_carlos_casquico@iscte-iul.pt

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_2
20 M. Casquiço
(2012/27/EU), amended by the EU Directive 2018/2002, EU countries must make

energy efficient renovations to at least 3% of the total floor area of buildings owned
and occupied by central governments and national governments are recommended to
only use buildings that are highly energy efficient. EU is also investing a significant
amount of money in new technologies related to renewable energies [4].
The challenge is that not all individuals have the same perception towards energy
efficiency, so the behaviour of the occupants must be analyzed and identified to
evaluate the ideal comfort indicator. But it is extremely unlikely to satisfy each one of
them [5]. Therefore, technologies play such a big role, because most of the cases don’t
depend on the persons that use the building. Machine learning (ML) and Artificial
Intelligence (AI), are important to use and treat data in order to automate processes
and can play a relevant role in the implementation of governance models applied to
different sectors of activity [6]. Blockchain technology can also play an important
part as it allows for the decentralization of processes, which in the case of governance
methodologies can bring benefits to facilitate the roll out and management of new
systems and processes [7].
Current policies and legislation are one of the main instruments to implement
energy efficiency measures, but policies are not dynamic, they take time to change,
and it is not possible to adapt them to real-time conditions and IT innovations to
mitigate GHC emissions attributed to energy consumption in buildings [8].
Several projects and innovation activities are being tested to evaluate their
performance to tackle the high amounts of energy that are being consumed in
buildings.
So, it is important to understand if IT solutions create value for organizations,
they can decrease energy consumption, therefore reducing energy bill prices and
increasing the value of the company’s assets. The priority is to use low-cost solutions
or improvements to increase building efficiency and reduce demand [2].
It should be noted that the design of energy and information management systems
are considered the main application areas that combine IoT and edge computing
technologies [9].
1.1 Information and Technology Governance
After evaluating the impact on energy consumption of buildings and that there is the
need to evaluate actions that can promote changes in human behaviour and in our
buildings, IT can be an opportunity to help us bridge the gap. IT is recognized as an
enabler for economic growth and higher energy efficiency [4].
IT spending in 2015 accounted for a total of $3.8 trillion, with an increase of 2.4%
from 2014. That amount is increasing over the last few years [10].
Based on the selected articles, IT innovation is paving the way for smarter build-
ings, that can interact with users and make changes to buildings systems in real-time
based on sensors, data analysis, user feedback and external conditions.
IT Innovation to Enhance Energy Efficiency on Buildings 21
Despite the high number of projects in this area, and the different domains that
can be explored, one question is important, how can we ensure that we apply the best
technology for a specific type of building to promote energy efficiency?
Different IT Governance Models are available to help organizations achieve their
goals, but with so many different aspects it is important to select the most adequate
framework to obtain a positive outcome for the investment. Several frameworks are
available, COSO, ITIL, CobiT, BiSL, ISO27000, MOF, CMMI and TOGAF and
IT4IT [11].
The best IT practices according to current standards are Control Objectives for
Information and Related Technologies COBIT, Information Technology Infrastruc-
ture Library (ITIL) and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) [12].
ITIL is a framework that enables IT services to be managed across their life-
cycle. COBIT, on the other hand, aids enterprise IT governance to generate the
maximum added value to the business via its IT investments, while mitigating risks
and optimizing resources.
CMMI is a process improvement model that consists of the best practices applied
in the development of software, derived from the industry.
Also mention that it is possible to outsource these services, for example, Andresen
et al. state that it is a solution based on 5 pillars to outsource IT governance,
contracts, principles, resources, activities and managers. It is considered a valid
option considering an agile and fast application in an organization [13].
This review tries to identify if the previous frameworks are in fact the best to
promote the implementation of IT innovation on energy efficiency in buildings and
is divided into four sections, Introduction, explaining the need for a review, Method,
for the execution of the literature review, Review, to analyze the articles and formulate
a proposal, and Conclusion, with the resume of the paper.
2 Research Method
Using a systematic literature review (SLR), which is the recommended “Evidence-

based Software Engineering” (EBSE) method for aggregating evidence, it was
possible to select the articles to answer the questions referred previously.
SLR methodology used is based on Kitchenham, 2007: Planning, Conducting and
Reporting. Table 1 list the different steps.
2.1 Identification the Need for a Review
The built environment accounts for a considerable portion of global energy demand
[2]. Energy is an essential part of the European Union (EU) and all developed coun-
tries. Having such great importance also makes countries vulnerable to changes.
Nevertheless, technology solutions dominate the collective consciousness because
22 M. Casquiço
Table 1 Systematic literature review methodology

Outlining systematic literature Conducting systematic Reporting the review
review literature review
• Identification the need for a • Applying filters and get • Report the findings
review final articles – Energy efficiency in
– Energy consumption in – 32 articles buildings
buildings accounts for – IT governance frameworks
40–50% of global energy – IT governance frameworks
demand for energy efficiency in
• Objective of the review • Perform data extraction buildings
– Which IT governance and analysis of the sample – Discussion and draw
models can be used for – Extraction information conclusions
energy efficiency in about IT technologies and
buildings towards IT challenges
innovation?” – Identification of different IT
• Review protocol governance frameworks
– Search string, filters,
repositories and inclusion
and exclusion criteria
there is little effort or desire to change individual behaviours. The impact of serious
games and real-time information on energy consumption achieves the consumer
behaviour transformation, which is expected to lead to significant and, more
importantly, sustainable energy savings [4].
Overall, this shows one innovative approach, how the future Internet can support
the future energy supply, which is moving towards regenerative energy, by providing
improved energy efficiency. Improving the energy efficiency of information and
computer technologies (ICT), and especially by utilizing ICT to reduce e.g. energy
for heating will reduce energy consumption significantly [14].
Building automation systems are in the middle of a technology revolution. Driven
by the rising energy prices and buildings being responsible for consuming about 23%
of the worldwide electricity, the trends influencing current research are towards more
energy efficiency and integration into IT systems. Interoperability is a key challenge
within building automation systems, due to the high number of standards or the lack
of which is also an inhibitor to the success of home energy management systems
[15].
2.2 Objective of the Review
Following the introduction, the main objective of the SLR is “Which information
technology (IT) governance models can be used for energy efficiency in buildings
towards IT innovation?”
3 Review Protocol
The principal steps of the review protocol are identifying the keywords, main
databases and applying filters to obtain the final articles for the review.
Keywords used to search the literature are identified in Table 2.
The databases used for the purpose of the literature review are listed in Table 3.
To select the literature eight different inclusive and exclusive criteria have been
applied and are listed in Table 4.
An important aspect is the authors filiation on countries with a strong innovation
index. Based on the world intellectual property organization (wipo) and the 2019
report, in the top 20 of the Global Innovation Index (GII), Switzerland, Sweden, and
the United States continue to lead the innovation ranking.
Regarding the date, a filter was implemented to consider more recent articles,
from 2006 to 2021 knowing that since 1993 it was important at the level of the
EU to develop mechanisms to promote energy efficiency in all member states, with
Table 2 List of keywords

ID Keyword
1 “Information Technology (IT)” AND “Energy Efficiency” AND “Buildings”
2 “Information Technology (IT)” AND “Governance Models”
Table 3 List of used

ID Database
databases
1 IEE explore
2 Web of knowledge
3 Scopus
4 EBSCO host
Table 4 Quantitative filters

Inclusion Exclusion
Full text Not in full text
Abstract Not in abstract
Articles in English Not in English
Articles and conference proceedings Not in articles and conference proceedings
From 2006–2021 Before 2006
Theme areas (Engineering, Computer Science, Not related to engineering, computer science
Energy) and energy
Top 20 countries on global innovation index Articles with affiliation not in top 20 countries
from global innovation index
Not duplicates Duplicates
24 M. Casquiço
buildings being an important pillar in this strategy. It is important to evaluate the

legislation, as it defines the EU financial incentive programs, which will also dictate
the lines of research adopted and as such directly influence the articles chosen.
Although the reference period is the one established by the legislation, it is also
important to assess the issue related to innovation that has occurred in recent years
that forced the publication of more relevant legislation. For this reason, we will
evaluate the period between 2006, the date of publication of Directive 32/2006 on
energy end-use efficiency and energy services and repealing, and 2021, to incorporate
new developments that have been made.
A manual filter was also implemented to make an exclusion of articles that are
not related to the main question.
The literature was selected by using internationally recognized scientific articles
and journals and conference proceedings using the most relevant databases.
3.1 Applying Filters and Get Articles
After the review protocol, 9 filters were applied to obtain the final 32 articles as stated
in Table 5.
3.2 Perform Data Extraction
Data was extracted from the different databases and was possible to evaluate the
years, number of citations, journal, and conference rankings of each article. The
articles are concentrated in the period between 2011 and 2019 as stated in Fig. 1.
Most of the articles have between 1 to 38 citations as displayed in Fig. 2, which
represents the quality of the information in the selected articles.
As stated in Table 6, 47% of the articles are from selected conferences and journals
with a recognized ranking.
3.3 Analyze of Literature
The revision of the different articles was made by reviewing the abstract and
conclusion first and the full text after.
Nine IT concepts regarding energy efficiency have been identified to group
different literature. In Table 7 they are identified and listed the articles related to the
concepts. In Table 8 the challenges faced by these previous concepts are presented.
After identifying the challenges that new IT technologies face today, it is impor-
tant to identify the different types of IT Governance and the models that build the
foundation of each one of them. In Table 9 are listed the different frameworks.
Table 5 Filter application
Database Keywords Filters
Quantitative
Inclusion/Exclusion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ID Word Full Abstract English Articles/ Date Area Top 20 Duplicates Manual
text Conference (2006–2021) (Computer (Global filter
Science, Innovation
Energy, Index
Engineering) Countries)
IEE Xplore 1 “Information Technology 2012 125 125 120 113 113 16 16 13
(IT)” AND “Energy
Efficiency” AND “Buildings”
2 “Information Technology 1957 18 18 17 17 17 7 7 5
(IT)” AND “Governance
Models”
Web of 1 “Information Technology 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
IT Innovation to Enhance Energy Efficiency on Buildings
knowledge (IT)” AND “Energy

Models”
Scopus 1 “Information Technology 21,288 8 8 7 6 6 4 2 1
(IT)” AND “Energy
Models”
(continued)
25
Table 5 (continued)
26
Database Keywords Filters

Quantitative
Inclusion/Exclusion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ID Word Full Abstract English Articles/ Date Area Top 20 Duplicates Manual
text Conference (2006–2021) (Computer (Global filter
Science, Innovation
Energy, Index
Engineering) Countries)
EBSCO 1 “Information Technology 1137 7 7 3 3 3 1 1 0
host (IT)” AND “Energy
Models”
Total 175 52 44 32
M. Casquiço
Fig. 1 Article distribution

by year
Fig. 2 Intervals with the

number of citations of the
articles
Table 6 Conference and

Ranking Number of articles %
journals rankings
Q1 9 28
Q2 2 6
A2 1 3
B1 2 6
B3 1 3
Total 15 47
After evaluating each IT innovation concept’s challenges, it was possible to iden-

tify in Table 10 what aspects of the governance frameworks can lead to a better
implementation, and how different frameworks can support the implementation.
4 Review
Currently, countries are defining strategies for 2030 in several key areas, and energy
efficiency and sustainability are included in these plans. Information technologies
play an important role in achieving the objectives. For that purpose, it is important
to evaluate each different type of IT innovation, what are the challenges ahead and
how organizations can ensure that investments that are being made can return the
desired outcomes [10].
Table 7 IT concept matrix
28
Articles IT innovation concepts to promote energy efficiency

Energy Smart grid Internet of Monitoring Green Serious Artificial Ubiquitous Knowledge
simulations things (IoT) and control computing games intelligence computing management
interfaces
[1] ● ● ● ● •
[2] ● ● ●
[3] ● ● ●
[4] ● ● ●
[5] ● ● ●
[6] ● ●
[7] ●
[8] ● ● ●
[9] ● ● ● ●
[14] ● ● ● ●
[15] ● ● ●
[16] ● ●
[17] ● ●
[18] ● ●
[19] ● ●
(continued)
M. Casquiço
Table 7 (continued)
Articles IT innovation concepts to promote energy efficiency
Energy Smart grid Internet of Monitoring Green Serious Artificial Ubiquitous Knowledge
simulations things (IoT) and control computing games intelligence computing management
interfaces
[20] ●
[21] ● •
[22] ● ● •
[23] ● ●
Legend: Energy Simulations—Allow the system designer to compare different systems and control strategies through computer simulations based on previous
data; Smart Grid—Set of processes that can automate and manage the increasing complexity and needs of energy; Internet of Things (IoT)—A system
of interrelated, internet-connected objects that can collect and transfer data over a wireless network without human intervention; Monitoring and Control
Interfaces—Is a process of measuring performance and taking corrective action to assure that the building energy consumption is on track to meet its goals;
Green Computing—Study and practice of environmentally sustainable computing or IT. The goals of green computing are: reduce the use of hazardous materials,
maximize energy efficiency during the product’s lifetime, the recyclability or biodegradability of products and factory waste. Green computing is important for
all classes of systems, ranging from handheld systems to large-scale data centers; Serious Games—Effective methods of engaging energy users and lowering
consumption; Artificial Intelligence—The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such
as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages; Ubiquitous Computing—is a concept in software engineering
and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur
using any device, in any location, and in any format. A user interacts with the computer, which can exist in many different forms, including laptop computers,
tablets and terminals in everyday objects such as a refrigerator or a pair of glasses. The underlying technologies to support ubiquitous computing include Internet,
advanced middleware, operating system, mobile code, sensors, microprocessors, new I/O and user interfaces, computer networks, mobile protocols, location
and positioning, and new materials; Knowledge management—is the process of defining, structuring, retaining, and sharing the knowledge and experience of
employees within an organization. For each concept, challenges have been identified to evaluate the adequate framework for the right implementation. Some of
the main challenges on IT today can be divided in the following: cybersecurity, data protection, digital transformation, skills gap, cloud computing, open-source
software, analytics and data management, on-time performance and quality, leadership support, lack of agility, automation, cultural differences
29
Table 8 IT innovation concepts challenges
30
Areas IT innovation concepts

Energy Smart grid Internet of Monitoring and Green Serious games Artificial Ubiquitous Knowledge
simulations things (IoT) control computing intelligence computing management
interfaces
Analytics Massive data Real-time data Reconstructing
and data from sensors [5] [2] incomplete data
management Difficulty in is necessary
accessing data [22]
[16] Manipulation of
big data [9]
Automation Base stations The ongoing Data-driven Human–
gather sensor demand for fault detection computer
data and more energy and diagnosis interaction
transmit it to efficiency (FDD) [20, 22] (HCI) field and
remote data within sensor network
management commercial [5]
systems [22] buildings and
homes is a
driving
motivation for
using IT and IP
technologies
within
underlying
building
automation
systems (BAS)
[15]
(continued)
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Table 8 (continued)
interfaces
Cloud Local cloud Visionary cloud
computing using computing-
open-source based
platform for interaction
HPC (High- scenarios [15]
Performance-
Computing)
[17]
Cybersecu- System opens
rity to third party
software [4]
Cultural Changes in
differences mindset [4]
Data Data from users Occupant Collects data The knowledge
protection [9] behaviour from users [9] database is

patterns [2] supervised by
defining rules,
policies,
management,
and operation
patterns [1]
(continued)
31
Table 8 (continued)
32

interfaces
Digital Difficulty in The new Wireless sensor
transforma- simulation of a technology networks
tion large and needs the (WSNs) have
complex support of green become
building [1, 2] building [20] increasingly
important in
recent years due
to their ability
to monitor and
manage
situational
information for
various
intelligent
services in
ubiquitous
environments
[21]
Lack of Complexity of Sensors of
agility buildings is different types
reflected in the induce
continuous complexity in
introduction of configuration
new and integration
procurement as well as data
paths and collecting and
methods [18] processing [17]
(continued)
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Table 8 (continued)
interfaces
Leadership Support by new
support business models
[4]
On-time On-time
performance performance on
and quality energy
consumption [2,
9]
Open-source Open-source System opens
software platform for to third party
HPC (High- software [4]
Performance-
Computing)
[17]
(continued)
33
Table 8 (continued)
34

interfaces
Skills gap To address this Development of
level of a knowledge
complexity new database [4]
technologies
can create
synergies and
support
collaboration of
new professions
and skills in
areas such as
energy,
environment,
waste and
connected
objects/Internet
of Things [18]
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Table 9 IT governance frameworks
Articles Framework Functional model Service model Information model Foundational integration layer
[11] IT4IT High-level definition of all Based on ITIL, service Identification of key Defines key control points for
functional areas for IT life-cycle and high-level controlling IT artifacts integration, based on artifact
Based on customer use-case grouping of continuous Definition of artifact Link information model with
analysis assessment, continuous life-cycles according to life-cycle model
integration and continuous life-cycle model
delivery—and later into value
streams
[10, 24–27] CobiT Analysis maturity level of the Based on CobiT four domains Assessment tool as a basis for Six relational links establishes
IT of an Organization realize the grouping of conducting semi-structured the boundary and the scope of
processes interviews and questionnaires IT governance processes
for 34 processes
[11, 24, 26, 27] ITIL Focuses on and enables IT 5 main service components: When companies start with ITIL works on the parts of
services to be managed service strategy, service ITIL, they can then move to enterprise IT, which are
across their life-cycle design, service transition, effectively integrating IT into basically service management
service operation, continuous their core business processes enablers like process
service improvement activities, organizational
structures
[11, 12, 28] TOGAF It is a valuable tool for Standard includes a content Designed to be flexible and A structured definition of the
developing a broad range of framework to drive greater can be used with various organization, skills, roles, and
different IT architectures. consistency in the outputs that architectural styles responsibilities required to
Most importantly, it enables are created when following operate an effective enterprise
to design, evaluate, and build the Architecture Development architecture capability. The
the right architecture for an Method (ADM) standard also provides
organization guidance on a process that can
be followed to identify and
establish an appropriate
architecture capability
(continued)
35
Table 9 (continued)
36
Articles Framework Functional model Service model Information model Foundational integration layer
[12] LEAD Enterprise development The LEAD is suitable also for LEAD itself is an agile The main difference between
method small and medium process without the big the LEAD and traditional EA
enterprises, as the LEAD can planning upfront cycle development approaches is
be adopted and executed with that LEAD is tightly
lesser resources and time integrated into holistic
enterprise development, not
solely taking the architecture
and operational viewpoints
[27] MOF Provide guidance across the Plan, deliver and operate MOF organizes IT activities Each SMF is anchored within
entire IT lifecycle phase and processes into Service a related life-cycle phase and
Management Functions contains a unique set of goals
(SMFs) which provide and outcomes supporting the
operational guidance for objectives of that phase
capabilities within the service
management environment
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Table 10 IT governance aspects to tackle IT challenges

Areas IT governance frameworks support
Analytics and The IT Resources element includes applications, technology, facilities, and
data data. These IT assets need to be used wisely and responsibly to ensure the
management optimal benefit in IT investments by providing the appropriate methods and
skills to manage IT projects at IT Director level and a dedicated IT steering
committee [10]
Enhanced by the capacity of IT to collect and calculate (big) data, governance
tools are increasingly observed to capture excellence around the use of all kinds
of performance measures [29]
A data governance model helps companies structure and document their data
quality accountabilities [26]
IT architecture decisions define standardized structures and interfaces together
with integration standards and provide the foundation for data, application, and
IT infrastructure. In this context, IT Governance focuses on the decision of
which kind of data or application needs standardization [27]
Automation The increased demand for more energy efficiency within commercial buildings
and homes is a driving motivation for using IT and IP technologies within
underlying building automation systems (BAS) [15]
Aspects of SOA governance are automated using both the Enterprise Service
Bus (ESB) and registry in combination [30]
Cloud Cloud computing has been personalized with the main goal of providing
computing computing power (e.g. storage and processing) as a utility. A fact that further
eases this “matching” is that Cloud computing masks all the burden of
deploying and maintaining the needed IT infrastructure, e.g. recruiting
engineers, maintenance, hardware, and software purchase, etc. [17]
CobiT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology) can be
defined as a set of frameworks for IT management [26]
Cybersecurity Monitoring requires regulatory bodies to address the specific objectives
including IT control structure, protection of IT investment, security and
protection of information and quality of IT services. Monitor and Evaluate are
one of the Four domains of CobiT with associating processes employed by the
IT organization and delivers the final statement to “provide IT governance” [10]
Cultural Developing a culture centered on the principles of efficiency and conservation
differences allows utility companies to serve more customers with the same generation
capacity without disrupting the activities of building owners and occupants [2]
A change to agile methodologies also entails major alterations to several aspects
of an organization including its structure, processes, communication channels,
roles of people, management style and culture. That is the subject of CobiT
process PO4 (Define the IT Processes, Organization and Relationships) [25]
Data Monitoring requires regulatory bodies to address the specific objectives
protection including IT control structure, protection of IT investment, security and
protection of information and quality of IT services. Monitor and Evaluate is
one of the Four domains of CobiT with associating processes employed by the
IT organization. Besides, delivers the final statement to “provide IT
governance” [10]
(continued)
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Table 10 (continued)
Areas IT governance frameworks support
Digital The importance of information systems and technology is increasing, and still
transformation the need for alignment between business and information technology remains a
major challenge, especially in the public sector. To lead the digital
transformation in the desired direction, organizations need a holistic view of
their information assets. This kind of information can be achieved by the
appropriate use of Enterprise Architecture (EA) [12]
TOGAF can serve different types of EA architectures using a reference model
[7]
Lack of agility Better alignment of IT with business objectives, ensuring compliance and
improving operational efficiency are all driving demands for best practice
frameworks such as ITIL. Integration across all layers of the IT infrastructure,
reduction of complexity and facilitation of regulatory compliances and IT
Governance frameworks [27]
Leadership IT Governance requires leadership to ensure that IT activity is sustained and
support extended to achieve the organization’s goals [10]
In CobiT4.1 framework, the processes are divided into four domains; plan and
organize, acquire, and implement, deliver and support and finally monitor and
evaluate [10]
IT governance should support better management of infrastructure, assets,
people, and other resources [24]
To succeed in making the changes and continues use, a strong top management
interest and support are required [12]
On-time Corporate governance as well as IT Governance has wide implications and is
performance critical to economic and social well-being, firstly in providing the incentives
and quality and performance measures to achieve business success, and secondly in
providing accountability and transparency to ensure the equal distribution of
information [27]
Open-source While a rationalized, engineering-based approach has dominated software
software development almost since its inception and has a co-occurrence and similarities
with CobiT, joining CobiT and Scrum in an organization can be an innovative
solution. Conformance to plan is important in CobiT processes, supporting the
belief that sources of variations are identifiable and may be eliminated, but
SCRUM asserts that demanding certainty in the face of uncertainty is
dysfunctional, and uncertainty is a part and parcel of software development [25]
IT infrastructure decisions include all the common services that multiple
applications can use. This includes the entire IT hardware and software except
for local business applications [27]
Skills gap The IT Resources element includes applications, technology, facilities, and
data. These assets need to be used wisely and responsibly to ensure the optimal
benefit of IT investments by providing the appropriate methods and skills to
manage IT projects at the IT Director level and a dedicated IT steering
committee [10]
If this expertise is lacking, projects may see schedule slippage, or worse,
compromised implementations where the IT architecture is not implemented in
a manner consistent with SOA principles [30]
Organizational design, making the shift to SOA requires organizational changes
that include the establishment of enterprise-scale integration competencies that
focus on delivering skills [30]
4.1 IT Innovation on Energy Efficiency in Buildings
With the increase in the world population and the number of new buildings rising,
energy efficiency is being included in new legislation in many countries around the
world [4]. In Europe, based on publications by the European Commission, energy
building certification systems make it mandatory for buildings to obtain a certain
energy rate for the construction to be made and in certain situations there is a
need for the building to consume almost zero energy, bringing the demand for the
decentralized production of energy. These new policies and regulations require new
type of materials and the need for the implementation of IT technologies to control
performance and adjust, in some cases in real-time, systems in the buildings [18].
Evaluating the literature nine different types of innovation concepts/technologies
were identified in Table 7, Energy Simulations, Smart Grids, Internet of things (IoT),
Monitoring and Control Interfaces, Green Computing, Serious Games, Artificial
Intelligence, Ubiquitous Computing, Knowledge Management. In some situations,
these concepts have deep connections, implemented to work together, and from the
results, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Monitoring and Control Interfaces are the
most evaluated and studied IT innovation technologies, because, for example, they
can automatically adapt light, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and power
save modes of PCs and laptops to the presence or absence of users [14]. The absence
of direct human interaction is one of the main reasons for this. In Fig. 3 is presented
a general scheme for IT in buildings.
1 2 3 4 5
Sensors Transmit Data Data Fault detection

Collect Data Data Storage Analysis and diagnosis
Display info on Performance

Notification to Correct and adapt
Building Man- evaluation Operation
users building systems
agement System
Fig. 3 General scheme of IT in buildings

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The framework to implement these concepts on energy efficiency in buildings

follows the same structure as the implementation of IT projects in an organization:
● Analyze previous data (if available);
● Simulations (if possible);
● Define objectives;
● Define requirements;
● Evaluate resources;
● Select roles and define organization;
● Select IT technology;
● Define infrastructure;
● Implement technology;
● Gather and manage data;
● Analyze data and display information;
● Monitor and control processes;
● Performance evaluation;
● Continuous improvement processes.
With these concepts, new challenges arise as stated in Table 8, manipulation of
big data with real-time information [5], automation in order to obtain and treat the
data [15], cloud computing to store information and deploy software faster [17],
cybersecurity and data protection to protect users and consumers data such as occu-
pant pattern behavior [2]. This digital transformation helps to manage complex
environments such as ubiquitous environments [19].
One of the important aspects to implement energy efficiency is agility, with the
need to introduce new paths and methods [18] and measure on-time performance [2]
to make changes to the processes.
All these concepts need different types of professionals and capacity activities,
for example, architects and construction engineers are also having training activities
to improve skills and adapt to new technologies [18].
Finally, leadership support and cultural changes are needed to implement these
new business models that can bring added value to organizations [4].
The implementation and deployment of such a framework mandate mandatory
support from the Board and needs a strategic plan to have full integration with the
IT department. This is where Governance frameworks can play an essential role, to
support organizations in the implementation of energy efficiency and the adequate
integration with current organization processes, allowing a standardization of results
and processes.
Effective governance requires the harmonization of business objectives, IT
Governance style and business performance goals [10].
4.2 IT Governance Frameworks
The implementation of smart buildings with new technologies and incorporation of

IT brings complex challenges with the requirement for a new type of professionals.
Several departments of an organization must be involved, bringing the need for a
common framework to obtain the desired outcomes.
Also, the investment in IT technologies is increasing, bringing the need for a
framework that ensures its value.
To facilitate the implementation of such frameworks there is a need for a
method that allows easy implementation, is flexible and intertwined with the existing
development processes [12].
According to Krey, 2010, that studied the best framework in Swiss healthcare
and hospitals, the different frameworks have the IT focus and IT Business alignment
described in Fig. 4.
ITIL and ISO 20000 are clearly the frameworks that are best suited for focusing
on IT operations, and the majority focus on Business alignment and strategy.
The main referenced frameworks are COBIT and ITIL. COBIT has a generic
approach and helps different actors of the organization, managers, external auditors,
and IT users with a set of relevant processes and measures to define adequate IT
Governance and control. ITIL helps to promote efficiency in IT operations (e.g.
measured by a comparison of production with cost as in time and money) [8].
According to ISACA, CobiT is an IT Governance framework with a set of
processes and tools for managers to adopt in order to link control requirements,
technical issues and business risks [27].
CobiT maturity levels help to understand the stages of the different IT Governance
focus areas. Based on several surveys it is possible to understand the stage of the IT
of an organization and what can be improved.
Fig. 4 Best practice standards and proprietary frameworks [24]

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For example, TOGAF (2018), is considered as too rigid and difficult to understand
and practical guidelines for step-by-step guidance for fast and light adoption are
missing [12].
Furthermore, the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) provides operational
guidance that enables organizations to achieve mission-critical system reliability,
availability, supportability, and manageability of Microsoft products and technolo-
gies. With MOF guidance, it is possible to assess the current IT service management
maturity, prioritize processes of greatest concern, and apply proven principles and
best practices to optimize the management of the Windows Server platform.
The MOF framework is parted into four areas: MOF optimization quadrant, MOF
Supporting quadrant, MOF Operating quadrant and MOF changing quadrant [27].
According to Table 11, most of the industries in three European countries, don’t
have implemented an IT Governance framework, which means that the buildings and
infrastructures in these cases don’t have a control through this type of system in their
operations. Another finding is that most of these industries have ITIL as the main
choice.
ITIL is the main IT service management in the world. Provides a cohesive
set of best practices, drawn from the public and private sectors internationally.
It is supported by a comprehensive qualifications scheme, accredited training
organizations, and implementation and assessment tools [27].
For example, and according to Tambo, 2018 [11], ITIL and IT service management
philosophy defines a service hierarchy:
1. Service strategy;
2. Service design;
3. Service transition;
4. Service operation; and
5. Continual service improvement.
Operations are, in professionalized environments, often organized as services
unrelated to development following the mindset of the ITIL framework however, the
literature also questions separating operations and development.
Table 11 Use of IT governance and IT governance frameworks from an industry sector perspective
in Austria, Germany and Switzerland [27]
Industry IT governance use IT governance frameworks
Yes (%) No (%) CobiT ITIL MOF
Manufacturing 37 63 12 28 4
Handcraft 7 93 0 8 0
Retail 23 77 0 24 4
Financial services 0 100 0 0 0
IT/Consulting 7 93 0 8 0
Transportation 0 100 0 4 8
Tourism 0 100 0 0 0
Another important aspect to retain is the ten principles of IT Governance [31]:

1. Actively design governance;
2. Know when to redesign;
3. Involve senior managers;
4. Make choices;
5. Clarify the exception-handling process;
6. Provide the right incentives;
7. Assign ownership and accountability for IT Governance;
8. Design governance at multiple organizational levels;
9. Provide transparency and education;
10. Implement a common mechanism across the six key assets of human, financial,
physical, intellectual property, information and IT, and relationship.
Finally, according to Janahi, 2015 [10], public and private sectors must deploy
the IT Governance model in a manner most appropriate to their environment. The
model presented in Fig. 5 represents a possible solution for a framework and outlines
four dimensions of IT Governance with six interconnection relations between them.
1. Strategic/Organizational Objectives.
2. IT Resources.
3. Human Resources.
4. Processes and Activities.
The six interconnections are:
● Organizational Structure.
Organisational
Organisational Structure Processes
Objectives
Activities
Relational
Mechanisms Monitoring
Human IT
Resources Resources
Value Delivery
Fig. 5 Proposed IT governance conceptual model [10]

44 M. Casquiço
● Accountability.
● Relational Mechanisms.
● Value Delivery.
● Monitoring.
● Performance Management.
In Strategic Objectives, a dedicated IT strategy committee should formulate the
IT strategy considering the investment in IT agrees with the organization’s objectives
and goals.
IT Resources are identified in CobiT as application, information, infrastructure,
and people. However, the proposed IT Governance model in this model shows the
Human Resources element as a separate factor because the model focuses on the
relational links between the elements of IT Governance.
The Human Resources element indicates to people or IT personnel working in an
IT Directorate with a clear job description, role, and duties.
Processes and Activities are a set of responsibilities and actions that are introduced
to manage these IT related operations. It is important to note that processes must meet
with the business requirements and align within a defined IT Policy document.
Organizational Structure includes the hieratical arrangement of how authority,
communication, rights, and duties exist in an organization.
Accountability. This is the acknowledgment of responsibility and implementation
of policies within the scope of an employment role and position encompassing the
obligation to report or explain for any resulting consequences.
Relational Mechanisms stand for the communication and the channels between
the Strategic element and the Human Resources.
Value Delivery, focuses on three aspects: on-time, within-budget, and quality.
Monitoring ensures that processes are running and managed without any associ-
ated risks or unexpected costs. In this review, suggestions for any process activities
amendments can be initiated with any related IT Resources.
Performance Management concerns measuring the expenditure of Human
Resources on Information Technology Projects and monitoring IT services [10].
Another aspect referred in the articles is the outsourcing of IT and outsourcing IT
Governance. IT outsourcing is the practice of turning over all or part of an organiza-
tion’s IT functions to an outside organization. The IT outsourcing governance model
was developed by Gottschalk (2006). The model consists of five elements (contracts,
principles, resources, activities, and managers), two main links (terms-exchanges link
between contracts and resources and norms- relationships link between principles
and activities) and four local links (roles between contracts and principles, capabili-
ties between principles and resources, efficiencies between resources and activities
and outcomes between activities and contracts) [32].
4.3 IT Governance Frameworks for Energy Efficiency

in Buildings
By joining energy efficiency initiatives in buildings and the different processes in IT

Governance, it is possible to see there are clear synergies that can be explored and
enhanced by the implementation of a framework that allows a correct implementation
of these innovative technologies.
In the past, IT was an exclusive domain of an IT department and operated sepa-
rately from other business departments. Today organizations are continuing to extend
beyond their traditional physical boundaries and some organizations compete to
provide services available 24 h and 7 days a week. The responsibility of IT Gover-
nance is one aspect of a broad framework of Corporate Governance. This and ensuring
the accountability of all responsibilities delegated. The focus is important to be on
the value of IT and reducing the risks. This is achieved by implementing internal
controls and accountability procedures throughout the organization [10].
A mandatory rule is that IT governance is a set of actions and processes and not
one process, must be executed as an iterative, monitored process and needs effective
planning, decision-making, steering and control of IT [24].
First, there is a need for the Board to authorize the execution of these projects.
Strategic/ Organizational Objectives must be defined, i.e., set the targets for energy
savings. IT Governance requires leadership to ensure that IT activity is sustained
and extended to achieve the organization’s goals. In the CobiT4.1 framework, the
processes are divided into four domains; Plan and Organize, Acquire, and Implement,
Deliver and Support and finally Monitor and Evaluate [10]. To succeed in making
the changes and continues use, a strong top management interest and support are
required [12].
Second, the focus of IT Governance has been extended and improved to ensure the
accountability of IT Resource usage and therefore IT delivers value to the business
and is aligned with the achievement of the origination’s goals to represent the way
the organization’s structure and manage IT Resources [10]. Technologies play a big
role in the new energy efficiency projects, so these new technologies must ensure the
targets defined by the leaders.
Third, set the appropriate processes and assign the roles to the appropriate Human
Resources. It is important to select resources with knowledge in the energy field.
Fourth, processes and activities, helps to manage relations and in the case of
energy efficiency helps to connect processes and achieve the defined targets.
Fifth, organizational structure, IT Governance is based on decision-making and
extends to reach all parts of the organization [10]. In energy efficiency projects all
factors must be engaged.
Sixth, accountability ensures that IT strategies are defined in a way that maintains
IT Resources and verifies that these resources are used responsibly [10].
Seventh, relational mechanisms, comprised of organizational entities and
supporting roles to ensure ongoing usage and relevance to an implementation.
46 M. Casquiço
Eighth, value delivery, organizations are increasingly challenged to manage and

control IT to ensure value and benefits. Organizations must deal with multiple levels
of corporate governance, and this makes responsibilities for IT decision-making more
complex [27]. Energy efficiency projects must bring added value to organizations
and users.
Nineth, monitoring, process dimension referred to the use of appropriate tools and
monitoring techniques for the purpose of controlling the IT Governance framework
[10]. It is important to verify if the defined targets were obtained.
Tenth, performance management, corporate governance as well as IT Governance
has wide implications and is critical to economic and social well-being, firstly in
providing the incentives and performance measures to achieve business success, and
secondly in providing accountability and transparency to ensure the equal distribution
of information [27].
Besides these ten processes, other aspects must also be taken into consideration:
Agility, better alignment of IT with business objectives, ensuring compliance and
improving operational efficiency are all driving demands for best practice frame-
works such as ITIL. Integration across all layers of the IT infrastructure, reduction
of complexity and facilitation of regulatory compliances and IT Governance frame-
works [27]. Another proposition is bringing together CobiT and Scrum for example
[25].
Skills, if expertise is lacking, projects may see schedule slippage, or worse,
compromised implementations where the IT architecture is not implemented in a
manner consistent with SOA principles [30].
Data management, accelerated by the capacity of information technology (IT)
to collect and calculate (big) data, governance tools are increasingly observed to
capture excellence around the use of all kinds of performance measures [29]. A
data governance model helps companies structure and document their data quality
accountabilities [26].
Security, it was verified that monitoring requires regulatory bodies to address
the specific objectives including IT control structure, protection of IT investment,
security and protection of information and quality of IT services. In a thorough
investigation into CobiT 4.1 [25], the IT Governance Institute shows that Monitor and
Evaluate is one of the Four domains of CobiT with associating processes employed by
the IT organization. Besides, delivers the final statement to “provide IT governance”
[10].
Corporate culture, enterprises relying on consensus-building should adopt a coop-
erative IT governance design, while enterprises with a command-and-control culture
better fit the hierarchical IT governance design [26].
Risks, A common theme across the many definitions of IT governance found
in the literature is that “effective IT governance assures investments in IT generate
business value and mitigates risks associated with IT implementation [31].
Based on previous findings, it is possible to draw a possible framework structure
for a better implementation of energy efficiency in buildings. Table 12 illustrate a
match between energy efficiency processes and IT Governance.
Table 12 Possible IT governance framework for energy efficiency in buildings

ID Energy efficiency process IT government dimensions and interconnections
1 • Analyze previous data (if • Monitoring • Processes and activities
available); • Performance management • Relational mechanisms
• Simulations (if possible); • and
• (Agility, Skills, Data
2 • Define objectives; • Strategic
Management, Security,
• Define requirements; • Organizational objectives
Corporate Culture, Risks)
3 • Evaluate resources; • Organizational structure
• Select roles and define • Human resources
organization; • Accountability
4 • Select IT technology; • IT resources
• Define infrastructure;
• Implement technology;
5 • Gather and manage data; • Monitoring
• Analyze data and display
information;
6 • Monitor and control • Monitoring
processes; • Value delivery
• Performance evaluation;
7 • Continuous improvement • Performance management
processes • Strategic
• Organizational objectives
These dimensions referred on Table 12, help to implement energy efficiency in

buildings and integrate it into the current IT framework within the organization. This
IT framework can be one of the mentioned in this review, but the most implemented
are CobiT and ITIL.
5 Conclusions
With the continuous growth of IoT-related projects and considering the challenges
associated with managing large amounts of data, some of them associated with
individuals’ privacy, it becomes important to ensure that the management of this
type of process is aligned with the guidelines and processes of organizations. By
bringing the internet of things to energy management and promotion of energy and
resource efficiency for buildings, there is an even greater need to align the collection
of information with the day-to-day management of the functioning of a building, to
guarantee the comfort and working conditions of the users, as well as to ensure that
there is no interference with the already established processes. This article proposes
a new concept that brings together IT governance and energy efficiency, with the
aim of ensuring correct implementation of processes, in harmony with existing IT
governance processes in organizations, to minimize risks and maximize resources
over the lifetime of these processes. This framework proposal thus brings a possibility
48 M. Casquiço
of studies for researchers considering the incorporation of other resources in different

IT governance models in association with management methodologies. It is also
important to mention that for professionals who work with energy efficiency and
IoT projects, and already use agile practices, this proposal brings a possibility of
integration with the organization’s technology areas, thus being able to improve and
streamline processes in line with models already implemented.
Evaluating the various types of innovation in energy efficiency, we find that the
challenges to which they are subjected require the involvement of the entire organiza-
tion for their implementation. At the management level to ensure strategic alignment,
the information technology department must also be properly aligned to ensure the
correct execution of technologies and finally workers who can use the available tools
and be aware of the effort that the organization is making to effect towards greater
energy efficiency.
The most mentioned IT technologies are IoT and monitoring and control inter-
faces. The deployment of these technologies makes mandatory the combination
of IT Government dimensions and interconnections, strategic and organizational
objectives, resources, monitoring, performance and other important processes and
relational mechanisms.
For the success of its operation, it is important to implement an appropriate frame-
work to ensure that all actors are properly aligned. One of the points observed is that
there is no framework that can be proposed as the ideal, but instead, the IT Gover-
nance model can be a combination of a framework with other management models
such as SCRUM.
ITIL and CobiT are the most referred frameworks, CobiT for a more strategic
alignment and ITIL with a focus on operations and for that reason, it can be the
preferred framework for the implementation of energy efficiency in buildings.
Important to refer that the limitations to this review are related to the number of
green IT projects evaluated must be higher to obtain a higher degree of certainty in
the conclusions, but clearly, there is a direction in which the governance of these
projects must follow to obtain the adequate results.
Finally, in the review is proposed a possible framework for the implementation of
energy efficiency initiatives related to IT technologies in buildings. Additional studies
should be promoted to validate this point since so far there are few investigations on
this topic.
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10723831
Shared Autonomous Vehicles Ontology
Pedro de Sousa Boieiro , Miguel Mira da Silva , Flavia Maria Santoro ,

and António Reis Pereira
Abstract After rapid technological developments, especially over the past decade,
autonomous vehicle (i.e., self-driving) technology is expected to be ready for wide
deployment soon, with large implications for urban mobility. It is generally accepted
that one of the main benefits of self-driving cars could be reduced road congestion,
as current roads are expected to have much higher capacity if most of the traffic is
shared by autonomous vehicles. On the other hand, the convenience of autonomous
vehicles can generate significant further traffic, both from people who currently
are not able or prefer not to drive, and more generally, through the concept that
increased road and parking capacity often leads to increased traffic. Further gains are
expected by using shared autonomous vehicles instead of private ones, with people
buying mobility as a service (MaaS), bringing new services to the market such as
shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) instead of just buying cars. SAV concept is an
autonomous rental vehicle flowing from point A to point B that controls all driving
functions for an entire trip by itself without any human intervention, such as steering,
braking, and acceleration, which are performed by a computer system that operates
with the support of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The surrounding environment is
perceived by sensors, cameras, and LiDAR technology. The vehicle navigates to a
location/direction through GPS and computer mapping. SAVs enable users to get the
benefits of a autonomous private vehicle use without the cost of ownership. Once
arrived at the destination, travelers do not have to search for a parking lot or pay for
it. This paper will focus on the development of an Ontology for SAVs.
P. de Sousa Boieiro (B) · M. M. da Silva · A. R. Pereira

Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
e-mail: pedro.boieiro@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
M. M. da Silva
e-mail: mms@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
A. R. Pereira
e-mail: reis.pereira@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
F. M. Santoro
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
e-mail: flaviamariasantoro@gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_3
52 P. de Sousa Boieiro et al.
Keywords Ontology · Shared · Autonomous · Vehicles · Driverless ·

Self-driving · Robotaxi · Shuttle
1 Introduction
Autonomous mobility is going to change dramatically our life over the next decade.
Shared Autonomous Vehicles won’t just change mobility, they could also influence a
new way of life in cities. If transportation authorities begin defining the correct poli-
cies regarding Shared Autonomous Mobility issues now before autonomous vehicles
(AVs) become widespread, they can create a future in which traffic flows smoothly
with a reduced fleet, public transportation operates efficiently, and overall emissions
drop [10].
Autonomous vehicles enable the greatest transformation in urban mobility since
the automobile invention (named carriage without horses). Full social benefits can
only be unlocked if governments understand and implement the appropriate policies
and governance frameworks. Cities need to develop a strategy for moving toward
an integrated mobility context, where cars are simultaneously autonomous (and
connected), electric, and shared [17].
Therefore, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to identify the
key concepts and relations among them concerning SAVs adoption. This research
will be based on an ontology, which is a formal representation of the SAVs domain
through the definitions and relationships between the concepts of this domain. This
ontology will be validated by instantiating it in an American or Chinese city context.
The presented document is structured as follows. Section 2 presented the research
background, with a more in-depth explanation of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and
SAVs concepts. Section 3 explains the chosen research methodologies (Systematic
Literature Review followed by an Ontology) using the method SABiO which is a
Systematic Approach for Building Ontologies. Section 4 describes how the SLR was
conducted namely the phases (planning, conducting, and reporting), the motivation of
our research, the addressed research questions, the review protocol and its application
and the data extraction results. In reporting, are presented the findings from the review
and the answers to the research questions. Section 5 presents the research proposal,
the objectives, description, and evaluation. Finally, Sect. 6 concludes the document,
including limitations as well as plans for future work, particularly for the dissertation
report.
Shared Autonomous Vehicles Ontology 53
2 Research Background
2.1 Autonomous Vehicles
Autonomous Vehicle can be described as any vehicle that has the capacity to transport
people or goods, from point A to point B, without the need of having a human being
in control.
In the last few years, we have seen a huge development in the technology that
supports this concept, such as sensors, cameras, LiDAR, Artificial Intelligence (AI),
Machine Learning and Deep Learning, Neuronal Networks, 5G, Big Data, and the
Cloud.
In terms of automated driving functions, vehicles can be classified into five
levels—ranging from driver assistance and partial automation (levels 1 and 2),
through conditional automation (level 3) and high automation (level 4), to full
automation (level 5) which in other words means potentially driverless. The highest
level of automation (levels 4 and 5) can enable new mobility services such as SAVs.
2.2 Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs)
While it is widely acknowledged that automated vehicles (AVs) have the potential
to fundamentally disrupt the mobility market, the impacts of the potential utilization
of AVs in carsharing programs have seldom been investigated. According to the
framework developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers, fully self-driving
vehicles perform all aspects of the driving task, with no human intervention required.
As there are no restrictions or limitations, this definition means that fully automated
vehicles must be capable of operating under different environmental conditions,
providing drivers or, more accurately, passengers, the ability to completely turn their
attention away from normal driving tasks. Therefore, the convergence of AVs, and
the on-demand carsharing concept, i.e., the fleets of SAVs, provides a promising
direction for future mobility options [14].
SAVs services will contribute to eliminate the human error that causes vehicle
accidents. AVs can provide massive improvement in terms of time efficiency, reduc-
tion in traffic congestion, and better usage of resources. AVs allow people to free
up time traditionally spent driving, enabling them to use their time more efficiently
by working, resting, reading, eating or just doing nothing. Vehicles currently spend
over 90% of their time parked [36]. AVs can reposition themselves, away from denser
areas, which will enable the development of land previously used for parking places.
AVs further enable traffic flow management optimization by the creation of platoons,
potentially reducing overall congestion on the roadways/city centers, which, in turn,
reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
3 Methodology
The methodology chosen for conducting this research is based on an SLR followed
by a systematic and more formal approach based on ontology. From several methods
used for conducting ontologies, we chose the SABiO method which is a systematic
approach for building ontologies, very well structured, and with a validation phase
by instantiation.
3.1 Systematic Literature Review
A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is a way of identifying, evaluating, and inter-

preting all available relevant research information to answer a particular research
question, topic area, or phenomenon of interest [1]. It aims to present a fair eval-
uation of a research topic by using a trustworthy, rigorous, and auditable method-
ology [1]. This research is based on Kitchenham’s guidelines named “Procedures for
Performing Systematic Reviews” [1]; divided into the following phases:
Planning: Clarifies the need to perform a systematic literature review that summa-
rizes all information about a particular topic or domain in an unbiased manner.
Identify the problem and motivation, define the research questions, SLR objectives,
exclusion and inclusion criteria, and a review protocol.
Conducting: Apply the review protocol previously defined to achieve studies that
contain the information that will be the object of the review.
Reporting: This phase intends to write and summarize the extracted informa-
tion/data from the selected studies, allowing us to get the answers for the proposed
research questions.
The three phases of the SLR described above are represented in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 The SLR in 3 phases

3.2 Systematic Approach for Building Ontologies (SABiO)
An ontology by definition [2]. is an explicit and formal specification of the concepts

in a given domain and the relations between them, such as a formal explicit descrip-
tion of concepts in a domain of knowledge (classes), properties of each concept
describing various features and attributes of the concept (slots), and restrictions
on those slots (facets). According to [3], it can also be described as “an agreed and
shared formal representation of knowledge, a model of formal specification regarding
naming and definition of types, properties, and interrelationships of entities that exist
in a particular domain of discourse”.
Ontologies are useful for domain experts that can use them to share information
in their fields of knowledge, as they provide a common vocabulary for researchers,
as well to share a common understanding of the structure of information in the
given domain [2]. An ontology also enables reuse, and further analysis of domain
knowledge makes domain assumptions specific and separates domain knowledge
from operational [2]. To build a good ontology, it is recommended to follow an
ontology-building framework [4].
For this research, we chose SABiO, which stands for “Systematic Approach for
Building Ontologies”,—a method for building ontologies, specifically for the devel-
opment of domain reference ontologies, as in our case. A domain ontology is built
to make the best possible description of the domain. It has been used for building
several domain ontologies since its first version was published in 1997. SABiO
allows the rigorous definition of models, the identification of problems in the defi-
nition and interpretation of concepts, and recommendations for model formality
improvements. Within domain ontologies, there are two types: reference ontologies
(conceptual model) and operational ontologies (machine-readable implementations
of the reference ontology) [4].
According to “SABiO: Systematic Approach for Building Ontologies” [4], there
are five main phases in the SABiO development process:
Purpose identification and requirements elicitation—in this phase, we must
identify the ontology’s purpose and its intended uses, find its functional and non-
functional requirements, and identify research questions. If necessary, modularize
the ontology into a set of sub-ontologies.
Ontology capture and formalization—in this phase, the relevant concepts and
relations should be identified and organized. This phase should be guided by the
research questions.
Design—an operational version of the ontology is to be developed, then it is
necessary to implement it in a particular machine-readable ontology language. In this
phase, technological non-functional requirements and the ontology implementation
environment must be considered.
Implementation—regarding ontology implementation in the chosen operational
language.
Test—we must verify and validate the behavior of the operational ontology. The
testing phase is also guided by the competency questions.
To obtain a reference ontology, the first two activities of the development process
must be accomplished, as in this research case. To obtain an operational ontology,
all phases must be fulfilled.
4 Systematic Literature Review
This section of the report presents the execution of a systematic literature review. The
presentation follows the three phases (Fig. 1) of the SLR—Planning, Conducting,
and Reporting of the results.
The world is evolving quickly, and the era of fully automated or autonomous
vehicles (AVs) is already a reality today. Waymo, Uber, and others began publicly
testing such vehicles in 2017, and Tesla one year before.
4.1 Planning
In this section, the SLR planning is clarified, each research question is specified, data
sources are presented, and search strategies are defined.
Motivation: AVs may be available for wider public use in many parts of the globe
by the year 2035 [25], with many manufacturers, one of which is Tesla, entering the
“AV race”. AVs are expected to boost several advantages over conventional vehicles,
eliminating the burden of driving. Crash rates are likely to drop due to the absence
of human error [28], and these vehicles will operate more smoothly, resulting in
CO2 emission benefits. On top of this, new services such as SAVs will arise. Devel-
oping an ontology on SAVs will allow us to know this reality in an unbiased manner
and be a part of this big game and revolution.
Research Questions: The aim of this systematic review goes beyond providing
an overview of the current AVs landscape. It intends to search for answers regarding
new services that will change urban life dramatically, such as SAVs. This research
wants to know what are the main concepts influencing the SAVs domain, as well as
the most important relations between those concepts. It also aspires to answer where,
why, when, and how SAVs are such a game-changer, and what gaps in the literature
are still needed to be filled. This research plans to answer the following questions:
RQ1: What are the key concepts regarding Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs) adoption?
RQ2: What are the most important relations between them?
Data Sources and Search Strategy: During planning, the need for an SLR was
identified, and the research questions were defined. In Conducting phase EBSCO
databases were used as a reliable source that can supply relevant and important
information from main scientific databases, it was also used a complete search string
with main terms in the SAVs domain, and a search strategy using as sources only
peer-reviewed papers from academic journals or conferences.
4.2 Conducting
The second phase of the SLR consists of conducting the review, where the selection
of studies and publications are chosen in the literature according to a given inclusion
and exclusion criteria. In the case of this research, the selection of literature was
made based on the search criteria described in Table 1, and resulted in a total amount
of 339 papers.
Once the final set of papers for full analysis were selected, data extraction,
synthesis, and information interpretation took place. To obtain the final set of papers,
a process with several filtering stages was executed over the first set of 479 papers
collected (Fig. 1). First filtering stage per full-text availability and peer-reviewed was
conducted, a set of 341 papers remained. After that, we’ve filtered by academic
journals or conferences and English language only, 339 papers remained, and after
removing duplicates we got 196 papers (Fig. 2).
Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: The titles and abstracts of these papers were
read and classified into two types: “accepted” and “rejected”. In total, 122 papers were
excluded because they were out of scope. Abstracts, introductions, and conclusions
Table 1 Data source, search string, and strategy

Element Research details
Source EBSCO
Final search string Shared AND (“Model” OR “Metamodel” OR “Ontology” OR “Taxonomy”
OR “Framework”) AND (“Autonomous” OR “Driverless” OR
“Self-driving”) AND (“Vehicle” OR “Car” OR “Auto” OR “Automobile”
OR “Taxi” OR “Robo-Taxi” OR “Robotaxi” OR “Shuttle” OR “Cab” OR
“Cav”)
Search strategy Articles in academic journals or conference materials, with full text
available, peer-reviewed, in English, and without a date range limit
Results 339
Abstract
Remove reading and Introduction
duplicates out-of-scope reading
339 196 removal 74 30
documents documents documents documents
Fig. 2 Papers, conferences, and publications filtering process

Table 2 Conferences
Conference Number of publications
IEEE International Conference on 1
Network Protocols (ICNP)
IEEE Intelligent Transportation 1
Systems Conference (ITSC)
Results 2
Table 3 Academic journals

Journal, Publication Number of publications
and publications
Transportation Research Part C: 6
Emerging Technologies
Transportation Research Part A: 4
Policy and Practice
Transport Policy 2
Sustainability (Switzerland) 2
Journal of Cleaner Production 2
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent 1
Transportation Systems
Journal of Advanced 1
Transportation
Journal of Transport and Land Use 1
Personal and Ubiquitous 1
Computing
Research in Transportation 1
Business and Management
Research in Transportation 1
Economics
Robotics and Autonomous Systems 1
Technological Forecasting and 1
Social Change
Transport Reviews 1
Transportation 1
Transportation Research 1
Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Vehicles 1
Results 28
of the remaining accepted 74 papers were fully read and resulted in the further
removal of 44 papers due to a lack of information to respond to defined research
questions. In the end, a final set of 28 papers from different academic journals and 2
from conferences (Tables 2 and 3) were obtained. It is important to refer that reached
14
12 12
10
8 8
6 6
4
2 2
1 1
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Publications Conferences
Fig. 3 Publishing year of selected SLR papers
articles are quite recent which means this is an actual topic being researched by a
growing number of people (Fig. 3).
4.3 Reporting
In this section, the results from the analysis and interpretation of each selected paper
and key collected information is presented, allowing us to answer the best way to
define research questions.
Key concepts regarding Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs) adoption
From the detailed analysis of selected papers, the main concepts regarding SAVs
adoption were identified and presented in Table 4, produced by authors and organized
by decreasing number of sources. Also a discussion evolving these main topics is
presented, including favorable and unfavorable arguments regarding SAV concept
adoption.
Automated vehicles are vehicles with some level of automation to assist or replace
human control [5]. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has defined different
levels of automated functionality, ranging from no automated features (Level 0—
the driver controls the entire process manually without any system assistance) to
full automation (Level 5—the system acts alone without any interaction with the
driver, absence of a steering wheel), usually referred as autonomous, self-driving or
driverless vehicles). In between, there is Level 1—the system can assist the manual
control if the driver activates it; Level 2—the system partially takes over some control
tasks, but the driver has to be ready to intervene and can take back control at any
time; Level 3—the system can make decisions alone, but the driver has to remain
capable of taking back control if the system fails and.
Level 4—the system can make decisions alone and intervene if something goes
wrong, but the driver still has the possibility of returning to manual control [5].
Table 4 Key concepts regarding SAVs adoption

Concepts Sources
Autonomous Vehicles (AV)—possibility to be [5–9, 11–14, 18, 21, 24, 25, 27, 29–31]
shared
SAVs—shared autonomous vehicles, [5–9, 12–14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 28, 30]
(CAVs)—connected autonomous vehicles
Ridesharing—carsharing, ride-pooling [7, 12, 14, 15, 22, 23, 28, 30]
Demand—induced, increment of trip demand [5, 12, 14, 15, 19, 22, 28]
Safety increase—eliminating human error [6, 11, 20, 21, 25, 26]
Driverless—Robotaxi, Shuttle, Self-driving, [5, 6, 10, 11, 22, 26]
Level 5, Full automation
Ownership—reduction due to SAVs [9, 17, 23, 25, 31]
Policy [11, 15, 16, 21, 28]
Green—fleet and traffic optimization reducing [6–8, 26, 28]
emissions
Congestion reduction and pricing [6, 8, 13, 19, 28]
Deployment method [5, 9, 20, 26, 30]
Urban optimization—new areas where before [5, 6, 8, 9, 19]
parking
Connected Vehicles (CVs) [19, 21, 26, 32]
Urban sprawl—AV repositioning from city [6, 9, 10, 19]
centers
Fleet—reduction [5, 15, 25, 28]
Efficiency increase—using resources [6, 11, 21]
Individual characteristics—opinion toward AVs [6, 14, 33]
Traffic—increase/assignment, extract route [5, 10, 13]
flows and travel time
Acceptance—SAVs services [12, 23, 31]
Pricing—schemes [5, 8, 13]
LSAVs—local SAVs [20, 31]
Promoting—AV usage [6, 12]
Usage—choice decision [6, 13]
Charging—electrical vehicles EVs, SAEVs, [5, 26]
monitoring battery, charging strategies
Mobility—aaS [25, 33]
Parking—area reduced and away from city [5, 6]
centers
Vehicle—assignment to the customers [5]
Redistribution—vehicle [5]
Endowment effect [9]
Some aspects were found to be significant in AV potential usage and choice deci-
sion: Enjoy driving, Environmental concern, and Pro-AV attitude [6]. The effects of
the attitudinal variables are very significant and can be influenced through educa-
tional campaigns to change future choice decisions. Also, it was found that men are
more likely to adopt self-driving cars than women [6]. This tendency of men toward
AVs is confirmed because men purchase AVs earlier, have fewer concerns with AVs
and think they are safer. It was also found that men would be willing to pay more for
automation than women, in addition to being less worried about full automation [6].
The main components of SAV modeling are the following: (a) Demand, (b)
Fleet, (c) Traffic Assignment, (d) Vehicle Assignment, (e) Vehicle Redistribution,
(f) Pricing, (g) Charging, and (h) Parking. The component Demand involves the
estimation of demand in the implementation area and mode share for SAV services.
With regards to the Fleet, studies mainly aim at estimating the required fleet size
to serve a given demand and fixing the initial position of the vehicles. The Traffic
Assignment component is used to extract route flows and travel time between origin
and destination nodes. The Vehicle Assignment component assigns vehicles to the
customers, which can be based on certain rules, heuristics, or an optimization algo-
rithm. The component Pricing includes the estimation of fare of SAV trips based on
spatial (customer origin and destination) and temporal parameters (demand levels at
a different time of the day or based on network congestion). Charging refers to moni-
toring the battery levels of electric vehicles and strategies to charge vehicles. Finally,
the component Parking involves estimating parking requirements and includes the
strategies to park vehicles [5].
While maintaining the same service level, ride-sharing—combining autonomous
driving with mobility as a service (MaaS)—can potentially decrease the fleet size by
up to 59% without significant waiting time increase or additional travel distance; the
benefit of ride-sharing is significant with increased occupancy rate (from 1.2 to 3),
decreased total travel distance (up to 55%) due to fleet decrease, and reduced carbon
emissions (725 metric tons per day) [7].
Since driverless passenger vehicles represent a new travel option, many passenger
trips made via existing traditional modes, like cars, public transport, and bikes,
will be replaced by trips made using AVs and SAVs. While AV and SAV bene-
fits may accrue in improved accessibility, road safety, and energy consumption,
network congestion impacts are less well understood and may be quite problematic.
On one hand, automated technologies can ultimately improve network performance
by reducing traffic crashes (and the delays they entail) and eventually increasing
traffic by ensuring tighter headways between vehicles and by making better use
of intersections. However, AVs and SAVs will likely increase the number and the
distance of motorized trips by eliminating the burden of driving and by making car
travel more accessible (to persons with disabilities and those not owning cars, for
example). Congestion may dramatically worsen, and demand management options
will become even more valuable along congested corridors and in urban regions.
All the investigated congestion pricing (CP) strategies significantly decrease traffic
demand and reduce delays. Presumably, they will also reduce emissions, collisions,
noise, and infrastructure damage [8].
Regarding prospects and challenges for AV and their method of deployment, we

distinguish three basic structures for the implementation of AV Private ownership of
vehicles by individual households—this would be like the current structure of private
ownership of the automobile.
Private ownership of fleets of vehicles by operators— would be like the Uber and
Lyft paradigm.
Public ownership of fleets of vehicles by government agencies—would be like
the current system of public transit, with features of demand response [9].
Each of these deployment methods has the potential to impact transportation
and urban form to varying degrees. There is currently no consensus in the liter-
ature as to the most probable system of deployment. This research suggests that
private ownership of AV would not be attractive in a future of sophisticated 24/7
mobility-on-demand, but subsequent cost–benefit analysis finds private ownership
(Fleet operators) to be the cheaper alternative [9]. A theoretical complication can
arise with the resistance in moving away from private ownership of the vehicle, is
termed Endowment Effect, which finds that people sometimes value ownership of a
commodity more than the market willing to pay for it. In the case of AVs, this shift
to shared vehicles may require a utility benefit greater than expected based solely on
the characteristics of the alternative options [9].
Regarding land use effects, most studies expect AV to produce increased urban
sprawl. This is premised on decreased headways and more efficient driving by
computers leading to higher capacities on existing roads. The prevailing wisdom
is that the associated decrease in travel disutility will cause people to travel more
frequently and across greater distances [9]. Self-driving cars would allow parking
farther away from the origin or destination of a trip. We have seen that this would
further reduce the number of parking spaces required. This benefit, nevertheless,
comes at a price of increased traffic, which we quantify here as an increase in the
total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) [10].
It is expected that autonomous driving may significantly change travel behavior
and mode choice, potentially transforming our understanding of mobility in a way
that it is hard to predict at this point. At the same time, understanding user prefer-
ences, once autonomous driving is available, becomes increasingly relevant in the
light of urbanization trends, demographic change, and environmental challenges.
Even though vehicles with level 5 automation will potentially enter the market no
sooner than 2027 [11], and it might take decades for the technology to reach a substan-
tial penetration rate, anticipating its future impact on mobility is crucial for devel-
oping a desirable transition pathway of the technology. Along these lines, offering
early insights into the potential impact of automation on user preferences is of great
importance for policy and transport planning authorities. Those insights are crucial
for designing strategies and evaluating future possible scenarios, to integrate AVs
into transport systems in a way that allows for their full potential to unfold, while
preventing, or at least mitigating, potential negative developments [11].
Moreover, it is known with certainty that fully autonomous operations will not
happen all at once, but it is expected to occur over some period through an incre-
mental process. As such, it is important to first explore the public acceptance of
the AV modes in relation to the conventional mode available during the transition
phase. Any measures from governments, such as promoting the use of any AV-
oriented ride-hailing or ride-sharing service or restricting the use of private cars or
banning them from certain areas could be unpopular. While the stride and scale of
AV market development will be established by consumer demand, the anticipated
societal benefits cannot be reached until a critical mass of consumers accepts and
uses this technology [12].
Considering mobility as a “normal good”, lower travel costs are expected to
increase total vehicle kilometers, i.e., the number of conventional (driver controlled)
private car (CC) and SAV trips and/or the CC and SAV trip distances. The expected
increase in traffic may result in inefficient usage of resources and a loss in system
welfare. Pricing policies should be implemented to develop integrated pricing
schemes for all modes of transportation, in particular, the CC and the SAV mode [13].
A fare above operating costs or a minimum fee will decrease the number of trans-
port users switching from bicycle and walking to the SAV mode, which may be the
desired effect. However, without an increase in costs for CC users, a higher SAV
fare also pushes users from the SAV to the CC mode. For CC users, introducing or
increasing parking costs may have a similar effect as tolling. Furthermore, to tackle
the increase in traffic volume on minor roads in residential areas, SAV operators or
regulators should re-think door-to-door service, and instead possibly define virtual
pick-up points that are located conveniently for users and well accessible for SAV
operators. This concept can be observed in Beijing Olympic Park, China, where
Baidu Apollo has it in place [13].
The advent of AVs could stimulate the adoption of carsharing, as is being defended
by Elon Musk concerning AV to return to the shared platform when vehicles are not
needed. Nevertheless, public opinion on AV technology can be partially applied to
SAVs. Given that AVs allow drivers to turn their attention away from driving tasks
completely, it could be of particular interest to individuals who have no access to
private travel modes or who may be unable to drive, such as the elderly, disabled,
children, and others [14].
Several factors are contributing to the measured empty VMT, with demand profile,
fleet size, and fleet operation policy among the most important ones. Another impor-
tant factor contributing to the measured empty VMT is the customer model. Many
studies model customers, who wait for an infinite amount of time (in theory) until they
are served, without considering that the customer might not accept such a service.
Customer impatience was modelled by allowing customers to walk away from the
system if they do not receive service in 6 min, a value supported by the ride-sourcing
service Uber [15]. A possible solution to increase the occupancy and decrease the
number of vehicles on the streets and consequently also VMT, while still offering
a flexible door-to-door service, could be sharing trips or part of the trips between
multiple On-Demand Mobility (ODM) users at the same time, which we denote as
on-demand ride-pooling. Pooling multiple customers into one vehicle at a time is one
way to improve the amount of person throughput of the existing street infrastructure.
Ride-pooling systems might contribute to an improvement of traffic conditions, and
therefore, pollution reduction. Uber during Covid-19, more critical pandemic times,
has offered that service in Lisbon [15].
The consequence of this ethical dilemma is a social dilemma that involves public
acceptability of this new technology that probably causes a sort of a priori reluc-
tance toward autonomous vehicles because of their implications for perceptions of
both personal safety and security (e.g., hackers taking control of self-driven cars).
This reluctance to change could mean a sort of lack of trust (unwillingness to pay)
regarding this new technology. Public acceptability of self-driving mobility is a topic
that only recently has gained the interest of researchers including the topic of SAVs
and their acceptability issues. This is because, although the main interest of manu-
facturers and policymakers in autonomous vehicles is their diffusion in the private
car market, it is probably in the public transport sector that this technology will be
used first [16].
From studies on the impacts of the SAVs on vehicle ownership from the perspec-
tive of consumers, it is argued that the advent of SAVs has the potential to reduce the
level of car ownership, stating that SAVs could reduce up to 43% of vehicle owner-
ship. However, the full benefits could only be achieved if consumers are willing to
give up their private vehicles for SAVs [17].
Vehicle automation should, in principle, change the supply in several ways. The
most significant would be a reduction in inter-vehicle headways, by removing the
time required for the driver to react to the vehicle in front [18]. This, in turn, should
increase the capacity of the existing road network. However, the full effect would only
be realized with full automation. The second impact would be through a reduction in
accidents and near misses, which arise largely through human error [9]. These have
a more unpredictable impact on capacity, but their reduction should substantially
reduce the variability of travel times in a network. The third impact would be on
speed, which would depend on vehicle capabilities and system settings. The final
impacts relate to parking. At present, a significant proportion of peak traffic is due
to searching for parking spaces, and an automated vehicle should be able to identify
an available parking space and travel straight to it. As an extension, it would no
longer be necessary for the vehicle to remain parked at its user’s destination. Shared
vehicles would simply move on empty to collect their next user; privately owned
vehicles could return empty to locations where parking is free. In both ways, the
need for parking in city centers should be reduced. The study was developed at the
International Transport Forum, using a simulation framework previously developed
at the University of Lisbon to explore ride-hailing business models for the city of
Lisbon, and concluded that surface parking would be no more necessary. With on-
street parking largely removed, thus further increasing road network capacity, some
off-street provisions would become available for conversion to other uses [18].
Secondly, indirect effects will change the demand behavior. Indirect effects of AVs
will cause changes in the system equilibrium between transport supply and demand.
As a result, new requirements for infrastructure will be necessary for the long term:
– Reduction in the subjective value of travel time savings: Users of AVs will do
other tasks instead of driving, reducing the disutility of the travel time.
– New users to the vehicle system: AVs will expand the range of users that will use
these cars (e.g., minors, the elderly, and disabled people).
– Induced demand: The reduction of the value of time, congestion, and travel
times will cause the increment of trip demand in AVs and SAVs. The changes
in travel patterns will impact the reduction of transit users, and AV and SAVs
could increase. Therefore, this phenomenon will encourage the vicious circle of
public transportation.
– The increment of vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT): The increment of the VKT
has at least three reasons. First, splitting of joint trips in which two or more
members of a family that are currently traveling together could travel separately
with AVs. Second, AVs will move without passengers (“ghost trips”). Moreover,
transportation costs will be lower due to a better amortization of a vehicle.
– Changes in trip distribution: The improvements due to direct effects, such as the
reduction of congestion, costs, and the value of travel time, will cause longer
trips. Changes in the place of residence, work, or both, will imply changes in the
generation and attraction of trips.
– Changes in the urban structure and urban activity system: Changes in trip distri-
bution will imply an increment in the city size in the long term. The urban model
will change to a dispersal model (urban sprawl) because new urban areas will be
built in places far away from the city center [19].
Social equity was an important issue for workshop participants, with local SAVs
(LSAVSs), which are SAVs operating in a small area such as a campus, seen to
provide mobility for those who experience shortfalls in mobility or lack of access
to transport currently; circumstances identified as arising from patterns of provision
of services, their cost or social and cultural factors. Services would though need to
be secure from crime and antisocial behavior, safe to be used as a transport service,
and also affordable. These attributes would be particularly important for vulnerable
traveler groups [20].
Safety, security, and the need for trust in AVs are very important. The new tech-
nology needs to be proven safe and robust against hacking, for example. It must also
be safe for other road users and pedestrians. Security from potential threats due to
illegal or antisocial behavior by others was also important, with explicit monitoring in
case of the vehicle expected and wanted. Participants in the study expected LSAVSs
to follow a dynamic ride-sharing (DRS) model of sharing, albeit there were some
concerns around vulnerable users and vehicle monitoring for safety. The possibility
of women-only vehicles was raised, or extensive monitoring through mechanisms
such as CCTV or live links to control centers. The “defense” of personal space
within vehicles also emerged as important, with calls for LSAVs to be configured in
such a way as to give clear indications about personal space allocations, so avoiding
unwanted encroachment by others into the personal domain [20].
AV technologies have inherent shortcomings. The limitations of AV sensing tech-
nologies are highlighted by the well-known fatal accidents of Tesla cars with autopilot
in 2016 and Uber self-driving car in 2018. Questions arise concerning reliability
under extreme weather or road conditions. The artificial intelligence (AI) models
used for AVs are mainly operated in blackbox mode (a complex system or device
whose internal workings are hidden or not readily understood), meaning that the AI
algorithm is used without clear explanation and transparency. On the other hand,
connected vehicles (CV) technology is fully dependent on a message exchange to
build mutual awareness, which can only have a noticeable impact when there is a
high CV penetration [21].
Technically, there are still key challenges around the existing CV, AV technologies,
as well as emerging cooperative connected autonomous vehicles (CAV) technology.
Non-technically, one major challenge for cooperative CAV is that there is a lack of
interest in cooperation from the key players, such as car makers, CV telecommunica-
tion companies, and policymakers. Carmakers usually prefer to have full control of
their AVs and close system with advanced sensors and self-driving algorithms. Apart
from the potential security attacks, there is a legal concern regarding the responsi-
bility for potential accidents due to the use of inaccurate sensing information shared
from other vehicles [21].
Fully self-driving vehicles, once they become available, will impact these options
and others. They can be adopted with or without a human driving option and can
be owned privately or shared by multiple users. If self-driving vehicles are shared,
they can be dynamically shared among the users by matching them in real-time.
DRS has become possible with smartphone applications and network technologies,
while non-DRS represents the traditional matching of users for car-pooling. When
SAVs are empowered by DRS concepts, they can increase demand for motorized-
vehicle trips and even undercut demand for public transit, bikes, and non-motorized
modes. Among various changes expected in the future, this research is focused on the
evolution of powertrain and the adoption of autonomous vehicles. Among power-
trains, the market share of electric vehicles (EVs) may increase because of their
environmentally-friendly features and lower energy cost [22], which means a future
combination trend of vehicles that, at the same time, are autonomous, shared, and
naturally connected using clean energy.
Another strand of research, more frequent in the literature, investigates user accep-
tance and preferences of owned and shared automated vehicles, sometimes along with
other options (mostly manually driven owned vehicles). While a willingness to pay
for ownership or convenience of automated vehicles cannot be established through
these studies, they tend to indicate a strong aversion to sharing a ride with unknown
passengers in the automated vehicle [23].
At the same time, there is an aspiration, and sometimes an expectation, that AVs
would contribute to a shift toward shared mobility services using shared autonomous
vehicles (SAV), for example, within the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) context.
Studies conducted from Lisbon to Singapore, have demonstrated that SAVs can
reduce the urban fleet required within a city up to 90% if such vehicles are shared,
although with only marginally lower VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled) or with even
increased VMT, since this would depend on the adoption of shared AVs by users. We
can see this in the carsharing study that was developed at the International Transport
Forum regarding Lisbon [24].
Concerning the impact of AVs on travel, AVs could increase the accessibility of
travelers (especially to those who cannot drive) and reduce barriers in trip-making
as the vehicle will have more usability. Considering a lower burden of travel, AVs
may reduce the burden for longer distance travel and encourage the users to move
away from the cities, which results in urban sprawl. The reliability of AVs may
avoid contingency planning on the part of individuals to reach a specific time at their
desired destination as people may be aware of their exact travel time due to high
connectivity and efficient optimization of the network. The initial cost of owning
AVs can be high; however, it could decrease with more market penetration. Another
attribute that is related to cost, the auto insurance cost, will be reduced. As in the
case of incidents, liability may be shifted from users to manufacturers of AVs (as the
human error will not be involved instead of an incident that may happen because of
technical failure [25].
Car sharing platforms can provide faster application scenarios for emerging
technologies such as electric, autonomous or driverless vehicles, which has led
to the emergence of SAEV (shared, autonomous, electric vehicles) technologies,
where each of which has its advantages and challenges. Electric vehicles reduce
the emissions from existing petrol-powered vehicles, autonomous vehicles improve
safety, and shared mobility provides a more direct way to shape the future, and
provide affordable, accessible, and fair multimodal transport options. This integra-
tion of technologies makes SAEV innovations not only economically viable, but also
economically attractive [26].
Many studies on the future impact of AVs have been conducted, focusing on micro-
scopic and macroscopic network analysis and simulations. Their results show that
AVs allow shorter headways between the vehicles, increasing the freeway network’s
capacity by 30% and reducing traffic delays significantly for higher penetrations rates
of AVs. In contrast, low penetrations did not yield noticeable capacity benefits [27].
If SAVs are preferred in the future, travel demand modelers must study the impact
SAVs may have on the system to understand and mitigate negative externalities (like
congestion, emissions, and inequity) with effective policies. In the recent past, a
huge number of studies on single-occupant SAV operation under varying regional
settings have warned regions that congestion will worsen through added vehicle
miles traveled (VMT), especially from the non-revenue generating unoccupied miles
(empty or eVMT) necessary to pick-up travelers. Fleet operational policies, such as
allowing multiple travelers to share their rides and DRS, are anticipated to moderate
rising congestion from SAV fleets and, in some cases, even lower congestion by
reducing total VMT if large demand for SAVs exists. [28].
The main research challenges in applying such shared control models based on
the levels of autonomy are (1) finding the best compromise of shared control between
humans and autonomous systems, (2) the transition between levels of autonomy, and
(3) the possible conflicting decisions between humans and autonomous systems [29].
Individuals interested in new technology were more willing to adopt SAVs for
schooling and working trips than other trips. This suggests that the “automation”
of vehicles would be more effective during peak hours of work and schooling.
This finding is in line with the previous study that early adopters showed more
interest in new technology. This study considers SAVs without pooled options, which
provide the same level of privacy as a private car. On the contrary, SAVs with pooled
options imply the sharing of a vehicle with strangers, which is a downside for many
passengers [30].
The connected vehicles interact with the surrounding environment and infrastruc-
ture using two-way intelligent cellular/wireless connectivity capabilities to exchange
real-time data to other vehicles, mobility solutions stakeholders, the edge/cloud
computing infrastructure, and provide over-the-air function updates and upgrades.
Advanced vehicle connectivity represents a critical element in supporting the
mobility sector’s digitalization and implementing shared economy services and
applications [31].
These open-to-innovation and technology-embracing attitudes among Millennials
presented them as early adopters and stable customers of shared mobility services.
Ride-sourcing services (such as Uber and Lyft), which use online platforms to connect
travelers and drivers via an automated reservation and checkout system, are the most
popular forms of shared mobility services. The literature showed that young people
were more likely to adopt ride-sourcing services and showed a considerably higher
frequency of ride-sourcing usage than older adults [32, 33].
What are the most important relations between them?
SAV services can be divided into on-demand (the customers can book vehicles in
real-time), reservation-based (booked in advance), and mixed systems. The current
state of operation of shared vehicles, i.e., current request scenarios for shared vehicle
services are primarily on-demand. However, reservation-based systems enable better
planning of routes and schedules and, if optimally designed, higher efficiency, thereby
reducing fleet size, empty cruising time and operating cost, as well as increasing
resource utilization [5].
With regards to pricing structure, SAV services can be differentiated as services
with fixed or dynamic pricing structures. As the name implies, fixed pricing structure
involves charging customers based on mileage or travel time and, in the latter case,
origin–destination-based and time-of-day-based pricing. Based on vehicle owner-
ship and network operations, the study mentions six potential business models: (i)
Business–to–Consumer (B2C) with a single owner-operator, (ii) B2C with different
entities owning and operating, (iii) Peer–to–Peer (P2P) with third-party operator,
(iv) P2P with decentralized operations, (v) Hybrid ownership with the same entity
operating, and (vi) Hybrid ownership with third-party operator. Vehicle equipment
and entertainment systems (including Wi-Fi) are not important. Most of the users
are unwilling to pay extra charges for individualization (ride–sharing to carsharing).
Also can be concluded that users have different expectations for autonomous vehicle
user interface, based on whether the vehicle is owned or shared [5].
Costs are an important variable in the choice to use SAVs, though 25% of
individuals would refuse to use SAVs even if completely free. The price of AVs
is not important, what is more important is the relative price between AVs and
regular vehicles. Increase the concern that individuals have for the environment to
increase carsharing and continue investing in and improving public transit systems
and carsharing systems today to encourage SAV use in the future. Individuals who
currently have low opinions of transit systems and who have never used public transit
are less likely to choose SAVs. Individuals with longer commutes (in terms of both
time and distance) tend to have a greater appreciation of the benefits of AVs. This
is an early indication that autonomous vehicles may enable individuals to commute
longer distances, thereby increasing urban sprawl and vehicle miles traveled. Given
this early indication, pre-emptive measures should be undertaken to prevent the
negative impacts of AVs on land use and travel patterns [6].
From the detailed analysis of selected papers, relations between the main concepts
regarding SAVs adoption were identified and are presented in Table 5 and Fig. 4,
both produced by the authors and organized by decreasing number of sources.
In Fig. 4, it is presented a diagram evolving these main topics and key concepts
found in SLR, including favorable and unfavorable arguments regarding SAV concept
adoption, as well as social/psychological impact on society and urban efficiency
improvement.
5 Discussion
In recent years, enabled by the development of information and communication

technologies, DRS has received increasing attention. DRS allows shared rides to
form on short notice and among strangers who do not know each other’s trip itinerary.
The higher flexibility of DRS offers additional opportunities to maximize sharing
benefits and improve system efficiency [7].
AVs and SAVs will affect people’s mobility and the community’s traffic condi-
tions. In terms of congestion, it is not clear whether the benefits of increased accessi-
bility and more efficient traffic flows will compensate for the cost of more trip-making
and longer distances traveled. Congestion pricing schemes represent an opportunity
to internalize the negative costs of traffic congestion [8].
In this study, the possible gains in parking demand if a significant number of
commuters switched from private cars to shared or self-driving vehicles was eval-
uated. We focused explicitly on homework commuting, as these trips contribute to
a large portion of traffic, are highly unbalanced, and reserved parking at home and
work locations take up a huge amount of space in cities. We can expect the adoption
of SAVs to ramp up much faster once the technology is deployed on commercial
scales. Thus, we can expect that large areas which are currently dedicated to parking
will be freed up soon. We note that repurposing existing infrastructure, especially
underground parking facilities, can be challenging. On the other hand, repurposing of
existing parking spaces can be especially attractive for logistics and light industrial
use, which currently cannot afford such central locations [10].
Some consumers might think that an SAV service is a costly option where ride-
sharing firms would charge the price plus a profit. These preferences regarding AV
modes might change over time when a substantial majority of vehicles on road
networks are SAVs. Initially, consumers might opt for a few SAV rides just to see
Table 5 Relations between key concepts regarding SAVs adoption

Concept A Relations between Concept B Sources
concepts
SAVs Willing-to-Pay (WTP) AV with [5, 9, 14, 16, 17, 22, 23, 30, 33]
higher with human driven
human-driven option, option
cause AV usage
dilemma
SAVs Commute longer Mobility [6, 12, 14, 17–19, 21, 30]
(CVs;CAVs;MaaS) distancies enabler
SAV/AV AV/electrical vehicles Efficiency [5, 7, 9, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28]
(EV) shared mobility
with fleet reduction
Efficiency Going Green, fleet and Low [6–8, 22, 23, 26–28]
traffic optimization emissions
reducing emissions
Efficiency Congestion reduction Pricing [5, 8, 19, 22, 23, 28, 34]
due to pricing increase
along with traffic
(tolling), efficiency
regulates pricing
SAV shared Ownership private AV private [5, 17, 18, 25, 30, 32]
ownership versus shared, different ownership
deployment methods
and business models
Ridesharing shared Dynamic Carsharing [5, 7, 30, 32, 33]
ride-sharing/carsharing, individualized
unwilling to pay for
individualization
Deployment Deployment methods Policies to be [5, 9, 20, 26, 30]
methods will influence policies in place
SAVs repositioning SAVs repositioning Urban [6, 9, 10, 12, 18]
from city centres sprawl/longer
implies longer voyages commutes
SAVs tech, law, and Trust new Technologies Trust for full [12, 16, 20, 33]
ethics increase with legislative adoption
and ethical clarification
SAVs more More trip-making Parking [7, 10, 19, 32]
trip-making demand is induced, demand
with reduced parking reduced
demand
Safety Adoption hindered by Trust for full [5, 20–22]
safety concerns adoption
Driverless Robotaxi, Shuttle, Efficiency [5, 8, 16, 34]
Self-driving, Level 5,
Full Automation
(continued)
Table 5 (continued)
Concept A Relations between Concept B Sources
concepts
Ridesharing with Individual Trust for full [23, 25, 33]
strangers characteristics adoption
regarding aversion to
sharing rides with
strangers
Parking demand Urban development in Efficiency [9, 10, 19]
reduced old parking areas,
land/energy
consumption
optimization
SAV acceptance Understanding user’s Trust for full [14, 16, 20]
willingness for SAV adoption
services, cross
psychological barriers
SAV service cost AV vs regular vehicle AV private [6, 13, 23]
relative price with ownership
influenced by WTP cost
individual
characteristics
Traffic reduced and More efficient traffic Efficiency [7, 13]
optimized assignment extracting
route flows and travel
time
SAV Local SAVs (LSAVS) Local service [20, 31]
social acceptance
SAV service cost The choice decision and AV private [5, 25]
the cost is important but ownership
entertainment or Wi-Fi
in SAVs are not
SAEV Shared autonomous Efficiency [26]
electrical vehicles
(SAEVs) charging
strategies/battery
monitoring
optimization
AV private Endowment Effect Willing to pay [9]
ownership which values ownership (WTP)
more than WTP
how they like it and to develop trust in the technology at an early stage. However,
the findings of this study show that consumers are more likely to use their traditional
vehicle as compared to all the AV-related modes during the early transition phase of
AV operations, which could be due to the control that users enjoy having a traditional
vehicle [12].
Fig. 4 Relations between key concepts regarding SAVs adoption—diagram
A commonly held speculation regarding AV technology is that it is a mobility

enabler for elderly travelers and could attract aging seniors. People more than 55 years
old were more likely to use their traditional vehicle compared to adopting the AV
options. Travelers of this age group tend to resist changes that could cause a revo-
lutionary transformation in their familiar lifestyles. Nevertheless, this trend could
change with increased AV reliability and awareness. This result also could be sugges-
tive of the possibility of distant housing locations adding to the urban sprawl and
vehicle miles-traveled due to consumers’ propensity to commute longer distances
with AVs [12].
It is important to refer to optimal price-setting strategies for SAVs and conventional
(driver controlled) private cars (CCs) to prevent excessive use of transport resources.
Following the concept of Pigouvian taxation, the system welfare is maximized by
internalizing so-called external effects. By adding the external costs to the generalized
travel costs, the decision-relevant travel costs are corrected and reflect the full costs
associated with the usage of transport resources. The Pigouvian taxation principle
should be applied to all types of road users, including both CCs as well as SAVs. A
world with (S) AVs creates new opportunities for traffic planners and policymakers
[13, 14].
Self-driving mobility offers a bright future, but only if governments will be able
to overcome the current psychological barriers (in addition to the technological and
normative ones), this new technology will obtain a massive diffusion in the market.
Governments will define which measures/policies can increase acceptability, almost
in the spirit of looking for a placebo that may do little for “real” risk but do much to
reduce fear. Autonomous vehicles are not (and never will be) infallible. Therefore,
regulators and politicians must play a significant role in managing the acceptability of
driverless mobility. Shifting the discussion from the relative risk of injury to absolute
risk for society may well allow the psychological barriers to be overcome [16].
The main barrier standing in the path of mass adoption of fully self-driving
vehicles may be psychological as well as technological. Furthermore, the accept-
ability value estimated may not only be an a priori unwillingness to pay. Because
autonomous vehicles’ acceptability is linked also to the social dilemma, it could
partially remain also in the acceptance phase, leaving a quota of unwillingness to pay
if the governments and manufacturers will only partially solve the ethical dilemma.
Only future real case applications and new research will answer these issues. Future
research (involving many scientific areas) will also have to solve how to overcome
these psychological barriers to trust in this new technology, in addition to the yet
unresolved problems of a technological, legislative, and ethical nature [16].
Pronounced growth in rates of vehicle ownership around the world continues to
perpetuate a series of economic and environmental issues. Carsharing has received
substantial interest in the last few decades as a potential solution to these issues.
Despite carsharing’s promise on these fronts, there have been limited quantitative
studies investigating the impacts of carsharing and SAVs on vehicle ownership.
Education programs could be provided to consumers to increase their awareness
of carsharing and to experience the service, based on the advice from other studies.
In addition, to facilitate carsharing adoption, more innovative and creative ways
(e.g., MaaS) are expected to attract consumers. Combing necessary education, trial
programs, and more efficient and optimized schemes, the adoption of carsharing
might be effectively increased [17].
Full automation could potentially lead to a much wider range of impacts, whose
benefits to society are, at best, uncertain. If the driving task is removed, time spent
driving can be used for other purposes, leading to a reduction in the implicit value
of traveling time. This, in turn, could make private car use more attractive than
public transport, walking and cycling, resulting in substantial changes in modal
shares, and potentially encouraging urban sprawl. If, as envisaged, empty vehicles
can return autonomously to low-cost suburban parking areas, this could accentuate
the pressures for urban sprawl while making city center space available for more
intensive development; moreover, it would add substantially to traffic flow, thus
reducing the benefits of capacity enhancement. The increases in car-km suggest that,
with other things equal, the environment will be adversely affected. The decline in
person-km by public transport suggests a loss in accessibility for those dependent
on it; the decline for walking and cycling implies a loss in the health benefits which
these modes afford, while the increase in person-km per capita suggests a tendency
to urban extension [18].
The direct effects of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) will positively
impact cities. CAVs can influence the optimal structure of a city in two aspects. The
city will require less road supply. These savings are more significant with circular
road supply than in radial roads. This reduction will allow agencies to manage this
infrastructure better. Traffic congestion with CAVs decreases even with less road
infrastructure. Despite this, not all the expected effects are positive. Indirect effects
will mitigate the direct effects because the reduction of road capacity is not the only
factor of importance. Several significant conclusions can be drawn from the results
of this work. Firstly, the value of travel time is another crucial factor. In one hand, it
can reduce a third of the total cost; on the other hand, it might cause other significant
externalities explained in the following points. Secondly, induced demand is another
element that might limit the benefits obtained through CAVs. Thirdly, the increment
of vehicle kilometers traveled is a difficult factor to measure, but the consequences
can be substantial over the city. Finally, the dispersion of cities is a factor that has
not received as much attention, less researched than other impacts of AVs. Thus,
urban growth could be more significant than other factors such as induced demand.
Moreover, these changes will boost the operation of new technologies such as shared
autonomous vehicles (SAV) and mobility as a service (MaaS) [19].
The implementation of an innovative solution (designed by experts) needs public
acceptance to be successful in the long term, and social acceptance becomes a key
factor affecting the time between the introduction of a new concept and its actual
implementation. In social psychology, “social influence” is a “change in an indi-
vidual’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behaviors that results from interaction with
another individual or a group”. Social influence is, therefore, an important factor in
the intention to use an LSAVS by an individual. The findings revealed citizens to have
strong and positive aspirations for the deployment of AV technologies, in particular,
requiring that they provide new accessibility solutions that will be available to all,
reduce rather than increase the local and global environmental problems faced by
society at large, address inequalities in safety and security while traveling, and offer
solutions relevant for social inclusion policies such as tackling isolation among older
people. Similarly, expectations regarding safety and security were that the system
would be on a par with aviation or rail travel, even though, unlike those other modes,
LSAVs would need to interact with other vehicles, road users, and street users [20].
CV uses the vehicle to everything (V2X) communication technology to communi-
cate with other road users and networks, including vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle
to pedestrian (V2P), and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I). CV can transmit context-
aware messages (CAM) between vehicles to exchange host vehicles’ speed, heading,
and brake status via dedicated short-range communications (DSRC). They can help
warn drivers of impending crashes and hazards [21].
The availability of an option to retain human driving capabilities in AVs affects
the level of adoption and the share of total VMT, due to the willingness to pay
(WTP) for AVs, being higher if it includes a human-driven option. This presents
a potential dilemma for policymakers and AV manufacturers. The potential safety,
congestion, and emissions impact may make it advantageous to accelerate the adop-
tion of AVs as quickly as possible if those effects are determined to provide an overall
benefit. However, if many AVs are equipped with the capability for human driving,
a significant amount of VMT in AVs may be human-driven, negating a portion of
the benefits of shifting the fleets toward AVs. The average respondent indicated an
intention to use AV mode for only 35.9% of travel miles if using a vehicle that is
capable of both human and self-driving modes, which will result in a lower overall
percentage of VMT in autonomous mode if the human-driven option is retained for
AVs, regardless of the price premium scenario [22].
There is also a substantial inconvenience cost associated with using pooled or
shared automated ride services. This confirms the previous strand of findings on
people’s aversion to sharing rides with strangers and seriously questions the potential
of pooled automated ride services to reduce congestion or carbon emissions in an
autonomous vehicle future, as is often mentioned. This survey was conducted before
the COVID-19 pandemic, and this aversion to pooled ride services has certainly
increased even more now, although the longer-term impact is still unclear [23].
The single-carsharing mode was found to be the main mode in the first competition
stage, a fusion mode SAVs and shared electrical vehicles (SEVs) was found to be
the main carsharing pattern in the second diffusion stage, and the integration of the
different modes (SAEVs) was found to be the third shift stage on the carsharing
development path. The technologies preceding the shift stage were the basis for the
subsequent developments, and a paradigm shift is expected from the integrated mode
disruptive technologies, which could break through the limitations of the shift stage
and lead to a paradigm shift to a sustainable, connected autonomous shared electric
vehicles (CASE) mobility integration framework [26].
The mobility solutions are swiftly deploying new forms of vehicle-sharing, ride-
sharing/lift-sharing, and ride-hailing services that are changing the vehicle’s owner-
ship model, transforming the demand throughout the day, improving access to
mobility by lowering the resources to participate, and increasing utilization rates
of the individual vehicles and vehicle fleets assets. The vehicles require high secu-
rity and privacy protection at the component, embedded software, and system level
to provide shared mobility solutions. The term “shared” has an additional meaning
for the future vehicles, which is connected to sharing resources inside the vehicles
and outside the vehicle with other vehicles, other participants in the traffic, with the
infrastructure, sharing the data with the mobility stakeholders, sharing services, the
computing, sensing, storage, and learning capabilities [31].
As mentioned before, trust issue with strangers is one of the primary concerns
discouraging people from using ride-sourcing services, consistent with findings of
the literature. Regarding perceived benefits and concerns of shared mobility, results
showed that those who believed in shared mobility’s cost-effectiveness were less
inclined to choose exclusive rides. In contrast, those who have concerns about higher
travel times were more likely to choose exclusive ride services than other modes [32].
The development of autonomous vehicles is a gradual process within which
a mix of human-driven and driverless vehicles is expected over a certain period.
New mobility options such as autonomous vehicles (AVs), carsharing, and shared
AVs have been seen as promising to potentially provide solutions to some of our
most intractable problems, like traffic congestion, crashes, and wasteful use of urban
spaces. Nonetheless, the success of new mobility options is closely associated with
the choice behavior of individual people, such as purchasing an AV, using carsharing,
using a shared AV, and a traditional car. People, in general, intend to keep their current
cars or buy an AV, compared to using shared cars. The probability of using shared AVs
largely depends on the operational cost and hourly rate and also vehicle availability
and access time [34].
When adopting a shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) service, there is a general
lack of studies on the impacts on society (social and psychological) and also urban
optimization.
6 Conclusion
In this analysis, we’ve conducted a Systematic Literature Review, to identify relevant

papers about key concepts regarding SAVs adoption and relations between them. We
believe that we were able to compile and summarize important information and, to
the best of our knowledge, SAV enablers overweight inhibitors. The following work
includes a reference ontology to have a formal representation of the SAVs domain
[35]. We now know that several organizations and cities are already testing SAVs
with the intention to deploy them soon, the technologies that are being developed
and used, and the main challenges about MaaS. This information helped us answer
the best possible way to our Research Questions and, by doing that, we now have a
better idea of the challenges currently being faced to deploy the SAV model [36].
Since the first deployment of SAVs which is a fairly recent subject, there are not
many documents about it, and this research can be improved using other more recent
studies in other scientific databases. Even though many refer to the subject, most of
them are purely technical or their core subject is another one. Given the number of
automobile companies and top scientists researching the subjects of AVs and SAVs,
there is a high risk of this document becoming outdated once it is finished.
However, further research is needed to find the best SAV technical, ethical, oper-
ational, and business model that users can trust and fully adhere to. For that purpose,
we shall conduct an ontology-based master thesis using the SABiO framework.
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Bibliometric Analysis of Financial
Services Technology
Companies—FinTech
Maria Teresa Cuenca-Jiménez, Vicente Ripoll Feliu,

and Carlos Lassala Navarré
Abstract This study aims to systematize existing knowledge in the scientific litera-
ture on high-tech financial services or Fintech. Fintech is an emerging financial model
in which literature is still insufficient and knowledge is not fully systematized. To
bridge this gap, a bibliometric analysis was performed in this study through searches
on the Web of Science and Scopus databases between 2008 and 2021. The results
reveal that the scientific community’s growing attention towards the study of FinTech
has translated into an increase in published studies. Also, a large number of different
methods used to analyze FinTech was noted, with qualitative studies standing out.
In addition, it was observed that FinTech has been analyzed from different theoret-
ical strands in areas that go beyond the finance or technology realms, making room
for future interdisciplinary studies. We conclude that scientific contributions that
support a better understanding of the FinTech phenomenon have a potential social
impact, as the efficiency of financial markets, the inclusion of more individuals in
these markets, and the mitigation of transaction-related risks could be improved by
market applications stemming from these studies.
Keywords Financial technology · FinTech · Disruptive innovation · Financial

ecosystem · Bibliometric analysis
M. T. Cuenca-Jiménez (B)
Department of Business Science, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja, Ecuador
e-mail: mtcuenca@utpl.edu.ec
V. R. Feliu
Accounting Department, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
C. L. Navarré
Department of Corporate Finance, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_4
80 M. T. Cuenca-Jiménez et al.
1 Introduction
The term FinTech is a neologism that comes from the words “finance” and “technol-
ogy”. FinTechs are those financial companies that use technology to offer innovative
financial services [32]. In recent years, FinTechs have attained one of the largest
expansions in the modern economy’s business sphere. According to [85] statistics
in March 2022, the financial technology sector is made up of 3,395 companies that
have raised $293 billion in funds. Recent studies show the prominence of FinTech,
and the interest in this type of company has grown significantly [35]. However, this
development has not been accompanied by academic studies by which knowledge
about FinTech is increased and systematized, an initial step to solving pending issues
related to how to boost the level of financial inclusion using digital technologies [12]
or how FinTechs collaborate or compete in specific areas [45]. Although a preliminary
review carried out by the authors of this study identified some bibliometric reviews
on the FinTech sector, blockchain and from the perspective of the new FinTech busi-
ness model [1, 62, 68], bibliometric studies have not been identified that consolidate
the existing knowledge on the various theoretical and methodological approaches
used by studies on FinTech. This gap needs greater attention, because as evidenced
by the study of Abad et al. [1], which suggests investigating the methods that are
being applied in research on Fintech, and [62], who mentions that in general, FinTech
could be better analyzed by emerging theories derived from traditional ones.
This study is relevant, since the FinTech sector represents one of the turning points
in the modern economy [45], and the adequate systematization of the predominant
characteristics in the literature on FinTech—author networks, theories, methods,
trends—will be an important input to support more informed decisions about future
studies that contribute to the analysis and praxis related to FinTech. Therefore we
pose the following research questions: (i) What has been written about FinTech in
recent years?; (ii) What research areas are addressing this phenomenon?; (iii) What
methods are used to analyze FinTech?; (iv) what are the influential scientific actors
of the literature?; (v) What are the research trends and opportunities? Answering
these questions represents an opportunity to better understand the FinTech industry
through a lens by which its interdisciplinary nature becomes visible. This article aims
to systematize the existing knowledge in FinTech scientific literature to answer the
research questions.
The rest of the article is organized as follows: Sect. 2 presents the research method
and the analysis techniques used in this study. Section 3 presents a more detailed
analysis of publications, including variables such as keywords, author networks,
authors, journals, citations, theories and methods. Section 4 offers research trends
and opportunities. Section 5 concludes the research.
Bibliometric Analysis of Financial Services Technology … 81
2 Methodology
As the interest in quantifying research trends within the publications of a subject

increase, the benefits of bibliometrics are being exploited. A bibliometric review was
performed in order to identify the most cited articles, the most productive authors,
and the main journals; and a systemic analysis in order to recognize the theories and
methods applied in FinTech research. The instrument employed was the Knowledge
Development Process-Constructivist (Proknow-C) proposed by [27]. It is a process
that takes into account the decisions, delimitations, and objectives of the researcher
and, thus, makes possible the generation of new knowledge. This method has been
widely used to support systemic research [23, 84]. To achieve the proposed objective,
the following phases were developed:
The bibliographic portfolio was selected, consisting of data selection from the
Thomson Reuters Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. These are considered
as the most important scientific research repositories and allow for greater research
coverage. The search was conducted through the “Fintech”, “Fintech” and “financial
technology” keywords and the exact term had to appear in the topic, title, abstract
or keywords of the retrieved documents. A manual review of the association of the
keyword “financial technology” with FinTech was also performed. The data was
collected in January 2022 with a limited time period of December, 2021. However, it
was observed that the first publications are from 2008, due to the global financial crisis
of 2008, when the greatest emergence of this sector was seen and strong regulation of
financial institutions occurred [33, 63]. Also, many professional finance experts were
laid off at that time and were looking for new opportunities for their financial skills,
joining the FinTech field [8]. The search selected only English language journal
articles and did not include working papers, books, monographs, dissertations, or
other publication results. A total of 758 and 922 papers were downloaded from
the Thomson Reuters Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus scientific repositories,
respectively, which made up the initial bibliographic portfolio.
Once the initial bibliographic portfolio was defined, in the second stage, several
filters were carried out in order to obtain the bank of documents for analysis. The
first filter was to eliminate repeated articles, since the same document can be found
in several databases. By applying this filter, the number of documents went from
1680 documents to 1156 non-repeated documents. The second filter was the reading
of the titles and abstracts of the 1156 articles to ensure they were aligned with the
area of study, especially those addressing the FinTech topic; no articles were selected
that focused on one of the FinTech classifications. In this way, 804 unrelated articles
were eliminated, and a base of 352 documents remained. The third filter consisted in
performing the scientific representativeness test according to the number of citations
received from other scientific papers since the publication date. According to the
Proknow-C method to determine the scientific relevance of publications, the impact
factor of the journal is not considered, but rather the number of citations. [14] argue
that citation counting is in fact a type of quality assessment. Information from Google
Scholar was used which results in a more complete coverage of citations in the areas
of administration and international business [37, 65]. In line with the Proknow-C
method, documents with four citations were included in the bibliographic portfolio.
The justification is to avoid the exclusion of relevant articles, for research, that was
published a short time ago (±2 years) and that due to this “just published” status, did
not have time to be cited by the scientific community [23, 27]. As a result, there is a
base of 279 articles for complete analysis with scientific recognition and prominence,
with their titles, abstracts and contents aligned with the topic.
In the third stage, bibliometric analysis was performed, seeking to verify the
characteristics of the publications in the area of knowledge under study, identifying
the main authors, journals and keywords. In this phase, the 279 articles making up
the final bibliographic portfolio were analyzed. Tables and figures were prepared for
the bibliographic presentations. For the presentation of the research area and main
affiliations of the researchers, reports from the WoS and Scopus platforms were used.
VOSviewer (www.vosviewer.com) was employed to analyze keyword relationships
and researcher co-authorship; it is a piece of software for building bibliographic
coupling and co-authorship maps.
Finally, in stage four, a systemic analysis was carried out by reading the complete
texts. The Proknow-C methodology comprises in systemic analysis as a structured
scientific process that is used—from the theoretical affiliation that refers to the notion,
philosophy, concept, and approach that the researcher adopts—to analyze the bibli-
ographic portfolio regarding a fragment of the literature (on the subject) with the
objective of identifying the theoretical and methodological bases, deficiencies, and
consequently, opportunities for improvements regarding the scientific contribution
in this area of knowledge.
3 Results
This section presents the search results and the information analysis, evidencing the
frontiers of existing knowledge and alternatives for future action in FinTech.
Figure 1 shows the number of publications dedicated to FinTech, which is of the
same level between 2008 and 2015. After this period, an increasing trend in FinTech
studies between 2015 and 2021 can be seen. This shows that the topic is gaining
impact, possibly due to the interest and growth of the FinTech market.
The research showed that FinTechs were analyzed from several areas, with the
following standing out: Business Economics (31%), which is attributed to the impact
of FinTech on the change of business models, level of satisfaction with the use and
acceptance of FinTech services [25, 56, 56], Computer Science (16%), where infor-
mation technology (IT) developments and competitive pressures of FinTech compa-
nies are analyzed [50, 69], Economics, Econometrics and Finance (11%), with studies
analyzing financial stability, inclusive finance and digitization of financial services
[38, 41]; Social Sciences (10%), due to the contribution of FinTech to financial inclu-
sion and balanced sustainable development [9, 88], and Government Law (4%), with
studies focusing on the challenges of global financial regulation, smart contracts,
90
77
80
70 65
60 51
50 46
40
30 23
20
10
10 1 1 1 1 3
0
2009 2010 2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Fig. 1 Quantity of publications per year. Source Prepared by the authors from the database
and user security and privacy [7, 16, 67, 88], the “others” section includes several
other areas with 1% of publications (Mathematics, Arts and Humanities, Materials
Science, Psychology, Agricultural and Biological Sciences, International Relations,
Public Administration, and Development Studies) (Fig. 2).
The following sections present a more detailed analysis of these publications,
including variables such as keywords, author networks, authors, journals and
citations.
Business Economics
Computer Science
19% Economics, Econometrics

and Finance
2% 31% Social Sciences
2% Engineering
3% Government Law
4% Decision Sciences
10% Environmental Science
2% 16%
11% Energy
Other
Fig. 2 Research field. Source Prepared by the authors from the database
Fig. 3 Keyword relationship. Source Prepared by the authors from the VOSviewer base
3.1 Keyword Analysis
Keyword analysis was performed using the VOSviewer tool, which allows the repre-
sentation and visualization of the relationships in the indexing terms. From the co-
occurrence analysis, we obtained a network composed of FinTech, financial services,
blockchain, commerce, and competition. The first group, “FinTech”, has a strong
link to innovation, performance and financial inclusion. The second group, “finan-
cial services”, is closely related to banks, digitization, the internet and sustainable
development. The third group covers “blockchain”, which focuses on the finan-
cial industry, P2P lending, crowdfunding and cryptocurrencies. The fourth group
focuses on “commerce” and relates to e-commerce, investments and the financial
market. Finally, “competition”, in the center of the map, relates to big data, sales and
developing countries (Fig. 3).
3.2 Journal Analysis
We analyzed the journals with the highest number of publications. Table 1 presents
two journals in the first place. Journal Sustainability focused on studies related to
sustainability and sustainable development, including topics such as classifying the
companies involved in Apple Pay and Samsung Pay in terms of the value chain, the
viability of FinTech as a platform for sustainable economic growth and as a driver
of the fourth industrial revolution, as well as the analysis of the banking sector in
Table 1 Journals with the

Journal Number of publications
highest number of
publications Sustainability 9
Financial Innovation 8
Small Business Economics 7
European Business Organization 5
Law Review
Electronic Commerce Research 5
and Applications
Environment and Planning 4
A-Economy and Space
New Political Economy 4
Electronic Markets 3
Industrial Management and Data 3
Systems
Investment Management and 3
Financial Innovations
Journal of Retailing and 3
Consumer Services
response to the challenges posed by FinTech and of sustainable financial products

[28, 68, 81, 82, 93]. The journal Financial Innovation covers research on financial
innovation in emerging markets in different areas of finance. Financial innovation
is defined as the set of activities that internally reduce banking costs and risks or
externally better meet customers’ convenience and needs [15]. The topics published
are related to the pursuit of investment objectives and FinTech [45, 92] and to the
impact of the financing of these new companies on stock performance [60].
In the second place, five journals with four publications stand out. European Busi-
ness Organization Law Review, with a scope covering corporate law, the theory of
the firm and the theory of capital markets, includes publications focused on finan-
cial inclusion, and issues and changes to be made in FinTech regulation. The Elec-
tronic Commerce Research and Applications is aimed at creating and disseminating
e-commerce knowledge. The published topics are related to policies in business,
consumers and social environments [33], to the analysis of some of the recent
blockchain networks to determine whether they comply with Metcalfe’s Law [3],
and to the analysis of the relevance of some traditional methods such as mobile
payment in the FinTech era [46].
In third place, six journals with four and three publications are highlighted. Envi-
ronment and Planning A-Economy and Space focuses on the economic research
line, dealing mainly with issues of urban and regional restructuring, globalization,
inequality and uneven development. Therefore, its publications are related to finan-
cial inclusion, highlighting current challenges and determinants of exclusion in the
era of FinTech [13]. Another of its publications concludes that the mix of finance
and technology offers new opportunities for second-tier financial centres, such as
B-Hive, and for the difficulties in taking advantage of them in practice [39]. Elec-
tronic Markets is related to electronic marketplaces or networked business. Published
articles explore why some financial institutions choose whether or not to partici-
pate in this nascent mobile payments ecosystem and analyze the market for new
consumer-oriented FinTech companies [26, 31, 83]. Industrial Management and Data
Systems focus on topics addressing the interface between operations management
and information systems. The publications are focused on better understanding why
people are willing or hesitant to use financial technology (FinTech), and also predict
which personal and sociodemographic variables (familiarity with robots, age, gender,
and country) moderate the main relationships; in addition, there is a study on key
FinTech research areas, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and crowdfunding
[11, 42, 77]. Investment Management and Financial Innovations focus on financial
management and corporate governance, investments and innovations. The publica-
tions discuss topics such as the impact of financial technologies on the profitability of
the financial industry and the creation of the FinTech information platform [10, 47,
48]. Retailing and Consumer Services focus particularly on consumer behavior policy
and management decisions. The papers address co-creation (loyalty and satisfaction)
from a customer perspective and consumer investments in small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) and analyze factors affecting financial technology adoption from
a consumer and retailer perspective [18, 57, 64]. Finally, New Political Economy aims
to combine the classical political economy of the nineteenth century with the analyt-
ical advances of social sciences of the twentieth century. Its publications address
topics such as the importance of financial inclusion based on digital technology,
develop a perspective for critically understanding FinTech as a platform political
economy that is marked by three distinct and related processes: reinter-mediation,
consolidation and capitalization; and include a study on China’s financial reform and
economic development [29, 34, 55].
Regarding the journals with the greatest impact in the present study, Table 2
presents the most cited journals according to the bibliographic portfolio. There
are journals with one publication, but which are the most cited, such as Finan-
cial Economics and Business Horizons: this can be interpreted as a signal about the
novelty of research in the FinTech field. Another important aspect to highlight is
the diversity of journals with different approaches that have higher citation counts.
The identified focuses are business, economics, marketing, e-commerce, information
systems and banking.
3.3 Author Analysis
Table 3 lists the authors with the highest number of publications, with authors Arner,
Wójcik and Buckey standing out. Arner works in the area of international financial
regulation, and it is noted that until 2017, his research has a focus on international
finance and, in an isolated manner, on FinTech; although in 2018 and 2019 all of
his research was related to financial technology. Wójcik is an economic geographer
Table 2 Number of citations per journal

Journal N° citations N° publications
Journal of Financial Economics 460 1
Business Horizons 410 1
Journal of Management Information Systems 387 2
Financial Innovation 395 7
Journal of Business Economics 336 1
European Journal of Marketing 304 1
Borsa Istanbul Review 301 1
Small Business Economics 302 7
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 277 5
New Political Economy 268 4
International Journal of Information Management 227 2
Journal of Network and Computer Applications 210 1
Journal of Banking & Finance 184 2
Business & Information Systems Engineering 182 1
Electronic Markets 171 3
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 169 3
Telecommunications Policy 167 1
Industrial Management & Data Systems 162 3
Jassa-the Finsia Journal of Applied Finance 134 2
Vanderbilt Law Review 134 1
Journal of Economics and Business 121 1
European Business Organization Law Review 115 5
Review of Financial Studies 113 1
Financial Management 104 2
Georgetown Law Journal 100 1
Table 3 Authors and number

Author N° publications
of publications
Arner, D. W 7
Buckley, R. P 6
Wójcik, D 6
Schwienbacher, A 5
Hornuf, L 4
Khan, S 4
Barberis, J 3
Bernards, N 3
Iman, N 3
Li, Y 3
specialized in financial geography; his research interests are financial management,

corporate governance and policy in public and private institutions. In 2016 he leads
the project “Cities in Global Financial Networks: Finance and Development in the
21st Century”, a study focused on how financial and business services, including
law, accounting and business consulting, have been affected by the global financial
crisis and the eurozone crisis, and how they are changing in response to new financial
regulation and the digital revolution. In turn, Buckey, a professor of disruptive inno-
vation at a Sydney university, researches in the fields of FinTech, RegTech, central
bank digital currencies and consumer data law. As of 2015, he has published several
studies in the FinTech field.
Another author with a large number of publications is Barberis, a specialist in
international financial law, founder of FinTech HK and member of the FinTech advi-
sory board of the World Economic Forum. For his part, Bernards focuses on finance
and global governance and is currently writing a book on the global history of efforts
to extend financial services to the poorest. Hornuf’s research focuses on the digi-
talization of financial markets and new financial technologies. Author Li seeks to
clarify the role of digital banking FinTech startups in the financial industry [60].
Finally, researcher Schwienbacher, a full professor in finance at SKEMA Business
School, teaches courses in corporate finance and FinTech; his research topics focus
on crowdfunding and venture capital.
Table 4 shows the most cited authors. Among the studies in the bibliographic
portfolio with the highest number of citations, author Gomber, who presents two
studies of theoretical discussion, stands out. In the first study, [32] posit the digital
finance cube, which encompasses three key dimensions: (i) digital finance business
functions, (ii) relevant technologies and technology concepts, and (iii) institutions
providing digital finance solutions. In the second paper, [33] present a new FinTech
innovation mapping approach to assess the extent of changes and transformations
in four areas of financial services: operations management in financial services,
technology innovations, blockchain, and cross-border payments.
Other notable authors are Buchak, Matvos, Piskorski and Seru, who study regu-
latory differences and technological advantages. In addition, they investigated the
growth of FinTech lending, comparing interest rates between shadow banks and
FinTech companies [17].
Lee and Shin [56] publication, titled “Fintech: Ecosystem, business models,
investment decisions, and challenges”, presents a historical overview of FinTech
and analyzes the FinTech sector ecosystem. The document with the next most cita-
tions is the study titled “E-retailing by banks: e-service quality and its importance to
customer satisfaction”, which seeks to determine customer satisfaction with online
banking services [40]. Another study with a representative number of citations is
“Fintech, regulatory arbitrage, and the rise of shadow banks”, which provides a
systematic examination of the evolution of shadow banking in the largest consumer
lending market in the United States [17].
Table 4 Number of citations per author

Author N° citations Author N° citations
Gomber, P 651 Arner, D. W 195
Buchak, G 460 Buckley, R. P 183
Matvos, G 460 Puschmann, T 182
Piskorski, T 460 Dolata, M 181
Seru, A 460 Schwabe, G 181
Shin, Y. J 419 Zavolokina, L 181
Lee, I 410 Shim, Y 167
Koch, J. A 336 Shin, D 167
Siering, M 336 Xiao, X 142
Ozili, P. K 322 Leong, C 142
Kauffman, R. J 315 Sun, Y 142
Parker, C 315 Tan, B 142
Weber, B. W 315 Tan, F. T. C 142
Herington, C 304 Li, Y 138
Weaven, S 304 Magnuson, W 134
Hornuf, L 302 Chen, L 130
Haddad, C 240 Wu, Q 129
Brooks, S 221 Anagnostopoulos, I 121
Gabor, D 221 Gimpel, H 121
Qiu, M 210 Rau, D 121
Gai, K 210 Roeglinger, M 121
Sun, X 210 Chen, M 113
Brummer, C 200 Yang, B 113
Yadav, Y 200 Barberis, J 108
3.4 Theory and Method Analysis
The Fintech sector has been studied by different theoretical currents, although not
necessarily using different perspectives in the same study, which suggests the impor-
tant potential for interdisciplinary research. This is evidence that the problems
associated with the FinTech revolution could be more effectively analyzed using
interdisciplinary approaches and research designs [33].
Table 5 exhibits the theories used by the articles that are part of the bibliographic
portfolio. According to the present study, FinTech has been addressed by several
theories, some of them focused on the behavior, attitudes and decision-making of
groups or individuals, such as the Nudge Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior,
the Theory of Reasoned Action and Innovation Diffusion Theory.
Table 6 presents the research approaches and methods used. Among the papers
Table 5 Theories used in the publications

Theory and Authors Theory and Authors
Actor Network Theory ANT Management theory
Chen [19], Shim and Shin [80]; Herington and [59], Agarwal and Chua (2020)
Weaven [40]
Agency theory Marketing Theory
Iman [46, 47]; Ozili [73] [18]
Classical Economic Theory Modern Financial Theory
Ferretti (2018); [12], Kandpal and Mehorotra Begenau et al. (2018)
(2019)
Competitive advantage theory Modern portfolio theory
Gozman et al. (2018); Van (2018); Saksonova [33]
and Kuzmina-Merlino (2017)
Consumer Theory Network theory
[60], Dinh et al. (2020) Giudici (2018)
Disruptive innovation theory Nudge’ Theory
Palmié et al. (2020); Ringe and Ruof (2020); [29]
Shin and Choi (2020), Truby (2020)
Financial intermediation theory Resource Based Theory
Jaksic and Marinč (2018); Langley and Leyshon Berger et al. (2018)
[55]; Thakor (2020)
Financial Theory Social Network Theory
Curi et al. (2015); [17, 63] MartÃnez et al. (2018)
Graph theory Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
Basole and Patel (2018) [58], Stewart and Jürjens (2018); Belanche
et al. (2019)
Grounded theory methodology (GTM) Theory monopoly
[83] [51]
Innovation DiffusionTheory Theory of planned behaviour (TPB)
Ashta (2018); Degl’Innocenti et al. (2018); Van Mazambani and Mutambara (2020); Wang
(2018) et al. (2019)
Finance innovation theory Theory of Reasoned Action
Bos et al. [15]; [19, 32, 56] [77]
Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of
Technology UTAUT
[2], Senyo and Osabutey (2020)
Internet of Things IoT
Huei et al. [44]; [61]
Table 6 Classification of
Focus and research method N° publications
articles by focus and research
method Quantitative methods 121
Regression (logistic, linear) 42
Structural equation modeling (SEM) 24
Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) 8
Bibliometric method 5
Factor analysis 4
Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) 3
Cluster analysis 3
Difference-in-difference 3
Multiple criteria decision-making 3
method (MCDM)
Stochastic frontier analysis 2
Text Mining 2
Multivariate Analyzes 2
Common method variance (CMV) 1
Comparative and structural analysis 1
Demand-Driven Model (DDM) 1
Event History Analysis 1
Event study 1
Expectations Model 1
Granger causality 1
Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) 1
Machine learning model 1
Map-based 1
Multivariate Analyzes 1
Bottom-up 1
Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) 1
Decision-making trial and evaluation 1
laboratory (DEMATEL)
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) 1
Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) 1
Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection 1
Operator (LASSO)
Standard support vector machines (SVM) 1
Vector auto regression (VAR) 1
Fixed-effects 1
Two-sided market 1
Qualitative methods 153
(continued)
Table 6 (continued)
Focus and research method N° publications
Theoretical Discussion 91
Literature Review 20
Case study 20
Field research 5
Content analysis 5
Semi-structured interviews 3
Action research 1
Critical discourse analysis 1
Mapping study 1
Text mining 1
Post-positivist 1
Predictive 1
Qualitative Comparative Analysis 1
Focus Group Discussion (FGD) 1
Unobtrusive research 1
Quantitative and qualitative methods 5
Social network analysis 3
Cluster Analysis & Taxonomy 1
Financial diary 1
addressing the FinTech topic, 121 are reported as quantitative studies, 153 as qual-
itative studies and 5 studies applied a mixed methodology. The most commonly
used quantitative methods are regressions, partial least squares—structural equation
model (PLS-SEM)—and data envelopment analysis (DEA). The most used quali-
tative method is theoretical discussion, applied by 91 studies. This shows that the
FinTech topic is still emerging, and consequently, scientific progress in this area is
made with a mixture of qualitative approaches which produce theories to be verified,
and quantitative approaches that verify these theories and generate new demands for
theoretical analysis.
4 Research Trends and Opportunities
This section looks at five research trends and describes research opportunities in each
field: competitiveness and management, financial inclusion, customer management,
regulation, and security and privacy.
Competitiveness and management

Competition is a key factor for efficiency: the new ways that FinTech companies have
to provide financial services to clients could have a negative effect on the profitability
of traditional banks [86]. The reviewed studies take an in-depth look at the banking
sector in response to the challenges posed by FinTech, based on the theory of service
innovation. The results show that the banking sector must focus on new business
partners, new service concepts, organizational innovation, technological innovation,
new interactions with customers and new revenue models to achieve a sustainable
competitive advantage [93]. Zveryakov et al. [94] show that FinTech allows the
creation of new services that are not provided by traditional financial intermedi-
aries. In the same way, other studies showed that Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lenders provide
services to different segments of the market covered by traditional banking and their
clients tend to have a better attitude towards the use of mobile applications [4, 17, 58].
As the population ages, traditional financial institutions will come under increasing
competitive pressure unless they can take advantage of technology to reduce costs,
and position themselves closer to new FinTech operators [74]. Similarly, [51] in their
study on the effects of the entry of a FinTech company into the retail payments market
from the perspectives of vertical restrictions and duopolistic competition, show that
cooperation and integration between financial and non-financial companies may be
more beneficial to the general well-being than competition and substitution.
Lee and Shin [56] reveal that traditional financial institutions are investing in
FinTech in various ways, including partnering with FinTech, outsourcing FinTech
services, providing venture capital to FinTech, FinTech incubation/acceleration,
FinTech acquisition/purchase, and FinTech development. According to the study by
[41] which analyzes alliances in different countries and financial subsectors, using
the 100 largest banks in Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom between
2007 and 2017, it was found that the FinTech companies that participate in alliances
operate in various segments in the four countries, with payment services being the
most prevalent segment. The study also indicates that large, listed and universal banks
are more likely to establish alliances with at least one FinTech than smaller banks.
Innovation is also approached from different perspectives. Zavolokina et al. [92]
undertook the study of popular press releases on the FinTech phenomenon, reporting
that the general discussion in the press is related to innovations, in terms of the
creation of innovation laboratories, incubators and accelerators, also pointing to a
growing increase in disruptive innovations as well as the regulations that FinTech
companies face. Other studies seek to learn how FinTech companies are innovating
the way they deliver financial services in a huge variety of areas, from asset manage-
ment to raising capital to virtual currency [63, 78]. Other authors provide large-
scale evidence on the contributions of disruptive innovations to the FinTech sector,
showing that the Internet of Things (IoT), robo-advisor, blockchain and social invest-
ment trading platforms are the most valuable types of innovation for this sector [20,
33]. Furthermore, the literature points out that the scope of innovation encompasses
intraorganizational, microeconomic, interorganizational and macroeconomic issues
that should be studied [75]. However, the present analysis has found few studies on
the interorganizational and macroeconomic dimensions of FinTech.
Another study by Weiyi (2018) concludes that crowdfunding platforms replace
traditional financial intermediaries and serve as a new intermediary. Another discus-
sion is about the transformation of the finance function in corporations, where CFOs
are changing processes, flows, technologies and people to work at high speed [24].
The role of people and their attributes; such as leadership and organizational culture;
in the design and execution of these transformation processes of disruptive organiza-
tions and industries can be better explored, focusing on the development of human
and technological skills. Shim and Shin [80] conducted a multilevel analysis of the
historical development of China’s FinTech industry, confirming that the successful
development of the FinTech industry is closely related to technological develop-
ments. In this sense, future studies may focus on the role of financial intermediaries,
in different countries and cultures.
Financial inclusion
The United Nations 2030 agenda highlighted expanded access to financial services
in five of its seventeen goals for sustainable development, or SDGs (United Nations
2019). For this reason, the need to promote financial inclusion is more than obvious,
becoming a global priority [22]. His vision of “know your customer (irrational)”
combines behavioral economics with predictive algorithms to accelerate access and
encourage commitment to finance [29]. The results show that, as the level of education
increases, the individual is more likely to be financially included [2], a phenomenon
explained by the usual correlation between the level of education and the level of
income [36].
In addition, in this era of digital users, technology is used not only to communicate
and satisfy the needs of the service but also to evaluate the quality of the relationship
with a financial institution [53]. Users of financial services have evolved and require
services in less time and with higher quality. According to the study by [52], the
use of online services is due to the speed of information download, compliance and
the quality of response. Along these lines, the study by Muralidhar et al. [70] argues
that digital money promotes financial inclusion and benefits the self-employed and
those without bank accounts, introducing them to the world of formal and global
transactions. Leong et al. [59] analyzed a FinTech company in China that offers
microcredits to university students, showing that the credit is granted on scores
based on non-traditional data, and demonstrating that its solutions improve financial
inclusion in various market segments. Future research may focus on analyzing the
effect of financial inclusion on macro-financial stability, optimal levels of financial
inclusion, and the type of regulation that promotes financial inclusion [73]. Another
issue would be the contribution of digital financial services to financial inclusion,
from the perspective of digital financial services and education.
Customer management
The consumer is the most important factor in the growth of the financial industry.
One challenge is the perception of risks associated with privacy, which constitutes a
barrier to the use of FinTech services, and can negatively affect the user experience
and the growth of the sector [77]. If FinTech companies cannot retain their clients
and optimize their operations, they will not achieve long-term success. Therefore,
various studies have focused on user acceptance of the various FinTech applications.
Along these lines, studies with mobile P2P loan applications show that user accep-
tance is significantly influenced by perceived ease of use, perceived utility, and user
satisfaction [58, 79]. More generally, [44] investigated the level of acceptance of
FinTech products and services in Malaysia using the Technology Acceptance Model
(TAM), concluding that user attitudes are directly influenced by both perceived ease
of use and perceived utility, which in turn influence the intention of users to use
and adopt the system. Jünger and Mietzner [52] reports three dimensions that signif-
icantly influence household decisions to use FinTech services: trust, transparency
and financial experience.
Some academic studies seek to understand the intention to adopt financial tech-
nology in the form of cryptocurrency. The results show that business policies and
strategies should focus on influencing attitudes and control of perceived behavior
to accelerate the intention to adopt cryptocurrencies [66]. In the same context, with
the intention of understanding the adoption of robo-advisor financial technology, it
was found that attitude is the strongest predictor of behavioral intention to use [11].
Also, technological progress allows finance to better meet real-life needs. There-
fore, the success of financial innovation is not based on the technology itself, but
on the fact that finance serves business needs and real-life problems, oriented to
the consumer [19, 31]. Additionally, [31] propose a taxonomy of non-functional
characteristics with a focus on the consumer, the first perspective refers to the inter-
action between emerging FinTech companies and the client, the second characterizes
data processing by FinTech startups, and the third describes how FinTech startups
monetize their service offering.
Another issue addressed is the measurement of the quality of the electronic service,
and studies indicate that “personal needs” have the greatest influence on satisfaction.
Therefore, website personalization is a significant predictor of customer satisfac-
tion [40]. Jagtiani and Lemieux [49] also explores the impact of FinTech loans on
consumers’ ability to access credit and the price of credit. They compare loans
made by LendingClub and the like, finding that LendingClub charges smaller credit
margins to borrowers who own a home, have been employed for more than 10 years,
and have higher incomes. In this sense, mechanisms to understand consumer needs, to
understand their propensity to use FinTech services, and existing barriers at the indi-
vidual level can be addressed in future research. Another topic of potential interest has
to do with the relationship and familiarity of a client with the services offered by the
financial robo-advisor, in relation to automated advice and/or portfolio management
[11].
Regulation
Anagnostopoulos [5] exposes several factors that determine the disruptive potential
of FinTech, identifying the following: demographics, the high national penetration
of the Internet and mobile devices, the reinvention of business models, the cost-
effectiveness relationship, the concentration of niches, cybersecurity, the financial
crisis and growth driven by regulation and diversification, and disintermediation
of funds. Anagnostopoulos [5] argues that an agile regulatory design is required,
based on data. Other authors report that the regulation of FinTech should be as
flexible, adaptable and systematic as the technology industry itself [43, 63]. The most
advanced jurisdiction in FinTech terms is the United Kingdom, whose regulation has
a principles-based approach, which gives a lot of flexibility to the FinTech sector [6].
Banks and insurance companies have historically been protected and operate in a
very complex regulatory environment [13]. The efficient growth of FinTech in devel-
oping countries still has many underlying obstacles at the political and operational
levels [89]. Therefore, investment opportunities in FinTech differ strongly based on
geographic location [54], and it is clear that these opportunities vary from country
to country, depending on the political and economic ecosystem where the online
financial services operate. The study by [17] argues that regulatory differences and
technological advantages contribute to FinTech growth, therefore, the increase in
regulatory burdens such as technological improvements contributed to the decrease
in the market share of traditional banks. In this sense, regulators play an important
role in the development of the great innovations of our times, and they must be able
to design intelligent and efficient rules to guide the industry [63].
Security and privacy
One of the main challenges of the FinTech sector is security and privacy, since consid-
ering that the services occur online, the way in which they operate can create risks in
internal processes [91]. Gai et al. [30] reviewed five crucial aspects related to security
in the FinTech sector: cyber dangers, technical vulnerabilities of new systems, data
analysis techniques, system integrations and multimedia communications, and data
integration and mining from different sources. Regulators should pay attention to the
broader market not only to protect consumers but also to ensure that technological
innovations are developed efficiently [76]. Cybersecurity would be a complemen-
tary measure to ensure a path that mitigates current concerns about the risks of
electronic banking operations and the FinTech industry [72]. In this new sector, trust
in technology companies is essential. However, the study by [77] highlights that the
perceived benefit is more influential than the perceived risk with FinTech.
Wang et al. [87] used the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in order to know
the effects of trust in FinTech companies and found that the quality of the system,
the situational normality and the subjective norm can promote the development of
trust in the service. One suggestion he provides for FinTech marketers is to take
into account the factors of the social aspect and take advantage of social influence.
Lim et al. [61] investigated the relationships between perceived safety, knowledge
about services, confidence, perceived utility, and satisfaction. The results show that
knowledge and perceived security in mobile FinTech services have a significant
influence on the confidence of users and the perceived usefulness. This theory is
confirmed by [21], who reports that privacy with the FinTech model can be softened
with greater transparency. Future research should study the ethics and integrity of
FinTech [72].
5 Conclusion
The objective of this study is to systematize the existing literature on FinTech. For
this purpose, a bibliometric analysis of 279 articles was carried out. Our findings
indicate that there is a growing interest in FinTech in the academic field, reflected by
the number of publications; and correlated with the interest among practitioners in
this phenomenon. Our results allow us to identify the most relevant areas, authors,
articles and journals on the FinTech phenomenon. It is evident that FinTech has been
addressed by various fields and theories with various methodological approaches.
The studies discuss five trends relevant to FinTech and show important theoretical
advances. These trends are: competitiveness and management, financial inclusion,
customer perspective, regulation, and security and privacy.
This study has several limitations that provide new directions for research. One of
them is the selection of articles only in the English language and, therefore, these were
the focus of the study. There is a significant amount of studies in the database (WoS)
in other languages, for example, Korean. Another limitation is that the Proknow-C
method does not consider the impact factor of the journal to select articles. The
selection of the articles with the greatest scientific relevance is made by counting the
citations.
Our results suggest future research. First, to compare the growth of the FinTech
sector between different (developing) countries. Second, to focus on studies related
to financial education and the social impact of FinTech. Third, there is little evidence
on the economic and financial risk that FinTech can cause, and future research should
focus on the identification of the various categories of risks. Finally, a strong oppor-
tunity for future studies within security and privacy is the analysis of ethical culture
from the perspective of FinTech professionals, in different demographic areas. This
article contributes to the literature on FinTech, by systematizing the existing knowl-
edge within said area, leaving evident its interdisciplinary nature. In that sense,
and highlighting the valuable opportunities that analyzing this phenomenon using
different theories and methods can bring, we identify five trends in the FinTech
literature, as well as the respective research opportunities within each trend.
Acknowledgements We are grateful to Ph.D. Guillermo Dávila Calle, Universidad Técnica

Particular de Loja—Ecuador and Universidad de Valencia—Spain.
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Digital Transformation in a Car-Rental
Company: A Case Study
Paulo de Carvalho Pinto, Miguel Moreno de Paiva,

and Miguel Mira da Silva
Abstract Competition is grim. Means of differentiation from the competition is

imperative and innovation is key. Many resort to digital transformation investments,
yet few truly succeed to reap most of its benefits, misusing a substantial part of the
investment. This research aims to examine a successful digital transformation project
in the car-rental business, Key’n Go using a case study as the research method, in
order to understand what the steps were taken to achieve its success. This research
used an acknowledged often used for IS/IT projects, an approach named benefits
management, since it provides a wider view of the project, which supports a rational
decision on its investments and alignment with the company’s objectives. Listening
to customer’s voices, properly identifying their needs and gaps in the existing offer,
the right leadership model to help translate these gaps into actions, agility to keep
the speed and the proper team mindset to make it happen, where the main findings
identified as critical to deliver the project.
Keywords Case study · Digital transformation · Benefits management ·

Information systems · Car-rental
1 Introduction
Alongside digital transformation (DT), information systems (IS) and information

technology (IT) have been in the past recent years one of the core strategies
for uplifting an organization’s performance via innovation [21], however as pres-
sure from an everlasting increase in competition and organizational objectives in
P. de Carvalho Pinto (B) · M. M. de Paiva · M. Mira da Silva

Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
e-mail: paulo.pinto@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
M. M. de Paiva
e-mail: miguelmpaiva@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
M. Mira da Silva
e-mail: mms@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_5
104 P. de Carvalho Pinto et al.
increasing their measures of success, nowadays the common metrics around success
are based on the budget of the project, delivery period, quality and uniqueness [7,
18]. Nevertheless long and gone are the days where IS/IT investments had an obvious
and assured financial return [20].
In success or failure around those metrics, around 75% fail to deliver the benefits
which were aimed for [22], resulting in mislaying large amounts of money [5].
The lack of understanding on how to identify and manage benefits in conjunction
with inertia to DT has led companies into troubled waters, possibly even causing
bankruptcy, all due to disruption caused by competitors fully embracing DT as their
innovative business model.
There are usually two main examples of once market leaders who found them-
selves floundering due to digital inertia, Hess et al. define as the “inability to rapidly
develop and implement new digitally-based business models” [8] can be found in
the cases of Kodak [10] and Blockbuster [1]. Nowadays it is key to assess the IS/IT
investment being made and fully grasp if the benefits that are prevailing from the
investments are realized. If managed correctly DT projects likewise IS/IT projects,
their benefits can be achieved [17], highly increasing the chance of success. Benefits
management (BM) as being the approach chosen to try to maximize and attain the
foreseen benefits in DT projects.
Citing Peppard [12], “Quite simply, adding technology does not automatically
confer expected benefits; these benefits have to be unlocked and this can only happen
through achieving organizational changes. Consequently, it is useful to think about
investments in digital as essentially investments in change”. Ward and Daniel [21]
which defined BM as “the process of organizing and managing such that potential
benefits arising from the use of IT are actually realized”, pioneered the most cited
model for BM, the Cranfield Benefits Management.
This research screens a successful digital transformation project in a services
business, identifying each step along the way, using an approach named benefits
management, providing a wider view of the project, rationalizing the investment
decision in stiff alignment with the company’s main objectives.
2 Benefits Management
Making its debut during 90s [3] from the need to justify IS/IT investments, which
traditional financial appraisal methodologies were not achieving satisfactory results
[23], on numerous occasions, the expected benefits did not manage to happen even
though the project is delivered in the intended time-frame, on budget and respecting
the usual technicalities [13].
A “benefit” is defined by Ward and Daniel [21] as any leverage gained in order to be
used by any singular or group of stakeholders interested. Ward et al. [23] emphasize
that BM’s main focus is the effective management of tangible and intangible values
Digital Transformation in a Car-Rental Company: A Case Study 105
Table 1 Benefit types

Benefit type Description
Observable The stakeholders need to reach an agreement if the benefit was/was not
accomplished
Financial When a value is calculated from a cost/price or formula
Quantifiable When there exists enough proof to estimate how much improvement/benefit
the changes originate
Measurable When the benefit can be measured but is not enough to forecast how much
improvement is generated
originated from IS/IT investments and that unless a benefit can be observable, it
should not exist. The benefits can be classified into four types as seen in Table 1.
In today’s digital era, the business started more than ever by creating intangible
assets that encourage problem-solving to innovation, such as customer relations,
skills and knowledge between contributors. Intangible assets became the biggest
leverage over competition between organizations and there is not a single tool that
can forecast or quantify the value they can generate for the company, as its value
does not be conferred on the asset itself but from the group of assets and strategy
connected by it.
Like any other scientific approach, BM has different approaches to its application
as they diversify between them by their own characteristics. Since the scope for
this case study (CS), was limited by time and space, for this case study we will be
following The Cranfield School Model by Ward and Daniel [21] as it is more IS/IT
investment-oriented, where the key part of the model is to keep track of the benefits.
3 Organization—InterRent
Europcar is one of the main actual players in the car-rental industry, with 2018
revenues of 2.929 billion euros [6] and being present in over 140 countries, its
behemoth status can be a hurdle for innovation as it comes with little to no flexibility
for change in an agile way, all changes take way too much time to globally be
implemented. As we pointed out before during this paper, innovation inertia can be
the biggest threat to any organization and one of the common mistakes that peril the
greatest organizations in the market.
InterRent as a mid-tier at the Europcar’s group, being rather smaller yields much-
desired advantages others lack, providing the necessary agility and flexibility to
implement in a swiftly fashion innovative solutions.
Making InterRent the best pilot for testing innovative solutions that if proven to
be successful, will be implemented in Europcar, consequently, the creation of Key’n
Go.
3.1 Key’n Go
The average consumer chooses a service based on what is grasped as the option
with better “value for money” as it is, in fact, the most logical approach in the
options presented to them. Brokers are the ones responsible for the suggestions
presented, turning them into one of the most important bridges between a brand and
the consumer.
Brokers consider their options, not only about price, but by comparing the brand’s
net promoter score (NPS) amongst its competition if a brand has a higher NPS it goes
up in the suggestion if it has a lower NPS it goes lower or does not even show as an
option.
NPS is a word-of-mouth metric, introduced by Reichheld in 2003 [15]. Reichheld
says “it is the best predictor of growth” [16] and that it is “the one number you need to
grow” [15]. When comparing the survey questions, the strongest correlation between
repeated purchases and referrals was “How likely is it that you would recommend
[company X] to a friend or colleague?” [15].
Making the ultimate goal to achieve the highest score possible on a scale of −100
to 100 (Fig. 1).
One of the most important factors to get exposure for consumers is the NPS and
NPS mainly comes from differentiation factors against the competition. Following
differentiation strategy definition that goes by “the strategy that aims to distinguish
a product or service, from other similar products, offered by the competitors in
the market.” [4], a common mistake is to think that if you lower your prices, new
customers will be drawn into making a purchase, yet if everyone lowers their prices
a stalemate is in hands and it will only result in lower profit margins for every brand.
Allen and Helms [2], suggested that “For the differentiation strategy, innovation
seems to be the most critical factor for success” nothing spells innovation like Key’n
Go.
This digital transformation project (DTP) is essentially a hassle-free/seamless
experience, has its goals set on stopping the main pain points that were discovered
on the CJ which were negatively impacting the NPS score, the pain points used to
be (Table 2):
Key’n Go surpasses the identified pain points by getting rid of excessive queue
times by utilizing kiosks which are assisted by a ground-hostess, making it possible
Fig. 1 Net promoter score, figure from Krol et al. [9]

Table 2 Customer journey pain points

Pain point
The extremely long queue in order to be served by the car-rental desk
Being annoyed by an employee trying to sell extras and repeating the process regarding
insurance again
The need to check for inventory damage before being able to pick the car
At the checkout when returning the car, having to check for damaged inventory and waiting
more time before delivering the vehicle
to deliver the car in a shifty minute while also as a sweetener giving the customer
the power to choose a car he wishes from the fleet accessible.
Considering the last-mentioned solution, Key’n Go bundles all the extras that
protect the customer so has to not be pressured in acquiring further extras by an
employee and as the customer did already pay for a premium, nothing could be
easier for the customer as dropping off the vehicle, just delivers the keys in the
concerted place and go his way.
During all this process the customer is impacted by the Wow-factor, which in
marketing means that the customer “relates to exceptional customer service in which
an employee gives the customer more than he expected or something he did not
expect at all”, as it overtakes the customer’s expectation for the service, the customer
feels very happy and turns into an ambassador for the brand, publicizing the service
via word-of-mouth, increasing the NPS, resulting in a positive cycle that boosts sales.
A standard NPS level in the car-rental industry, for Premium Companies, is 52—
Key’n Go, albeit being a Mid-Tier brand, not a premium, reaches an average of 50
with peaks over 60 during high season (comparison effect).
4 Case study
A CS slightly differs in definitions according to the authors’ backgrounds and points

of view.
Following the definition by Yin it consists of “an empirical inquiry that investi-
gates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, addressing especially
situations where the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly
evident” [24].
4.1 Design and Research Question
Ideally DT projects as a core part of the organization’s strategic investments would

carry a near-perfect success rate. Yet their success rate is extremely low, this directly
impacts economically the organization as it will make a dent in their ROI [22, 22].
KPMG [11] in 2005 conducted a study where the result from the surveyed orga-
nizations demonstrated that 98% of the cases in 12 months fail to achieve all the
purposed benefits, this showcases a clear daunting scenario as their main goal is to
maximize their Return on Investment (ROI) still not being close to it.
This paper aims to tackle this enduring problem by aiming to identify using BM
what steps were needed to be done to achieve a higher percentage of success in DT
projects.
In order to do so a question arises:
Why was Key’n Go a successful digital transformation project?
A plan in order to perform the CS is needed, so the goals must be defined and
according to Robson [19] it must have at least the following parts: (a) an objective; (b)
the case itself; (c) back-ground theory; (d) the research question; (e) data collection
methods; (f) strategy to select the data.
This case covers mainly the situation after Key’n Go was live and during the
process of it, trying to understand the transformation of this DT solution and its
impact on the InterRent results, which were interpreted from the analysis of the
context.
The interviews were done in an unstructured format with different members of
the Key’n Go project. Questions were open, the true goal was to create a panoply of
observations from the interviewees.
All the interviews were planned in advance of its execution. At the beginning of
the interview, the researcher presented the objectives of the interview coupled with
the context and theoretical background of the work and how the data collected would
be used later in the work, in order for the interviewees fully understand the reasoning.
At the end of each interview, the conclusions taken were summarized and
reviewed by the researcher, so feedback could be given with the intent to avoid
any misunderstandings.
Before the interviews were taken, the researcher reviewed company internal docu-
ments such as videos show-casing the project and financial reports [6] coupled with
others found publicly online, helping to provide beforehand a better perspective of
the company and a better base-line knowledge for the interviews. All the intervie-
wees previously experienced the Key’n Go customer journey, being the Operations
Director, Product Owner and Project Director.
The CS has the following characteristics (Table 3)
Table 3 Case study characteristics

Characteristics Description
Descriptive and exploratory Showcases the phenomena and tries to discover what does
happen while seeking new understandings and generating new
ideas for future research
Interpretative Fully comprehend the phenomena using the project participant’s
(interviewees) point of view based on their context, alike
exploratory and descriptive type
Qualitative Provides an improved perspective on the phenomenon when
analyzing it
Flexible The essential parameters of the study are able to change during
the course of the study
Triangulation of data Multiple data sources were used such as document analysis and
interviews
Holistic Has a single unit of analysis in the form of the digital
transformation solution
5 Data collection and analysis
Following Ward and Daniel [21] literature, the BM process is composed of five
different stages, the first three stages aim to identify and structure, plan and execute
the benefits, and the last two stages focus on reviewing what was done and evaluate
the results in other to obtain identification from lessons learnt and potential future
benefits.
5.1 Benefits management process
The first step in BM is to identify and structure the potential benefits of the
programme/project. In order to do so, it is mandatory firstly to identify the business
drivers of the organization and their investment objectives.
A business driver is what the management understands as the core of the business,
bounded on a time-frame where transformation in the business needs to happen.
Drivers can be internal or external based on the fact, if they come from internal factors
such as improving a process performance or external factors such as achieving higher
customer satisfaction.
Having the drivers, we can define the investment objectives. The following tables
demonstrate the respective business drivers and investments and the linkage between
them (Table 4).
From the business drivers previously identified, the next step should be to define
the investment objectives derived from them, these objectives directly reflect the end
goal of the project. All the investment objectives should at least be linked to one
Table 4 Drivers of Key’n Go

Investment drivers Type Justification
Need for improved client retention rate External Customer retention is key in any business
and a higher market share in the mid-tier and InterRent had a subpar performance
segment on this stage ending in a negative NPS
Find differentiation factors against the External Car-rental became a commodity, the
competition urgency to find a way to differentiate from
the competition as the key to success
Increase process efficiency and speed-up Internal InterRent managed to pinpoint on their
business processes customer journey four major pain points
the customer faced while renting a car
business driver, this connection makes it possible to demonstrate how the investment
directly impacts the business strategy (Fig. 2) (Tables 5 and 6).
B1: Word-of-mouth factor and a happy customer is the best marketing campaign,
generating a positive snowball effect of publicity and boosting sales.
B2: Increasing the volume of sales and their margins by increasing the basket
value and reducing costs while doing so, is the perfect scenario for any company’s
investment.
B3: Key’n Go simplifies and speeds-up the process of the car-rental booking,
culminating in more sales and thus more profit, while also by simplifying everything
on the customer’s end by providing a better customer experience, boosting their level
of happiness while purchasing the service.
B4: Showcasing a clear case of competitive advantage via innovation, fetching a
bigger slice of the car-rental market mid-tier segment.
Fig. 2 Drivers and investment objectives linkage

Table 5 Investment objectives of Key’n Go

Investment objectives Code Justification
Improve the company’s image through O1 Causing the Wow-factor with the service
change on the client’s mindset thus boosting the NPS level, snowballing
positively on the volume of sales
Define the product and its price O2 In the attempt of leaving the low-tier
market sector due to very low-profit
margins practice, rebranding themselves in
the mid-tier sector via innovation on their
services
Release the project in a timely manner O3 The first-mover advantage is one of the
main success factors, as it gets a
competitive edge by being the first on the
market. It enables them to set up a solid
customer loyalty and brand recognition
Increase the business volume O4 Key’n Go inverted orthodoxies on
InterRent’s business model, this is a direct
consequence of the necessity of
diversification on their now new business
model
Table 6 Identification and structure of the benefits from Key’n Go

Benefit Code Type Metric Owner
Increase customer’s B1 Quantifiable NPS Customer service
satisfaction level department
Increase the volume of B2 Financial RPD, Top-Line Commercial
sales and their respective department
mar-gins by increasing
the basket value
Achieve higher B3 Observable Avg time ful-filling Operations
performance on the customer’s order department
processes
Conquer market leaders B4 Measurable Market share Sales department
5.2 Benefits dependency network
A BDN “provides the framework for explicitly linking the overall investment objec-
tives and required benefits with the business changes necessary to deliver those
benefits and the essential IT capabilities that enable these changes” according to
Peppard et al. [14]. Being a problem-based type of investment or an “ends-driven”
[21], its main goal is to “identify the most cost-effective and lowest risk combination
of IT and business changes that will achieve the required improvements, most of
which can be expressed as explicit, quantified benefits” [21]. The process of building
the BDN can be split into three major phases.
Firstly, we identified the investment objectives and the benefits, this provided
us with the “ends”. Then, we follow-up with the changes needed in the business to
achieve the potential previously identified benefits, also known as the “ways”, this was
possible by the identification of the customer’s pain points, which were pinpointed
by multiple international focus groups that were made in order to recreate the most
truthful CJ.
We end the second phase by choosing the optimal combination between the busi-
ness changes and performance from Key’n Go which are the “means”, that are the
most consistent way of achieving the potential benefits. The Key’n Go BDN can be
seen in Fig. 3. We would like to emphasize the fact the Key’n Go solution offers a
hostess to Meet&Greet and help customers across the kiosk operation, in case there
are any doubts left—the “human touch”.
This allowed an acceleration of the customer’s learning curve and in consequence,
an over-achievement in the NPS levels with all the positive consequences to the
business. We conclude the third phase by identifying the business changes needed
for Key’n Go benefits to be achieved.
Fig. 3 Key’n Go BDN

6 Reviewing and Evaluating the Results
Taking into consideration the data collected from the different interviews we can
achieve the following conclusions, starting with the positive aspects of the Key’n Go
project.
6.1 What went well?
Starting with the company itself, different work-streams were set and the different
departments as a unit worked together with a clear objective. The Key stakeholders
were involved from the start, their guidance and support proved to be essential for
every step to run smoothly, another key aspect was the fact they run permanent
reviews on deliverables and the goals that were achieved.
In terms of teamwork & communication, as previously said, there were distinct
work-streams and everyone worked together with clear objectives, including external
communication with other projects and suppliers, also the key stakeholders showed
interest and always being accessible for any doubt or decisions to be taken. The
communication was centralized and continuously shared with the different teams
involved and colleagues in the offices that worked on the Key’n Go service, there
was a constant update when new releases happened, improvements, changes, etc.
On the Key’n Go project start-up, the objectives and the benefits were set for the
first pilot of Key’n Go and for the following release, the objectives were implemented
in a continuous improvement mode.
As any project planning and tracking is essential, at the beginning of the project
it established a project manager, who then followed the best practices of PM such
as PMP, PRINCE2 and Agile methodology, including activities of the whole areas.
Any risk change or risk that was identified, was very quickly informed to the sponsor
in order to be accepted or not, prior to going forward with the project. Thanks
to recurrent internal project meetings (follow-ups), dependencies were found and
rightly dealt with.
In the development process, thanks to proper management, all the steps in the
development process were followed accordingly, there were multiple points of
control (milestones) in order to check the results, and at the end of the year, the
objectives early defined were reviewed and controlled to verify if they were still
following the SMART ideology and the benefits were very clear, everything had a
process behind in order to guarantee that the different teams were getting closer to
each goal at every step taken in the most efficient way possible.
In the quality process phase, the manufacturing of the machines (kiosk) was
controlled in terms of the quality process, and the SW releases and IT developments
were in a systematical fashion and tested prior to production by the execution of
multiple tests plans.
The implementation, the manufacturing of the kiosks and the SW was clear in all
the different stages of the process, everything went smoothly from the infrastructure
and IT side. The external support was a big key to success, especially on the SW
development, but overall all the external support of different certified companies did
great.
Documentation and training, overall worked perfectly, the documents were
produced, sent and updated as needed, all done by the training team. The training
team always managed to solve the problems that were faced in a swift fashion.
Finally the most important part, the people. Team spirit was rated a solid 10, a
true key for success as DT is not all about the technology but the people around
it, the true challenge to be faced is always the company culture, how to modify the
people’s mindsets and the way people think and do things coupled with having the
right knowledge and skills is one short step to achieve success.
6.2 What could have been done better?
Of course, in reality, there are always thankfully inferior numbers, situations where it
could have been done better and in order to learn lessons as in the final step of the BM
approach, following the same order as the positive aspects, we have the following
situations.
In the company, some roles and main tasks required some continuity but some-
times it has proven to be difficult to guarantee it, for reasons non-related to the project.
Focusing on the sales agents, this new DTP brought an evident issue to them, the
end of commissions, this showed to be a difficult step to overtake on changing the
mindset of the sales agents as they lost an extra personal revenue. Once the project
was in “Business as Usual” mode in other words after the pilots were done and the
stabilization period, the participation was reduced and the objectives were not always
the same for the different departments involved, this can negatively impact the pace
of the work to be done and the final results.
In terms of teamwork and communication, different channels were used, and even
sometimes information was shared informally, for instance, a unique channel could
have been used to share the information, as it resulted in information not reaching
everyone necessary, the problems not being swiftly dealt with and resulting in a
problem hoard.
In the project start-up, there was no Business Case, as a business case forecasts
the costs, benefits and risks of the project, it is essential for the key decision-makers
to decide what approaches to choose from or even if the project is worthwhile. The
terms of reference were modified a lot, especially the language of sale. The terms
are always being updated and there is a current need to find a place and an own
language in order to be clear and for everyone from the sales agent to the customer
to understand on their own.
During the planning and tracking of the project, there were changes in require-
ments once the scope was set, this negatively impacts the planning and the final
results, the handover between different people due to some leaving the project, could
have been more undoubtedly done.
The development process faced bottle-necks in some parts of the process all due
to a lack of resources or priorities changing, sometimes internal issues took way too
much time to be solved.
The quality process could have been more dependent on the company’s staff,
it is better to count on internal resources as their knowledge remains inside of the
company and in case of need, it is always faster to start new test plans and finish
them instead of always relying on other sources, since time is of the essence.
The implementation faced some problems of communication, some communica-
tion could have been handled better to update the news release in order to inform
the company, not always it was possible to get the ideal kiosk location as the airport
could raise issues. During implementation, some HW stock-outs did happen (elec-
tronic components for example), this needs to be taken into account to avoid possible
delays.
Documentation and training faced also communication problems, there is a current
need to find a proper way to communicate and keep updates as different methods
and platforms can make it more difficult and less efficient, the training is too much
centralized even though they worked very well, since the training personnel was
scarce, if one trainer is on vacation or has any problem, everything stops, there is a
need to have more trainers.
7 Recommendations
Following the researchers, personal opinions coupled with the interviewee’s insight,
the following recommendations are given in order to improve next future similar
DTP, that face similar hurdles.
Facing the company, a kick-off project is always necessary in order to agree on
the scope of the project and the people from each department responsible for each
task. It is positive to involve everyone necessary as the feel of participation as a team
for a cause, is vastly superior to just solving the tasks needed, for example, a higher
rank CEO pushing, can improve the dedication of everyone involved, aligning with
the importance of the project. Since during the project, it felt difficult to guarantee
some roles and new people continuously entered the project as others leave and one
of the biggest problem was communication, finding ways to integrate the new people
into the teams is essential.
In terms of teamwork and communication, there may be a need to carry out more
frequent follow-up meetings in order to share the advances (and possible deviations)
with the team. It is important to know what pain points might appear and to try to solve
them together, avoiding them escalating out of control. Since communication faced
some problems on to define who can do what or who can help who, an implementation
of a more agile methodology such as Scrum, so everyone knows the issues and who
is solving them, so it does not escalate and the inclusion of all the parties involved
in the project is achieved with success.
On the project start-up, creating and establishing the communication channels
and frequency at the project start-up phase, who needs to be informed and how and
when is essential. Also, defining thresholds by providing more power to individuals,
so one can take decisions within that margin, without the current need to escalate to
a superior, making the process run smoothly and faster by freeing the higher ranks
for more important decisions.
During planning and tracking, a lot of changes were done once the scope was set,
it is very important to stick to the requirements and not change them constantly, this
negatively impacts the work of the different teams (review with sponsors/product
owners help to avoid it).
In the development process, setting priorities for everyone involved seems essen-
tial, this way everyone knows the importance of their responsibility at each step and
how they help to achieve the common goal/objective.
At the quality process scheduling, different Demos for main stakeholders are very
important. This is the best way to validate the requirements and changes in production
are easily avoided during this early phase.
On implementation it was noticed multiple HW stock-outs, it is recommended to
ask in a preventative way to the partners in order to provide different options to avoid
these HW stock-outs or lack of key resources.
At documentation and training even though the training team did wonders, they
were few and if for some reason there was a vacation schedule or another issue,
everything stopped. The creation of a training and communication channel, that
centralizes all the doubts and has all the answers in the same place is very iportant,
this coupled with at least one person responsible in each country where InterRent will
deploy this DTP will solve any problems for training. From the customer perspective,
creating a more indepth tutorials, such as videos or written guides, on the InterRent
app and site, on how to use it will greatly improve the customer training process and
accelerate the learning curve, letting a smoother transition for future similar projects.
Lastly, the people, as noticed in this review, the people involved in the project are
the true key to its success, finding ways to keep everyone motivated and focused on
the big picture is what will turn any DT project into a successful DT project, because
even though being the first opens a world of possibilities in front of you, and you can
work in the fine tuning of your first prototype before the competition, the real heroes
are still the people around it, thank your team, they are the true driver of success.
8 Conclusion
BM is a well-structured methodology which provides a holistic overview of a project,

it provides an easy identification and realization of the planned benefits while making
sure to identify the actions needed and decisions to be made in order to reach success.
BM is a complementary methodology, it was not created to substitute other PM
methodologies. The main goal of this thesis was to understand, why Key’n Go was
a successful DTP.
From a customer perspective, Key’n Go’s success derives from its outstanding
quality. This was the core of its success. InterRent’s NPS reflects it, being the clear
customer’s “voice”, InterRent wisely listened and understood its needs, obviating
their pain points identified on the CJ, transforming the customer into (its best) brand
ambassador, but above all, the customer returns.
Quality as a source of differentiation, InterRent managed to transform a traditional
business into a digital business, by prioritizing the customer needs and reacting
accordingly.
From a DT perspective, the BM methodology allowed us to identify multiple
success factors. The main success factor and the basis for its success was its lead-
ership. Leadership is crucial when changes are needed, the correct mindset must
come from the higher ranks. The Key’n Go project benefited from an outstanding
leadership scenario, the key stakeholders were involved from the very start with a
crystal clear purpose for the benefits this project would generate for InterRent. With
the project director being able to rally every department to work as a unit on the same
goal coupled with its forward thinking, constantly pushing for new opportunities and
being able to stay always interested and accessible for the project needs.
A powerful leadership is most effective if the strategy is placed prior to the tech-
nology itself. Key’n Go is based on the pain points and experiences of its customers.
InterRent, by starting from the end and reimagining their CJ, managed to invert
orthodoxies and achieve the technological and cultural changes required to support
their DT. The third success factor is its agility. DT runs at a very fast pace, in order
to achieve success being agile and flexible is a must. Key’n Go from its start to
finish, always used an agile methodology, it made sure everyone was on track and
informed on the current goals by making use of multiple points of control, it showed
to be flexible to issues that appeared as the objectives and benefits were constantly
reviewed in order to accomplish them in the most efficient way possible.
Last but not least, the people. As referenced before DT is not all about the tech-
nology but the people around it. People empowerment is key, team spirit was rated
as high as it could be, everyone managed to work as a unit, the sense of ownership
pushes even forward the results as engaging employees directly compliments the
strong basis of success, the leadership.
On a more technical perspective, as referenced previously, Key’n Go gets its
success mainly due to first-mover advantage, InterRent was the first company to
deploy such DTP on the market and on a broader scale while also holding the rights of
the design and the specific SW developed, providing enough barriers for a short-term
to fence from the everlasting competition.
Limitations and Future work
During the realization of this thesis, there were some limitations. To begin with, the
interviewees were not familiarized with the theme of BM, although comprehensible
it was necessary to provide explanations of the concepts and resort to practical exam-
ples. By being seeded abroad, some interviews had to be done using virtual means,
which enhances the previous limitation. The CS is based on a posterior perspective,
not being able to provide active benefit management with the purpose for them to be
realized.
For future work, even though investment objectives have been fully achieved,
it does still leave space for future developments and improvements in the process.
Following the referenced recommendations it is interesting to discover if applied in
future similar DT projects, success is again achieved. Also, it is very interesting to
follow-up on the new consumer behavior caused by the present pandemic, and what
is the impact of contactless services on consumer choices.
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Blockchain-Based System to Ensure
the Integrity of Used Vehicle Purchase
Transactions: Under Researchers’
Perspective
José Leonardo Sayán Barreto, Rodrigo Arturo Beuzeville Espinoza,

and Guillermo Antonio Dávila
Abstract Through the increase in vehicle sales transactions globally, new ways are
being created to change the current model of vehicle ownership transfer systems.
The integrity of the data in this type of operation must be the highest priority to
avoid different types of fraud. These range from the manipulation of vehicle data,
to the falsification of the identity of the seller as well as the buyer. To address this
problem, we propose the implementation of a system based on blockchain, which
is characterized by decentralization, security, and transparency of information to let
users know when a fraud may occur in the purchase transaction process. To accom-
plish this, a systematic review of the literature is carried out, through which the most
appropriate elements for the implementation of the proposed system’s infrastructure
will be determined. In this review, the problem will be presented, then various appli-
cations of this technology in the automotive sector will be addressed, and finally, the
most important concepts to be considered will be developed. Why this technology
is the most appropriate to solve this problem will conclude the review.
Keywords Blockchain · Smart contracts · Consensus algorithms · Vehicle

ownership transaction process · Frauds
1 Introduction
The automotive industry has undergone considerable evolution over recent years,
and has been able to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The sale of electric
vehicles has been an important contribution, which grew 168% more in 2021 than
in 2020 [13]. That is why it is predicted that by the year 2050, the global fleet of
J. L. S. Barreto · R. A. B. Espinoza
Carrera de Ingeniería de Sistemas, Universidad de Lima, Lima, Perú
e-mail: 20181774@aloe.ulima.edu.pe
G. A. Dávila (B)
Instituto de Investigación Científica, Grupo de Investigación Desarrollo Empresarial, Gestión del
Conocimiento e Innovación, Carrera de Ingeniería de Sistemas, Universidad de Lima, Lima, Perú
e-mail: Gdavila@ulima.edu.pe
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_6
122 J. L. S. Barreto et al.
electric vehicles will have increased of 31% [40]. Additionally, it is important to

mention that there has been an increase in global car sales of 29.37% (10,080,150
cars) from 2020 to 2021 [15]. An increase in acquisitions was also reflected in the
vehicle market of emerging countries, since, according to the same organization, in
2021 local residents of these countries acquired 40% more vehicles than in 2020.
This evidence suggests that growth of sales will increase in the following years,
which indicates that more people are considering acquiring a vehicle.
During the purchase transaction of a used vehicle, the main challenge is to guar-
antee the security of the process. In Germany, for example, a consumer study ranked
the automotive market among the top three least trusted markets [20]. Aspects such as
the condition of the engine, mileage, periodic maintenance services, accidents, fines,
among others, are often not complete when carrying out the vehicle transfer process.
In the United States, more than 450,000 used vehicles are sold each year with false
odometer readings. This crime costs buyers more than a billion dollars a year [24].
Current methods, such as manual registration in centralized database systems, do not
allow the globalization of vehicle status information in purchase transactions. This
type of database is characterized by having centralized storage (regulated by a single
entity), offering a low level of security, with the propagation of updates, among other
difficulties [34, pp. 7273–7285]. Centralized storage would prevent the information
from being shared with entities that are part of the purchase process. This lack of
legitimacy in the information leads to economic and social problems: from a social
perspective, many people lose confidence in the second-hand car market because
sellers take advantage of this misinformation and alter the real state of the vehicle
to achieve a safe sale at a high price [6, pp. 211–225]. Likewise, from an economic
perspective, buyers take a vehicle that, if defective, will bring them extra repair costs
in the future (Huchang et al. 2019, pp. 44, 135–44, 149).
Technologically, there are possibilities of mitigating the frauds immersed in the
process and blockchains are capable of consulting or monitoring them. According
to Zheng et al. [45], blockchain is characterized by being a decentralized system,
because it does not require a trusted centralizing agent to validate each transaction;
persistent, as only the valid transactions enter the chain; anonymous, because any
user can interact with the chain without revealing their identity, and auditable since
every transaction can easily be verified and traced. Therefore, this could be the most
appropriate technology to implement a solution that guarantees data integrity in a
decentralized way. In addition, the actors immersed in the process will be able to
verify all aspects of the vehicle with total transparency and with the certainty that a
fair negotiation is taking place with real data.
This review chapter aims to mitigate the gaps related to the lack of blockchain
solutions applied to the used vehicle sales sector in emerging countries. After having
explained the magnitude of the problem and who is affected, it is clear to present
the various approaches proposed by various authors in the search for a blockchain-
based system focused on the automotive industry. Yoo and Ahn [42] proposed a used
car data trading system based on the Ethereum blockchain network. This proposal
uses smart contracts and IPFS to provide reliability between buyer and seller and
suggests implementing a new transparent management method, not only for the sale
Blockchain-Based System to Ensure the Integrity of Used Vehicle … 123
of vehicles but also for general car data. Subramanian and Thampy [36] proposed
using Ethereum’s blockchain technology to provide transparency in the purchase
of second-hand electric vehicles, for which they used an Ethereum address to track
all transactions registered on the platform designed in Truffle. Subramanian and
Thampy [36] suggested considering not only electric vehicles for implementation, but
worked with other agents such as car manufacturers to develop a cumulative solution.
The research by Zavolokina et al. [44] proposes the development of a blockchain
platform to store and exchange complete information about the life cycle of a car. The
authors made a prototype of a decentralized application using five design components
related to market transparency, which allows the reduction of information asymmetry.
Zavolokina et al. [44] suggest that to generate value, the declared information must
come from official sources that are allied with the system.
Based on this evidence, the following research questions are raised regarding
considerations for the implementation of a blockchain-based system to ensure the
integrity of used vehicle purchase transactions: To what extent does blockchain tech-
nology contribute to the integrity of used vehicle purchase transactions? How can
blockchain help improve reliability in the used car market in emerging contexts?
What are the variables that must be considered in a blockchain-based system to
ensure the integrity of used vehicle purchase transactions?
To answer these questions, the present study follows the conceptual map shown
in Fig. 1. With this, we seek to generate an order of investigation through the orga-
nization of the review in three main divisions: the process of selling a used vehicle,
blockchain concepts, and the application of blockchain technology in the automo-
tive sector. It begins by describing the vehicle ownership transaction registration
process, then the information immersed in the transactions is mentioned, as well as
the most common frauds that occur in this area. After that, the concept of blockchain,
its characteristics, types, and consensus algorithms are explained, to present the
proposed technology as a solution to the problem previously described. Finally, the
current solutions are presented together with the methodologies and algorithms used;
showing the impact of these blockchain applications, analyzing their advantages and
disadvantages.
Fig. 1 Concept map—systematic review of the literature. Note Own elaboration

2 Used Vehicle Sales Process
2.1 Vehicle Ownership Transaction Registration Process
To better understand the vehicle ownership transaction registration process, let’s

explore the Peruvian and Brazilian cases. For the transfer of a vehicle from the seller
to the buyer to be executed, the Peruvian institution SUNARP [37] indicates that
both parties must attend a notary’s office carrying their original national identity
document. On the part of the seller, he must present a valid copy of the Mandatory
Insurance against Traffic Accidents (SOAT), which is responsible for guaranteeing
immediate medical attention to those involved who suffer physical injuries, disability,
and/or death during a traffic accident [31]. Likewise, proof of payment of the vehicle
tax (if the vehicle is less than three years old) and the vehicle identification card must
be shown.
With this documentation, the notary will issue a notarial act of vehicle transfer
which will contain the seller’s data, the buyer’s data, the license plate and charac-
teristics of the vehicle, the price of the vehicle, and the signatures of both actors.
The accredited notary or independent can choose to present the notarial transfer act,
the presentation form, and the payment of registration fees to SUNARP virtually
through the SID SUNARP platform or in person at any of the entity’s offices. After
that, the public registrar makes a pronouncement where it can observe the lack of a
requirement, liquidate if it is necessary to cancel the registration fee, and can register
when no requirement is missing, and the fees have been paid in full.
In Brazil, the seller must submit a certified copy of the transfer receipt to the
State transit executive body within thirty days, duly signed and dated. In addition,
copies of the vehicle inspection report, the vehicle registration certificate, and the
electronic vehicle ownership transfer authorization documents must be sent to the
same organization [11] (Fig. 2).
2.2 Data Involved in the Vehicle Ownership Transaction

Process
Given the defined process and depending on the notary where the transfer is made,
there are various formats related to the contract of sale of a vehicle. However,
according to SUNARP [37], data on the buyer, the seller, and the personal prop-
erty are essential in this transfer. The first thing to consider is the personal data of
the actors of the transfer, where names and surnames, identity documents, and home
addresses are recorded. Likewise, the vehicle data is recorded, including the brand,
model, finish, engine, version, first registration date, mileage, and chassis number.
Other data that is collected is the price and the division of expenses related to the
operation, where a bank receipt for a deposit or transfer to an account is attached. It
should be noted that if the buyer or seller has a fine to pay, they cannot carry out any
Fig. 2 Flowchart: vehicle ownership transaction registration process. Note Own elaboration
notarial transaction. According to the State Department of Traffic of Santa Catarina—

DETRAN/SC. (s.f.) in Brazil, the requirements are similar since the presentation of
documents of both actors and the vehicle is required. Notarially signed documents
are included, such as the Vehicle Registration Certificate (CRV) in paper money and
the Vehicle Ownership Transfer Authorization (ATPV).
2.3 Frauds in Vehicle Sales Transactions
As technology grows, there are more opportunities for fraud to occur during the
vehicle ownership transaction process. These acts would mostly bring benefits to the
seller and harm the buyer. One of the most common frauds is changing the odometer
reading to appear to have less mileage on the vehicle to be transferred [10, pp. 13–16].
In his investigation, Borkowski [7] expresses that this type of fraud consists of
reversing the odometer to show a lower mileage than it should. This fraud is carried
out to achieve better prices in the sale of a used car. Given the introduction of the
new digital odometers, the complexity of altering them was supposed to be higher.
However, these digital devices are easier to manipulate and there are techniques to
be able to fraudulently change them -by connecting a wire to the chip where the
odometer data is stored, connecting a serial cable directly to the odometer unit, and
by connecting the vehicle’s on-board computer to an external diagnostic unit [7,
pp. 184–194].
In the real estate field, a very similar process is carried out for the registration of
property. Panda et al. [26] mentions that land records are made manually, making it
difficult to access and recover data, which is slow and expensive. Within this process,
the difficulty of tracing the owner of the property when there are many land records
to maintain is mapped.
During the research, there have been fraudulent schemes focused on buying and
selling used cars using power of attorney. This means that the seller carries out the
transaction ignoring the additional registration of the technical passport, which is
used to grant the vehicle to his heirs after his death. This means that if the buyer
dies, his power of execution also expires, and the car must be returned to the original
owner. In this way, the seller can claim the payment of excess if the car has been
insured with it previously [5, pp. 126–153].
Arkusha and Chipko [5] report that criminals often use false documents to be able
to carry out the vehicle ownership transfer process. These are mostly obtained by
scammers given illegal possession. Registrations are usually carried out by frontmen
who criminals previously bribe, or their documents are used for the scam. Given this,
these vehicles are resold in the name of the same people. Many times, the vehicle has
been wrecked/scrapped, but the buyer is assured that the car was legitimately sold.
To guarantee the level of reliability of the forged documents, the fraudsters contact
corrupt police officers, thus forming a mafia.
After the internet, blockchain is considered the next technological evolution
because as time goes by, it is reinventing the way people work and live their day-
to-day life since its introduction in 2008 [29, pp. 18–25]. This is a technology that
implements a distributed ledger, i.e., a shared database that is synchronized and
replicated between different network users in a decentralized manner, to verify any
transaction [30, pp. 1821–1832]. This technology, known as blockchain, forms a
decentralized shared network for the registration and transfer of secure and reli-
able data through consensus mechanisms which are the key to building distributed
reliability among users [8, pp. 480–485].
3 Concepts About Blockchain
To understand the operation of this technology, Puthal et al. [29] present the following
example: an investigation contemplates a system of N users who belong to a network
in which information is shared and a file exchange, in which a protocol called
consensus algorithm is defined, which gives the possibility of dispensing with a
centralized intermediary to carry out transactions. This protocol allows mutual trust
to be established in the network and thus makes it possible to validate transactions
between peers (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 Centralized system versus blockchain-based system. Note The centralized system (1) with
intermediaries versus a decentralized system (2) of blockchain. Adapted from The Blockchain as a
Decentralized Security Framework, by D. Puthal et al. [29], IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine
3.1 Characteristics and Types of Blockchain
Blockchain and its characteristics have been addressed by different authors, with
similar points of view. Table 1 highlights some characteristics mentioned in the
literature.
The most addressed features by authors in previous applications can be defined
as follows:
Table 1 List of authors, titles of their investigations and the characteristics of blockchain that they
propose
Author(s) Research title Blockchain features
Zheng et al. [45] An Overview of Blockchain Decentralization, persistence,
Technology: anonymity, and auditability
Architecture, Consensus, and
Future Trends
Architecture, Consensus, and Blockchain for healthcare data Decentralization,
Future Trends management: opportunities, transparency, immutability,
challenges, and future data provenance, distributed
recommendations ledger, and anonymity
Yaqoob et al. [41] Blockchain Technology for Decentralization, trust, and
Smart Grids: Decentralized incentive
NIST Conceptual Model
Note Own elaboration
Table 2 Related studies on methodologies and algorithms used in DApps
128
Author Objectives Smart Consensus Type of Platform Programming User Library Command line
contract algorithm blockchain language Interface interface
(UI)
Yoo and Ahn Guarantee Solidity Proof of Public Ethereum Solidity Web Web3.JS Geth
[42] reliability of the contract work (PoW) blockchain private Platform (Go—Ethereum)
information in a chain
vehicle transaction
through a used car
data trading system
based on smart
contracts
Jiang and Sun Collect vehicle Solidity Proof of Private Ethereum Solidity Web page Web3.js Geth
[16] data through a contract authority blockchain private (Go—Ethereum)
blockchain-based (PoA) chain
decentralized web
interface to ensure
transparency,
security, and
reliability
Subramanian Provide Solidity Proof of Hybrid Ethereum Solidity Mobile/ Web3.js -
and Thampy transparency in the contract work (PoW) blockchain private desktop
[36] process of buying chain application
and selling
second-hand
electric vehicles.
Connect process
stakeholders
through smart
contracts
(continued)
J. L. S. Barreto et al.
Table 2 (continued)
Author Objectives Smart Consensus Type of Platform Programming User Library Command line
contract algorithm blockchain language Interface interface
(UI)
Lamberti [21] Implement a Solidity Proof of Private Ethereum – Mobile App – Geth
blockchain-based contract existence blockchain private (Go—Ethereum)
system to chain
complement
traditional
insurance practices
and reduce policy
modification costs
and fraud
Note Own elaboration
Blockchain-Based System to Ensure the Integrity of Used Vehicle …
129
⏺ Decentralization: unlike centralized transaction systems, blockchain does not

require a centralized agent to validate each transaction, but rather makes use
of consensus algorithms that allow data consistency to be maintained in this
distributed network, making it more resistant, efficient, and democratic [41, 45].
Also, this reduces the chances of having a single point of failure [1].
⏺ Persistence: only validated transactions can be integrated into the chain and once
they enter, they cannot be altered, they are inviolable [41, 45]. In this way, it is
possible to distribute trust between the different nodes, guaranteeing immutability,
manipulation detection, resilience, scalability, and audibility [1].
⏺ Anonymity: any participating user, whether sender or recipient, can interact with
the chain without revealing their identity. However, it is not possible to guarantee
its absolute preservation [41, 45].
⏺ Auditability: every transaction can be verified and traceable because they refer to
others within the chain, being able to track data changes from their origins to their
current forms, which provides reliability for data validation and audit purposes.
Yaqoob [41, pp. 1–16], Zheng [45, pp. 557–564].
⏺ Transparency: a fully auditable and valid ledger of transactions is provided, unlike
some current data management systems which cannot provide privacy, security,
and transparency while ensuring authoritative control over the data [41, pp. 1–16].
⏺ Distributed ledger: distributed accounting technology is offered through
consensus algorithms, which minimizes operational inefficiencies and saves
administrative costs. In this way, the validity and authenticity of the transactions
are guaranteed, obtaining a single source of truth [41, pp. 1–16].
⏺ Incentive: this technology allows transactions to incentivize the participating
nodes and combat repudiation in the network to guarantee the continuous and
very long-term operation of the system. Thus, continuous participation of the
nodes is achieved thanks to this incentive [1, pp. 43177–43190].
On the other hand, according to Shrivas and Yeboah [33], there are different
taxonomies in which blockchain can be classified according to various criteria about
its nature, resulting mainly in three scenarios. First, when we talk about this tech-
nology based on the nature of its data accessibility, it can be classified into four
types:
i. Public blockchain: this type is one where anyone can read and send transactions
[33, pp. 17–39]. In this type, all the records can be visible to the public, and
therefore, everyone can participate in the consensus Zheng et al. [45].
ii. Private blockchain: only a certain organization or all those organizations that are
subsidiaries within the same group will be able to read and send transactions
to the chain [33]. This is considered a centralized network since it is only
controlled by a certain organization [45].
iii. Consortium or hybrid blockchain: different organizations form multiple groups
that together form a consortium and between them can send and read transac-
tional data on the chain [33, pp. 17–39]. According to Zheng et al. [45], this
type of blockchain is considered partially decentralized since the consensus
will depend only on a small portion of nodes.
iv. Hybrid blockchain: a new type which consists of a combination of the previous
ones whose purpose is to facilitate transactions and allows the blockchain
platform to be configured in multiple modes [33, pp. 17–39].
Secondly, when talking about the authorization that is required to participate in a
chain, it can be categorized into three types as detailed below:
i. Permissionless blockchain: in this type, any user can participate in the chain
without the need to request prior permission i.e., everyone can participate in
the verification process of a block and in the same way they can join the chain
using their own computational power [33, pp. 17–39].
ii. Blockchain with permission: it is required that the person who wants to join
the chain has prior permission and through this, they can execute nodes to be
able to verify transactions in the network [33, pp. 17–39].
iii. Hybrid blockchain: a node can participate in the chain regardless of whether
it has permission or not. To facilitate communication between blockchain
networks, it can be configured to support both the permissioned and permis-
sionless models [33, pp. 17–39].
Lastly, when we talk about the core functionality and support of smart contracts,
blockchain can be categorized into two types:
i. Stateless blockchain: focused solely on the optimization of transactions and each
transaction is verified through the calculation of hashes. This is independent of
the logic layer of the smart contract, so it will not be affected by errors or
vulnerabilities that the code of this contract may have [33, pp. 17–39].
ii. Stateful blockchain: provides computing capabilities of transactions and smart
contracts in addition to being compatible with multifaceted business logic and its
optimization. Through this, the logical states are preserved [33, pp. 17–39].
In addition to the above, Sabry [30] propose a new blockchain taxonomy that not
only focuses on bitcoin as is traditionally done, but also focuses and classifies based
on its system and general applications, categorizing it into 3 types:
i. Only cryptocurrency blockchain (C2C): the type of blockchain that only covers
cryptocurrency chains and is reserved solely for the decentralization of money
or payments.
ii. Business to cryptocurrency blockchain (B2C): This type includes a logic level
in the ledger which provides a multipurpose programmable infrastructure in
which the ledger not only stores financial transactions, but also has facili-
ties to implement and execute programs called smart contracts within the
blockchain. An example of this type of network is Ethereum, the second largest
permissionless network that was introduced as a platform to implement smart
contracts.
iii. Only business blockchain (B2B): this type is characterized by not supporting
any currency and only supporting executions of software dedicated to business
logic. An example of this is the Hyperledger project.
3.2 Blockchain Components
According to various actors such as Karamitsos et al. [17] or [12], blockchain is

divided into seven layers which can be seen in Fig. 4. Within these are all the compo-
nents of this technology, which include transactions, blocks, consensus algorithms,
applications, and smart contracts [17, pp. 177–190]. The detail of each of these layers
are presented below:
i. Network layer: consists of a peer-to-peer (P2P) network with node storage

based on frameworks or platforms such as Ethereum or Hyperledger [12,
pp. 695–709].
ii. Transaction layer: all the validations of the transactions that are initiated by the
users or smart contracts are observed [17, pp. 177–190]. Likewise, according to
Dewan & Singh [12], the mining process is included in this layer, because within
some consensus algorithms this process is carried out to be able to validate the
transaction, and to reward the miner involved.
iii. Blockchain layer: refers to the state of each block which contains all the infor-
mation necessary for the operation of the network [17]. Two types of blockchain
networks are defined in this: an authorized network where only the autho-
rized member can see the information in the network, and a network without
permission [12, pp. 695–709].
Fig. 4 Illustration of blockchain layers. Note Adapted from “Use of blockchain in designing smart
city”, by Dewan and Singh [12]
iv. Trust layer: within this layer are the consensus algorithms that allow the vali-
dation of blocks and transactions [17, pp. 177–190]. In this way, it is possible
to authenticate all those transactions that want to interact on the network [12,
pp. 695–709].
v. Application layer: made up of smart contracts, decentralized applications, and
state machines. This is always separated from the blockchain layer, having the
smart contract as the most important component [17, pp. 177–190].
vi. Security layer: a very important layer for the network since it is vulnerable to
different types of attacks such as the 51% attack, selfish mining, or an eclipse
[17].
3.3 Consensus Algorithms and Smart Contracts
After having briefly developed each layer of the blockchain architecture, two of the
most important components of this technology are presented.
3.3.1 Consensus Algorithms
Consensus algorithms are considered the center of blockchain technology because

they are responsible for reaching an agreement depending on the needs of network
users and thus ensure that transactions are reliable and valid [18]. These play a very
important role at the time of maintaining the security and legitimacy of the content
registered in the blockchain, making the network reach an agreement in the presence
of failures and thus building distributed reliability among the users that comprise it
[8]. There are currently different types of these algorithms, but according to Zheng
et al. [45], a good algorithm is one that provides efficiency, security, and convenience,
so new ones are designed with the aim of solving problems. Proof of Work (PoW),
Proof of Stake (PoS), Delegated PoS (DPoS), and Proof of Activity (PoA) are the
most widely used consensus algorithms for public blockchain applications [18].
However, after reviewing the above, the details of three of the algorithms that
were used in the various applications of blockchain in the automotive sector will be
presented:
i. Proof of work (PoW): The most classic consensus algorithm on which the
Bitcoin project was based. Its operation consists of the members of the system
using their own computational power to be able to compete in a hash operation
where the one that first finds the hash value lower than an announced objective
will be able to insert a new block in the chain and in this way obtain its reward,
but at a cost of high computing consumption [8].
ii. Proof of authority (PoA): A consensus algorithm in which the nodes are classi-
fied into two types: authority nodes (ANs) which have a sufficient level of trust
to manage and coordinate the mining process, and worker nodes (WN) which
refer to any node that can participate in the mining process. This algorithm does
not require additional time to confirm the arrived block if none of the authority
nodes start a block rejection process [3].
iii. Proof of existence (PoE): Refers to a method to generate digital evidence of the
existence of an information target at a given time by tagging a specific owner.
This requires two main steps: cryptographically hashing the information using
a unique one-way hash, and sending the hash to the public blockchain network
with a timestamp and registered proprietary information [32].
3.3.2 Smart Contracts
The concept of smart contract was first introduced in 1997 by Nick Szabo and is
defined as a piece of code that is identified and stored in a unique address that
is assigned to it in a blockchain network. It has two main components: a set of
executable functions, and state variables [17, pp. 177–190].
These contracts have the main function of reading and writing data in the
blockchain, as well as executing the established business logic, if certain condi-
tions are met in the system. The main objective of these contracts is to guarantee that
the agreement between the two parties involved is signed [12, pp. 695–709].
At the time of carrying out a transaction, it has defined input parameters which
require a function within the contract, which changes the state of its state variables
at the time of its execution according to the logical implementation. These codes
are usually written in high-level languages like Python or Solidity for Ethereum
applications [17, pp. 177–190]. This latter language was used in most of the smart
contracts in the blockchain application articles reviewed in this paper.
3.4 Other Concepts
After having explained the types, characteristics, and main components of

blockchain, two important concepts that are involved in the process of this tech-
nology and that need to be understood to have a complete vision of the solution will
be discussed.
3.4.1 Ethereum
Ethereum is one of the preferred technologies to develop applications such as smart

contracts through a high-level language called solidity. This framework has four
processes, which are block validation, network discovery, transaction creation, and
mining [17, pp. 177–190]. This framework has been used in most of the works
reviewed in this article.
3.4.2 Solidity
This is a programming language that developers use to generate smart contracts

which are later converted into byte code to finally be executed on the Ethereum
blockchain. This is a contract-oriented high-level language that has similarities to
JavaScript and C; and it has the characteristics of having static types, supporting
inheritance, libraries and complex types defined by the user [12, pp. 695–709]. This
language is used in most of the blockchain applications in the automotive sector
reviewed in this article.
4 Decentralized Applications Based on Blockchain: Sale

of Used Vehicles
Having understood the conceptual framework, it is important to highlight

that blockchain-based applications are attracting great attention from new developers.
There are now projects and applications that can complement the information needed
for the entire vehicule transaction process. In Dallas, Texas USA, the blockchain-
based start-up called Oaken Innovations studied the possibility of equipping self-
driving cars with cryptocurrency wallets for paying tolls and buying oil changes.
This project has been implemented with the support of Tesla, the autonomous elec-
tric car company. Through smart contracts within the Ethereum network, proofs of
concept were carried out where autonomous cars made use of the Internet of Things
to pay toll taxes automatically [27, pp. 26–35].
Similarly, Chang et al. [9] and Syed et al. [38] emphasize that large technology
companies and the automotive industry are turning their financial prospects toward
investment in blockchain-based applications seeking to solve problems of reliability,
traceability, security, and transparency of the data. They point out that MOBI, a
blockchain solutions company for the automotive sector, is carrying out the “car
passport” as its first project: a prototype of a vehicle’s digital identity that permits
the odometer and related data to be tracked and protected in the blockchain. This
project could dramatically reduce fraud in used car sales and help auto dealers and
insurers underwrite a vehicle’s history for warranties and insurance policies.
Due to the complexity of blockchain, it is not possible to find literature corre-
sponding to a solution specifically dedicated to protecting the integrity of the vehicle
sales transaction process. The current solutions, for the most part, have a focus on
the collection of historical data through checkpoints in various establishments where
the vehicle passes periodically.
Thakur et al. [39] and Syed et al. [38] agree on the use of decentralized applications
for transaction registration. Thakur et al. [39] propose the use of a system-oriented
to the registration of agricultural land in India. Syed et al. [38] take the use of
this technology to a city in Saudi Arabia, focusing on the integrity of real estate
property transactions. Both studies confirm that the use of these technologies within
their locality favors a decentralized integration and administration of real estate
transactions that are often obscured by various limitations in traditional systems and
latent fraud.
In finance, the institutions belonging to the sector currently make use of the elec-
tronic transfer of funds in their electronic banking systems. Popova and Butakova
[28] analyze the use of blockchain technology without the use of tokens (validators)
to provide integrity in banking transactions, including data on transfer amounts, card
details, and names of participants. Thus, the author analyzes the protection mech-
anisms of currently distributed databases and proposes a solution to the problem
of maintaining the uniqueness of the information in them through blockchain
technology.
4.1 Methodologies and Algorithms
Through a blockchain network, decentralized applications are deployed, which are

also known as DApps. These are characterized by making use of smart contracts and
operating on a distributed network of nodes. These, like web applications, have a
back-end and front-end development environment [35, p. 35].
Bearing this concept in mind, these types of applications have been implemented
today for the transaction process of vehicles and other consumer goods in other parts
of the world. Table 2 details the methodologies used in other investigations:
4.2 Impact/Results
Studies have been able to demonstrate various results, which satisfy various needs
of drivers when opting for a second-use vehicle. In Yoo and Ahn’s proposal [42],
users can consult this system every time they want to buy a used car. When a buyer
wishes to sell his car, he must be previously registered with all his data available
in the system, including proprietary data (manufacturer, model, grade, and specific
details such as year, price, fuel type, area, mileage, transmission, and color) and life
cycle data (when was the car repaired, if it had any crashes, tracked mileage, weather
or not it was serviced properly and on time). In addition to these benefits, the system
offers a messenger function for communication between a buyer and a seller. In this
way, smart sales contracts can be created to improve the efficiency of the process,
and on the other hand, manufacturers, insurers, and workshops will be able to create
and update vehicle information, which will be stored in smart contracts to guarantee
the accuracy and security of the information. All this information can be viewed on
a web platform.
The system provided in the study of Jiang and Sun [16] proves the capability
of supporting daily vehicle data transactions between users. To achieve this, the
authors used one indicator: the performance of the transactions carried out in the
system. This indicator was considered since in this case there is no fee for sending
transactions. For this reason, we can posit that this system is feasible only if the
performance of the transactions is greater than the number of daily transactions.
During the execution, the number of transactions obtained per day was lower than
the performance, this means that the system is feasible and could be implemented
in a real environment. Specifically, Jiang and Sun [16] determined that the time to
implement smart contracts is approximately 35 days, which is acceptable according
to the range that they managed.
Subramanian and Thampy [36] showed that through a blockchain implementation
in their project it was possible to provide vehicle data in a secure, transparent, and
efficient way. Subramanian and Thampy [36] covered second-hand electric vehicles,
however, they mention that considering the platforms used, it is possible to univer-
salize this type of system. Likewise, the main factor that influences the results is
the end-to-end (P2P) process that is supervised through the Ethereum blockchain,
which, through its platform integrations, manages to be the best option for this type
of solution. Subramanian and Thampy [36] also demonstrated their concern for end-
users by proposing the implementation of cryptocurrency payments for the ‘green’
system of electric vehicles, as well as blockchain rewards for battery maintenance
and maintenance records.
Lamberti et al. [21] provided a perspective from the side of the insurance compa-
nies. They demonstrated that through the execution of their prototype, several prob-
lems of the analyzed companies can be solved as well as the insurance ones. By
using the implemented sensors (IoT), it was possible to record the data, as well as to
be able to identify several types of car accidents in real time and with photographic
evidence. This would help insurers to avoid fraud by keeping an updated database
with truthful data collected on a blockchain network, and with the help of smart
contracts.
4.3 Challenges and Opportunities
We would like to highlight some challenges and opportunities for future studies.
A wide range of potential solutions were proposed, from the implementation of
a blockchain prototype in practical and real environments, to the possibility of
including other types of technologies to obtain better results.
Lamberti et al. [21] proposed a service model that can be applied in other P2P
services where the blockchain could be used successfully to build decentralized
autonomous organizations. For instance, in on-demand home insurance, a home
hub could be used to communicate with different sensors that dynamically acti-
vate coverage, detect damage, automatically request intervention/refunds, etc. This
scenario would involve the implementation of an IoT solution in which the sensors
can communicate effectively with the database linked to the blockchain network.
Yoo and Ahn [42] suggested implementing a new transparent management
method, not only for used cars but also for their general data, and based on this,
to be able to carry out the real implementation of the system. In a real scenario, it
would be verified that the falsification and manipulation of vehicle data would be
reduced. Similarly, it was found that a decentralized application model deployed on
a website would be the most convenient for users. This is because it fits the user
experience and the way of displaying the data collected through the blockchain.
Subramanian and Thampy [36], suggested that to achieve a more comprehensive
solution, all automakers could come together and generate a cumulative solution
for customers. This would improve the user experience and take transparency to a
higher level. On the technical side, it is recommended to integrate the system with
IoT devices and Cloud services, which is called “Blockchain Electric Conveyance
Cloud of Things” (BEVCoT).
Lamberti et al. [21] concluded that the costs of modifying the insurance policy
could be reduced because the activation/deactivation of the coverage could be
controlled directly by the client when interacting with the smart contract. Likewise,
fraud could also be reduced since the system would record the state of the vehicle at
each change.
5 Conclusions
This paper presented a literature review regarding blockchain applications in the

automotive sector as well as some insights for the development of a blockchain-
based application for supporting vehicle ownership transactions. We analyzed the
immersed processes, actors, data, and types of possible fraud. Fraud related to the
identification of the owner is recurrent in these types of transactions, so a blockchain
solution is proposed which is expected to be able to minimize this type of threat.
On the more technical side, we have been able to recognize the most significant
data involved in a used vehicle purchase transaction and we have identified the most
appropriate infrastructure for research. For instance, we found that the most used
network for this type of solution is Ethereum since it allows transactions to be carried
out without intermediaries and at high speed. In addition, to carry out the proof of
concept, we may be able to use the Go-Ethereum interface and Solidity programming
language to code the smart contract. The most suitable type of blockchain for this
type of research is hybrid, since it offers the possibility of combining the qualities of
public and private blockchains working in a closed ecosystem, in such a way that the
organizations involved do not have to worry about the filtering of their information.
Likewise, the consensus algorithm that best suits the purpose of the investigation
and that will contribute to the development of the solution is the Proof of Authority
(PoA). We suggest this algorithm since it contains signatures that act as regulatory
entities, which may be DETRAN, SUNARP, or others, depending on the country.

We found that the Go-Ethereum platform gives us the possibility to work with PoA
and PoW. This facility becomes an advantage when assigning a consensus algorithm
to the smart contract.
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Digital Adaptation in Education: A Case
Study and Intervention Proposal
Catarina Falcão da Palma Ferreira and Patrícia Costa
Abstract Education is one of the most important pillars of our society, thus there
is a constant need of adapting to new contexts. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted
schools and demanded change in technological literacy. This case study, conducted
in a European public school, aims at understanding the context and developing an
intervention under the assessment of the pandemic’s impact on such organizations.
Hence, a literature review was performed, comprising a framing of the current condi-
tions and relevant constructs to cope with change. Examples of the last are reflexivity,
psychological safety and adaptivity. This review led to the diagnosis and the interven-
tion proposal development following Porras’ [23] and Kurt Lewin’s (1947) change
models. The diagnosis encompassed the conduction of interviews and focus groups.
Hence, several intervention proposals framed by the job demands and resources
model by Bakker et al. (Annu Rev Organ Psych Organ Behav 1:389–411, 2014)
were developed. All the proposals are presented in this chapter, as well as their
desired effects. From the data gathering process and its following analysis, the needs
of the school arose, and topics such as exhaustion, the perception of low digital
skills, the inability of establishing barriers, lack of digital resources and technologies’
integration, as well as a weak internal communication were mentioned.
Keywords Education · Imposed change · Public schools · Digital · Technology ·

COVID-19 pandemic
C. Falcão da Palma Ferreira (B)

e-mail: cfpferreira@gmail.com; cfpfa1@iscte-iul.pt
P. Costa
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Lisbon,
Portugal
e-mail: Patricia_Costa@iscte-iul.pt
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_7
144 C. Falcão da Palma Ferreira and P. Costa
1 Introduction
Education is one of the most important pillars of our society, serving as a basis for
the gathering of knowledge and competencies necessary to approach all the other
sectors. Without proper education, younger generations will not have the needed
preparation to cope with every challenge life is going to put ahead of them, or even
to play certain roles in society.
At the same time, the world as we know it is rapidly shifting, with several events
currently occurring and imposing change on most entities and organizations, schools
included. Moreover, this change process creates the need for the development of new
competencies [13], which were not perceived as needed before. These competencies,
for schools, are not only needed from the side of the students but the teachers and
the leadership as well. Even though the students need to develop a new set of abil-
ities which allow them to strive in the future, teachers need to adapt their teaching
methods and, therefore, schools need to follow the changes society and the external
environment are facing.
The COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented situation, led to an extremely urgent
need for adaptation since all classes, meetings, and evaluations, among other proce-
dures, were performed remotely, which had never been the reality in the sector.
In fact, the education sector was one of the most impacted during the COVID-19
pandemic [36], since schools are very complex organizations, mobilizing several
different groups: teachers, the leadership, the students, and the parents, among others
[15].
The decision of most educational institutes during this crisis was to close the
schools, but that decision might have affected educational outcomes during the
pandemic and even in the future (Azevedo et al. 2021, as cited in Alfano [2]). This
might have happened because not every student in Europe had the same support
system, talking about digital resources and parents’ assistance, to achieve the desired
outcomes [15]. At the same time, teachers and students were forced to use their own
personal digital resources, namely the internet and devices, to be able to deliver and
attend classes. With this new context, several already existing problems became more
exposed, namely the lack of personal digital resources and the ability to use them for
learning purposes, since there were students who did not have a computer at home
and ended up being excluded from the classes and the execution of their work. This
only means that the pandemic ended up evidencing some already existing limitations
in the education system, under changing conditions [36].
Together, there is little to no information about the personal digital resources of
the teachers, as well as their state and adequation to provide the classes remotely.
Teachers needed to fully adapt their way of preparing and delivering classes, eval-
uating students, and performing activities. But were they prepared for this quick
adaptation? Did they have the right resources (cognitive, physical, and mental)?
What was the impact of remote work on teachers’ personal and professional lives?
This case study was developed in a Public Basic and Secondary School in a
European country and was aimed at understanding the main difficulties teachers and
Digital Adaptation in Education: A Case Study … 145
the leadership faced during the digital adaptation to this unprecedented situation of
the COVID-19 pandemic, and what were the already existing issues. Having in mind
these results, the goal was also to develop a set of transversal solutions to solve these
predominant issues and to improve the well-being of these groups even after the
pandemic is over.
2 Technologies and Change
Change is seen as one crucial aspect of the success and development of organizations
and, thus, understanding the nature of this process as well as perceiving the social,
political, economic, or other aspects that drive or hinder it are seen as very important
competencies of Organizational Development professionals [3]. Moreover, change
in people and organizations is not only affected by the internal forces but also by
the external environment, which is something that, even though it does not integrate
into the organization directly, is brought by people and “stays with them when they
come to work” [27].
Moreover, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, being the “combination of Industry,
automation, digitalization, and the current Internet of Things (IoT) technology” [1,
p. 2478], is currently happening, and both the teachers and the leadership of the
schools need to be prepared to deal with it and its challenges so that educational
organizations can continue to be transformed. In an environment where the teaching
tools need to be preferably technologic in order to keep the pace of the twenty-
first-century classroom pedagogy, the representatives in schools need to become,
themselves, technology leaders so that they can spearhead the embracing of the
inevitable and ever-transforming digital era [24].
Leadership is the component key to guiding the teaching–learning process, thus
leaders need to motivate teachers to develop their teaching skills to approach a method
connected with the digital era [24]. The way teachers perceive the importance of
technologies in their classes shapes the way they teach (Sugar et al. [32], as cited
in ChanLin [8]), which is very important because there is the perception that the
integration of technologies in teaching methods boosts students’ creativity [8] and
familiarize them with the intellectual inquiry process [5]. The usage of certain soft-
ware, considered “productivity software”, such as word processors, and drawing
programmes, among others, are thought to provide the students with intellectually
stimulating educational involvements [5]. At the same time, there are several studies
and research supporting that technologies’ integration enhances teachers’ confidence
and willingness to adapt to new methodologies and resources [32].
However, for this integration to be successful, teachers need to adapt their practices
and gather specific knowledge (Wiske et al. 2001, as cited in ChanLin [8]) and,
consequently, they need the right competencies’ development. Thus, two questions
are important to answer: on the one hand, what are the conditions that motivate
teachers to integrate technologies in their classroom [9], and, on the other, what
kind of support do they need to gain that motivation and effectively implement new
methodologies, such as resources or training, for instance.
But more than being delivered the right training and resources, there are several
other aspects that can concern teachers during the process, such as the motivation
provided by the community in general, the accomplishment of curricular goals (Shayo
et al. 2000, as cited in ChanLin [8], and the support mechanisms to cope with technical
problems during the usage of technologies [8]). Concerns and worries about the
integration of new technologies exist and need to be approached to tailor professional
development (Hall and Hord 1987) [12].
Both the teachers and the students benefit from technology integration in the
teaching/learning process and the appearance of new methodologies; however,
conclusions are that it is extremely important that the right resources, both intellec-
tual and physical, are provided so that this process is consistent. But is the leadership
of the schools, namely Public Basic and Secondary Schools, ready to provide this
support to the teachers? Do they have the right competencies? Are they digital leaders
or e-leaders?
2.1 Crucial Basis to Cope with Change
There are some extremely important aspects that will help public schools on coping
with the previously mentioned situation, change, and allow a fast achievement of
their goals. One of them is the perceived organizational support [11].
Employment is often seen as an exchange between the member of the organization,
and the organization itself, where the first one provides a commitment and hard work
and the second one delivers material possessions, such as the salary [11]. But more
than the providence of economic means and their perception as rewards from the side
of the members, these last also develop emotional relationships with the organization
(Buchanan 1974, 1975) [12].
Perceived organizational support increases the positive feelings members have
towards the organization and their expectation of recognition whenever they commit
to it [11]. This perspective of emotional organizational commitment is defined
as “employee’s identification with and involvement in a particular organization”
(Mowday et al. 1979; Porter et al. 1974, as cited in Eisenberger [12], p. 500).
Regarding schools, it becomes extremely important that the members of the orga-
nization, being the teachers, students, or even the leadership, share this perception
of organizational support and commitment as an exchange relationship. This is not
only beneficial for the school as an organization, promoting its development and
increase of contributions from the side of all the groups, but also for the well-being
of those as well. They will feel like their work is recognized, and they will reciprocate
(Gouldner 1960), increasing their efforts since they feel valued and share positive
feelings towards the organization. This will lead to innovation in teaching methods,
for instance, or a stronger contribution from the side of the students as well, which
is also very important.
Another very important topic is reflexivity. The concept of “team reflexivity” is

defined as “the extent to which group members overly reflect upon, and communi-
cate about the group’s objectives, strategies (e.g., decision-making) and processes
(e.g., communication), and adapt them to current or anticipated circumstances” [29,
p. 190], which helps managing change in organizations and increases their effec-
tiveness. This effectiveness at the team level is crucial for the success of dynamic
organizations such as, for instance, learning ones [29], and will increase at the same
time the members of the organization reflect on their work and the culture they are
working at. According to that reflection, they end up adapting and performing change
(West 2000, as cited in Schippers et al. [29]).
In fact, reflexivity is proven to be a predictor of effectiveness [7]. At the same
time, teams which usually show a more reflective behaviour tend to be more proactive
while facing changes, since they will pay more attention to the strategies and goals
of the organization, as well as properly analyse the environment where they are
performing (West et al. 1997, as cited in Schippers et al. [29]).
For schools, namely now, this reflexive process is extremely important. The
changes and methodologies applied now will also impact the future. It is crucial
to align the communication and the strategy and adapt it to the current situation, but
always think about how the school can make the best use of it in the future and what
practices can remain.
An additional construct which is equally important and connected with team
reflexivity is: “feedback-seeking behaviour”, meaning the “information about how
far one has progressed toward the goal” (Frese and Zapf 1994, as cited in Schippers
2007, p. 192). The implementation of these kinds of behaviours from the side of
the members is made with the purpose of achieving higher goals and increasing
performance, through the assessment of their work (Ashford and Cummings 1983,
as cited in Schippers 2007). This information regarding their job performance is very
important to promote reflection (West et al. 1997, as cited in Schippers 2007).
For teachers to understand how they can improve their methods and, at the same
time, for the leadership to understand the same thing, is crucial. Moreover, this infor-
mation must not only be exchanged between these two groups, but the assessment
of this kind of feedback from the side of the students, the parents and the staff is
also important. In fact, it is important to state that combining a team reflexivity inter-
vention with feedback provided prior to this intervention was shown to be the most
effective way of improving the development of a shared team and task knowledge
and adaptation, leading to the final goal, the improvement of performance [17] and
integration of technologic learning methods.
Lastly, this process ends up being an organizational learning one, which can be
perceived as a process of error finding and solving (Argyris and Schön 1978, as cited
in Edmondson [10]), characterized by the adaptation of behaviours leading to change
management or the increase of performance, for instance [10].
Finally, another important aspect is psychological safety, meaning the belief that a
group is safe for taking risks, at the interpersonal level [10]. This perception of safety
will make the members of the organization feel confident in changing (Schein &
Bennis, 1965, as cited in Edmondson [10]). The shared sense that a team is not going
to punish someone or make them feel less valid because of a mistake or because
of speaking up is implemented, leading to mutual respect and trust [10]. Moreover,
this will provide the members of the organization with a positive and beneficial team
climate [10].
This group perception will ease the learning process and increase learning
behaviours because people will not be afraid of speaking up or sharing their mistakes
for the fear of being held against them. This is extremely important in schools, for
the teachers to feel confident in sharing their concerns and the mistakes they might
have made while implementing a specific methodology or using new technology so
that the group and the teachers themselves can learn from that mistake and improve
methods in general. This is also important for the students, the leadership, and the
other groups belonging to the organization.
Having in mind this theoretical basis, the data gathering process, its analysis and
the intervention proposals were developed, as described in the next sections.
3 Project Development
The school where the case study was conducted is a Public Basic and Secondary
School that currently has 152 teachers and 978 students, being the second biggest
Public Basic and Secondary School in its town. The school has students from the
seventh grade, having approximately 12 years old, until the 12th grade, where the
students are around 18 years old. It is a very diverse school, offering several options
for the students in what regard the several courses, from sciences and technologies to
humanities and languages, arts and economics. It also provides professional/technical
courses in areas such as health and socio-cultural animation. The case study presented
in this chapter comprises the first three stages of the consulting process defined by
Sabath and Kubr [27], which are the Entry, Diagnosis and Action Planning.
The Entry stage concerns the first contact and communication with the school,
which was performed through a call and scheduling of an initial meeting with the Sub-
Director of the school, the person responsible for this kind of project. This approach
was done following the practices of the process consultation model developed by
Edgar Schein [28], which is stated to properly suit human systems. There is an
assumption that the client, which, in this case, is the leadership of the school, does
not know exactly what problems the school is facing from the beginning, being only
aware of the context and some aspects that need improvement. The scope of the
case study goes beyond what can be perceived without assessing the several groups
comprising the school. At the same time, the leadership is not aware of the type of
help which is available and relevant [28].
During the Diagnosis phase, the data gathering, its analysis, and building of a
feedback report to the school, with the results, took place, as well as its presentation.
The data gathering process will be described in detail in the next section. The data
analysis and further discussion were based on the model of the dynamics of the
planned change process, to be developed in that section [25]. Still following the
process consultation model [28], the leadership of the school, represented by the
Sub-Director, was a part of the diagnosis process.
Lastly, the Action Planning consisted of the building of an intervention proposal,
having in mind the results extracted from the data gathered, the perspective and
context of the school. As established by Edgar Schein [28], concerning the process
consultation model, only the leadership of the school has a clear perspective about
the intervention which will properly work in the school and that will suit the school
culture. At the same time, it is very important for the leadership of the school, to
gather some knowledge concerning problem-solving so that, in the future, they can
become more independent and develop effective solutions.
3.1 Data Gathering
A qualitative data gathering process was performed in this project, aiming at under-
standing the context of the school and the effects the forced remote work had
concerning different scopes. As a school is a social system and people are the core of
it, the qualitative methods, the interviews and focus groups were very important to
implement to analyse the utilized language, the interaction between the participants
concerning the topics and a more personal perspective from their side [26].
Five interviews and two focus groups were implemented and will be described in
detail in the next sections. Two main groups of the school’s actors were approached
during the data gathering: the management board and the teachers. Having their
perspective on the impact of the pandemic on the school management, concerning
the teaching and the learning is very important. At the same time, this allows to cross
some information from several perspectives and try to extract relevant conclusions
and build a sustainable intervention proposal, adapted to all groups.
Five individual interviews were conducted with the school management. As a
qualitative method, the interviews end up being a flexible and adaptable way of
gathering questions with certain answers, being useful to observe the behaviour of
the interviewee [26]. The interviews were semi-structured [26] since there was a
pre-established script, but not all questions were asked in each one of the interviews
and some were added or rephrased accordingly to the conversation. At the same time,
the order could be changed if needed (Greener 2008, as cited in Ragab and Arisha
[21]). The interviews covered leadership practices and constraints and adaptation to
the remote work and classes.
All the interviews were done through the Zoom platform and they were recorded
and transcribed with the permission of the interviewees. The interviews lasted, on
average, 33 min, leading to 49 pages of transcriptions, 8–9 each, on average. The
building and conduction of the interviews followed the good practices of Robson
and McCartan [26] (Table 1).
The participants were chosen since they are the ones who have a clearer perspective
of the impact of the pandemic on all the work fronts of the school and the more
important ones for coping with the pandemic.
Table 1 Interview’s demographics

Gender Age Seniority in the Teaching area/role Seniority in the
school in years function in years
Interviews Male 61 35 Director 11
Male 54 33 Direction adjunct 11
Male 55 13 Tech team 13
Male 49 21 Direction adjunct 11
Male 55 9 Sub-director 9
The focus group was also semi-structured since there was the flexibility to add
or remove questions and to change their order (Greener 2008, as cited in Ragab and
Arisha [21]). Also, as a qualitative method, the focus group allows comprising a
high amount of information, while consuming less time than an individual interview.
At the same time, the group dynamics and the existence of brainstorming can lead
to the gathering of very interesting conclusions, which would not be reached if the
interviews were performed individually [26].
The focus groups were all performed remotely, through the Zoom Platform, and
they were recorded and then transcribed with the authorization of the participants.
The teachers participated under anonymity; thus, any identity will be disclosed. The
building of the script was, as the interview one, fully developed by the author of the
project, who was also the moderator of both the focus groups and interviews.
For both the interviews and the focus groups, the template analysis method [16]
was the chosen one to thematically analyze qualitative data. A hierarchical coding
template [6] was developed, summarizing all the important and relevant topics, and
the codes, approached by the interviewees and dividing them into four levels, from
broader to more specific details about each of them. Some of these topics, mainly
the broader ones corresponding to the first level, were defined a priori, from the
existing literature. For instance, the training and development of the teachers and the
technological resources were established a priori, having in mind previous research
and the building of the scripts. Several others were defined posteriori, and these
mainly corresponded to topics concerning the second, third, and fourth levels, where
the interviewees explained in detail their situation and perceptions concerning each
one of the broader topics.
The coding template was developed throughout the reading of the transcripts for
the focus groups and the interviews. There is a different template for the interviews
and the focus groups, but they will be analysed together, comparing the answers
concerning the same topics since the interviews were conducted with the leadership
and the focus groups with the teachers. With the templates finished, the writing of
the results became more intuitive and easier to perform since the data is distributed
and coded.
The 15 schoolteachers (8 in one and 7 in another focus group) were chosen to
participate in the focus group, having in mind the grades they teach, the discipline
they deliver to their students and their age. The goal was to have a diverse group of
teachers, of different ages, different disciplines and teaching different grades, to have
an overall perspective of the impact of the forced remote work, and the way they
experienced the school, concerning the topics approached, before the pandemic.
4 Results
As already stated, both the interviews performed with the leadership and the focus
groups conducted with the teachers approach several topics, some of them identical,
while others were different.
One aspect these two groups have in common is that both were not ready to
face such an unpredictable situation and, at the same time, met extreme difficulties.
From the side of the leadership, while managing the school, there were “bigger
constraints” (Leader 5), since “the management before and after the pandemic is
very different” (Leader 5), with several situations “needing to be well though in
advance” (Leader 1) but lacking enough time to properly plan them. For instance,
“now there is the need to deal with students that, for many reasons, are isolating
or tested positive, and we need to support them” (Leader 5), meaning that there is
the need to coordinate remote and presential classes at the same time, for the same
class. But the school does not have the resources to make that happen, since the
“school still is not equipped” (Leader 3). Even being needed, the school does not
have the conditions to allow teachers to deliver remote classes using the school’s
equipment. This led teachers to use their personal resources to deliver online and
presential classes, and invest in new ones when needed, but “teachers were never
asked if they had internet or not” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 1), or any other resource
such as computer or tablet. “It was tacitly set that there were computers” (Teacher 8,
Focus Group 1) and other conditions for classes to happen remotely. Thus, teachers
needed to buy new resources and updated their devices: “When the devices did not
exist, people bought them (….) I needed a camera, I bought a camera” (Teacher
8, Focus Group 1). In the end, “the ministry (…) and the school benefited from
the volunteering of the teachers. Not only concerning their ability of reinventing
themselves, but also concerning technologic resources” (Teacher 8, Focus Group
1). “There were investments of about 1000/1500 euros” (Leader 1) because “the
equipment they (the teachers) had was obsolete” (Leader 2). “Education survived
because of the teachers and their abilities, as well as the resources they possessed”
(Teacher 6, Focus Group 1). This situation mainly happened because, when the
2012 Digital Plan (a national, government-based initiative to provide schools with
technological resources), concerning the delivery of digital devices to the schools,
was implemented, this school received a residual number of resources. This school
“was one of the last ones within the technologic plan and we were always poorly
served” (Leader 1) concerning the resources. This led to the need of equipping the
school using the private budget and old resources from another school. At the same
time, the resources the school now has, the most recent ones, already are 10 years old
now: “the equipment we have needs to be updated” (Leader 4); “all the material the
school has is outdated” (Leader 5). This means that “it must exist a huge investment
in the school, from the side of the Ministry of Education” (Leader 5). To solve this
problem, when the interview was conducted, computers “were reaching the school,
phased (laughs)” (Leader 3).
Having to deal with technological resources at home was also a stressor, for several
reasons. One of them is that the internet was constantly failing during remote classes,
and this happened while sharing the house with multiple people using the same
network: “at my house, the four of us were dealing with remote classes” (Teacher 3,
Focus Group 1). Together, student’s collaboration while the teachers were delivering
online classes was not ideal: “it wasn’t mandatory for them to turn their cameras
on and, thus, I wasn’t aware if they were following my teaching or not” (Teacher 4,
Focus Group 2); “they did not turn on the camera because they were saying it did
not work” (Teacher 5, Focus Group 2); “from the moment we entered lockdown, in
their (students’) spirit, they started vacations” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 1); “they (the
students) were not very interested, and they were more concerned in exploring the
resources, but not necessarily the classes’ resources” (Teacher 6, Focus Group 2).
“Teachers cannot understand if the student is there or not” (Leader 3). At the same
time, providing classes with the parents assisting them was not comfortable for the
teachers since “the platforms allow for the students to be together with the parents”
(Leader 3). Teachers also stated that “we cannot forget that the rest of the family was
also at home” (Teacher 2, Focus Group 1) and that all of them faced “an exhibition
in which we were the center of” (Teacher 4, Focus Group 1). Moreover, teachers felt
like they were not downscaled with clear strategies and guidelines to cope with these
situations and that “it wasn’t clear what we had to do” (Teacher 6, Focus Group 1).
All these stressors led teachers to achieve a state of extreme tiredness and an
inability to separate their personal and professional lives: “Here, it was extremely
bad” (Teacher 3, Focus Group 1); “I was exhausted. Even though we had a lower
number of classes (…) they occupied a lot more time” (Teacher 5, Focus Group 1);
“I read studies which stated that even our sleep, it’s not a restful sleep” (Teacher 8,
Focus Group 1); “If you do not impose limits with some reasonableness, you are
systematic and continuously responding, without taking any breaks…” (Teacher 8,
Focus Group 1); “at 7 pm we were coming here (to the platforms), we had something,
at 9 pm maybe we had another assignment, another question…” (Teacher 1, Focus
Group 2), “my house became my school, and my school became my house (…) I was
24 h in the physical space my house, automatically being 24 h in the physical space
my school” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 1). On the top of all this, the teachers and the
leadership did not feel like they had the right skills to cope with remote learning, and
were extremely afraid of failing: “students were asking for my help and I did not have
to knowledge to explain them” (Teacher 7, Focus Group 2); “a lot of teachers had
difficulties (…) and low digital literacy” (Teacher 6, Focus Group 1); “I had never
worked with Teams Platform before” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 2); “I, personally, did
not know Teams Platform existed” (Teacher 6, Focus Group 1); some of the leaders
“never used Zoom, Meets, Teams and all those platforms” (Leader 1). Moreover,
teachers did not feel supported as well while coping with these difficulties: “if there
was some technologic evolution, and concerning technologic competencies, the merit
was from the teachers, who wanted to self-learn (…) concerning our leaders, at the
moment we would be the same” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 1); from the side of the
Leadership “the truth is that there was some good will, but it did not go further
than that” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 2); “I called the Leadership and told them that
I am going to the school to deliver my classes (…) and they told me that couldn’t
be” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 2); “the leadership could have done more, we all could
have done more” (Teacher 2, Focus Group 2). But, although this, teachers understand
that “they (the Leadership) were also caught by surprise” (Teacher 7, Focus Group
1), “they were as stressed as we were” (Teacher 6, Focus Group 2). In the end the
situation went well, and remote teaching was delivered since “there was a big effort
from the side of the school and the grouping, to properly set the platform” (Leader
1).
To evaluate the students was also a concern for the teachers since it was the first
time that evaluation methods needed to be implemented online: “one of my biggest
difficulties was the evaluation” (Teacher 3, Focus Group 2). “Some teachers provided
feedback to their students, others did not, which made the students confused as well
since they did not know if they were progressing or not” (Leader 3). At the same
time, teachers were afraid of fraud from the side of the students and did not know
how to control this.
Of course, the teachers and the leadership were not the only ones with difficulties.
The students had them as well, namely “difficulties while accessing to the informatic
network” (Leader 1). It was the overall perspective that, even having some digital
means, they did not have the proper ones to establish contact and correctly participate
in online classes. Together, the social and knowledge gap between students becomes a
lot wider, with “some deficiency, from the side of the Ministry and the municipality,
in being able to provide students with the same conditions” (Leader 5). This will
provide an impact on the learning process as well: “the good ones, remained good,
the bad ones, became worse, and the dynamic we have inside the classroom, even
though already being in person, does not help at all” (Teacher 2, Focus Group 2);
“the students with special needs, they are getting lost and some of them… I fear they
will never recover” (Teacher 2, Focus Group 2). The school lost its embracing role.
At the same time, the students cannot spend their energy and were tired of distance
learning, since they felt the need of being together with their colleagues: “They (the
students) talk and reveal that worry that, in fact, there is the need of being together”
(Teacher 7, Focus Group 1). Lastly, they ended up losing a sense of what the classroom
really is: “How will the students recover that context of the classroom as a place to
be sit and properly sit, to listen and participate (…)?” (Teacher 6, Focus Group 2).
For all those reasons, the general perception is that “presential classes are the
best option” (Leader 3) and that “for the ones who thought that they would move
onto the almost exclusivity of e-learning in schools, forget that” (Teacher 7, Focus
Group 1). And this happens because the social distancing brought an unwanted
dehumanization of the education process, both because of the remote classes, but
also because “nowadays, the teachers deliver their classes and go home. There is
no social side of it. We look like robots, we get it, get out, and there is no social
relationship”. “And this makes us all extremely sad” (Leader 4). But what aspects
could have eased all these difficulties and issues? First, training and development,
if properly implemented and if there were some bases prior to the pandemic, both
for the teachers and the leadership. Concerning training during the pandemic, for
the teachers, the opinion is that it was delivered when online classes were already
happening and it was training to teach how to deliver remote classes, also delivered
remotely: “Us, teachers, are also students and we needed to learn from ourselves. In
fact, a lot of the training in the beginning, several webinars were delivered but they
were supposed to be applied on the next day, there was no time to consolidate that
training and mature the teachers” (Leader 5). Moreover, the webinars and training
“did not reach everyone” (Leader 2), but there is not an explanation for this aspect. In
this sense, the leadership and the teachers are counting on the support of the digital
development plan, “where training will be delivered to the teachers, concerning
digital abilities” (Leader 5). Concerning the topic on training, teachers feel like they
did not have enough support and that they are “at the same point where we were
before” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 1). When it comes to the digital development plan,
they are not very confident about its implementation: “when it reaches the ones with
60 years, they will not want it”, “I know that it will not happen during that time”
(Teacher 1, Focus Group 1).
At the same time, the leadership perceived that there were some self and peer
training happening, in order to cope with the pandemic situation, but some teachers
still do not perceive this method as relevant: “these are aspects that, usually, a lot
of people are not used to and, more than that, they do not accept it (…) and are not
sensitized for peers training” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 1). Moreover, much of the
knowledge the teachers gathered was through groups on social media. Although the
lack of perception of the relevance of peer training the teacher “rely on each other,
more than on an integrated plan” (Teacher 8, Focus Group 1).
Before the pandemic, there were some training sessions on digital literacy, but it
was not perceived as very much adequate and training concerning remote learning
never existed.
Concerning training for the leadership, namely leadership competencies, “there
were some sessions” (Leader 5), but not as much as needed. This leads to another
issue, “the onset of good leaders (…), of someone who is available of accomplishing
the role is all its scopes” (Leader 1). Moreover, “leadership in schools is a concept
which is not instructed yet” (Leader 1), which is something necessary. A leader should
be someone considered fundamental in every team and with the ability to delegate.
“A Leader had to be someone with the capacity of having a common vision and be
able to delegate. This is another issue (…) I perceive a big difficulty in delegating
(…) and in establishing our own goals and clear indicators” (Leader 1). Together,
when the figure of the “Principal” appeared, “there was not an effort of preparing
the leadership, they prepare them for administration” (Leader 1). “The school, now,
can be compared to a company as well since they “are obliged to make profits” and
“have goals to achieve” (Leader 1).
Another constraint is the resistance to change, from the side of teachers, “and this
does not come from the older ones only, there is a little bit of everything” (Leader
4) and “it all depends on the openness we (Leadership) have while dealing with new
technologies” (Leader 4).
Nevertheless, there were not only negative aspects and both the leadership and the
teachers were able to take positive things out of such a negative situation. First, there
is the overall opinion that “teachers had an adaptation capacity to the circumstances,
which was heroic” (Leader 4), and that was “truly surprising” (Leader 1) and teachers
“did not want to leave their students behind” (Leader 3). Even the older teachers,
almost retiring, provided with their contribution. From the side of the teachers, they
consider that this situation was an “open window of opportunities” for them to “learn
new tools, open doors to other kinds of methodologies” (Teacher 8, Focus Group 1).
At the same time, the general perception was that teachers “adapted and reinvented
themselves as fast as possible” (Teacher 8, Focus Group 1) and gave all they had.
“Even the colleagues not having a natural aptitude for technologies (…) assumed
teaching not as a job, but as a mission” (Teacher 4, Focus Group 1).
Lastly, there was also a reflection towards what will be the impact on the school.
This situation showed that “each one of us needs to self-train and understand that
things can change very fast (…) and technologies are global” (Leader 2). Also,
distance learning will become a more present reality and “each teacher, as well as the
parents, need to possess these electronic tools, namely informatic ones, which allow
to develop remote work” (Leader 3). “We lack the ability of performing remotely with
the quality we perform in person” (Leader 3). About the leaders, there needs to exist
“a full and constant attention for updating and recycling, training, and investment
(…) or what is going to happen is that we will continue with the same paradigm of
a eighteenth century school, in a twentieth century building for twenty-first century
generations” (Leader 1).
Finally, there is a lack of awareness of the relevance of the platforms, and even in
the future, when the current pandemic situation ends, everyone needs to understand
that: “technologic means are not a precocity” (Leader 1).
5 Discussion and Intervention Proposal
The following discussion is based on the model developed by Porras et al. [23],
which was also the diagnosis model used, concerning the dynamics of planned orga-
nizational change. The model assumes that “organizations are contexts within which
individuals behave” [25, p. 620], and it comprises four systems which are connected
among them: organizational arrangements, social factors, technology, and physical
setting (Porras and Robertson [23], as cited in Robertson et al. [25]). These systems
influence the way individuals behave in the organization.
Regarding the results, there are three specific subsystems [25] needing change
through an intervention, which will be presented next, being the technology, the
social factors and the organizational arrangements. About the technology subsystem,
it was stated several times both from the side of the teachers and the leadership that
the resources provided by the school and that the teachers already possessed were
not enough to cope with remote learning. At the same time, students did not have
the proper technologic devices as well. This led to big investments from the side of
all the groups, when possible. Moreover, neither the teachers the leadership felt they
had the right competencies to use the platforms and the digital means in general,
lacking training and knowledge about the processes, which led to several issues
such as not being able to assess if the students were following the classes, students
having doubts and teachers not being able to clarify them, and a high level of stress
concerning technologies. This subsection, however, will not be approached in our
intervention proposal since the Government already is developing a training plan for
teachers, on digital competencies. This project started to be developed in 2018 and
is starting to be implemented at the schools, within the time frame of three years.
This leaves social factors and organizational arrangements as the two main scopes
for the intervention [20].
Concerning the social factors and using a theoretical framework of the job
demands-resources model [4], the teachers, the leadership and the students, all have
seen their job demands, which are predictors of burnout and are aspects of the job that
require high efforts (Demerouti et al. 2001, as cited in Bakker et al. [4]) increased.
This fact might have led to the overall feeling of tiredness and exhaustion since
job demands predict burnout, which causes more phycological and physical health
issues (Schaufeli and Enzmann 1998; Shirom et al. 2005, as cited in Bakker et al.
[4]). Moreover, their job resources, several aspects of the job that help on reducing
job demands and promote goal achievement (Bakker and Demerouti 2007, as cited
in Bakker et al. [4]) and predict job engagement (Halbesleben 2010; Schaufeli and
Bakker 2004, as cited in Bakker et al. [4]), became scarcer, such as, for instance, the
possibility, from the side of the teachers, of being with their colleagues, the same for
the students. This is a negative aspect since job resources usually buffer the impact
of job demands [4]. At the same time, job resources become more impactful when
job demands increase [4], the reason why their decrease is so prejudicial during this
situation.
Overall, some job demands perceived from the side of teachers were the urgent
need to cope with change and an unprecedented situation without feeling they had
the right competencies, material resources—which they had to personally buy—
or support from the side of the leadership and the government. At the same time,
while remote teaching, there was not a clear perception of the students’ development
which led to the stress increase. These are all demands which happened during remote
teaching.
But there are other demands, which will be developed next, that remain, even
with the end of remote learning, and it is concerning those that must be acted upon.
First, one of the issues stated by the teachers several times and that was perceived as
one of the biggest difficulties was the establishment of work–home barriers, which
are often sought [19], and the maintenance of balance between these two scopes,
leading to technostress and to a worsening, at a larger extent, of the psychological
and physical state of the teachers. The work–home interface functions as a boundary
between the domains of work and home, and it is extremely important because it
allows the organization members to percept the way they control the world (Clark
2000; Nippert-Eng 1996, as cited in Kreiner et al. [19]). These boundaries are usually
negotiated with others [19], and therefore it is crucial for the teachers to negotiate and
manage expectations with the leadership and, most important of all, with the students
when remotely working. The incongruence between the boundaries established by
the teachers and their understanding from the side of the other groups will lead
to negative outcomes, such as strain and conflict (Kulka 1979, as cited in Kreiner
et al. [19]), as well as physical and emotional exhaustion [19]. At the same time,
this will lead to incompatibilities between the work and home scopes [19]. Thus, an
intervention concerning boundaries establishment and expectations management is
needed.
Another demand is institutional communication. Both teachers and the leadership
stated that, even though internal communication happens, there is still a long way to
go regarding improving it and implementing best practices. This communication is
not only important for the proper flow of information between the teachers and the
leadership, but it is also important for the interaction between the teachers themselves.
This work of improving the communication patterns within the school is not only
a work that needs to come from the leadership, who, obviously is the starter of this
process, but the collaboration of the teachers is also extremely important. This lack
of communication between the teachers can, eventually, explain the lower average
score of the perceived organizational support and psychologic safety since there is
not an exchange of information, methods, and solutions, not leading to the creation
of a safe space and comfort to fail and ask for help.
From the side of the leadership, communication is extremely important to keep
every member of the organization on the same path and promote shared mental
models and behaviour patterns which will promote goal achievement [35]. But more
than the top-down communication, the group cohesion leads to the communication
among the teachers, for them to share insights, to share contents and methodologies,
and ask for help, is very important and its promotion is, as well, one of the important
roles of the leadership. This group cohesion will create a sense of care within the
group since the members of the organization are concerned about group achievement
[35].
The lack of feedback and reflexivity behaviours both from the side of the leadership
and the teachers is also a demand which the teachers faced and that difficulted
the whole coping with the change process, and this will be developed next on the
organizational arrangements. It is the role of the leaders to promote this feedback
behaviour, both individual and collective, and reflect upon the methodologies used
to achieve a certain goal [35]. This is one of the most effective ways of promoting
team effectiveness [35]. This collective feedback process will also allow the team
to deliver suggestions and brainstorm, boosting creativity and eventually reaching
better solutions concerning the methodologies to implement.
Lastly, all these demands led the teachers, the students, and the leadership to
attain a state of tiredness and exhaustion and, thus, recovery mechanisms are needed.
Stressful situations at work usually lead to a decrease in physical and psychological
health and well-being [31], at the same they hinder job performance. Moreover,
even though individuals perceive they have job resources, stress usually threatens
these and decreases health [31]. Thus, recovery processes are important to main-
tain health, well-being and job performance (deCroon et al. 2004; Eden 2001, as
cited in Sonnentag and Fritz [31]). In this sense, there are certain activities, which
have common characteristics and promote certain experiences such as relaxation or
psychological distance from the job mastery and job control, which will help during
this recovery process [31] and increase engagement, health, and well-being.
Concerning the resources, which were reduced, teachers stated the leaving of the
physical building of the school, the dehumanization of the teaching process, the cut
concerning the proximity with the colleagues and, also very important, now that
the school has reopened, the ability to use the teachers’ room. These resources will
gradually increase again while the current situation returns to normal and, thus, the
intervention will not have these as scope.
Regarding the leadership, they have seen their demands increase as well, namely
in the number of constraints, which demanded fast answers; the dehumanization of
the school, which was also felt by the teachers and the students; the dealing with
several stakeholders and groups in a time when information flows were not clear
and guidelines were not concrete. Just like the teachers, the leadership never faced a
situation such as the forced remote work and they did not feel like they had the proper
skills and resources to manage it smoothly, even though all the efforts were made. At
the same time, the resistance to change from the side of some teachers also difficulted
the whole process, but it is the Leader’s role to drive this change process and avoid
resistance behaviours. Lastly, the lack of financial autonomy also constrained the
leadership’s possibilities of providing teachers with the proper resources to cope
with remote learning.
Finally, concerning the organizational arrangements, the intervention towards this
scope will focus on the leadership competencies and the way these shape the way the
school functions. These leadership behaviours, form the side of the top management
team of the school, compose the final structure of the organization. At the same time,
and as already stated, leaders are the starter for the changing process and, thus, to
intervein in the competencies they have less developed, is crucial.
Teachers stated that they did not feel support from the side of the leadership, that
they did not feel like their work was appreciated, that they were not provided with
the proper resources, did not receive feedback and did not perceive their voice was
heard when complaints and suggestions are concerned. At the same time, the average
score concerning the e-leadership competencies was also low. Even though this, it
is very important to state that teachers also acknowledged that the leadership was
caught off guard and that they did their best to provide support having in mind their
competencies and resources. Thus, it is important to understand what competencies
leaders need to develop which are both important to cope with a similar situation in
the future and are also needed daily.
Some leadership behaviours which need to be developed by the leaders were
already developed in the literature review section, namely the ones concerning e-
leadership, and the promotion of reflexive behaviours. More than that, some func-
tional leadership behaviours and functions [22], such as, in an initial stage, defining
the mission of the team, establishing expectations and goals, structuring and plan-
ning activities and methods, to promote training and development for the team,
and to promote sensemaking within the members of the organization, are also very
important for the achievement of the team’s goals and its good functioning. At the
same time, feedback provision is also seen as relevant, as already stated, along-
side monitoring the team, managing team boundaries, solving problems, provide
with resources, and supporting the social climate [22]. These leadership functions,
when properly integrated by the leaders, promote the satisfaction of team needs and
enhance effectiveness [22].
At the same time, there are other behaviours that will help the team in achieving
their goals, namely the information used in problem-solving and its processing within
the team, the promotion of adaptation of the team concerning the external environ-
ment and the building of the team mental models which will lead for the members
of the team to perceive a shared vision and the same goals to attain [18, 35]. The
constant motivation of the team and the control of the effect of the several members
are also extremely important, alongside all the coordination processes [35] and the
promotion of cooperation [18].
All these behaviours were stated by the teachers as lacking during the pandemic
but the truth is that they are crucial for all situations and stages the school faces during
the year. Thus, intervening in training these behaviours is crucial for the future of
the school. It is also important to state that specifically intervening in some aspects
will help in the improvement of other scopes.
Following the previously described model, interventions can be perceived as the
activity of implementing changes in each one of the elements of a specific working
set [25].
The several interventions developed will be framed using as a basis the Kurt
Lewin’s Change management model, which comprises three stages: unfreeze,
moving and refreeze [3]. Change only happens when current practices and method-
ologies and abandoned, which corresponds to the unfreeze stage [3]. The moving
stage takes place when the members of the organization are performing actions
promoting change. Lastly, there is the need to refreeze these new practices, making
them a common standard for the organization [3]. This change only happens when
forces promoting change and forces promoting the status quo respectively increase
or decrease to different extents.
One of the aims of these interventions is to provide transversal competencies,
skills and tools for the teachers, students, and the leadership, to cope with change
and other situations, which are constant on a daily basis. The intervention proposals
are all detailed in Table 2. Lastly, it is important to state that the data gathering acted as
an intervention itself since the teachers were feeling the need to be heard: “I wanted to
thank you for allowing us to have this space where we are being heard, since until this
moment we didn’t have the change to do so”. Prior to the interventions themselves,
there would be an initial session, performed by the leadership or the consultant,
aiming at presenting and clarifying the results obtained through the data gathered
during the project. During this session, a brief brainstorming moment between the
leadership/author of the project and the teachers should also be done, as well as an
Table 2 Intervention proposals

Intervention 1 * Results’ presentation session
Intervention 2 ** Good Practices on e-teaching
Description Development of a Good Practices’ Manual not only concerning remote
teaching but also regarding the mix of both presential and remote methods,
as well as the integration of a digital component on presential methods.
Topics such as boundaries’ establishment, remote communication, and
how to properly use digital means, among others, will be developed
Results’ evidence “I was exhausted. Even though we had a lower number of classes (…) they
occupied a lot more time” (Teacher 5, Focus Group 1); “at 7 pm we were
coming here (to the platforms), we had something, at 9 pm maybe we had
another assignment, another question…” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 2)
Theory’s evidence The incongruence between the boundaries established by the teachers and
their understanding from the side of the other groups will lead to negative
outcomes, such as strain and conflict (Kulka 1979, as cited in Kreiner et al.
[19]), as well as physical and emotional exhaustion [19]
From/To whom To the leadership and the teachers
Desired effects Building a healthy digital environment at the school, and the development
of some capacity building skills. At the same time, to give the sense of the
increase of job control to teachers, which will allow them to integrate
technologies easier and faster in their work methodologies, feel more
comfortable with them and perceive them as useful and not as an extra
responsibility or task
This intervention provides the leadership and the teachers with job
resources to deal with other existing demands
Intervention 3 ** Recovery Programme
Description Creation and implementation of a recovery programme, consisting of a
handbook delivered to the teachers, with the needed tools and
methodologies aiming at recovering from all the stress due to the pandemic
and the lockdown period. This handbook will integrate useful practices not
only for this kind of situation but also for critical ones such as final
meetings. Aspects such as technologies detox, how to control stress and
have a repairing sleep will be approached. Workshops and webinars
concerning the several topics will also be delivered, being a part of the
recovery plan
occupied a lot more time” (Teacher 5, Focus Group 1)
“at 7 pm we were coming here (to the platforms), we had something, at
9 pm maybe we had another assignment, another question…” (Teacher 1,
Focus Group 2); “my son does not know what he wants to be when he
grows up, be he is sure he does not want to be a teacher” (Teacher 7, Focus
Group 1); “the management before and after the pandemic is very
different” (Leader 5)
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
Theory’s evidence Stressful situations at work usually lead to a decrease in physical and
psychological health and well-being [31], at the same they hinder job
performance. There are certain activities, which have common
characteristics and promote certain experiences such as relaxation or
psychological distance from the job mastery and job control, that will help
during this recovery process [31] and increase engagement, health and
well-being. Recovery processes are important to maintain health,
well-being and job performance (deCroon et al. 2004; Eden 2001, as cited
in Sonnentag and Fritz [31]). Perceived Organizational Support increases
the positive feelings the members have towards the organization and their
expectation of recognition whenever they commit to it [11]
From/To whom To the leadership and the teachers
Desired effects Creation and development of a transversal set of recovery skills for the
teachers and the leadership, which will not only allow them to recover
during this period of pandemic but also during all the critical stages of the
school year. An increase in the perceived organizational support during the
delivery of these materials might also happen since teachers will feel that
there is caution and care about their well-being. This intervention provides
the leadership and the teachers with job resources
Intervention 4 ** & *** Formal spaces to promote 360° feedback
Description Formal and periodic spaces for the teachers to deliver feedback to the
leadership and vice-versa, in a feedback 360º model. These spaces must
not be integrated into other meetings but should be created specifically for
that aim. Inside these spaces, recognition of good practices must also be
done. They must be set and provided by the leadership
Results’ evidence “when you perform the case study, Catarina, I want you to refer that this is
not the perspective of one teacher, it is a general situation (…) and I do not
know if I can say that I am hurt, but, such as my colleagues, I was
expecting that, such as some parents recognized, others stated that we
reinvented ourselves and exceeded expectations in what we were doing
(Teacher 6, Focus Group 2); Specific communication spaces “simply (…)
communication simply did not leave the space” (Teacher 6, Focus Group
2); “would like it to be a lot better and what is needed, from the side of
everyone, is support” (Leader 5)
Theory’s evidence It is the role of the leaders to promote this feedback behaviour, both
individual and collective, and reflect on the methodologies used to achieve
a certain goal [35]. The implementation of these kinds of feedback
behaviours from the side of the members is made with the purpose of
achieving higher goals and increasing performance, through the
assessment of their work (Ashford and Cummings 1983, as cited in
Schippers 2007). The perception of safety (psychological) will make the
members of the organization feel confident in changing (Schein & Bennis,
1965, as cited in [10]). The shared sense that a team is not going to punish
someone or make them feel less valid because of a mistake or because of
speaking up is implemented, leading to mutual respect and trust [10]
From/To whom From the leadership to the teachers
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
Desired effects These spaces will generate discussion on relevant themes for teachers,
which will be extremely useful for the arising of new strategies and
methodologies. It will promote knowledge sharing among all the
intervenient, increasing psychological safety and the at ease needed to
address certain issues. Also, it will create the need to review old
methodologies and practices to improve the current ones, which will be
extremely positive for the school. Teachers and leadership will be aware of
what is being performed well and what can be improved, which will also
lead to recognition of good practice. This intervention provides the
leadership and the teachers with job resources
Intervention 5 ** & *** Specific spaces for content and methods sharing
Description Create new ones and capacitate the already existing informal spaces to
share contents, experiences and doubts between the teachers. This virtual
space can be created, if not already existing, in Microsoft Teams, the
platform which is currently being used by the school. The groups must be
created by teaching area, and a general group comprising all the teachers
must also be created to share more general interesting content with
everyone
Results’ evidence “these are aspects that, usually, a lot of people are not used to and, more
than that, they do not accept it (…) and are not sensitized for peers
training” (Teacher 1, Focus Group 1)
Theory’s evidence This group cohesion will create a sense of care within the group since the
members of the organization are concerned about group achievement [35].
This perception of safety will make the members of the organization feel
confident in changing (Schein and Bennis 1965, as cited in Edmondson
[10]). The shared sense that a team is not going to punish someone or
making them feel less valid because of a mistake or because of speaking up
is implemented, leading to mutual respect and trust [10]. Perceived
organizational support increases the positive feelings the members have
towards the organization and their expectation of recognition whenever
they commit to it [11]. Organizations are constantly changing and there is
an emergency of patterns connected with the digital revolution, such as
telework and electronic communication which needs to be managed by
leaders [33]
Desired effects Promote the sharing of experiences and knowledge among teachers. This
progressive sharing of content and methodologies will generate a climate
of safety (psychological) and promote common help. Innovative solutions
and methodologies will also appear in these types of groups, at the same
time the relationship between the teachers can also improve
Intervention 6 ** & *** Development of periodic newsletters
Description Creation of a communication plan materialized in monthly newsletters sent
by the Leadership. These newsletters must comprise internal and external
content, such as important legislation for the teachers, new methodologies,
and new decisions, among many other topics. In the same newsletter, a
space for anonymous suggestions from the side of the teachers must exist
for them to use when necessary
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
Results’ evidence Specific communication spaces “simply (…) communication simply did
not leave the space” (Teacher 6, Focus Group 2)
Theory’s evidence Organizations are constantly changing and there is an emergency of
patterns connected with the digital revolution, such as telework and
electronic communication which needs to be managed by leaders [33]
From/To whom From the Leadership to the teachers
Desired effects Make formal communication more active, creating a sense of equality in
the reception of information among all the teachers, and keeping them
informed of important aspects. Also, it makes communication more
participatory for those who may not have so much confidence, at an early
stage, to express their opinions publicly. The newsletter is a job resource
which will improve communication
Intervention 7 ** & *** Periodic well-being assessments as follow ups
Description Following the recovery plan implementation, the development and
implementation of a periodic assessment concerning the physical and
psychologic well-being of teachers and the leadership. The building of a
plan based on the assessment, if needed, must also be done and downscaled
occupied a lot more time” (Teacher 5, Focus Group 1)
Theory’s evidence Recovery processes are important to maintain health, well-being, and job
performance (deCroon et al. 2004; Eden 2001, as cited in Sonnentag and
Fritz [31]), Perceived Organizational Support increases the positive
feelings the members have towards the organization and their expectation
of recognition whenever they commit to it [11]
Desired effects Generate the perception of concern and support from the side of leadership
towards teachers, which will lead to a more positive climate at the school.
At the same time, it will allow the creation of preventive actions
concerning the theme, and not reactive ones, which will be extremely
useful while the management of situations that are already expected to be
more stressful and exhausting during the school year
* Unfreeze
** Moving
*** Refreeze
opinion assessment. The goal is to create a general sense and raise awareness of the
need for the proposals to be presented next and to understand what the immediate
teachers’ thoughts and suggestions are concerning the topic. At the same time, create
the perception of active participation of the teachers on an important topic for the
school and make them a part of the process.
6 Conclusion
Education is a crucial pillar of our society, and the adoption of e-leadership

behaviours, as well as aiming at faster technology integration, strongly shapes the
way they deal with unexpected events and change. At the same time, these aspects
improve the experience of the members of these types of organizations, the teachers
and the students, allowing the achievement of better outcomes and the adoption of
new methods smoothly.
Concerning this study, conclusions are that there is still a way to go when referring
to teachers’ and leadership’s behaviours regarding technology integration and also
the development of the several studied constructions to help cope with change. The
COVID-19 pandemic made some of these concerns arise and become more evident
since the teachers reached a state of exhaustion, needing strong support from the side
of the leadership.
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Blockchain and New Digital
Technologies: Explaining the Bitcoin
Volatility with a Generalized
Autoregressive Conditional
Heteroskedasticity Model
Leonardo Flach, Realdo de Oliveira, Jonatas Dutra Sallaberry,

and Luísa Karam de Mattos
Abstract This study aims to analyze Blockchain and the Bitcoin volatility with a
multivariate GARCH statistical model. This paper is the first one to forecast the
volatility of the Bitcoin/BRL exchange rate. We applied the time series multivariate
statistical method called Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity
(GARCH), with a daily time series dataset from 13th June 2013 to 18th February
2018, which corresponds to a total of 1057 observations and 12 variables, or 12,684
data entries. The research method involved the selection of explanatory variables, in
order to understand the behavior of prices and the volatility of Bitcoin. We built the
time series dataset collecting the daily closing prices for the Bitcoin Index and for the
other eleven variables. Results show an original reflection concern with regard to the
nature of the Bitcoin, which behaves differently than traditional currencies. Results
also define the best model in predicting the Bitcoin/BRL exchange rate volatility and
allow associating the behavior of the Bitcoin with that of a particular asset class,
adding value to the existing literature with regard to its classification. So, this paper
is a pioneer in examining and predicting the performance and volatility of a GARCH
model in a context of unusually high volatility.
Keywords Blockchain · Cryptocurrency · Bitcoin · Volatility · GARCH
L. Flach (B) · R. de Oliveira · J. D. Sallaberry

Department of Accounting, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
e-mail: leonardo.flach@ufsc.br
L. Flach
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT/USA), Cambridge, USA
L. Flach · R. de Oliveira · J. D. Sallaberry · L. K. de Mattos
Campus Reitor João David Ferreira Lima, Trindade, Florianópolis, SC 88040-900, Brazil
R. de Oliveira
Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense (UNESC), Criciúma, Brazil
L. K. de Mattos
Department of Management, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_8
168 L. Flach et al.
1 Introduction
Volatility is a key topic in accounting and finance. Many areas such as risk manage-
ment, trading, security pricing, and monetary policy rely on volatility as the main
input in the decision-making process. Then, volatility forecasting appears to be an
important field of research with many theoretical and practical implications. The
study of volatility assets has wide acceptance when used in the analysis of stock
portfolios. Many surveys try to understand how the volatility of stock can influence
the returns over time. Although the volatility-return ratio h a greater emphasis on
the stock market, we can use it to examine a number of other assets, such as bonds,
commodities, foreign exchange rates, interest rates [21, 38].
This paper highlights the volatility of a very particular and nonconformist asset
in the Blockchain, the Bitcoin. The Bitcoin was created in 2009 by an anonymous
computer programmer known under the alias of Satoshi Nakamoto. The underlying
technology of Bitcoin creation and transactions is the ‘Blockchain’. Transactions are
validated by miners whose role is to solve cryptographic puzzles. If the validation
process is successful, a new Bitcoin is issued as a reward [35]. Bitcoin’s supply is
predefined, and regulation of the digital currency was quasi-inexistent until recently
[9]. The Bitcoin trades against around 30 currencies, of which major currencies such
as the US Dollar, the British Pound, the Japanese Yen, the Euro, and the Brazilian
Real.
There is a growing interest from academia to understand the bitcoin’s position in
the financial markets and economic contexts [18]. Many recent studies investigate
the bitcoin’s price behavior [21, 24, 39] and the determinants of this cryptocurrency
pricing [28, 40]. Recent papers [14, 38] compare bitcoin with other assets, especially
gold. There are some similarities between gold and the bitcoin. Gold, like Bitcoin,
has no government regulation, is scarce, and it is difficult to extract [15, 21]. The
bitcoin also has similarity to the dollar, because they have limited intrinsic value and
are a medium of exchange [38].
Bitcoin is regarded as the best-known digital currency to date [6, 31]. Although
some consider Bitcoin to be a major financial innovation in recent years [6, 21, 27],
others suggest that the excessive volatility observed in this market is a major concern
[6, 38].
Although initially designed to be a currency exchange, due to the volatility and
the potential gains, the bitcoin is an alternative investment, attracting many investors
around the world [36]. Considering that Bitcoin is highly speculative, it is essential
to know the variables that influence pricing and volatility. Therefore, this knowledge
is relevant to increase profits in future negotiations. Currently, the currency volatility
adversely affects its monetary aspect, making Bitcoin sure to perform the monetary
function and is a speculative asset manipulated by investors due to its high capitaliza-
tion [12]. In fact, the volatility in bitcoin makes it attractive for investment, although
it has high risk [31].
Recent papers applied advanced statistical methods to analyze the behavior of
cryptocurrency [26]. Among the most commonly used methods are the models ARCH
Blockchain and New Digital Technologies … 169
and GARCH. Dyhrberg [14] applied the model in order to explain the volatility of
bitcoin compared to other asset classes such as the dollar and gold. Bouri et al. [7]
also use GARCH model to investigate the relationship between prices, returns, and
volatility bitcoin before and after the sharp fall in prices in 2013.
In Brazil, the bitcoin is a rapidly growing phenomenon. According to the website
Bitcoin Average (https://bitcoinaverage.com/), which specializes in statistics about
the cryptocurrency, the real, Brazil’s official currency is currently in the fourth posi-
tion among the currencies that most operate with bitcoin. It is an investment that
is attracting more and more fans in the country, surpassing even some traditional
investments.
Thus, the following research question is: what is the relationship between the
bitcoin volatility and other asset classes’ volatilities over time? This study aims to
analyze Blockchain and the Bitcoin volatility with a multivariate GARCH statistical
model.
This research is justified considering that the results produced may help investors
who wish to establish technical parameters, as the pricing behavior, for profit maxi-
mization [10]. In the academic environment, it is a recent and growing phenomenon,
a current theme to debate since most international research about this theme focused
on the last three years. There is few existing scientific research dedicated to studying
the volatility of prices of bitcoins. Although the currency has arisen in 2008, only
after 2014 it had greater prospect [10, 29].
The article structure goes as follows: Sect. 2 presents a general overview of
the bitcoin. Section 3 provides the method applied in empirical research about the
volatility of bitcoins prices. Section 4 deals with the results presentation and inter-
pretation. Finally, Sect. 5 presents the findings and recommendations for further
research.
2 Literature Review
The bitcoin is a fully online currency trading that emerged in 2008. Satoshi Nakamoto
developed this cryptocurrency in order to facilitate purchase transactions over
the Internet, for goods and services. Quickly the cryptocurrency gained fans and
expanded by several countries, mainly due to the global and European financial
crisis and the failed attempt of governments to contain these crises [3]. The purpose
of bitcoin is to create a safe, simple, and inexpensive platform for shared transac-
tions, to facilitate the movement of funds through the Internet without the regulatory
governments [13].
Besides the technical aspects relating to the operation of the coin, the academy
has recently discussed the role of bitcoin in the economy. Parrondo [33] argues that
bitcoin is speculative and high capitalization and has no intrinsic value, which makes
it an asset for gains. Brière et al. [9] point out that the bitcoin volatility is greater
than other investments such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and other currencies.
170 L. Flach et al.
These features let the currency susceptible to blistering, increasing the risk when
compared to other investments or other currencies, especially when compared to
those who depend on government regulations, such as the dollar and euro [11]. Many
studies examine the volatility in order to predict the behavior of the currency, so they
can stipulate the parameters that characterize bitcoin as a new type of investment.
The volatility in the bitcoin price might not be linked to economic factors,
but rather because it is a currency without government regulation. The market to
price works according to supply and demand. Another factor that can influence
the volatility is the application of efficient market hypothesis [17], in which it is
suggested that the information is instantly incorporated into the price of the asset,
so the market takes notice. In the case of bitcoin, the price fluctuation results are
high, bringing gains for investors. These gains are calling other investors to bet on
the cryptocurrency.
The behavioral finance can also influence the bitcoin volatility so that many profes-
sional investor’s gains influence small investor’s decisions [6]. Polasik et al. [32] point
out that the bitcoin volatility is conditional to the popularity of the cryptocurrency.
Increasing the bitcoin popularity also increases the number of new users. The expec-
tation for huge financial returns, curiosity, and the network of producers may be
another factor influencing the volatility, because competition in the bitcoin mining
and high computational requirements entail higher production costs and consequently
higher market value [23]. In addition, Hong [24] explained that the currency value
can also vary according to the intensive use of computing resources, requiring a
higher production cost and consequently higher value. However, Takaishi [38] also
states that the greatest value of Bitcoin in US dollar refers to the limited supply of
this currency, which makes the price high in many markets.
Kristoufek [27] compared the interest of the population in bitcoin, measuring the
number of research on search sites such as Google Trends and Wikipedia. Then,
the author compared its relation to the prices behavior. Kristoufek [27] concluded
that there is strong bidirectional causality between bitcoin prices and the research
carried out by the users on those sites. The interest of the population to understand the
characteristics of bitcoin has increased the price volatility. In fact, from the moment
that the news arises in the media about the power gain tied to currency and more
brokers proffer the bitcoin as a suggestion for investment, begins an increase in
operations flow. This is one of the factors that may be driving the currency volatility.
In fact, as Bitcoin is mainly used as an asset rather than a currency [2, 14, 18], the
Bitcoin market is currently highly speculative, and more volatile and susceptible to
speculative bubbles than other currencies [11, 19]. Bitcoin has therefore a place in
the financial markets and in portfolio management [15], and examining its volatility
is crucial.
Moreover, the presence of long memory and persistent volatility [4] justifies the
application of GARCH-type models. Earlier studies have employed various GARCH-
type models, such as the linear GARCH [18, 20], the Threshold GARCH (TGARCH)
[6, 8, 14], the Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) [6, 15], and the Component with
Multiple Threshold-GARCH (CMT-GARCH) [6].
Table 1 presents some recent studies related to bitcoin that applied the statistical
Table 1 Studies that implemented the GARCH models

Author Title Results
Dyhrberg [14] Hedging capabilities of The article uses the asymmetric
bitcoin. Is it the virtual gold? GARCH method to the bitcoin
volatility and to check the potential
of cryptocurrency as insurance, in
comparison to other investments.
The conclusion is that bitcoin can be
used as a hedge against stocks in the
Financial Times Stock Exchange
Index and against short-term US
dollar
Sahoo [34] Bitcoin the digital money: its This paper investigate the Bitcoin as
growth and future cryptocurrency using the
sustainability ARCH/GARCH method for
measuring the volatility of the asset.
The research results shows that the
currency is extremely volatile
Balcilar et al. [1] Can volume Bitcoin predict The authors use the GARCH (1, 1)
returns and volatility? The model to analyze the causal
quantiles-based approach relationship between the turnover,
returns and volatility of Bitcoin.
They conclude that the turnover can
predict returns, except in periods of
low and high trend of the currency
(bear and bull market). That is, the
volume is relevant in predicting
volatility in times of stable markets
Katsiampa [25] Volatility estimation for The research investigates the ability
Bitcoin: a comparison of of the various statistical models of
GARCH models GARCH family to explain the
volatility of Bitcoin prices. The
results show that a good model in
terms of fit to the data is the
AR-CGARCH, because it uses
conditional variance in the short
term and long term
Naimy and Hayek [30] Modeling and predicting the If an implied volatility index is
volatility using Bitcoin unavailable or not suitable for a
GARCH models particular case, averaging the
forecasts from GARCH (1, 1) and
EWMA would be a good way to
ensure investors get relatively
accurate forecasts
172 L. Flach et al.
method of ARCH and GARCH family.

Baur et al. [3] analyzed the bitcoin statistical properties to verify that the volatility
was correlated with other asset classes such as stocks, bonds, and commodities and
concluded that it is not related to any of these assets in normal times or financial
turmoil.
The risk associated with an investment has been the subject of a variety of Accords
from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Basel II allowed banks to use
their internal risk models to quantify the risk-based capital requirement with respect
to the 99th percentile of one tailed confidence interval for a holding period of ten
trading days. The analysis of Bitcoin has recently received much attention. This can be
attributed to its innovative features, simplicity, transparency, and its increasing popu-
larity [39], while since its introduction it has posed great challenges and opportunities
for policy makers, economists, entrepreneurs, and consumers [14, 38].
3 Method
We applied a time series multivariate statistical method called Generalized Autore-

gressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH), with a daily time series dataset
from 13th June 2013 to 18th February 2018, which corresponds to a total of 1057
observations and 14 variables.
Table 2 shows Bitcoin and other variables, with daily observations, consisting of
1057 data entries. The data used are the daily closing prices for the Bitcoin Coin
Index and other variables, from 13th June 2013 to 18th February 2018, which corre-
sponds to a total of 1057 observations and 14 variables. The data limitation until the
beginning of 2018 is justified by the drop in cryptocurrency prices known as crypto
Table 2 Variable’s description

Variable Description Classification Source
BTCCotBRL Bitcoin price in Brazilian Reais (BRL) Digital currency Investing.com
BTCVolBRL Bitcoin traded in Brazil Digital currency Investing.com
BTCCotUSD Bitcoin price in US dollars (USD) Digital currency Investing.com
BTCVolUSD Bitcoin trading volume in the US Digital currency Investing.com
IBOV Ibovespa Index B3
EURO Euro value Conventional currency Investing.com
DOLLAR Dollar exchange rate Conventional currency Investing.com
SP500 S&P 500 index Financial index Investing.com
DAX DAX30 index Financial index Investing.com
GOLD Gold Precious metal Investing.com
EDF Interest rates—federal reserve Economic index BCB
IPCA IPCA-IBGE inflation Economic index BCB
winter, which consumed 80% of the bitcoin market value that year with anoma-
lous movements that could bias the interpretation of the data. The data are available
at: Investing.com platforms (https://www.investing.com/), Brazil Stock Exchange
(http://www.b3.com.br/pt_br/), and Central Bank of Brazil (http://www.bcb.gov.
br/pt-br#!/home-BCB). These variables include index values, prices of currencies,
commodities, and economic indicators. We collected and organized the data using
Microsoft Excel and Stata.
The GARCH modeling (Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasc-
itiy) was introduced by Bollerslev [5] from the model created by Engle in [16], called
ARCH (Autoregressive Conditional Heterocedasticity). The initial ARCH model was
applied in a study of the volatility in inflation rates in the UK. However, the model
is a little tricky due to the inclusion of numerous gaps, making it difficult to estimate
the various parameters [6]. After this initial study, various adaptations of the ARCH
model emerged, including the GARCH model.
The multivariate statistical model applied in this research consist of an Autore-
gressive model for the conditional mean and a first order GARCH-type model for the
conditional variance, as follows in Eq. 1. This model is especially useful to analyze
and forecast volatility. The GARCH model consists of two basic equations: the
equation of the conditional mean and the conditional variance equation. The condi-
tional mean specifies the behavior of returns and its error terms, with the following
formulation (Eq. 1).
rt = c + υrt−1 + εt (1)
rt return
c constant
rt−1 previous periods
εt error term.
After generating the error estimated by the conditional mean of previous periods
returns, the error term is then applied to the conditional variance equation [6] in
Eq. 2.

p

q
σt2 = ω + αi εt−i
2
+ β j σt−
2
j (2)
i=1 j=1
σt2 conditional variance from t−i

p number of autoregressive lags
q number of delays in moving average
ω constant
εt−i
2
residuals from the previous period
σt−
2
j conditional variance from the previous periods.
There are several adaptations of the GARCH model, but the GARCH (1, 1) model
is considered the most robust. The (1, 1) refers to the GARCH (p, q), where p is the
174 L. Flach et al.
number of lagged terms of squared error term and q is the lagged conditional variance
[6, 22] in Eq. 3.
σt2 = ω + αi εt−1
2
β1 σt−1
2
+ (3)
σt2 conditional variance from t−i

ω constant
εt−i
2
residuals from the previous period
σt−
2
j conditional variance from the previous periods
α, β GARCH parameters.

The restrictions of this model are αα0 > 0, αi ≥ 0, βi ≥ 0e0 ≤ αi + βi ≤ 1.
Finally, it is noteworthy that the GARCH models are conditional heteroskedastic.
However, they have a constant conditional variance [25].
4 Data Analysis and Discussion
The analysis of Bitcoin has recently received much attention. This can be attributed
to its innovative features, simplicity, transparency, and its increasing popularity [39],
while since its introduction it has posed great challenges and opportunities for policy
makers, economists, entrepreneurs, and consumers [14].
Recent fluctuations in Bitcoin prices have resulted in periods of high volatility.
In fact, as Bitcoin is mainly used as an asset rather than a currency [2, 14, 18], the
Bitcoin market is currently highly speculative, and more volatile and susceptible to
speculative bubbles than other currencies [11, 19]. Bitcoin has therefore a place in
the financial markets and in portfolio management [15], and examining its volatility
is crucial.
Moreover, the presence of long memory and persistent volatility [4] justifies the
application of GARCH-type models. Earlier studies have employed various GARCH-
type models, such as the linear GARCH, the Threshold GARCH (TGARCH) [6, 8,
14], the Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) [6, 15], and the Component with Multiple
Threshold-GARCH (CMT-GARCH) [6].
Table 3 presents the summary statistics for the daily closing returns, from 13th
June 2013 to 18th February 2018, of the variables: Bitcoin price index in Brazilian
Reais (BTCCotBRL), Bitcoin trading volume in Brazil (BTCVolBRL), Bitcoin price
in US dollars (BTCCotUSD), Bitcoin trading volume in the US (BTCVolUSD),
Ibovespa Brazilian Stock Exchange Index (IBOV), Euro Exchange Rate (EURO),
Dollar Exchange Rate (DOLLAR), S&P 500 index (SP500), DAX30 index (DAX),
Gold (GOLD), Interest Rates-Federal Reserve (EDF), IPCA-IBGE Inflation (IPCA).
Table 3 shows that the daily average return of the Bitcoin price index in Brazilian
Reais is equal to 5089.30, with a standard deviation of 10,273.22.
The price of Bitcoin (BTCCotUSD) has a high standard deviation. In fact, Baur
et al. [3] and Stavroyiannis [37] note that high volatility and is a key feature for the
Table 3 Summary statistics

Variable Mean Std. Dev Min Max
BTCCotBRL (y) 5089.306 10,273.22 209 68,710
BTCVolBRL (×1) 192.3841 216.6004 10 2580
BTCCotUSD (×2) 1506.489 2947.199 68.5 18,972.3
BTCVolUSD (×3) 67,817.02 71,552.46 500 886 880
IBOV (×4) 56,145.92 9400.4 37,497.47 87,652.64
Euro (×5) 3.515648 0.4159802 2.84 4.67
Dollar (×6) 2.996916 0.5428083 2.15 4.19
SP500 (×7) 2103.396 264.0293 1573.09 2872.87
GOLD (×8) 1250.181 74.22516 1050.8 1420.6
EDF (×9) 0.5227058 0.3841437 0.25 1.5
IPCA (×10) 6.672431 2.369125 2.46 10.71
application of GARCH models. Other comparisons may be associated with Table

3, such as the high standard deviation in the volume of transactions with bitcoin
(BTCVolUSD) in the United States and the standard deviation associated with the
currency price in Brazil (BTCCotBRL). In this research, we associated in a times
series period the price of Bitcoin, gold, and the dollar. The pricing of Bitcoin moves
by periods of high volatility and periods of tranquility, which suggests that the price
movement form groupings, another important point in the sample that suggests the
application of GARCH.
Another factor to highlight is the gold’s behavior in relation to other assets because
in this period there was little volatility, remaining stationary. The volatility of the
dollar is displayed on the chart, just less so to the bitcoin and in some periods
performing movements contrary to the digital currency.
Table 4 shows the estimation results of the GARCH-type model. Given the
volatility of the currency and the clustering features of these volatilities, applies
the GARCH (1, 1) using the explanatory variables to justify the price movement
of bitcoin. This model was considered the most suitable because of the extensive
research that applied. The selected variables are listed as external variables with its
respective coefficient and left the p-value of statistical significance. As can be seen,
all the explanatory variables are significant at the 5% significance. Among these vari-
ables, only the gold presented p-value above zero, just less than 5%, which makes
us reject the null hypothesis.
With a 95% confidence level, it is quite likely that these results are consistent
and assertive. Some explanatory variables provide great impact on the dependent
variable “BTCCotBRL”. The variable “BTCVolBRL” which expresses the volume
of transactions with bitcoin in Brazil presents a coefficient of 0.3041, suggesting
that a larger number of operations in Brazil leads to greater volatility bitcoin trading
in local currency. The variable “BTCCotUSD” which is the price of bitcoin in the
US dollar has a high coefficient of 3.3780, which suggests that the higher quoted
176 L. Flach et al.
Table 4 GARCH (1, 1)

Variables Coefficient p-value
BTCCotBRL Constant 1041.5 0.000
Lag 1 0.0047 0.000
Lag 2 0.0027 0.020
Lag 3 0.0022 0.000
External variables Constant 403.47 0.000
BTCVolBRL 0.3041 0.000
BTCCotUSD 3.3780 0.000
BTCVolUSD 0.0002 0.000
IBOV −0.005 0.000
Euro −142.4 0.000
Dollar 317.78 0.000
SP500 −0.415 0.000
GOLD −0.089 0.017
EDF 468.43 0.000
IPCA 18.453 0.000
the bitcoin dollar, the higher the bitcoin price trend in Brazil follow the US price,
which will cause huge volatility in certain periods. The variable “Euro” which is the
price of this currency in the European Union has a negative coefficient of −142.4,
suggesting that the upward trend of the euro has a negative impact on the price of
bitcoin in Brazil. In terms of currencies, the US dollar has a positive coefficient of
317.78, suggesting a strong impact on currency volatility in Brazil. As previously
mentioned in relation to the volume of North American operations, the increase in
the dollar exchange rate significantly increases the volatility of bitcoin. The variable
“EDF” representing the North American interest rate also has a high coefficient of
468.43, suggesting that movements in the US economy interest rates cause a strong
impact on the Brazilian operation of bitcoin. And finally,
Similar results were shared by Dyhrberg [14], which states that when there are
positive shocks in the variation of the dollar, the volatility of bitcoin increases. Other
conclusions were found in this study detected a positive relationship between oper-
ated volume and price changes, while Balcilar, Bouri, Gupta, and Roubaud [1] point
out that the volume can be predictive only in the market normal conditions because
of unrest times the volume is irrelevant for the purpose of forecasting.
Therefore, according to this study, the sensitivity of the Brazilian operations with
bitcoin is linked to fluctuations in the US economy, especially the appreciation of
the dollar volume of operations and North American interest rate.
After application of GARCH (1, 1) used the Durbin-Watson statistic, commonly
known as statistical “d” to assess the level of autocorrelation. The study included
three levels of delay (lag) and found the results shown in Table 5.
Table 5 Statistics “d”

Lag 1 Lag 2 Lag 3
Durbin-Watson
Durbin-Watson 0.1913 0.2027 0.2009
Table 6 Analysis of correlation lags within 4 periods

LAG B.C PAC Q Prob > Q
1 0.7277 0.9978 561.26 0.0000
2 0.5255 −0.4183 854.3 0.0000
3 0.4820 −0.8783 1101 0.0000
4 0.4544 −0.1721 1320.5 0.0000
According to the results presented in Table 5, in all three moments there is the
presence of positive autocorrelation, since all coefficients are smaller than 2. This
model suggests that the statistic varies from 0 to 4, where 2 indicates zero autocorre-
lation, 0 and 4 indicates positive and negative autocorrelation. We use the following
Table 6 for further understanding the autocorrelation of this time series.
All in all, the GARCH model appears to be an appropriate tool to describe the
volatility of the Bitcoin price returns. We noticed that at all times the sample is
significant at 95%. However, the autocorrelation level at time 1 is 0.7277 decreases as
the delay (lag), reaching the 4th time the coefficient of 0.4544, suggesting decreased
autocorrelation over time.
5 Final Considerations
Bitcoin has this place in the financial markets and in portfolio management, and
examining its volatility is very important. Moreover, the presence of long memory
and persistent volatility justifies the application of GARCH-type models.
Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies are a globally spreading phenomenon that is
frequently and also prominently addressed by media, venture capitalists, financial,
and governmental institutions alike. The Bitcoin market in particular has recently
seen huge growth. As Bitcoin is mainly used for investment purposes, examining
its volatility is of high importance. This paper investigated the ability of a GARCH
model to explain the Bitcoin price volatility. The results suggest the importance of
having both a short-run and a long-run component of conditional variance.
Bitcoin is different from any other asset on the financial market and thereby creates
new possibilities for stakeholders with regard to risk management, portfolio analysis,
and consumer sentiment analysis. Hence, it can be a useful tool for portfolio and risk
management, and our results can help investors make more informed decisions.
In this paper, we analyzed the prices and the volatility of bitcoin brokers and the
relationship between the bitcoin price and control variables of economic index and
other assets. Cryptocurrencies have recently gained a lot of interest from investors,
178 L. Flach et al.
central banks, and governments worldwide. The lack of any form of political regu-
lation and their market far from being efficient, require new forms of regulation in
the near future. From an econometric viewpoint, the process underlying the evolu-
tion of the cryptocurrencies’ volatility has been found to exhibit at the same time
differences and similarities with other financial time–series, e.g., foreign exchanges
return. This paper focused on predicting the conditional volatility of the most traded
cryptocurrency, the Bitcoin.
We identified that the volatility of bitcoin in Brazil is tied to the US economic
movement, especially in comparison to the dollar and North American interest rate.
Our statistical model suggests a price fluctuation in Brazil. However, the bitcoin is an
unregulated currency, and it is not subject to government measures. Fast and intense
currency movements may occur without the association to any economic factor, but
just market speculation.
In the Bitcoin speculative market, our findings involve potential implications for
trading strategies. Practically, under normal market conditions, practitioners, and
traders in the Bitcoin market will benefit from constructing volume-return based
strategies to increase their profits. Currently in Brazil, the risk associated with bitcoin
is higher than investments in equities.
This result seems to suggest that investors in the Bitcoin market can obtain valuable
predictive information for returns from traded volume, when the market is in normal
mode. However, in bear and bull regimes, volume plays no role in predicting returns,
with past (seven) lags of returns providing relatively more valuable information for
future returns than volume. This finding partially implies that in stress periods, unlike
in the case of equities, trading volume is not associated with extremely high/low
returns in the Bitcoin market.
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Risks and Challenges of Scrum:
A Systematic Literature Review
Pedro Filipe Soares
Abstract Agile methodologies were increasingly adopted in the last decades. In the
Agile methodologies’ universe, Scrum is the most used one and is gaining broader
acceptance. In fast changing times, marked by various uncertainties in the organiza-
tion of workplaces, location of teams and technological challenges, it is necessary
to update the risks and challenges of using Scrum. With updated information and
awareness of the risks and challenges inherent to the SCRUM methodology, the deci-
sion on whether to adopt this methodology will be better addressed. The research is
made in the form of a systematic literature review (SLR). This SLR extracted data
from 39 papers published from 2017 to 2021, a period that encompasses important
impacts of the ongoing transformations with the adoption of cloud computing, the
use of big data and the difficulties that the COVID-19 pandemic posed around the
world. Several challenges and risks were identified, from team communication to
collaboration with stakeholders, from effort estimation to knowledge management,
and suggestions are made to improve Scrum adoption success rate.
1 Introduction
More than two decades have passed since the publication of the Manifesto for
Agile Software Development [5]. During this period, agile methodologies gained
wide acceptance [12], particularly the scrum methodology. Companies’ attention
was accompanied by scientific research, with several studies being produced on the
implementation of Scrum over the years. This research body provided knowledge
for success factors in Scrum implementation [21] but, with fast changing times, is
of great importance to assess how Scrum is being implemented nowadays, what are
the risks and challenges of Scrum adoption. In this way, we provide information so
that the adoption of SCRUM can be an informed one.
P. F. Soares (B)
e-mail: pfgss1@iscte-iul.pt
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_9
182 P. F. Soares
We are witnessing major technological, social, and economic changes. The

COVID-19 pandemic was the most disruptive event in recent years, but the changes
underway already encompassed the massification of cloud services, the widespread
use of big data and the evolution of artificial intelligence, amongst others. These
changes have an impact on the organization of companies, the configuration and
management of projects, the development process, or in even things as simple
as the way people interact. As Scrum is being used in many different contexts,
from managing software engineering projects to managing entire companies [15], is
expected to also be touched by these changes.
This research aims to assess the risks and challenges of Scrum, identified in
articles published from 2017 to 2021, and present suggestions on how to surpass
them. In total, 39 articles published in top journals were analyzed. This research
used a systematic literature review methodology that is an important way to identify,
evaluate, and interpret the research available to a particular question or topic [24].
This research is structured as follows. The remaining of this section introduces
ASD and Scrum. The following section presents the methodology used for the
research. The “Results” analyzes the articles found, and “Discussion” analyses the
information gathered. “Conclusion” resumes the main insights of this review.
1.1 Overview of Agile Methodologies
ASD is being broadly adopted worldwide [12]. Since the publication of the Agile
Manifesto in 2001 [5] and it is 12 principles, the research community has devoted a
great deal of attention to this new paradigm of software development. ASD is based
on team adaptability to customer changing requirements, flexible response, and fast
delivery of valuable software, as an alternative to more traditional approaches to
software development, such as waterfall, incremental or evolutionary [25]—based
on extensive planning, great predictability, and rigorous coding processes, where
requirements changes were discouraged and expensive. The latter are called the
heavyweight methodologies as opposing to ASD [34].
There are several examples of ASD methodologies like Scrum, Extreme Program-
ming, Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), Feature Driven Develop-
ment (FDD), or Adaptive Software Development [34]. Some of them were already
being used and studied even before ASD was presented in 2001. The Agile Manifesto
was a mark in the common ground that these methods and practices shared. Since
then, Scrum grew to become the most used agile method.
Risks and Challenges of Scrum: A Systematic Literature Review 183
1.2 A Brief Presentation of Scrum
Scrum is an agile project management methodology that uses iteration and incremen-
tation and was developed for rapidly changing projects requirements, with commu-
nication between developers and project owners as a key feature. It was introduced
as a new product development standard where is described how innovative products
could be developed in cross-functional teams with an all-simultaneous approach
[49]. Later, this approach was used in software development at Easel Corporation
in 1993 [48]. The description of the Scrum methodology was made afterwards [42]
and gained popularity over the years.
Scrum is based on a self-organizing team where everyone knows how to make
everyone’s job, has short term deliverables to clients, and great communication within
the team and with product owner. The units of work are broken to discrete intervals
with 4 weeks maximum periods ate the end of each is delivered a working product.
In short, Scrum includes a set of roles, ceremonies, and artefacts, as illustrated in
Fig. 1, which will be briefly described.
Roles There are three roles on a Scrum project: product owner, scrum master, and
the development team members. The three roles combined are the Scrum team. The
participation of each role is graphically illustrated in Fig. 2. As we will explain what
the different roles are, it is important to mention that the scrum roles should not be
mistaken with job titles as they describe the key responsibilities on the Scrum team.
Product Owner (PO) is the responsible for the project/product vision and commu-
nication with the team and customers. The PO defines priorities and determines what
the final value of the product should be. His goal is to have a successful product and
the best return on investment.
Scrum Master is a facilitator, assuring that both the PO and the development team
achieve the project goals. Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring the team has a
productive work environment and that the team’s interaction is made accordingly to
the agile values and principles and with Scrum processes, procedures, and methods. It
Fig. 1 Scrum roles,

artifacts, and ceremonies.
Figure obtained from [39]
184 P. F. Soares
Fig. 2 The Scrum process. Figure obtained from [4]
is not the team manager, instead he serves the team and protects it from outside inter-
ference. In smaller teams, the Scrum Master can be one member of the development
team with a lower workload, but it cannot be the same person as the PO.
Development team is responsible for delivering the product that the PO indi-
cates. Is cross-functional and self-organizing, with a high degree of autonomy and
accountability. In Scrum, a development team is seven plus or minus two people.
Artifacts The Scrum artifacts represent information that is translated afterwards
as work or value. They grant the maximum transparency in the process for every
intervenient. Each artifact contains a commitment that ensures information against
which progress can be measured. The Scrum artifacts are Product Backlog, Sprint
Backlog, and Increment:
Product Backlog is an ordered list of prioritized items needed to achieve the
product goal. Is the source of the work undertaken by the development team.
Sprint Backlog is a list of items organized to achieve the sprint goal (why), selected
from Product Backlog (what), integrated in a plan for delivering the Increment (how).
The sprint goal is an optional part of the Scrum framework, and it answers the
following questions: Why is the Sprint worthwhile and what should be achieved?
How do we reach the goals? How do we know the goals have been met?
Increment is the items from Product Backlog completed during a Sprint, addictive
to all prior Increments. It must be usable in order to provide value. The commitment
is the Definition of Done for each Product Backlog item.
Ceremonies The Scrum events are called ceremonies and are sprint, sprint planning,
daily meeting, sprint review, and sprint retrospective. These events happen inside
each sprint:
Sprint is a period of development (1 month or less) in which the team must achieve
the Sprint Goal. It starts immediately after the end of previous Sprint and, after it
starts there cannot be any changes that endanger the Sprint Goal.
Sprint Planning is the starting event of a Sprint in which the work to be performed
in the Sprint is set in a plan created collaboratively by the entire Scrum Team.
Daily Scrum is a short Development Team gathering at the beginning of each day,
typically with a 15-min duration, where the members of the development team share
information about what was done on the day before and what they plan to do on that
day.
Sprint Review is the inspection of the Increment made in a Sprint and to assess
for future adaptations. It is a working session between the Scrum Team and the key
Stakeholders in which the progress toward the Product Goal is analyzed.
Sprint Retrospective is the Sprint conclusion and has the purpose use the Sprint
information to improve quality and effectiveness in the future. It is an analysis made
by the Scrum Team.
2 Methodology for SLR
A SLR evaluates, summarizes or interprets all available research essential to a specific

question, a particular topic, an individual area of study, or a phenomenon of interest
[23]. An SLR must be systematic, explicit, and reproducible [37] and is much more
than an elaborated annotated bibliography [27]. This means that it must follow a
methodological approach, be transparent in the procedures that guided its elaboration
and duplicable and auditable by others that follow the same protocol. Is also important
that the SLR accomplishes a rigorous review process and inspires confidence in the
readers to be useful [37].
The SLR must, also, show explicitly the specific contribution of the proposed
research to the existing knowledge [27].
Okoli [37] distinguish between three types of SLR that differ mainly on the context
in which they are made: “theoretical background” for a journal paper, “thesis liter-
ature review” as a chapter of a graduate thesis or a “standalone literature review”
that reviews the literature of a specific topic without a collection or analysis of any
primary data by the author. The present SLR fits in the third option as a standalone
literature review. The protocol used follows the methodology determined by [23],
which suggests three main phases: planning, conducting, and reporting the review.
The stages associated with planning the review are: 1. Identification of the need
for a review and 2. Development of a review protocol. The stages associated with
conducting the review are: 1. Identification of research, 2. Selection of primary
studies, 3. Study quality assessment, 4. Data extraction and monitoring, and 5. Data
synthesis. Reporting the review is a single stage.
2.1 Research Questions
The need for this review was previously stated. As ASD is being broadly used world-
wide and Scrum is the most used of these methodologies, being used in many different
186 P. F. Soares
contexts, from managing software engineering projects to managing entire compa-

nies [15], we intend to update the knowledge of the risks and challenges of using
Scrum.
This is valuable research due to the technological, economic, social, and health
changes that happened in recent years. As so, this research will help companies in
the decision of adopting Scrum. We do not identify, in the research made, related
SLR works that directly study the challenges and risks of Scrum in papers with the
quality assessment of Q1 or Q2 journal articles since 2017. As so, this research is
even more valuable.
The research questions we aim to answer are:
RQ1: What are the challenges of Scrum?
RQ2: What are the risks of Scrum?
RQ1 and RQ2 are the core of our research and try to identify the challenges and
risks of implementing Scrum. In identifying this information, we achieve part of
the knowledge needed in the decision whether to adopt Scrum. We will also give
some recommendations trying to help companies to deal with Scrum challenges and
prevent its risk, managing them to adopt the Scrum methodology.
2.2 Search Strategy, Study Selection, and Quality Assessment
The purpose of this SLR is to identify the challenges and risks of Scrum assessed in
studies published from January of 2017. The sources chosen to search for the studies
were:
– IEEE Xplore Digital Library (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/home.jsp);
– Springer Link (https://link.springer.com/);
– ACM Digital Library (https://dl.acm.org/);
– Scopus (https://www.scopus.com);
– Web of Science (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/basic-search).
This review included only English articles published on journals, from 2017 to
2021. Despite the concerns with a possible bias due to exclusions based on the
language of the studies [23], in the preliminary searches made for this review we
can assess that only a short number of studies we excluded related with the language
choice.
We began by using the selected keywords for a search in each repository, consid-
ering only papers of journals or magazines in English. This search was done without
any filter. Afterward filters were applied.
The first filter was a date filter, rejecting all the studies prior to 2017. This search
was done in 10 of January of 2022 and accepted all the studies that were in early
access status. For better refinement of the universe of studies to analyze, a second
filter was introduced that searched the keywords in the abstract. In the application
Table 1 Filtration process

Database No filter First filter Second filter Third filter
IEEE 15 10 8 8
SpringerLink 671 357 9 9
ACM 154 73 1 0
SCOPUS 224 91 73 18
Web of Science 375 213 137 4
Total 1439 744 113 39
Fig. 3 Number of studies

per year
of the second filter, there was the need to do the search manually on the results of
the first filter of the SpringerLink repository. This is due to the lack of an automatic
feature of search in abstracts in this repository. We applied a third filter, manually
to all of the results of the repositories, removing the duplicated studies and applying
a quality criteria. For the application of the quality criteria, was used the Scimago1
website and only accepted papers of journals with Q1 and Q2 ranks.
The specific keywords used for the search are listed below and used in all the
repositories with operators AND and OR, with Scrum being the main keywords:
Keywords: Scrum AND (risk OR risks OR challenge OR challenges).
The results of the filtration process can be observed in Table 1, where the different
steps are accounted for.
2.3 Data Extraction and Synthesis
After the filtration process, the analysis of the studies was conducted. Our sample
is made of 39 articles. As we can see in Fig. 3 that we have a growing number of
studies made in 2020 and 2021.
When analyzing the domain of the studies, there are four areas that we found:
Collaborative Organizations (CO), Education, Industry Project Management (IPM),
1 https://www.scimagojr.com.
188 P. F. Soares
Fig. 4 Distribution of publication domain
and Software Project Management (SPM). These findings show that Scrum is being
used in different ways, as was previously stated [15]. Nonetheless, as can be seen in
Fig. 4, Software Project Management (SPM) is still the main domain encountered.
The segmentation of the results for each of the domains is a way to assess if
different risks or challenges have a domain bias. In Table 2 there is the identification
of each study and the correspondent domain.
Another important information is the relation between the domain of the study
and the year in which they are made has this can be used to avoid any bias.
The relation between the domain of the study and the year can be assessed in
Table 3. In domains where only on study exists, as with Collaborative Organizations,
this information is not enough for any conclusion. However, in domains with more
studies like SPM, we can conclude that 2021 was a very productive year.
3 Results
Searching to answer for RQ1, we can now indicate that the main challenges in Scrum
are related with team communication, effort estimation, knowledge management,
collaboration with stakeholders, and team commitment to Scrum. The full list is
presented in detail in Table 4. We will now address each of the five main challenges:
– Team communication—This was the main challenge identified in our research.
When in the Education domain, there are problems related to the underdevelop-
ment of communication skills for group projects or lacking transparency between
team members [30], low collaboration in retrospectives, and reduction of commu-
nication across sprints [10] or specific student learning style [43]. In the identified
articles of SPM domain, the major challenges derived of the implementation of
Table 2 Domains found in the research
Domain No. of studies References
Collaborative organizations 1 [32]
Education 9 [4, 7, 8, 10, 30, 39, 41, 43, 47]
Industry project management 3 [18, 44, 46]
Software project management 26 [1–3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 26, 28, 29, 31, 35, 36, 38, 40, 45, 50–52]
Risks and Challenges of Scrum: A Systematic Literature Review
189
190 P. F. Soares
Table 3 Number of studies

Domain No. of studies Year No. of studies
of each domain segmented by
year of publication Collaborative 1 2018 1
organizations
Education 9 2017 1
2018 1
2019 1
2020 3
2021 3
Industry project 3 2020 1
management 2021 2
Software project 26 2017 6
management 2018 2
2019 5
2020 5
2021 8
scrum by geographically distributed teams [9, 20], limited face-to-face meetings,

and reduction of trust between team members [2, 52], bad news concealing [45]
and communication problems between different teams [3].
– Effort estimation—In Education context, it is affirmed that task estimation and
breakdown is a challenge due to the lack of experience and preparation of students
to deal with the technical requisites [47]. In IPM context, the effort estimation is
related with different planning practices between digital and physical development
[18]. When in SPM domain, the neglection of lessons learnt has impact on tackling
effort estimation [1], the team’s short awareness of the project status [26] or
the focus on scrum master dependency [17] also impacts in this challenge that
exists even when using different estimation techniques like Planning Poker, Expert
Opinion and Function Point Analysis [14], and strive in large scale software
development [6].
– Knowledge management—In the IPM domain, is stated that the challenge is
to transform the tacit knowledge of the team in explicit knowledge [44]. When
related with de SPM domain, the dependence on tacit knowledge is also addressed
as a challenge to overcome, namely when it comes to effort estimation [1] or
requirement traceability through user stories [51]. In this domain is also stated
this challenge when dealing with architectural decisions in distributed teams [45],
the need to properly address spring retrospectives to consolidate team knowledge
[40], manage knowledge to exploit communalities of various products [22], and
to correspond to ISO standards need of documentation [31].
– Collaboration with stakeholders—as a challenge in the Education domain, this is
presented as limited availability of client to interact with the Scrum team or in
prioritizing demands [30]. In the SPM domain, this challenge is mainly related
with stakeholder geographical distance issues [2, 52], with coordination with
Table 4 The challenges of Scrum (Edu—Education; IPM—Industry Project Management; SPM—

Software Project Management)
Challenge Domain Total Articles
Team communication Edu 3 [10, 30, 43]
SPM 6 [2, 3, 9, 20, 45, 52]
Effort estimation Edu 1 [47]
IPM 1 [18]
SPM 5 [1, 6, 14, 17, 26]
Knowledge management IPM 1 [44]
SPM 6 [1, 22, 31, 40, 45, 51]
Collaboration with stakeholders Edu 1 [30]
SPM 5 [2, 6, 13, 33, 52]
Team commitment to Scrum IPM 1 [46]
SPM 3 [28, 29, 40]
Team composition Edu 3 [7, 8, 39]
Applying knowledge to real project Edu 2 [ 10, 47]
PO commitment Edu 2 [4, 41]
End-users’ involvement SPM 2 [11, 36]
Task breakdown Edu 1 [47]
Schedule’s constraints Edu 1 [30]
Express requirements in natural language IPM 1 [44]
Tack leadership gap IPM 1 [46]
Tackling innovation SPM 1 [36]
Regul. compliance SPM 1 [38]
Suitable prod. backlog SPM 1 [19]
many stakeholders in large scale software development or in complex ones [6,

13], and in the relation with external stakeholders [33].
– Team commitment to Scrum—in the IPM domain, this challenge is related with
team leadership in a self-organizing team [46]. In SPM, this challenge is posed
when applying Scrum to mobile apps [29], in cases where lacks motivation for the
team to apply agile techniques in practice [28], and poor commitment in spring
retrospectives [40] one of the cornerstones of the Scrum process.
Pursuing an answer to RQ2, we can now indicate that the main risks in Scrum
are related with team communication, effort estimation, knowledge management,
collaboration with stakeholders, and team commitment to Scrum. The full list is
presented in Table 5. We will now address each of the three main challenges because
are the ones reported in more than one study:
192 P. F. Soares
Table 5 The risks of Scrum (CO—Collaborative Organizations; Edu—Education; IPM—Industry

Project Management; SPM—Software Project Management)
Risk Domain Total Articles
Partial application of Scrum SPM 2 [45, 52]
1 [35]
Wrong application of Scrum Edu 1 [41]
SPM 1 [40]
Lacking documentation IPM 1 [44]
SPM 1 [31]
Risk timely management CO 1 [32]
Uncertain long-term knowledge retention Edu 1 [47]
Software development life cycle SPM 1 [52]
Lack of risk management SPM 1 [50]
– Partial application of Scrum—In the SPM domain, this risk is presented in

complex distribution scenarios [52], or as a base for lack of architecture compli-
ance across teams. In the Education domain, it is stated that this risk is related
with cognitive difficulties to understand agile practices [35].
– Wrong application of Scrum—This risk is described in the Education domain,
indicated as responsible for limiting the benefits of Scrum [41]. In the SPM
domain, it is studied as the poor results of Sprint retrospectives [40].
– Lacking documentation—This risk is presented similarly in IPM and SPM
domains, as the result of poor documentation of user stories and knowledge
retaining [31, 44].
4 Discussion
It is relevant to notice the number of articles in the Education domain, most of them
trying to implement practices that prepare students to the Scrum process they will
find in companies. This is another way to assess the importance of Scrum and its
usage.
We can see that there are some domain specific challenges and risks, but the
more relevant are shared by all domains. The more relevant challenge revealed hits a
cornerstone of Scrum—the team communication. This is more understandable among
teams of students than in real companies because students can lack the technological
expertise or the social skills that workers should have. Nevertheless, the lack of
team communication undermines the Scrum process. To address this challenge, is
possible to invest on improving teams’ communications skills [30], use 3D virtual
learning environment for training software developers [43] or make sure teams agree
on common definition for Scrum terminologies, concepts, responsibilities, and roles
[2].
Effort estimation is a traditional challenge in software development and Scrum

also suffers from it. To overcome this challenge, several solutions can be implemented
as using a specific software for that purpose [1, 17]. Machine learning techniques or
story point metrics are also alternatives for this purpose [14].
Another challenge that has broad recognition is related with knowledge manage-
ment, which has different approaches and strategies to overcome. One of them is
the use of a domain language [51], and another is using game-base approaches for
Scrum ceremonies [40].
To overpass the challenge of collaborating with stakeholders, one approach can
be scaling the role of PO [13].
The risks found were fewer than the challenges. This suggests a lack of research
in these terms, with a short application of Scrum (partial or wrong application) being
the main risk encountered. The way to overcome this risk is with a more profound
commitment to ASD values and the Scrum process.
It was not without surprise that no article addressed the impacts of COVID-19
pandemic in Scrum implementation. Being true that this is a recent event, we are
now entering year two of this new reality which should be a period of enough time
to have some preliminary research.
5 Conclusion
In this paper we aimed to identify the challenges (RQ1) and risk (RQ2) of Scrum using
an SLR approach. These research questions were answered though the analysis of
39 articles published in the period between 2017 and 2021, divided by four domains:
Collaborative organizations, Education, Industry Project Management, and Software
Project Management.
In the search to answer RQ1 we have identified eighteen challenges in Scrum adop-
tion. The five more important are team communication, effort estimation, knowledge
management, and collaboration with stakeholders. In response to RQ2, there were
identified seven risks. The three most relevant risks in adopting Scrum are partial
application of scrum, wrong application of scrum, and lacking documentation. In
addition to this research, we also presented some ways to overcome these challenges
and these risks.
Our findings have three dimensions of relevance. In the Education domain, this
study has identified the challenges and risks that need to be addressed to assure
a better way to teach and promote Scrum to students. In the Industry domain or
in Software domain, this study helps to improve Scrum adoption and success rate,
giving the up-to-date knowledge to make the decision whether to adopt and how to
do it in the different domains. As Scrum is being broadly adopted, the review of the
research available regarding its challenges and risks is also relevant.
The limitations found in this review are related to the period chosen (2017–2021),
the universe of articles used that does not address conference papers and to the
research being made by only one person. As we give some examples to overcome
194 P. F. Soares
the challenges and risks of Scrum, the examples used are from the same articles
used to assess the challenges and the risks. Despite the period analyzed (2017–2021)
was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes it imposed in the work
organization and team communication, there was no paper found that addressed the
impacts of this pandemic on Scrum usage. As the risks found for Scrum were fewer
than challenges found, it may suggest a lack of research in these terms.
Future work can include conference papers and check for challenges or risks that
were not identified, address the ways to overcome each challenge or risk, and address
the consequences of COVID-19 pandemic in Scrum usage.
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Successful Implantation of Enterprise IT
Applications in SMEs: A TOE-Based
Framework of Influencing Factors
Irving Reascos and João A. Carvalho
Abstract This literature review summarizes the factors and subfactors that influ-
ence an enterprise IT application (EITA) implantation in micro, small and medium
sized enterprises (SMEs). To determine these factors and subfactors, a search was
carried out in the Scopus and AIS e-Library databases (75 articles were analyzed). For
each document, factors and subfactors involved in the implantation of an EITA have
been extracted and organized in contexts and subcontexts following the TOE frame-
work (Technological, Organizational, and Environmental). Thus, 38 factors and 128
subfactors were obtained that influence the implantation of an EITA in SMEs. In this
article, we present 18 factors and 26 subfactors most relevant for the implantation of
an EITA in SMEs.
Keywords EITA · Implantation · Implementation · SME · TOE framework · ERP
1 Introduction
Information Technology (IT) applications are unavoidable constituents of enter-

prises, including SME. They participate in the execution of enterprise functions,
anytime and anywhere those functions involve information processing. As informa-
tion is inescapable in human and social action, IT applications have an extensive
set of roles to play in any enterprise. We will use the acronym EITA—standing for
Enterprise IT Application—to refer to these IT artefacts utilized in the realization of
enterprise functions. EITAs can appear in a stand-alone mode, they might interoperate
with other EITAs, or they can be integrated into software packages.
Customary designations of these EITAs refer to the functions they perform or to
the enterprise function they support, enhance, or enable. Examples of EITAs include
I. Reascos (B)
Universidad Técnica del Norte, Ibarra, Ecuador
e-mail: imreascos@utn.edu.ec
J. A. Carvalho
Universidade Do Minho, Braga, Portugal
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_10
198 I. Reascos and J. A. Carvalho
point of sale (POS), enterprise resource planning (ERP), document management

systems, enterprise content management (ECM), customer relationship management
(CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) are examples of such designations.
Considering the current situation in computing, when an enterprise seeks the
use of the excellent advantage of an EITA, the key issue is its implantation, not its
construction. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) EITAs exist nowadays for a wide
range of enterprise situations. Also referred to as ready-to-use-software-products
(RUSP), COTS EITAs are the fast way for enterprises to secure the access to state-
of-the-art IT. COTS EITAs are designed and built taking into consideration generic
models of enterprise functions, and they incorporate common/good/best practices
for dealing with such functions.
The implantation of an EITA is a process that starts with the recognition of a
problem, a need or an opportunity that can be addressed by IT. It encompasses the
search and procurement of an IT solution, its installation, configuration and put in
use. The process ends when the EITA is in use, and it is possible to assess whether
the intended benefits have been achieved.
This article focuses on the implantation of EITA in SMEs. By SME we mean
enterprises that fit in a categorization that also includes micro-enterprises. Typi-
cally, SMEs lack specialized human resources capable of conducting an implanta-
tion process. Furthermore, SMEs might also have difficulty in establishing the IT
infrastructure required to run those EITAs.
The implantation of EITAs in SMEs has its difficulties and demands specific
competencies. The successful implantation of EITAs in SMEs is not a minor issue. It
is about bringing change to a stable setting, redefining work and social structures, and
altering existing power balances. The idea that SMEs, with reduced dimension and
complexity, have simple implantation processes is misleading as the risk of failure
is high [1–13]. Several factors influence the process of implantation of EITAs.
This article revises such factors. They are presented according to their nature,
following the TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) framework [14], and
emphasizing the factors particularly relevant to SMEs. This is justified considering
the reduced treatment of these issues in the literature. The identification of EITA
implantation influence factors for SMEs will contribute to improved approaches to
these processes. The article concludes with the presentation of the main factors that
influence the successful implementation of an EITA in the SME.
2 Methodology
The literature review aims to contribute to a research endeavor whose objective can
be summarized in two research questions: What factors influence the success of EITA
implantation processes in SME? What factors are the most important? The unit of
analysis in this research is, therefore, the implantation process of an EITA in an SME.
Successful Implantation of Enterprise IT Applications … 199
It should be noted that different EITAs (ERP, CRM, etc.) can be at stake and,
consequently, different benefits can be intended with the implantation of the EITA.
Furthermore, the emphasis is on SMEs. There is no focus on any economic sector.
The implantation of an EITA encompasses several stages such as preparation,
selection, installation, configuration, technical maintenance, etc. Thus, attention had
to be paid to articles that cover especially any of these stages.
We acknowledge that some key terms used in this article do not follow the
customary terminology. We are using “EITA”—an acronym for Enterprise IT Appli-
cation—to refer to IT artefacts utilized in the realization of enterprise functions.
Although the term “IT application” is widely used, the term “information system
- IS” is also a common designation. We avoid its use as the designations are also
used to refer to a perspective on an enterprise that addresses information processing
encompassing not only IT artefacts but also humans and social elements. The term
“EITA” adds the reference to the context in which IT applications are to be studied.
The term “implantation” is also an unconventional term in the IS community. At
least in the Anglo-Saxon influenced space where the most used term to refer to a
situation where an EITA is put in use in an enterprise is “implementation”. The reason
to avoid “implementation” is that it is most often used (appropriately) to refer to the
stage of the software process where software plans and is put into effect through
the construction of a software (IT) artefact. Our unit of analysis is different. The
focus is on putting the IT artefact into use. In this case, the term “implementation”
can also be used. However, it should refer to putting into effect some enterprise
development plans. We are aware that “implantation” has connotations with medical
procedures. Moreover, we welcome such connotations as we want to benefit from
the ideas related to medical implantations that might emerge when the term is used in
the context of improving enterprises using IT. For Spanish or French IS researchers
and practitioners, the use of the term “implantation” is not so strange, since it is
commonly used in the context that interests us.
Considering the unconventional terminology, we are using, and the lack of well-
established (and appropriate) terms for the phenomenon we are interested in, the
literature search had to include terms recognized as more common in the English
dominated scientific literature. Thus, the following search expression was used:
(Issues OR Problems OR Difficulties OR Challenges OR Success) AND

(Implantation OR Implementation OR Adoption OR Selection) AND
(Software package OR Commercial off-the-shelf OR COTS OR Enterprise appli-
cation OR Information Systems OR IT application OR ERP OR CRM OR CMS OR
DMS OR ECM) AND
(Small and medium enterprise OR SME)
The search expression includes four parts, reflecting the research question: the
first deals with the dependent variable of our research questions—the success of
the EITA implantation process—that can also be expressed as problems, difficul-

ties, or challenges; the second takes into consideration the common usage of the
term “implementation” to refer to what we call “implantation”; the third regards the
implant itself—the IT artefact—where several possible search terms have been used;
the fourth is the restriction on SMEs. The literature search was conducted using the
AIS e-Library and Scopus.
The following results were obtained (the search was carried out in April 2017):
Scopus 29 items, AIS e-Library 50 items. From this set, 54 articles were selected for
subsequent analysis. The remainder articles were discarded because they did not fit
our research objective and/or did not refer exclusively to SMEs. To delve into some
topics, have also been considered backward and forward references. Subsequently,
an update of this literature review was made in March 2022, where 21 articles were
added.
3 Factors and Subfactors Involved in EITA Implantation
From the review of the literature that was carried out, the factors obtained were
classified according to the TOE framework in their contexts and subcontexts. It was
also necessary to divide the factors into several subfactors. It is necessary to mention
that some subfactors found have been left out. In any case, the main ones have been
incorporated from the perspective of the authors.
Also, be considered the line between the context and subcontext in which they
are grouped is very diffuse, for example, the Data has been classified under the
Technological context, but some people may consider that as an Organizational
context.
Thus, the influence factors are classified as follows: in the Technological context
the main subcontexts are: EITA (software package, Systems, COTS, RUSP, …)
data, and IT infrastructure; in the Organizational context, the main subcontexts
are strategy, organization structure, managerial, social and capability; in the Envi-
ronment context main subcontexts are government, market, and software provider.
Below each one of these contexts, subcontexts, factors, and subfactors are discussed.
3.1 Technological Context
Refers to internal and external technology that is relevant for the implantation of
an EITA. In this review, three main subcontexts have been extracted that influence
successful implantation: EITA, data, and IT infrastructure, see Table 1.
Enterprise IT Application (EITA). The factors related to the software are eval-
uation and selection; better fit between software processes and enterprise processes;
the characteristics of the EITA must be considered, next, these factors are presented.
Table 1 Factors and subfactors in the technological context
Sub-context Factor Subfactor References No
Software Package or Software package or EITA Evaluation of EITAs [7, 15–22] 9
EITA Selection of EITA [2, 5, 15, 17, 20, 23–32] 15
Best Fit between EITA and Fit between process of EITA and [2, 18, 21, 26, 28, 33–38] 11
enterprise Company process
Level of Customization/configuration [2, 10, 17–21, 30, 31, 37, 39–41] 12
Integration [15, 24, 34, 37, 39, 42] 7
Characteristics of Enterprise Flexibility [2, 28, 34, 43–45] 6
IT Application Compatibility [7, 19, 20, 42, 46–48] 7
Usability [20, 25, 43–45, 49] 6
Reliability [2, 19, 32, 37, 43, 45] 5
Complexity [7, 15, 19, 30, 46–50] 9
Sustainability [2, 15, 20, 33, 44] 5
Performance [37, 41] 2
Successful Implantation of Enterprise IT Applications …
Data Data Planning Data analysis plan [2, 10, 15, 22, 31, 44] 6
Data migration plan [2, 30] 2
Data Quality Data quality control [2, 11, 15, 18, 22, 23, 32, 44, 51] 9
Data organization [15, 18, 44] 3
Cleaning of data [2, 17, 30, 44] 4
Data Migration Data conversion Import and export of [2, 31, 37, 44, 52, 53] 6
data from legacy systems
Security Security of the information [19–21, 23, 24, 32, 36, 37, 40–42, 44, 47] 13
(continued)
201
Table 1 (continued)
202
Sub-context Factor Subfactor References No

Centralized Centralized integrated [34, 42, 44] 3
information/transparency
IT Infrastructure Hardware Data center, centralized structure of IT [11, 23, 38] 3
equipment
Cloud—saving of cost [32, 42] 2
Networking Good network infrastructure [23, 25, 32, 36, 41] 5
Architecture Fragmented IS/IT architecture [24, 31] 2
IS/IT available SMEs already have an installed base of [28, 54] 2
IS/IT
I. Reascos and J. A. Carvalho
– Evaluation and selection of the appropriate EITA is one of the main factors of
success in the implantation of the same. The goal is to select an EITA that fits the
needs and budget of the enterprise.
– The best fit of EITA. It is necessary to make the best adjustment between the
business processes supported by the EITA and the business processes used by the
enterprise.
– Characteristics of EITA. Refers to the features that influence its implantation,
some factors are desirable such as flexibility, compatibility, usability, reliability,
sustainability and that it is modular.
Data. Data is an important issue that influences the quality of information provided
by the EITA; it is considered that information is one of the most valuable resources of
the enterprise. It is necessary that this information is centralized, available to users,
and has quality control and security policies for access to it. Furthermore, for the
successful implantation of an EITA, it is necessary to migrate the information from
legacy systems. The factors that influence the implantation of an EITA here are:
– Data Planning. Involves performing the data plan analysis and data migration
plan.
– Quality control. Data must be correct and precise.
– Data Migration. Data conversion import and export of data from legacy systems.
– Security and encryption. Security of the information
– Centralized. Centralized integrated information / transparency.
IT Infrastructure. The technological infrastructure in the SME must be to the
needs and requirements of the EITA since the computer application will work in this
infrastructure. For this, it is necessary to have adequate hardware and networking in
addition to being compatible with the architecture and IS/IT available.
3.2 Organizational Context
The organizational context refers to the characteristics and resources of the firm,
including the firm’s size, the degree of centralization, the degree of formalization,
managerial structure, human resources, amount of resources, and linkages among
employees [14]. The organizational context has been classified into five subcontexts,
which are: strategic, structural, managerial, social and capability, see Table 2.
Strategic. Provides a general direction to the enterprise of how the EITA will be
implanted; it includes the specification of the company’s objectives, the policies and
plans designed to achieve these objectives, and finally, the allocation of resources
to execute the plans. Every strategy must have the support of top management.
The strategic factors compiled are: Top management support, plan and execute the
strategy.
Table 2 Factors and subfactors in the organizational context
204
Subcontext Factor Sub-factor References No

Strategic Top management CEO/CIO Involvement [1, 5, 7, 15, 16, 23, 33, 35, 36, 40, 42, 47, 48, 51, 54–64] 24
support Choose a “Project champion” [1, 2, 10, 17, 18, 20, 23, 31, 54, 58, 59, 61] 12
of high level
Management and project [2, 10, 16, 18, 20, 23, 30, 31, 57, 58] 10
steering committees
Understanding of needs, [2, 7, 16, 26, 27, 54, 56, 60, 65] 9
capabilities, and limitations
Business vision [2, 23, 62, 66] 4
Willingness to adopt modern [2, 28] 2
technologies
Allocating valuable resources [2, 15, 46, 51] 4
Strategic plan Planning integrated and [3, 5, 15, 20, 22, 23, 25, 29, 31, 32, 46, 62, 67] 13
coordinated
Alignment between business [2, 23, 24, 56, 58] 5
strategy and IT strategy
Planning the cost of [2, 20, 22, 23, 30, 33] 6
implementation
Functional requirements are [2, 17, 26, 39, 67] 5
clearly defined
Defined objectives which will [10, 15, 22, 23] 4
be covered by EITA
Planning the package selection [2, 17] 2
process
Readiness of enterprise [37, 62] 2
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
Execute the plan Use of consultants [2, 10, 17, 22, 23, 25, 30, 31, 61, 67] 10
Focused on the plan [2, 18, 23] 3
Vanilla—adopts without [21, 58] 2
modifications
Big bang—All at the same time [12, 66] 2
Structural Organizational Business size [1, 7, 15, 16, 29, 34, 44, 48, 57, 63, 68] 11
characteristics Maturity/ICT Experience, it [4, 7, 19, 23, 26, 59] 6
positively influences
Type of industry [7, 29, 68] 3
Flat structure is better [23, 26] 2
Defined organizational [18, 23, 65] 3
functional requirements
Former major change [2, 23] 2
experience
BMP/BPR Organizational structure should [3, 5, 6, 16, 18, 23, 24, 28, 30–32, 35, 36, 38, 49, 51, 52, 55, 62, 67, 69] 21
be modified before
IT business process integration [23, 28, 30, 34] 4
Documented business [23, 30, 69] 3
processes and roles
Identified key processes which [10, 23, 69] 3
influence success
Business Process Re-engineer [22, 57] 2
(BPR) experience
(continued)
205
Table 2 (continued)
206

Managerial Project Leadership [5, 17, 23, 30–32, 58] 7
management Manage the implementation [2, 10, 23, 25, 55] 5
project
Project scope management [2, 23, 32, 52] 4
Clear and defined project plan [2, 10, 23, 25] 4
Management of conflicts [2, 5, 18] 3
Interdepartmental [2, 18] 2
coordination/cooperation
Project tracking—Monitoring [2, 10, 18, 35] 3
of performance
Management of project [22, 30] 2
documentation
Team cross-functional [2, 5, 18, 62] 4
knowledge
Good relations between project [2, 46] 2
team and users
Team skills Multidisciplinary work team [39] 1
Team cross-functional [2, 5, 18] 3
knowledge
Good relations between project [2, 46] 2
team and users
Team motivations and full-time [2, 62] 2
team members
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
Able to find a proficient reseller [33, 62] 2
and consultant
Risk management Reduced trouble shooting [2, 3, 10, 23, 28, 60] 6
A project of high risk and [12, 43] 2
failure can be fatal
Many enterprises underestimate [13] 1
the problems
Change Change management program [2, 3, 5, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 27, 31, 32, 34, 37, 46, 49, 60, 62] 17
management Reducing resistance to change [1, 18, 38, 41, 46, 58, 60, 63] 8
Organizational readiness [40] 1
Issue the change management [5] 1
is timing
Decisional Centralized Decision Making [5, 10, 50, 59, 60] 5
IS/IT manager in the [23, 54] 2

organizational structure
Decision making control [46, 50] 2
Making a contract with the [17] 1
vendor
Resources Financial [20, 24, 25, 28, 30–32, 34, 36, 54, 57, 61, 63, 65, 70–73] 18
constraints Technical [17, 18, 21, 24, 26, 28, 31, 34, 63, 64, 68, 71, 72] 13
Managerial [24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 34, 68] 7
Human [21, 26, 27, 54, 61, 63, 65, 71, 74] 9
Expertise [30, 51, 67, 70] 4
(continued)
207
Table 2 (continued)
208

Time [51, 70] 2
Social Culture The staff’s positive attitude [4, 5, 20, 23, 26, 54] 6
toward change
Cultural perspective to this kind [5, 23, 56, 57, 60, 75] 6
of IS
Organizational values [4, 18, 23, 55, 57, 63] 6
Awareness Information [20, 23, 29, 41, 54, 75] 5
Technology
Domination by the CEO [19, 26, 46] 3
Interdepartmental cooperation [10, 18, 46] 3
Power relationships [54, 65] 2
Users User participation in the overall [1, 2, 18, 20, 24, 25, 27, 54, 55, 60, 62, 63, 67] 13
process approach
Users’ trust [2, 5, 62, 67] 4
User attitudes/acceptance [2, 65] 2
Employees’ self-efficacy to [23] 1
work with computer
Communication Good inter-department [5, 10, 18, 23, 25, 30–32, 34, 36, 57, 60, 62, 76] 14
communication
Communications between [18, 23, 57, 60] 4
project manager and staff
Education and Education and training to [1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 17, 18, 22, 23, 31, 32, 36, 38, 51, 52, 54, 55, 58, 60, 62, 63] 21
training end-users
(continued)
Table 2 (continued)
Developing a clear education [2, 4, 27, 60] 4
and training plan
Education and training to [2, 4, 18, 49, 54, 58, 60] 7
technical staff
Education on future business [2, 4, 10, 31, 58, 60] 6
processes
Relations Network relationships [4, 28] 2
Capability Capability in IS/IT Capability in the domain of [1, 4, 11, 12, 15, 21, 23, 24, 31, 33, 36, 42, 46, 48, 54, 64, 73, 76] 18
information systems
Existence of adequate human [4, 11, 12, 18, 23, 25, 26, 46] 8
resources of IS/IT
IT maturity IS/IT [1, 29, 57] 3
Negotiation Capacity in [12, 15, 33] 3
negotiation/purchases
Project Capacity and ability in project [1, 11, 12, 15, 23] 5
management
209
– Top management support. Principally, the executives of the enterprise must exer-
cise the leadership of the project, stimulate change, communicate the strategy,
demonstrate commitment, establish the limitations, provide resources, etc.
– Plan the strategy. Defines which areas and processes will be automated with the
implantation of EITA taking into consideration the resources that will be invested
(budget). Planning the strategy means aligning the strategic objectives of the
business with the IT strategy, then the objectives that will be covered by the EITA
implantation must be defined.
– Execute the plan. In this review, it has been identified that the use of consultants,
focused on the plan, adopting the EITA without modifications and following an
implantation methodology are the most common influences factors.
Structural. The structural factors that influence the implantation of an EITA that
has been identified in the literature review are two, organizational characteristics of
the company and the maturity of the company in the use of processes.
– Organizational characteristics that influence the implantation of an EITA are the
size of the company, the degree of maturity in the use of technology, the structure
of the company, defined functional requirements and the experience of change.
– BPM—BPR. In this review, it has been recognized that SMEs do not have an
adequate identification of their processes, and if they have them, these are rarely
well- defined. In this sense, the following recommendations are identified: Modify
the organizational structure before the project starts, IT business process inte-
gration, documented business processes and roles, identify key processes, stan-
dardized processes and finally, a company should be flexible to do processes
re-engineer.
Managerial. In the implantation of an EITA, there are many factors that must be
managed for the success, among them: the administration of the project; the skills of
the implantation team and the EITA users in the company; risk management; change
management; the resource constraint that exists in SMEs; and the decisions that must
be made in the company before and during the implantation.
– Project management. The management of the EITA implantation project is an
important transversal activity, since it allows planning, organizing, executing,
and controlling the implantation process to achieve the desired objectives. The
temporary nature of the EITA implantation project is contrasted with the normal
operation of the company and requires different technical and management skills.
The challenge of project management is to achieve the proposed objectives within
the known limitations such as scope, time, quality and budget.
– Team skills. The management of team skills influences the implantation of an
EITA. In a project several teams can coexist: on the one hand, the management
team, must have the ability to find the EITA and the appropriate providers; on the
other hand, the team of the implantation project is assembled, formed by a mix
between personnel of the software provider and company personnel.
– Risk management. The implantation of an EITA is a risky and complex project in
SMEs, which are generally underestimated both by SMEs and by EITA providers.
– Change management. The acceptance of the new EITA in the SME by the users
and the collaboration they provide during the project are considered high-risk
variables since users are reluctant to accept changes.
– Decisional. In SMEs, the decisions are centralized and usually taken by their
owners, have a short-term vision, and are often reactive. The difficulty of this
type of project is that the management or owners of the company do not know
about technological issues and are exposed to making mistakes.
– Resources constraints. SMEs, by their nature, have a restriction on financial,
technological and human resources, also, have limited management skills and
expertise in technological issues, and because of their small size and the shortage
of staff, they always have just enough time for their activities.
Social. Social factors undoubtedly have a strong influence on the environment
of companies, and by extension, also in this type of project. Among the influencing
factors we have: are the internal culture, the participation of the users, the level of
existing communication, and the education and training that is given to the end-users.
– Cultural factors in an enterprise have to do with the attitude of the people, the
values of the organization, the perspective that the personnel has towards the IS,
the knowledge of the IT, the degree of interdepartmental cooperation, etc. The
higher the cultural degree in an enterprise, the easier it is to implant an EITA.
– Users play an important role in the acceptance and subsequent use of an EITA,
which is why they must be involved throughout the project. It is also necessary
that users can work with computers and interact with the EITA.
– Communication is essential in these projects, from the initial stages when starting
to plan the project, it is necessary to interact with the company’s staff to define
the needs that the EITA must cover. Later, when the provider arrives, good
communication between the implanting team and the company’s personnel is
needed.
– Education and training. Any implantation of an EITA is accompanied by
the training given to the final users and to the technology personnel. Once
the implantation is completed, the company’s staff is trained in new business
processes.
– Relationships. Having a good network of contacts is a factor that can positively
influence the implementation of an EITA.
Capability. For the implementation of an EITA in the SME, it is desirable
that these enterprises have capabilities and abilities in Information Systems (IS),
Information Technology (IT), negotiation and project management.
3.3 Environment Context
In the environmental context, the subcontexts that have been identified in the review
are: regulations that are issued by governments; factors related to the providers,
distributors and consultants of the EITA; and external factors such as the market
(Table 3).
Government. Governments are increasingly putting more pressure on enterprises,
especially in tax matters, which is why SMEs are more willing to implement an EITA
to meet these demands.
Market. The market demands their products or services, and it is for this reason
that entrepreneurs are always attentive to look for new business opportunities, have
pressure from their customers, suppliers and competitors, also, to be in constant
innovation to try to gain a competitive advantage. An information system can be the
difference between success and failure.
Provider (Software developer—Reseller—Consultant). The EITA providers
are software developers, distributors, and consultants who support the implantation
of an EITA. The influence factors found in the literature have to do with the reputation,
the support they provide, the degree of expertise they have, the stability in the market,
partnership, use of tools, if they have local offices and the evaluation they perform
from the buyer of the EITA to potential suppliers.
4 TOE-Based Influence Factors from the Literature Review
To define the factors that most influence the implantation of an EITA, for each factor or
subfactor mentioned in the selected articles in the literature, it has been grouped into
one of the three Technological, Organizational and Environmental contexts. Subse-
quently, the frequency with which the authors indicated a specific factor was counted.
Thus, 38 factors and 128 subfactors were obtained that influence the implantation of
an EITA in SMEs, see Table 4.
It is also necessary to clarify that these factors are not mentioned as “critical
success factors” since the search that was carried out in the main databases was done
as “Issues” in the implementation/implantation of the different types of Enterprise
IT Applications. This search resulted in several factors that different authors do not
necessarily consider as critical success factors.
In this review of literature, it is detected that the organizational context is the one
that most influences the implantation of EITA in SMEs. At the subcontexts level, it
has been identified that strategy, managerial and social issues are the most influential.
At the level of influence factors, it has been identified that the authors give impor-
tance to the existence of top management support, the restriction of resources that
exist, evaluation and selection of EITA, the processes (BMP/BPR) of the enterprise,
education and training the users, and capability in IS/IT. At the subfactor level, six
relevant ones are identified: selection of EITA, CEO/CIO involvement, organizational
structure should be modified before project initiation (BPR), change management
program, financial resources, education and training to end-users, and capability in
the domain of information systems.
Table 3 Factors and subfactors in the environment context
Subcontext Factor Subfactor References No
Gov Regulations Legislative regulations [15, 19–21, 37, 42, 57, 63, 70] 9
Market Business reasons Advantage competitive [1, 7, 16, 19, 21, 42, 48, 56, 65] 9
Opportunities for growth [1, 2, 7, 34, 36] 5
Change requirements [28] 1
Uncertainty about environment [2] 1
Market Pressure Competitors pressure [2, 7, 15, 16, 18, 21, 29, 34, 40, 41, 47, 48, 55, 63, 70, 72, 73] 17
Customer pressure [2, 21, 29, 47, 65, 72] 6
Suppliers pressure [2, 15, 21, 34, 55, 65, 72] 7
Innovation Pull—innovative, Technology [4, 42, 48] 3
pull/competitive
Cloud Market Maturity [19] 1
Software Provider Reliability Reputation of the provider [6, 18, 20, 21, 41, 58, 60] 6
Stability of the provider [24] 1

Trust between partners [10, 35] 2
Maturity Experience/Expertise [4, 6, 17, 18, 33, 40, 42, 54, 58, 60, 65] 11
Provider uses tools [2, 10, 54] 3
Partnership [2, 27, 30, 31] 4
Provider support quality [2, 6, 7, 10, 15, 18, 21, 31, 37, 42, 48, 54, 55, 58, 60] 15
Evaluation Evaluating [17, 22, 33, 62] 3
vendor/Reseller/Consultant
Local vendors are considered [50] 1
better capable
213
Table 4 TOE-based influence factors for implant an EITA in an SME

Context Subcontexts Factor Subfactor No
Technological Software Package or Evaluation and Selection of EITA 15
EITA selection Evaluation of EITAs 9
Best fit Customization 12
Fit between the 11
process of EITA and
company process
Characteristics Complexity 9
Data Data quality Data quality control 9
Security Security of 13
information
Organizational Strategic Top management CEO/CIO 24
support Involvement
Choose a “Project 12
champion” of high
level
Management and 10
project steering
committees
Understanding of 9
needs, capabilities and
limitations
Plan the strategy Planning integrated 13
and coordinated
Implement the Use of consultants 10
strategy
Structural Organizational Business size 11
characteristics
BMP/BPR Organizational 21
structure should be
modified before
project initiation
(BPR)
Managerial Change Change management 17
management program
Resources Financial 18
constraints Technical 13
Social Users User involvement 13
Communication Good inter-department 14
communication
Education and Education and 21
Training training to end-users
(continued)
Table 4 (continued)
Context Subcontexts Factor Subfactor No
Capability Capability in IS/IT Capability in the 18
domain of
information systems
Environment Market Business reasons Advantage competitive 9
Market pressure Competitive pressure 17
Software provider Maturity Provider support 15
quality
Experience and 11
Expertise
5 Conclusions
From the review of the literature, it can be concluded that the main influences for
the successful implantation of an EITA are Selection of EITA, CEO/CIO involve-
ment, change management program, education, and training to end/users, financial
resources constraint, organizational structure should be modified, choose a project
champion of high level, capability in the domain of information systems, provider
support quality, and competitive pressure.
The main bibliographical references are mostly related to the ERPs, and at a
great distance about CRMs, and after that, there are few documents about another
type of EITA. Moreover, there is also literature that addresses problems in a specific
way, such as the selection of an EITA, but there is little literature that addresses
the problem, that is, that covers the entire implantation process: pre-implantation,
implantation, and post-implantation.
One of the main changes that we detect between 2017 and 2022 is that companies
are putting more emphasis on security aspects; in addition, the reliability of the
internet is essential due to the use of cloud services; we also already found more
articles referring to CRM.
As may be seen, the acquisition and implantation of software packages or EITA
is not an easy process, there are several factors, subfactors and variables that must be
considered in the course of implantation, the reason why, is necessary to define what
is the best overall strategy to acquire and deploy an EITA in the SMEs, in summary,
the findings indicate that the problems are different in a different context and they
need different skills and organizational resources for their management.
In this review, it is detected that the main factors and subfactors that influence the
implantation of an EITA belong to the organizational context, which differs from the
technological approach used by enterprisers to implant an EITA.
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Industry and Tech Competencies
in Hospitality Sector: Higher Education
Students’ Perceptions
Maria José Sousa, Pére Mercatore Melé, Álvaro Rocha, Susana Mesquita,
and Sérgio Maravilhas
Abstract Higher education institutions (HEI) that offer hospitality courses must
meet the needs of stakeholders, students, businesses, and academia. Students in the
third year of hospitality bachelor courses, with a higher perception of the market
needs, participated in this research to identify the most important competencies
required by the hospitality organizations to demand a transformation of the courses
curricula to meet the industry standards. In this context, this article reports on research
aimed to analyze the perceptions of higher education students regarding competen-
cies that must be developed in hospitality bachelor courses to facilitate their integra-
tion into the labor market. This study adopted a generic competencies framework
in comparison to previous research on this subject, and the competencies were clas-
sified as associated with the hospitality industry and technologies applied to the
hospitality sector. The findings of this research contribute to the design of curricula
of the hospitality management programs provided by hospitality higher education
institutions. Two skills dimensions were identified: technological skills (focused on
technical skills) and industry skills (focused on hospitality core skills).
Keywords Competencies · Hospitality industry · Technological competencies ·

Higher education · Students
M. J. Sousa (B)
e-mail: maria.jose.sousa@iscteiul.pt
P. M. Melé
University of Malaga, Málaga, Spain
Á. Rocha
Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
S. Mesquita
Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
S. Maravilhas
Escola de Administração da Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Brazil
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_11
222 M. J. Sousa et al.
1 Introduction
This investigation aims to identify the most important competencies required by

the hospitality organizations to demand a transformation of the course curricula to
meet the industry standards. The search for adequate competencies in hospitality
services has been growing in recent years in the academy and practice. Competen-
cies’ development needs to be part of the global strategy of the organizations. It
is consensual, in several studies, that competencies are the core of any organiza-
tion, and the level of development of workers’ competencies conditions the vision,
mission, strategy, culture, organizational structure, management style, and people
management strategy.
Competencies combine various types of knowledge that are permanently trans-
lated into new products, processes, and management systems. In this regard, the
preparation of workers for the challenges faced by the organizations is conditioned by:
(a) changing the demographic profile of the population and changing people’s tech-
nical skills; (b) changing the organization towards external and internal customers; (c)
change in employee relationships; (d) change management encompassing a greater
involvement and commitment of people to strategic and operational results.
Moreover, organizations tend to create work environments that favor self-
development, innovation, and continuous improvement of management models,
services, and products. They are also influenced by their external and internal means,
the technologies on which they depend for the development of their business, the
market, their customers, their employees, and their ability to achieve objectives.
Although a variety of studies analyze the aspirations of hospitality graduates in
the sector, the real need for competencies from the graduates is an issue to be taken
into account by the HEI hospitality curricula. This article is organized according to
the following sections: it begins with a literature review on hospitality competencies,
then the methodology used, which is based on a questionnaire applied to hospitality
students from HEI, followed by the data analysis using factor and cluster analysis,
and finally the discussion and conclusions of the research.
2 Literature Review
2.1 Competencies Conceptualization
The definition of competencies must be carried out based on the organizations’

strategic plan, considering their critical success factors. For this reason, the identifica-
tion of competencies must be done, initially, at the strategic level of the organization,
so that they can later be divided into specific competencies at each organizational
level [1].
In this regard, competencies can be defined as “a cluster of related knowledge,
skills, and attitudes that affects a major part of one’s job (a role or responsibility), that
Industry and Tech Competencies in Hospitality Sector … 223
correlates with performance on the job, that can be measured against well-accepted
standards, and that can be improved via training and development” [2].
To identify, analyze and evaluate competencies, several methods can be used,
according to the characteristics of the organization or the objectives that are intended
to be achieved. Teece [3] states the importance of focusing on the micro foundation
of individual managers to facilitate factors for strategic change and introduces the
concept of the managerial cognitive capability to elaborate on the importance of the
capacity to perform both physical and mental activities.
To respond to the new challenges of the world of work, it is important to develop
competencies using new methodologies or more dynamic Creating mixed teams is
also a way to make people from different generations work together and to reach a
common sense about the future strategies of the organizations.
The main dynamic capabilities of workers need to be the ability to be creative,
problem-solving, communication, teamwork, ability to take initiative, and coopera-
tion.
So, the leadership of the process needs to be participative and use techniques such
as distributive mentoring and distributive coaching, putting the learning process as
the most important goal of that moment.
The examples that illustrate these situations are of course more related to the
IT sector, and large companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Apple already use
this kind of practice—distributive and reverse mentoring and distributive and reverse
coaching.
Organizations need to be in a constant state of transformation, however, to change
on an ongoing basis becomes costly, and to be agile often compromises efficiency [4].
Nordin et al. [5] state that organizations, which introduce innovative improvements
into the company, should behave as if the part they play in a particular network is
perceived as that of a leader, from the perspective of technology and marketing.
Today´s organizations work mainly in digital chains and network contexts to create
new products and services faster, with distributed costs and risks, and to access the
knowledge they don´t have internally [6]. Open and collaborative innovation is a new
paradigm, and the main idea is to develop new technology and products as members
of large and multiple networks [7].
For instance, the iPad was created through this methodology, being Apple the
leader, but working together with several other companies, even competitors, to put
in the market an innovative product that has revolutionized the markets [8].
From another perspective, organizations learn better and faster when they are
included in innovation and knowledge networks [9], not only through good practices
but also through failures, and the lessons learned are very important to evolve and
become more competitive.
The future is based on scenarios, data simulation tools, and data prediction. Artifi-
cial intelligence and the internet of things, through sensor reading and data analysis,
will help to define trends and the strategic future of the organization [10].
Not only indicators, metrics but also predictions [11] contribute to defining the
future direction of the organization. It also can associate organizational procedures
with organizational performance.
Analytics measures organization results and outcomes, using different methods:

descriptive and inductive statistics, and estimations processes to help define the future
strategy of the organization [12]. Those measurements provide data, indicators, and
results that can be analyzed by corporate management and used to help influence the
new strategies of the organization.
Organizations that compete in today’s economy recognize the importance of data
analysis accuracy, to promote competitiveness and help to improve the performance
of organizations.
2.2 The Approach to Hospitality Industry Competencies
In the last 20 years, hospitality has encountered growing levels of rivalry and uncer-
tainty, like many other industries [13], and the skills required by industry managers
reflect these changes [14]. It has been argued that developments in business have
increased the need for a leadership style rather than a management style of super-
vision and control [5]. Rare hospitality management style studies have been carried
out but the literature reflects the evolving position of managers with recognition of
the decreasing value of organizational and technical skills [15] and a corresponding
increase in the focus on corporate and strategic skills [16].
Given the changes in the role of management in the hospitality industry over the
last two decades outlined by Kay and Russette [17], education providers must have a
clear understanding of industry and employer standards of the abilities that graduates
should have when completing a degree program. In addition, the analysis must be
carried out regularly to refresh awareness of standards in a vibrant market setting
[18].
The competencies’ industry approach consists of the elaboration of a reference of
the knowledge required by the function, expressed in terms of content, and the level of
knowledge that the employee has, which will allow the organization to develop indi-
vidualized training programs according to the sector needs [19]. For example, one can
begin by identifying the competencies needed for each organizational level, creating
a scoring system, usually ranging from 1 to 5, for each competency, identifying the
degree to which it can be present in each job [20].
For the effective use of the skills identified from the strategic plan, it is necessary
to have an individual assessment system, so that, from the comparison of the skills
required for a given job with those that the person has [20], it is possible to plan the
development of each employee, to increase their skills concerning the function they
perform.
The new organizational structures and work organization practices (based on
multidisciplinary teams with a high degree of autonomy), which organizations,
in different sectors and different countries, are adopting have as main objectives
to overcome the limits of innovation, learning, and creating new knowledge [7].
According to this author, people management practices can promote the acquisition
of competencies to improve the capacity of organizations, developing, attracting, and
retaining people with the necessary and potential competencies. The set of neces-
sary competencies can lead to behavior in line with the requirements of business
processes.
Moreover, more advanced technologies allow better information systems, dissem-
ination, and storage of knowledge in organizations [21]. The creation of a knowledge-
based culture begins with the definition of strategic orientation, with top manage-
ment, which will become transversal concerning the entire organization, covering all
employees.
The merit of the organization will come from the degree of clarity of its strategic
guidelines and the practices that are best able to contribute to its realization. For this
to happen, it will be necessary to carry out coordinated actions among all employees
[22]. Activities, such as the promotion of innovation, initiative, and exchange of
knowledge, are fundamental for a greater perception of the external environment
and for monitoring the evolution of technology necessary to create more competitive
value for the company.
In this context, people management plays an important role, namely, regarding
(adapted Jackson, and Schuler [23]):
(a) Encourage and recognize the participation of internal specialists (for example:
in a specific technical field) as trainers in the skills development programs.
(b) To ensure the identification, by area, of the competence profiles necessary to
carry out the activities and to carry out the business strategy.
(c) Use different training systems and environments in the process of developing
skills (such as e-learning platforms).
(d) Encourage and recognize the creation of knowledge that promotes higher
quality in terms of carrying out activities, processes, projects, and prod-
ucts/services.
The strengthening of the culture of performance and results should be consid-
ered as one of the great contributions of competence models to the management of
organizations, since the development of competencies represents, in the beginning,
a search for better results.
Organizational learning is an essential stage in the development of skills (Webb
and Legg, 2021). Which raises some key questions: How can organizations help
their employees to learn continuously? What are the methods and techniques
that can be used to develop skills? Some skill development skills are presented:
Learning activities—workshops and training actions; Research activities—develop
skills through information searches directed to specific topics and of interest to
the organization through the internet, digital knowledge libraries, benchmarking
projects, among others; Knowledge sharing activities—participation in knowledge
networks, communities of practice, forums or discussion groups.
Learning must be continuous, to allow the updating and improvement of knowl-
edge and the development of skills required by the technical and organizational
changes of work.
However, there must be an acknowledgment, by management and employees, of
the need for skills development.
Competency management models can be used as a true Human Resource

Management tool (adapted Jackson and Schuler [24]):
(a) New recruitment and selection practices: identification of more stringent
selection requirements according to the defined skill profiles.
(b) Process of welcoming and integrating the new employee: in the integration
training, gaps in the level of skills to be developed can be detected, whether of
a technical or behavioral nature.
(c) Internal mobility: substitution of career progression by seniority, by promotions
based on skills. This helps to promote the employee’s commitment to the
organization, striving to develop their skills according to its strategic objectives.
In return, the organization is committed to promoting the development of these
skills, as well as implementing a system of vertical and horizontal promotion.
(d) Modification of remuneration systems: remuneration management has always
been considered a critical aspect in organizations and can be built based on the
existing skills system, which could make it more equitable.
(e) Performance evaluation process: where it seeks to detect gaps in skills or to
foresee possibilities for developing latent skills in the employee and which
may contribute to new strategic guidelines for the company.
(f) Training can focus on several aspects: personal development, professional
development, or organizational development—that is, ultimately, the devel-
opment of individual and collective skills. Being the element that defines the
guideline so that there is a coherent integration between the different human
resources practices and the company’s strategy.
In summary, research has been trying to address which are the main competencies
of the hospitality sector in an increasingly technologically dominant environment.
Studies have pointed to soft skills, as being central for the hospitality sector [25–27],
in parallel with technology-related skills [28].
3 Methodological Approach
To accomplish the aims, a questionnaire was carried out with the general public. The
questionnaire was designed to be carried out online. The questionnaire included ques-
tions about respondents’ perceptions about which competencies must be developed
in hospitality bachelor courses to facilitate their integration into the labor market.
With the first question, we tried to characterize the type of participants’ activity,
either if they are academic or professional in the sector.
The following questions encompassed questions about some competencies
that must be developed in hospitality bachelor course like “Knowledge of food
trends”, “Mastery of emotional intelligence skills”, “Mastery of culinary tech-
niques”, “Customer attendance service”, “Use of technology”, “Communication
skills (oral/written), “Hotel sector legislation”, “Domain of languages”, “Ability
to deal with change”, “Adequate personal image”, “Customer complaints manage-

ment”, “Teamwork”, “Listening ability”, “Professional image with impact”, “Antic-
ipating customer needs”, “Relationship with customers”, “Relationship with superi-
ors”, “Relationship with subordinates”, “Relationship with a colleague”, “Budgets
management”, “Using technology to generate business ideas”, “Use of Apps and
websites useful for business”, “Using technology to interact with colleagues”, “Avail-
ability to be online”, “Good professional image online”, “An online association exists
between the company and the employee”, “Online relationship with customers”,
“Online customer support”, “Use of the internet to make contacts and sales”, “Use
of digital marketing tools”, “Ability to use technology”, “Computer security knowl-
edge”, “use of digital tools in their function” using seven-point Likert scales ranging
from 1 “totally disagree” to “totally agree”. The last three questions were about the
sociodemographic profile of the respondents. In this section, respondents were asked
to answer questions concerning gender, age, and academic degree.
A non-random sampling approach was used: convenience sampling. Convenience
sampling is a non-probability sample where the participants are selected based on
their proximity to the researcher and the ease the researcher can access the participants
[29, 30]. The questionnaire was administrated in social media-specific groups.
The questionnaire was administrated in English, and a total of 85 complete
questionnaires were obtained.
4 Data Analysis
As a result of the variables under study, exploratory factor analysis has been carried
out that allows the variables to be summarized into factors. The extraction method
is that of the main component and the Varimax rotation was used to make a simpler
and more interpretable solution. The first factor obtained explained 43.774% of the
total variance of the matrix of challenges and this factor has eleven items and is
classified as the “Industry skills dimension”. The second factor extracted explained
16,660% of the total variance and has eight items and is called as “Technological
skills” dimension (Table 1).
From the exploratory factor analysis, the factorial scores of each factor have
been obtained. These scores give us the coefficients that allow us to express each
factor as a linear combination of all the variables. With the factorial scores of the
Technological skills dimension, two clusters have been obtained, on the one hand,
there are the professionals who have more technical skills (they are above the mean
of the factorial score of their dimension) and those who have less technological skills
(they are below).
Next, we have analyzed the differences that may exist globally between the
“Industry skills”, and the “Technological skills” between the professions that present
or do not have greater technological skills. In addition, it has been studied whether
there is better administration of budget resources (Budget management) among
professionals with better technological skills.
Table 1 Exploratory factor analysis

Components
Item 1 2 Data dimensions
Knowledge of hygiene and food safety 0.729 Industry skills
Mastery of emotional intelligence skills 0.748
Customer attendance service 0.838
Communication skills (oral/written) 0.867
Domain of language 0.828
Ability to deal with change 0.739
Adequate personal image 0.652
Customer complaints management 0.831
Teamwork 0.727
Listening ability 0.705
Anticipating customer needs 0.777
Use of technology 0.552 Technological skills
Use of Apps and Websites useful for business 0.696
Using technology to interact with colleagues 0.783
Availability to be online 0.829
Good professional image online (e.g. LinkedIn) 0.560
An online association between the company and 0.773
the employee
Online relationship with customers 0.817
Online customer support 0.639
% variance explained 43,774% 16,660%
Kaiser-Meyer-Oklin index 0.881
Bartlett’s test of sphericity Chi-square = 1063,937; sig < 0.000
Notes Extraction method: principal component analysis, varimax rotation method with Kaiser
In Table 2, it is observed that between the Tech group and the No Tech group, there
are no statistically significant differences in Industry skills. Instead, there are statis-
tically significant differences between technological skills, as might be expected;
Table 2 Industry skills, technology skills, and budget management

Dimensions Tech group No Tech group t-student p
Industry skills 6.464 ± 0.735 6.28 ± 0.569 1.257 0,197
Technological skills 6.341 ± 0.466 5.0.16 ± 0.644 9.721 0.000***
Budget management 6.46 ± 0.771 5.76 ± 0.895 3.879 0.000***
* = p < 0.1; ** = p < 0.05; *** = p < 0.01
But what is surprising is that it also presents differences in the administration of

budgetary resources, making them more efficient.
5 Discussion and Conclusion
In the last years, the increasing competition, budgetary constraints, and a major
technological change, to face these changes many have developed practices, policies,
and processes that have an increased value to the customers, reflected for instance
in the improvement of service quality, reduction of costs, or a bigger fastness in the
product delivery/service accomplishment.
Influenced by these changes, the organizations have been suffering structural
changes implying the need to develop new competencies. The following picture
presents a scheme that intends to show the relationship between organizational
change and the rising/development of new competencies. Graduates need to begin
a career in hospitality management skills and the hospitality curriculum’s role in
improving those skills.
Different empirical studies have revealed that the organizational instruments lead
to changes in the structures of organizations. It can be observed that work organi-
zation, mainly structured by multiple functional levels, has tended to change into a
horizontal model, where all the workers play a key role in what concerns the taking
of decisions and the organization of/her work.
The same studies confirm that there is an orientation for the creation of work-
groups/teams, instead of individual work, emerging a need for work coordination
instead of a culture of control and centralization of decisions. These changes imply
that the elements of the teams need to possess competencies, and the necessary
information autonomy to respond to unpredictable disturbances, resulting from the
technical systems and the environment.
On the other hand, the work begins to be organized in turn of the processes and
not of the jobs, implying not only teamwork but also, and most importantly, the
responsibility taken by each of the workers for the quality of the developed work
and the achieved goals. These developments require competencies at the level of
technical knowledge and especially at the level of relational/social knowledge.
So, an organizational paradigm appeals to organic flexible structures, and is contin-
uously adaptable to new situations is presented, in opposition to bureaucratic and
centralized structures. In this paradigm, the enterprises tend to be innovating and
more receptive to changes. They implement new forms of organizing work and
present decentralized and participative models of a decision, appealing to greater
autonomy and responsibility by their collaborators. However, to achieve organiza-
tional development to this level, an investment must occur in the development of the
competencies of the people who form the organization.
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Using Mobile Dashboards to Track Real
Estate Brokers Productivity
João Antão and Ruben Pereira
Abstract Real estate agents are data-intensive professionals who suffer from the
problem of not having ways to access all that information simply and quickly,
anytime, anywhere. This research consists of the development and evaluation of
a set of dashboards screens for a mobile CRM application to visualize the data
gathered in a real estate organization in terms of sales and productivity, in order
to support professionals in their day-to-day functions. The methodology adopted
in this research was Design Science Research (DSR), because, due to its iterative
and evolutionary process, it would be possible to achieve a validated artifact from
the theoretical and practical point of view at the same time. Five face-to-face inter-
views were conducted with real estate experts to validate the artifact, where it was
concluded that by visualizing the information in the dashboard, professionals can
keep a much more conscious record of their goals and performance.
Keywords Mobile dashboards · m-CRM · Information systems · User

performance evaluation
1 Introduction
With the fast technological advance comes more and more data, and with this, the
ways of representing and analyzing this information gain relevance for the new
business insights they can bring [1]. The use of dashboards has been increasingly
used by organizations to interpret information that supports decision making and
management [2]. They are an important tool to display brief information and allow
for a smooth access and understanding of a large amount of data [3, 4]. It is known
J. Antão (B) · R. Pereira

e-mail: jpbao@iscte-iul.pt; joao_pedro_antao@iscte-iul.pt
R. Pereira
e-mail: ruben.filipe.pereira@iscte-iul.pt
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07626-8_12
234 J. Antão and R. Pereira
that with the use of dashboards, the performance improves, and this improvement is
recognized organically [5].
Despite the noticeable improvement in the services provided by those who use
this intelligence in their business, sectors such as real estate have shown a slower
adoption of new technological tools. This difficulty in adopting technology in this
sector is largely due to the traditional and still very instinct-based methods that
professionals work with [6]. If real estate agents have always achieved good results
with their methods, why change? This is the question that many professionals ask
when it comes to acquiring some information system. The truth is that this mentality
ends up generating a huge opportunity for growth [7] and in the development of
technology to support the professional’s decision making [8].
The development of technology with the purpose of analyzing data for price
forecasting and market studies or for relationship optimization and task automation
is of proven relevance [9] for the real estate agent. If you think of a real estate agent,
who is constantly responsible for collecting information about his clients (buyers
and owners) and the different properties in order to best mediate each deal [10],
you can immediately understand the immensity of data that has to be managed in
this process. As such, information systems that aggregate this information, such
as customer relationship managers (CRM), can save the professional many hours of
work and raise the quality of the service provided [11]. In addition, since professionals
in this sector are most of their time in the field, the importance of responsiveness of
systems to mobile is increasing.
It is in this sense that the motivation for this research arises. By adapting a CRM
to mobile (m-CRM) it becomes essential to have a dashboard capable of centralizing
the most relevant information for a real estate agent, making it possible to visualize
information about their customers and their key performance indicators (KPI). Thus,
the main goal of this research is to study the development and evaluation of this
dashboard and its integration into an m-CRM. To do so, it is intended to make a
parallel between the best practices described in the literature and the real needs of
real estate professionals.
The remaining document is organized in this way: in the second chapter, State
of the Art, it presents the Theoretical background of CRM, Dashboards, and some
best practices of data visualization. This chapter also includes Relational Work infor-
mation. In the third chapter, Research Methodology, the methodology used in the
research is explained. The fourth chapter presents the proposal and the results of the
interactions. The research summary can be found in the fifth chapter, where the data
obtained by the research will also be presented. The last chapter, the sixth, is the
conclusion, which presents the main findings of the research, research limitations,
lessons and future work.
Using Mobile Dashboards to Track Real Estate … 235
2 Related Work
For the related work, the used methodology was the Systematic Literature Review
(SLR). This approach is set to identify, evaluate, and synthesize the existence of
completed and published work by researchers. Figure 1 summarizes the phases
covered and the information collected in each one.
This SLR focus on finding literature contributions regarding dashboards for the
RE. The research was carried out using the results from some of the principal
databases:
● IEEE Xplore Digital Library (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/);
● Web of Science (https://apps.webofknowledge.com/);
● ScienceDirect (https://www.sciencedirect.com/);
● ACM (https://dl.acm.org/);
● Scopus (https://www.scopus.com/).
Keywords used for the external search consisted of: “CRM AND Real Estate”,
“CRM AND mobile AND Real Estate”, “Dashboard AND Real Estate”, “CRM AND
Dashboard AND Real Estate”, “CRM AND Dashboard”, and “CRM AND Mobile
AND Dashboard”. They are basically word junctions of all keywords, aiming to find
works similar to this study.
Following the SLR methodology, a survey was carried out in libraries and
databases, resulting in a total of 2400 articles gathered. From that list, using abstract
as the first filter, 2352 articles were discarded. The next filter was language, so only
articles in English were considered. For that reason, 7 articles were removed from
the previous filter, and, among those remaining articles, 14 were duplicated. This
means only 27 articles remained to be analyzed, as presented in Fig. 2.
The first step was to analyze the articles according to the industry they related
to. The purpose was to understand the relationship they might have with the RE or
if they might be related to the key technologies that this study abords, like CRM,
Mobile, and Dashboard. This information is presented in a tabular format in Table
1. Unfortunately, 11 articles were not available for free, being identified as “not
available”, so we ended up disregarding them for this study. This left us with 8 articles
focused on the RE industry and 8 about other industries, such as Construction and
Health.
Fig. 1 Conceptual map of

the process developed in this
research
Fig. 2 Systematic literature review stages
Table 1 Articles found by key technologies

Industry References Real estate Mobile Dashboard CRM
Construction [12] ✓ – ✓ –
Health [13] – ✓ – –
[14] – – – –
Not specified [15] – – ✓ –
[16] – – – –
[17] – – – –
[18] – – – –
[19] – – ✓ –
Real estate [20] ✓ – – ✓
[3] ✓ ✓ – ✓
[21] ✓ – – –
[22] ✓ – – –
[23] ✓ – – ✓
[24] ✓ – – ✓
[11] ✓ – – ✓
[25] ✓ – ✓ –
From the 16 only five articles talk about CRM and only four about the dashboard,
so we had to leave behind seven articles that mention these keys but in which they
are not the focus. Of these four focused in dashboards, three do not focus on the
industry of RE and the one that is about RE is about better control of smart cities,
deferring from our focus, which is selling or renting houses or land.
From the SLR, it is possible to note that little evidence exists about mobile dash-
boards for RE. This reveals a gap in the RE industry, which this research intends to
explore.
A CRM is a set of guidelines, procedures, processes, and strategies to help orga-
nizations track all interactions with the client [26]. It is used to attract potentially
profitable customers and improve and maintain a relationship with them [26, 27].
Allowing the creation of customer profiles, which, by analyzing all the saved infor-
mation, provides a better perception of the client’s needs, leading to customer satis-
faction and a better customer experience [28]. All knowledge comes from records,
emails, and calls, which are dynamically linked, creating structured data to support
decision making and increased profitability [20]. Organizations use CRM to maintain
long-last relationships with customers. This relationship is based on trust from both
sides, and it is crucial that the organization knows its customers, which is gained
through CRM monitoring of several businesses, such as marketing, sales, operations
and services, among others [26].
CRM Systems can be divided into three different types: collaborative, operational
and analytical [29]. For instance, Operational CRM focuses on storing and integrating
important customer information obtained from distinct data sources and shows it to
the organization during the analysis. Analytic CRM is a continuation of Operational
CRM, helping to complement the information the organization already has about the
customer. Last but not least, with Collaborative CRM each collaborator works with
each other to improve the services [20].
Dashboards started to be referenced as a board on the front of vehicles, being
used to inform the driver about potential malfunctions in the vehicle operation[30].
Today, dashboards are widely used to display critical information to users.
Humans cannot process great amounts of data to extract knowledge, and dash-
boards help with that limitation since they can aggregate the important informa-
tion and present it in a more simple and interactive way [31]. They are powerful
information panels, helping users conduct their decisions in the best possible way
[30, 32].
There are several ways to present information through dashboards, depending on
the purpose and the type of business: strategic, tactical and operational [33]. For
instance, strategic dashboards focus on management and give an overview of the
performance indicators, carrying out an analysis on how organizations are going and
where they stand to face the established objectives. Tactical dashboards have the aim
to give one prospection of the operations according to defined goals. Last but not
least, operational dashboards are monitored by operators so they can see how the
work is going and present what is wrong as quickly as possible [33].
Dashboards are commonly used with Data Visualization, both being effective in
what concerns information transmission. Data Visualization is the process of creating
one perceivable image in a human mind, using a combination of visual elements,

such as variables like color, positions and things that can be visualized (a person,
the universe, wind, air hierarchy, relationships) in an interactive data exploration and
respective graphic representation [34]. Both represent information in a visual form
in a quick and easy way, the main difference being the amount of data they analyze.
Data Visualization deals with most of the data available and Dashboard deals with a
subset of that information, trying to transmit its big picture.
One of the most important works published in the area of information graphics
is Semiology of Graphics [35]. First published in French in 1967, Bertin’s work
opens the way for exploratory data analysis and information visualization. He was a
cartographer by profession and developed an insightful theory of graphics based on
his perception. Bertin’s work inspired research in the field of information graphics
and he also participated in the studies of cognition and perception [36]. For Bertin, the
purposes of graphic representation were to communicate and analyze information.
He mentions that to maximize the extraction of user information, graphic messages
should be simplified and memorable. The first stage of human processing of infor-
mation is vision, with graphic information being subject to six retinal variables
[35].
● Size is applied to the graphic as points, lines and areas, and it describes a variation
between dimensions. It is important to note that it is dissociative, in other words,
it will overshadow any other retinal variable with which it is consolidated.
● Value describes the value between two objects on a surface. An order exists inside
value variation, from the first to the second disorder, producing a graphic that is
not appropriate for visual interpretation.
● Texture is the number of subjects in a certain area, like circles squares or lines.
This type of graphic requires special attention because it can bring uncomfortable
visual sensations.
● Color refers to the change between identical areas with the same value. It is
necessary to take special attention to colors because they can create confusion in
the user’s mind, as they are similar, but one has data and the other does not.
● Orientation is a visual pattern created by many parallel signs building the percep-
tion of an orientation variation. Designers can’t play too much with variations on
orientation because they must be easily recognizable categories.
● Shape describes the change in the appearance of objects of equal-sized areas.
It can have different forms such as circles, squares, triangles and others, which
makes them much easier to distinguish.
All these variables express variations in a graphic and are frequently discussed
in psychology to better define how humans work as well as to comprehend depth
perception so as to transmit information more easily and effectively. These variables
are tools for designers to create two-dimensional graphics. Therefore, understanding
how to manipulate them is very important [37].
Fig. 3 Flow of all SLR selection processes
3 Research Methodology
Design Science Research (DSR) is the research methodology adopted for this
research. This methodology is used when the main objective of the research is to
broaden the limits of human and organizational abilities in creating new outputs
[38]. In this research, the DSR methodology is used to design, construct and assess
the dashboard that will be created. Considering other archetypes of research, DSR
allows for the possibility of creating real value once the outputs are developed [39].
Five interviews were performed with different CRE agents. Each interview corre-
sponded to an iteration of this methodology. These iterations contributed to the
improvement of the artifact, that was improved with the feedback obtained between
each interview. These iterations ended when the interviews stopped to contribute
with new improvements. At the end of the sixth iteration, the artifact was concluded
in compliance with what the professionals demanded. The DSR Methodology
application stages can be seen in Fig. 3.
4 Design and Development
To propose some dashboard was needed to know what the main metrics are, that
is what the professions want to see, to understand their performance allowing to
improve decision support.
Fig. 4 DSRM process model followed
The KPIs used in the proposed dashboard were obtained from a previous tease
[40], and are as follows: Number of Leads; Number of Sales; Number of Fundraising;
Number of Scriptures; Number of Proposals; Number of Presentation of Services;
Number of real estate mediation contracts (REMC); Number of promissory purchase
and sale contracts (PPSC); Prospecting time by day; Billing Information by day.
4.1 Application Design
During the application design, a use case diagram was created. Figure 4, one that
allows the user to manage his data, add data and check that information later when-
ever needed. There is an area capable of synthesizing all the information related to
leads, sales, fundraising, scriptures, proposals, presentation of Services, mediation
contracts, promissory purchase and sale contracts, time prospecting and invoicing in
only one place.
4.2 Development
Application mockups were designed and made. Figure 5 shows the first draft of how
to group the information and colors used. The graphic choices were made to show
the required information using some guidelines.
The use of colors can be an advantage to create a good dashboard, as they facilitate
the process of understanding the information. To obtain a good dashboard, it is
necessary to take into consideration some good color practices, which are presented
and explained in books such as [41, 42].
Gestalt’s principles help to understand how visual elements are essential to the
transmission of information and the ones that need some improvement. Some authors
explore these principles in their works [41–43].
Fig. 5 Application mockups
For the first iteration, a mobile application was created using Flutter, a Dart frame-
work that allows for cross-platform programming, making the application compatible
with both android and iOS operating systems. The dashboard contains all the sales
information regarding the sales cycle of a property. The data contained in it is ficti-
tious, an environment was manipulated transmitting the idea that the interviewees
were seeing their results.
5 Demonstration and Evaluation
Five iterations following the DSR model were performed to validate and improve the
functionalities. Table 2 list the interviewees who contributed to this process. Each
artifact demonstration was established by the positive points, negative aspects and
improvements gathered in the previous demonstration.
Table 2 Data of the interviewees

DSR iteration Gender Age Role Years of experience Graduation
1 Male 48 Chief executive officer 20 Bachelor
Female 50 Chief executive officer 20 Master
2 Male 35 Consultant 7 High school
3 Male 30 Consultant 4,5 High school
Female 29 Consultant 1,5 Master
4 Male 43 Consultant 1 High school
5 Male 31 Consultant 5 Postgraduate
5.1 First DSR Iteration
5.1.1 Demonstration
The panel presentation serves to present the artifact in terms of usability, navigability,
and the way information is presented, which allows for a better examination of KPIs.
Table 3 presents the concerns obtained during the interviews and which contributed
to the improvement of the artifact.
The proposed dashboard in Figs. 6 and 7 is divided into four parts. Firstly, there
are the main counters, so as to get a quick idea of the global performance of risings
and sales. In the next section, there is one pie chart with more counters and with
Table 3 Key evaluation

Evaluation questions
questions
What are the negative aspects of the proposed dashboard?
What are the positive aspects of the proposed dashboard?
What improvement proposals do you intend to make, regarding
the proposed dashboard?
Fig. 6 Application use case diagram

Fig. 7 Dashboard
perspective—1st Iteration
more details of the sales process. In this proposal, a pie chart is used because all four
counters should have similar values, as when they are too different it means that the
one with a smaller size needs more attention. The third section is where the users can
understand the time that they have spent in prospecting during the month. Finally, in
the invoicing group, it is possible to see the goal marks for the year and the incoming
received.
The dashboard is idealized following the lights from Gestalt principles (Proximity,
Similarity, Enclosure, Closure, Continuity and Connection) and the color rules, with
more focus on rules four and five, using soft colors and separating the different
objects by different colors. The main purpose is to create something easy to read, by
providing useful information for decision-makers.
5.1.2 Evaluation
Table 4 presents the feedback obtained from the first interview/presentation

performed through Zoom. In this interview/ presentation, it was validated whether
Table 4 Evaluation of the prototype—1st Iteration

ID Stakeholder synthesis Stakeholder opinions
Pros P1.1 Information is easy to The proposed dashboard has
understand the advantage of being able to
view information about all
business phases and validate
how we are facing the
proposed objectives
P1.2 The way in which the The way of displaying
information is made available information is
was well-conceived well-accomplished. The color
and the way of showing the
information are easy to
understand
Cons C1.1 The supervisor cannot see Management or commercial
information about his/her management cannot see
team information from consultants
C1.2 Prospection of time is not It is not clear if the
explicit about its numerical prospecting time refers to
greatness hours, minutes, or days
C1.3 Difficult to understand which It is not possible to
records gave rise to the understand what information
information presented gave origin to the data
presented in the dashboard
Proposed improvements PI1.1 View the number of leads in Be able to visualize the
their different types separation of prospecting
leads from buying customers
leads
PI1.2 Allow the supervisor to see Allow the supervisor to see
information agglomerated your team’s information,
with that of his team allowing to understand its
evolution
PI1.3 Prospection of time to have Prospection of time chart
information of the quantity showing the information on
used each bar of the represented
value and the associated
metric
PI1.4 Allow to drill down Provide a way to understand
what information is entered
behind the numbers presented
the gathered KPIs to make were the right ones and the feedback obtained was: two
positive aspects, three negative aspects, and four improvement proposals. The posi-
tive aspects are related to how the information is available and how easy it is to
understand, which enables quick and accurate access to information.
The negative aspects are associated with improvements, allowing management
to see the work of the people above them in the hieratical structure, help the user
Table 5 Implemented improvements—1st Iteration

ID Proposed Type improvement Implemented? Who suggested? Figures
improvement
PI1.1 View the number of Information Yes Interviewees 8
leads in their
different types
PI1.2 Allow the supervisor Information Yes Interviewees 9, 10
to see information
agglomerated with
that of his/her team
PI1.3 Prospection of time, Visualization Yes Interviewees 9
so as to have
information of the
quantity used
PI1.4 Allow to drill down Navigation Yes Interviewees –
understand the data responsible for the values presented in the items of the dashboard,
and to help understand the time spent in prospecting by turning visible the values of
the chart. Also, in improvement proposals, there is the suggestion to show the number
of leads distinguished by lead type, so as to help understand what is generating more
leads.
5.2 Second DSR Iteration
5.2.1 Proposal
The improvements proposed in the first interview are synthesized in Table 5, enabling
a new perception of them. All improvements proposed were suggested by the
interviewees and all four of them were implemented.
5.2.2 Demonstration
In Fig. 8, it is possible to check the implementation of PI1.1. This implementation

is shown to the user in the form of a popup, making it possible to consult the total
number of records that exist in the system of leads, the leads from prospecting, and
the leads from buyer clients. This popup appears when the user clicks on the lead
number.
The implementation of PI1.2 aims to allow the supervisor user to have a view of
their data and another one with their data and the data of the ones above them in the
hieratical structure. In Fig. 10, it is possible to see a dashboard with the user data,
and in Fig. 9 a dashboard with the information of their team.
Fig. 8 Dashboard
perspective scrolled
down—1st Iteration
Fig. 9 Dashboard
perspective deferment types
of leads—2nd Iteration
Fig. 10 Dashboard
perspective of a
consultant—2nd Iteration
PI1.3 is related to the prospecting time chart. In this chart, at the end of each
column, the corresponding value was added. This change can be seen in Fig. 9.
PI1.4 was a change made in all objects of the dashboard, making all elements
clickable, allowing the user to click on an element to see the list of data, which
contributes to what is represented in the dashboard.
5.2.3 Evaluation
After the second interview, the result was two positive, two negative aspects, and
five improvement proposals shown in Table 6. The positive aspects are related to the
disposition of the information and the colors used, which were similar to the ones
used in the notes of the interviewee.
The negative aspects are related to allowing the user to select the period during
which they want to see the dashboard, to see the numbers in the invoicing chart. To
the interviewee, the commercial life is related to numbers, this leads him to find it is
essential to see the exact number associated with each element of the chart.
Table 6 Evaluation of the prototype—2nd Iteration

Pros P2.1 “Dashboard has a good The proposed dashboard has a
layout” good layout
P2.2 “Good choice of colors” The colors used in the
dashboard are the same used
in agent notes
Cons C2.1 It is not possible to There is no option to see
distinguish this year’s data information in a determined
from the one from the period. It would be interesting
previous year to be able to compare this
year’s data with last year’s
data
C2.2 Invoicing numbers are not It will be better to show the
directly shown on the chart value of the invoices to easily
see the values that were
accomplished by a specific
month
Proposed improvements PI2.1 Filter dashboard data in Allow the user the possibility
time to change the date period of
the data shown in the
dashboard by adding the
choice between this year, last
year, a trimester, or a data
range
PI2.2 Invoicing charts turn Invoicing char turn numbers
numbers visible, like time visible like prospecting time.
prospection Turn this chart in a bar chart
like time prospection to see
the values of each bar of
invoicing and objective
PI2.3 Divide the sales by shared Distinguish the sales by
or full sales shared or full sale to
understand if the goods are
entirely to the commercial or
if he will split them with
someone
PI2.4 Have a chart of objectives Have more information
by raising related to objectives, such as
fundraising objectives
PI2.5 The application has an Have a way to know the tasks
agenda and appointments for the day
and set them as completed. In
the end, it would be important
to understand the number of
interactions and appointments
of the month
Table 7 Implemented improvements—2nd Iteration

ID Proposed Type of Implemented? Who suggested? Figures
improvement improvement
PI2.1 Filter dashboard data Visualization Yes Autor 11
in time
PI2.2 Invoicing char turn Visualization Yes Interviewees 12
numbers visible like
prospecting time
PI2.3 Divide the sales into Visualization Yes Interviewees 13
shared or full sales
PI2.4 Get objectives by Visualization No Interviewees –
raising
PI2.5 The application has Information No Interviewees –
an agenda
Some proposed improvements are associated with the negative aspects and the
others are to divide the total numbers of sales in shared and full. This change is
similar to the previously proposed in the first iteration, but this time it is a different
group, and the other one is a view of the agenda that helps the user understand how
the latter is, helping them remember their important tasks.
5.2.4 Proposal
The third iteration was implemented. Three out of four suggested improvements by
the interviewee are represented in Table 7. In the next Sect. 5.3.2 Evaluation, we
explain the suggestions that were implemented and the ones that were not.
5.2.5 Demonstration
PI2.1 brings the possibility to filter the data by last year, this year, this year’s trimester,
and a custom date range. To get this option, the user only needs to click on the filter
icon in the upper right corner of the screen, as can be seen in Fig. 11.
The suggestion of PI2.2 brought some difficulties during the construction of this
chart because when all the values of the bar are displayed, the number was too close
to each other starting to be unreadable, so was enabled a function in the chart to show
the values when the user presses the column object. This led to two options: leave
the original chart with the option to see the results or continue with the column chart
Fig. 12, these choices were decided to leave this choice to the next iteration.
PI2.3 implementation is similar to the proposed in PI1.1. It is shown to the user
in the form of a popup, with which it is possible to check the total number of records
in the sales system, distinguishing the sales made by the same consultant that raised
the house and sold it and the ones that only sold it. This popup can be seen in Fig. 13.
Fig. 11 Dashboard
perspective of a
supervisor—2nd Iteration
The last two suggestions were not implemented. PI2.4 was interesting. The idea of
creating objectives for the existing objects does not look like a necessity that follows
a line defined by the original KPIs and the previous interview, so it was decided to
check this proposal in the next interview.
The suggestion P2.5 was quite interesting and reminded us of the essential task
of the day. Nevertheless, this is a function provided by the CRM system. Since it
already has these characteristics, we decided not to apply this suggestion in order to
avoid duplicate functionality.
5.2.6 Evaluation
During the third interview, two proposals of improvement from the 2nd interview
were validated: PI2.3 resulted in a merge of the two present invoice charts and
added one more information to it, represented in a new proposal improvement.
PI2.4 concluded that the information proposed, and the creation of a new chart with
objectives by raising was not essential to the interviewees.
Fig. 12 Dashboard
perspective time filter—3rd
Iteration
After the third interview, the result was two positive aspects, two negative aspects,
and four suggestions for improvement, as can be seen in Table 8. The positive aspects
were related to how the information is available and the helpful chart of prospecting
time.
The negative aspects are related to adding more lead types to complete the list
and improving the invoicing chart to transmit more information.
Some proposed improvements are associated with the negative aspects and the
orders are to add a success rate and to introduce some gamification, by assigning
points to each consultant.
5.3 Fourth DSR Iteration
With the analysis of the third interviewee’s feedback, some points were clarified and
improved. Throughout this section, it will be possible to see the improvements of the
implemented proposals.
Fig. 13 Dashboard
perspective of Invoice
charts—3rd Iteration
5.3.1 Proposal
In the fourth iteration, all four suggested improvements by the interviewees were
implemented, is represented in Table 9. In the next Sect. 5.4.2 Evaluation, we explain
the suggestions that were implemented and the ones that were not.
5.3.2 Demonstration
PI3.1 shows the success rate on a scale from zero to five, the rate is calculated with
the raised houses and the sold ones. If the consultant sold all their houses, this will
be represented with a rate of five, as can be seen in Fig. 14.
PI3.2 is a complement of PI1.1. Initially, PI1.1 only shows leads from prospecting
and leads from buyers with this proposal, with this complement, the lead types
available turn to be dynamically filled with information in the organization, as can
be seen in Fig. 15.
Table 8 Evaluation of the prototype—3rd Iteration

Pros P3.1 Information is easy to The proposed dashboard has
understand the advantage of being able to
provide information about all
business phases
P3.2 The prospecting chart is The time prospection chart
very useful allows to understand if the
time spent in prospecting is
producing raisings or not
Cons C3.1 Lack of lead types Not all the lead types are
represented
C3.2 The invoicing chart can be The invoicing chart does not
unfair represent all the work done in
the month in order to achieve
the objective
Proposed improvements PI3.1 Have a new indicator for a Have a new indicator for a
success rate success rate, which is the
relation between house
raising vs house sale
PI3.2 Add new types for Leads Add new types for Leads as
references, sites, and social
networks
PI3.3 Add sales information to Add sales information to
invoicing chart invoicing chart, allowing to
gain a forecast of possible
earnings in future
PI3.4 Show consultants Add a way that makes it
classification points possible for a commercial
manager or for the board to
understand which the best
consultant is, based on a
points system that attributes
points per task
PI3.3 is also the continuation of PI2.3. The invoice chart was changed into two
bars with the values of the invoices and the forecast. This way, it is possible to see the
invoices issued and the ones that are programmed for the future, and an additional
line with the proposed objective for the month, visible in Fig. 16.
The last suggestion, PI3.4, brings the idea of gamification only visible to the user’s
supervisors’, are given points to the consultants, such as one point for raising, one
point for sales and an additional two points if it was a full sell (the sale of a house
raised by the same consultant). These values are represented in Fig. 17, through a
column chart. The user with the biggest bar is the one with more points and with the
best performance.
Table 9 Implemented improvements—3rd Iteration

ID Proposed Type improvement Implemented? Who suggested? Figures
improvement
PI3.1 Have a new Visualization Yes Interviewees 14
indicator for a
success rate
PI3.2 Add new types Information Yes Interviewees 15
for Leads
PI3.3 Add sales Visualization Yes Interviewees 16
information to
invoicing chart
PI3.4 Show Information Yes Interviewees 17
consultants
classification
points
Fig. 14 Dashboard
perspective of sales
counters—3rd Iteration
Fig. 15 Dashboard
perspective of success
rate—4th Iteration
Fig. 16 Dashboard
perspective of Lead
types—4th Iteration
Fig. 17 Dashboard
perspective of invoicing
chart—4th Iteration
5.3.3 Evaluation
After the fourth interview, the result was three positive aspects, one negative, and
three suggestions for improvement according to Table 10.
The positive aspects in the fourth interview are related to information visualiza-
tion, and the prospecting chart was highlighted again as a great tool, as it allows
the consultants to understand if the time spent in prospection is working or not.
The negative aspect is associated with PI3.4. The interviewee indicated the need to
attribute more points to raising than to sales because it is more difficult to raise than
to sell.
One of the three improvement proposals is associated with the negative aspects
and the others are related with adding the information of tax retention, informing if
the consultant is losing leads or houses, or if the clients keep the consultant until the
end of the process.
Table 10 Evaluation of the prototype—4th Iteration

Pros P4.1 All information is With the proposed dashboard,
summarized it is possible to see all
information quickly
P4.2 The prospecting chart is very Prospecting time chart allows
useful to understand if the time spent
in prospection is producing
risings or not
P4.3 The information is The way of displaying
well-presented information is
well-accomplished. The color
information make it easy to
understand
Cons C4.1 Bad distribution of points in The user rating chart gives
users’ ratings empowerment to users to get
more raisings than the ones
that sell
Proposed improvements PI4.1 Change rating points Give more points to users that
attribution get raisings
PI4.2 Tax retention of leads Having a new indicator of tax
retention of leads enables
users to understand if the lead
chooses to stick with the user
until the end or not
PI4.3 Tax retention taxes of Have a new indicator of
raisings retention raisings to
understand if the consultant is
losing ratings for not being
able to sell them
Table 11 Implemented improvements—4th Iteration

ID Proposed Type of Implemented? Who suggested? Figures
improvement improvement
PI4.1 Change rating Information Yes Interviewees 17
points attribution
PI4.2 Tax retention of Information Yes Interviewees 18
leads
PI4.3 Tax retention of Information Yes Interviewees 18
raisings
5.4 Fifth DSR Iteration
In the fifth iteration, a few improvements were made in the application since the
previous iteration. The proposed improvement was analyzed in terms of performance
and applicability. The result is given in Sect. 5.4.2.
5.4.1 Proposal
In the fifth iteration all three suggested improvements by the interviewees were
implemented, and are represented in Table 11. In the next Sect. 5.5.2 Evaluation, we
explain the implemented suggestions.
5.4.2 Demonstration
Proposal PI4.1 where a change similar to PI3.4. With this change, the score attribution
changed to two points for raising, one point for sell, and an additional two points if it
was a full sell. The change consisted in attributing more points to the consultants that
raised houses than the ones who sold them. This change makes the point attribution
more fair. Is possible to see this indicator in Fig. 17.
PI4.2 tries to understand if the leads are focused on profit or if they stay in leads
and do not go forward in the sales process. Figure 18 is located below the lead
retention taxes. This verifies if the leads turn into a sale or not, zero being “no sales
are made” and five means “all the leads turn into a sale”.
The PI4.3 is similar to the previous point; each mediation contract has a finish
date when this contract expires and the consultant loses the house. This indicator
transmits to the consultant if he is losing houses or not where zero is “all houses
are with an expired contract” and five is “all houses are with valid contracts”. It is
possible to see this indicator in Fig. 18.
Fig. 18 Dashboard
perspective of points
5.4.3 Evaluation
After the fifth interview, the result was three positive aspects, one negative aspect,
and two improvement suggestions, as can be seen in Table 12.
The positive aspects are related, once more, with the visualization of information
and a new chart about the ratings, which can bring some fun to the consultants
(Fig. 19).
The negative aspect is related to the fact that it was not possible to see the next
tasks on the consultant’s agenda.
In the fifth iteration, proposals were not made. PI5.1 is related to PI2.5, which is
explained in Sect. 5.3.2, and PI5.2 is associated with the commission that the consul-
tants retrieve from the house sale. This value can be different within an organization
or even a business, as this value can change regularly, so we decided that those
consultants should be the ones who introduced the correct value in the application,
since only they know what the commission is.
6 Conclusion
This research aimed to understand the reaction of real estate professionals to dash-
boards capable of summarizing their activity and KPIs directly on their smartphones.
To this end, the DSR methodology was used to develop and integrate a dashboard
into an m-CRM, since it allows for a constant iterative and evaluative process with
real estate experts.
One of the main conclusions that could be inferred was the fact that for a real
estate agent “numbers are everything”. As the interviewees said, the existence of
Table 12 Evaluation of the prototype—5th Iteration

ID Stakeholder’s synthesis Stakeholder’s opinions
Pros P5.1 All information is With the proposed dashboard,
summarized it is possible to see all
information quickly
P5.2 The information is The way of displaying
well-presented information is
well-accomplished. The color
information make it easier to
understand
P5.3 Rates can give some fun to The ratings give a view to the
the users team leader of how their team
is performing, adding some
good rivalry by checking the
user that obtains more points
Cons C5.1 Is not possible to see the Allow the users to see the next
main task that is pending for task that they have on the
the day agenda, helping them not to
forget some appointment or
something similar
Proposed improvements PI5.1 See the next main task that Have a way to allow the users
is pending for the day to see the next task that they
have on the agenda, helping
them not to forget some
appointment or something
similar
PI5.2 Invoicing reflects the actual The invoice chart reflects the
revenue based on the last actual percentage of revenue.
year of sales This percentage is calculated
based on the total amount of
sales between some ranges
that use different percentages
of revenue
dashboards with KPIs in the life of a sales professional is fundamental for them to
be able to really understand the state of their business and how close they are or
not to reaching their sales goals. As the artifact developed, experts were revealing
that a mobile dashboard allowed much more personalized and native access to their
smartphones and would therefore be a very important addition to the web/desktop
version.
Another aspect that also reveals itself as a conclusion of this research is the lack
of automation and efficient information systems. This was perceptible through the
interviews conducted in which half of the interviewees still use tools such as Excel
(on the computer) and notepad (on the smartphone). Thus, by presenting itself as
“a pain reliever”, the presented artifact was always very well received by real estate
experts, which leads to the conclusion that the system is really simple and focused on
Fig. 19 Dashboard
perspective of the retention
the user in the sense that it shows exactly what the user is looking for, the receptivity
and adoption of information systems in real estate shows strong indications to be
high.
The proposed dashboard also helps RE agents to achieve success rates and the
retention rates help the agents to understand if they are selling the houses raised, if
they are losing them by the contract end or if the leads do not continue the process
with the agents. All these indicators are useful for RE agents to understand if they
are making the sell and not losing business by losing contracts or leads.
On top of all these tools, to help the team leader and the higher management, it
is possible to get access to one chart that represents the performance of consultants.
This allows getting some good rivalry between them by adding some competition to
the team or to notice that someone is having fewer points. This could also work as
an alert that something is going on with this consultant, prompting the management
to iterate closer with him in order to try to figure out what is happening.
As proposals for future work, it would be very interesting to add the features
suggested by the interviewees that were not implemented, like the connection
between the agenda and the dashboard, which could be helpful as a reminder of
the next task/appointment. The agents feel the need to have automated processes to
gain more time for other activities, focusing on the sale cycle of the property, which
means that, in the future, the application should allow this to happen.
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Studies in Systems, Decision and Control 210

ISSN 2198-4182 ISSN 2198-4190 (electronic)

Digital transformation marks a rethinking of how an organization uses technology,

Lisbon, Portugal Ruben Pereira

Benefits and Challenges of Remote Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Risks and Challenges of Scrum: A Systematic Literature Review . . . . . . . 181

Keywords Remote work · Advantages · Benefits · Challenges · Procedures ·

With the increasing advances in telecommunications systems and technology in

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 1

Table 1 Systematic literature review stages

2.1 Review Protocol

Table 2 Keywords used in

Table 3 Databases used for

Table 4 Quality criteria

Table 5 Filtration process

2.2 Applying Filters and Get Final Articles

2.3 Perform Data Extraction and Analysis of the Sample

Table 6 Important concepts about the remote work adoption

3.1 Benefits of Remote Work for Employees

Table 7 Benefits of remote work for employees in each article

3.2 Challenges and Solutions of Remote Work for Employees

Table 8 Challenges of remote work for employees in each article

3.3 Benefits of Remote Work for Companies

Table 10 Benefits of remote work for companies in each article

3.4 Challenges and Solutions of Remote Work for Companies

Table 11 Challenges of remote work for companies in each article

Fig. 1 Linkages between success factors [2]

Table 12 Procedures to mitigate the remote work challenges for companies

A change to remote work should be considered by business administrations. The

Keywords Information technology · Governance models · Energy efficiency ·

Energy consumption in buildings accounts for 40–50% of global energy demand

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 19

(2012/27/EU), amended by the EU Directive 2018/2002, EU countries must make

1.1 Information and Technology Governance

Using a systematic literature review (SLR), which is the recommended “Evidence-

2.1 Identification the Need for a Review

Table 1 Systematic literature review methodology

2.2 Objective of the Review

Table 2 List of keywords

Table 3 List of used

Table 4 Quantitative filters

buildings being an important pillar in this strategy. It is important to evaluate the

3.1 Applying Filters and Get Articles

3.2 Perform Data Extraction

3.3 Analyze of Literature

knowledge (IT)” AND “Energy

Database Keywords Filters

Fig. 1 Article distribution

Fig. 2 Intervals with the

Table 6 Conference and

After evaluating each IT innovation concept’s challenges, it was possible to iden-

Articles IT innovation concepts to promote energy efficiency

Areas IT innovation concepts

protection [9] behaviour from users [9] database is

Areas IT innovation concepts

Areas IT innovation concepts

Table 10 IT governance aspects to tackle IT challenges

4.1 IT Innovation on Energy Efficiency in Buildings

Sensors Transmit Data Data Fault detection

Display info on Performance

Fig. 3 General scheme of IT in buildings

The framework to implement these concepts on energy efficiency in buildings

4.2 IT Governance Frameworks