DOCSLIB.ORG

Haris STUCKI the Mapping of an Agile Strategy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Haris STUCKI the Mapping of an Agile Strategy The Mapping of an Agile Strategy in a New Business World From atoms and recipes to bytes and mental agility PhD Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Economics and Business Enterprise Institute University of Neuchâtel For the degree of PhD in Management by Haris STUCKI Accepted by the dissertation committee: Prof. Sam Blili, University of Neuchâtel, thesis director Prof. Kilian Stoffel, University of Neuchâtel, president of the dissertation committee Prof. Michel Kostecki, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland Prof. 'RURWD/HV]F]\ĔVND, IDRAC Sophia-Antipolis, France Defended on 17 December 2014 Faculté des Sciences Economiques Avenue du 1er-Mars 26 CH-2000 Neuchâtel www.unine.ch/seco Summary: In a hostile post-industrial business environment characterised by globalisation and the immaterial age, we first establish an Initial Strategy Map which is based on the state of knowledge and focuses on the agility requirement. After this, based on the data collection of the empirical research, we adopt, synthesise and specify this initial framework as the Proposed Dynamic Strategy Map. Finally, as a result of an in-depth analysis of six business cases, the Proposed Dynamic Strategy Map is validated and clarified at the end of the thesis. Such a framework offers a strategic approach for small and medium companies (SMEs) from established economies with tradable goods that have a low likelihood of imitation and (the potential for) a global brand. Due to their simple structure and manageable sites and scopes, our decision to analyse SMEs as units of observation can methodologically be justified and adds value to the understanding of their characteristics. Keywords: Strategy map, integrated management system, balanced scorecard, behavioural economics, traditional recipes, complexity, competitive advantage, x-factor, agility, flexibility, rapidity, knowledge, strategic fit, intangible skills, wetware, networks, outsourcing, alliances, virtuality, meta-value chain, modern company. Mots clés: Carte stratégique, système intégré de gestion, tableau de bord prospectif, économie comportementale, recettes traditionnelles, complexité, avantage compétitif, x-facteur, agilité, flexibilité, rapidité, savoir, adéquation stratégique, compétences intangibles, wetware, réseaux, externalisation, alliances, virtualité, filière, entreprise moderne. PREFACE III PREFACE During my business administration studies at the University of Berne, my prime interest was strategy. However, before delving into this fascinating topic, I first intended to better comprehend in detail other, interrelated, aspects of the fairly complex functioning of most companies, i.e. their processes, systems and organisation. In this context, Mintzberg, Lampel, Quinn and Ghosal quote that “…one cannot decide reliably what should be done in a system as complicated as a contemporary organization without a genuine understanding of how that organization really works.”1 An effective corporate strategy leading to a corporate advantage that creates value is a consistent set of the following elements: vision, goals and objectives, resources, businesses and organisation.2 My extensive experience in a managerial consulting, auditing and project- leader (including mergers and acquisitions) position, with direct reporting lines to either executive management or the board of directors, has enabled me to gain significant practical insights into all of these elements. Being in charge of a start-up production plant in South-East Asia and a director in the project team for the business development of a car manufacturer in South-East Europe were also very important professional and personal experiences in this regard. However, after a number of years of intensive international business experience, I felt that my theoretical background was no longer up-to-date. This is why the MBA degree at the University of Geneva considerably helped to refresh my knowledge about strategy and provided new perspectives on the latest business and academic developments. This was the basis upon which my supervisor Professor Sam Blili, director of the Enterprise Institute of the University of Neuchâtel, considerably reignited my enthusiasm and curiosity towards strategy, which had never really faded. His enormous academic and practical excellence, as well as his worldwide network and innovative, i.e. out-of-the box, approaches to international strategy were always an inexhaustible source for exciting discussions and triggered my further enthusiasm for the topic. This is the context from which my research emerged and which will help to clarify what strategy is all about and what the ongoing and future challenges for Western SMEs will look like. I am convinced that the conclusions of this research will provide transparent insights and useful practical advice in order to successfully cope with ongoing challenges which will definitely have to be faced sooner rather than later. Therefore, I must once again acknowledge Professor Sam Blili, from whom I have greatly benefited during the completion of this thesis. He has patiently dedicated a lot of his time to me, shared his boundless experience, knowledge and expertise, and strongly encouraged, inspired, assisted and guided my work through sometimes troubled waters. Sharing his ideas on many other topics, as well as his impressive mirroring technique during discussions, helped me to significantly challenge and shift a number of personal views and biases which I had held for a long time. In short, working under Professor Sam Blili’s supervision and guidance has been a great privilege. I am also very much indebted to him for his support and trust, but also the freedom he gave me when lecturing in 2010/2011 (a bachelor’s course) and 2013/2014 (a master’s course) at his institute. I am also much obliged to my “International Strategy” master’s course class for their valuable contributions, availability and patience. 1 Mintzberg, Lampel, Quinn and Ghoshal (2003), p. x 2 Collis and Montgomery (2005), pp. 10-11 V PREFACE In addition, the discussions and input of other professors, assistants, researchers and students of the institute also inspired me on the journey of this research. I would also like to thank my wife and children, who for long periods had to patiently tolerate the absence of their husband and father while he was working on this research. I really appreciate your understanding! Moreover, I am glad that my sister often asked me about what I was actually doing and learning in my studies. This was an additional motivation to write about my interests. Finally, extraordinary gratitude goes to my parents, who enabled me to pursue a door- opening education, who were always there for me, and to whom I owe so much. VI Indexes: TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS LIST OF BUSINESS CASES LIST OF FIGURES VII TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................1 1.1 CHALLENGE ..................................................................................................................................................3 1.2 PURPOSE ........................................................................................................................................................4 1.3 STRUCTURE ..................................................................................................................................................9 1.4 META-ANALYSIS APPROACH ..........................................................................................................10 CHAPTER II TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BUSINESS ............................................................15 2.1 SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................17 2.2 DESCRIPTION ...........................................................................................................................................17 2.2.1 AN EVER-CHANGING AND COMPETITIVE WORLD .........................................................17 2.2.1.1 Globalisation ......................................................................................................................................18 2.2.1.2 The Immaterial Age ........................................................................................................................20 2.2.2 NEW PARADIGMS ...............................................................................................................................20 2.2.2.1 Previously Unknown Phenomena ..........................................................................................20 2.2.2.2 From Atoms to Bytes ....................................................................................................................20 2.2.2.3 Better, Faster and more Dynamic ..........................................................................................21 2.2.2.4 Uncertainty and Ambiguity ........................................................................................................22 2.2.2.5 Complexity...........................................................................................................................................23 2.2.2.6 Risk Management ...........................................................................................................................24 2.3 DISCUSSION ..............................................................................................................................................25
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Web Usage Mining & Personalization in Noisy, Dynamic, and Ambiguous
    Web Usage Mining & Personalization in Noisy, Dynamic, and Ambiguous Environments Olfa Nasraoui Knowledge Discovery & Web Mining Lab Dept of Computer Engineering & Computer Sciences University of Louisville E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://www.louisville.edu/~o0nasr01 Supported by US National Science Foundation Career Award IIS-0133948 Nasraoui: Web Usage Mining & Personalization in Noisy, Dynamic, and Ambiguous Environments Compressed Vita • Endowed Chair of E-commerce in the Department of Computer Engineering & Computer Science at the University of Louisville • Director of the Knowledge Discovery and Web Mining Lab at the University of Louisville. • Research activities include Data Mining, Web mining, Web Personalization, and Computational Intelligence (Applications of evolutionary computation and fuzzy set theory). • Served as program co-chair for several conferences & workshops, including WebKDD 2004, 2005, and 2006 workshops on Web Mining and Web Usage Analysis, held in conjunction with ACM SIGKDD International Conferences on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD). • Recipient of US National Science Foundation CAREER Award. • What I will speak about today is mainly the research products and lessons from a 5-year US National Science Foundation project Nasraoui: Web Usage Mining & Personalization in Noisy, Dynamic, and Ambiguous Environments My Collaborative Network? Nasraoui: Web Usage Mining & Personalization in Noisy, Dynamic, and Ambiguous Environments Team: Knowledge Discovery & Web Mining Lab University of Louisville
    [Show full text]
  • Fall 2013 / Winter 2014 Titles
    INFLUENTIAL THINKERS INNOVATIVE IDEAS GRANTA PAYBACK THE WAYFINDERS RACE AGAINST TIME BECOMING HUMAN Margaret Atwood Wade Davis Stephen Lewis Jean Vanier Trade paperback / $18.95 Trade paperback / $19.95 Trade paperback / $19.95 Trade paperback / $19.95 ANANSIANANSIANANSI 978-0-88784-810-0 978-0-88784-842-1 978-0-88784-753-0 978-0-88784-809-4 PORTOBELLO e-book / $16.95 e-book / $16.95 e-book / $16.95 e-book / $16.95 978-0-88784-872-8 978-0-88784-969-5 978-0-88784-875-9 978-0-88784-845-2 A SHORT HISTORY THE TRUTH ABOUT THE UNIVERSE THE EDUCATED OF PROGRESS STORIES WITHIN IMAGINATION FALL 2013 / Ronald Wright Thomas King Neil Turok Northrop Frye Trade paperback / $19.95 Trade paperback / $19.95 Trade paperback / $19.95 Trade paperback / $14.95 978-0-88784-706-6 978-0-88784-696-0 978-1-77089-015-2 978-0-88784-598-7 e-book / $16.95 e-book / $16.95 e-book / $16.95 e-book / $14.95 WINTER 2014 978-0-88784-843-8 978-0-88784-895-7 978-1-77089-225-5 978-0-88784-881-0 ANANSI PUBLISHES VERY GOOD BOOKS WWW.HOUSEOFANANSI.COM Anansi_F13_cover.indd 1-2 13-05-15 11:51 AM HOUSE OF ANANSI FALL 2013 / WINTER 2014 TITLES SCOTT GRIFFIN Chair NONFICTION ... 1 SARAH MACLACHLAN President & Publisher FICTION ... 17 ALLAN IBARRA VP Finance ASTORIA (SHORT FICTION) ... 23 MATT WILLIAMS VP Publishing Operations ARACHNIDE (FRENCH TRANSLATION) ... 29 JANIE YOON Senior Editor, Nonfiction ANANSI INTERNATIONAL ... 35 JANICE ZAWERBNY Senior Editor, Canadian Fiction SPIDERLINE ..
    [Show full text]
  • Proceedings of Wildlife Research Meeting VI
    Abstract These Workshop Proceedings include detailed summaries of the presentations made and the discussions that followed. Suggested Citation Format: This volume: Proceedings of Onshore Wildlife InteraionsProceedings with Wind Developments: Research Meeting V. Lansdowne, VA. November 3-4, 2004. Prepared by RESOLVE, Inc., Washington, D.C., Susan Savitt Schwartz, ed. DATE. You can order this setNWCC of proceedings Wildlife by contacting: Workgroup RESOLVE by phone: 202 965-6218 Attn: Detra StoddardResearch Planningby email: [email protected] VI 1255 23rd St, NW Suite 275 San Antonio, Texas Washington, DC 20037 November 14-15, 2006 Organized by The National Wind Coordinating Collaborative Wildlife Workgroup Meeting Facilitated by RESOLVE, Inc. Washington, DC March 2007 Suggested Citation Format This volume: PNWWRPM VI. 2007. Proceedings of the NWCC Wildlife Workgroup Research Planning Meeting VI. San Antonio, TX November 14-15, 2006. Prepared for the Wildlife Workgroup of the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative by RESOLVE, Inc., Washington, DC, Susan Savitt Schwartz, ed. 138 pp. Preceding volumes: POWIWD-V. 2005. Proceedings of the Onshore Wildlife Interactions with Wind Developments: Research Meeting V. Lansdowne, VA November 3-4, 2004. Prepared for the Wildlife Subcommittee of the National Wind Coordinating Committee by RESOLVE, Inc., Washington, DC, Susan Savitt Schwartz, ed. 120 pp. PNAWPPM-IV. 2001. Proceedings of the National Avian-Wind Power Planning Meeting IV, Carmel, CA, May 16-17, 2000. Prepared for the Avian Subcommittee of the National Wind Coordinating Committee by RESOLVE, Inc., Washington, DC, Susan Savitt Schwartz, ed., 179 pp. PNAWPPM-III. 2000. Proceedings of the National Avian-Wind Power Planning Meeting III, San Diego, CA, May 1998.
    [Show full text]
  • Amazon Feature-2017Q4.Pdf
    AMERESCO MICROGRIDS: Amazon system delivers data center waste heat The e-commerce giant will achieve net-zero energy at its Seattle headquarters RELIABLE, through an innovative partnership with a downtown neighbor. Tom Marseille, PE, Hon. AIA, LEED Fellow, Senior Vice President and Director of Built Ecology, WSP USA SECURE ENERGY. Photo Shutterstock. Amazon headquarters campus, Seattle. chieving net-zero energy on providing the data center building owner, of this otherwise wasted heat can be Ameresco develops flexible, scalable microgrids, building projects is becoming an Clise Properties, with a way to utilize its transferred to the online retailer’s district increasingly realistic goal given excess heat. energy system. providing secure energy systems that utilize a Acurrent and emerging building technologies, design approaches and A CREATIVE COLLABORATION combination of renewable power generation, more engaged and educated occupants. Amazon’s new 1.1 million-sq-ft UP TO 5 MW OF OTHERWISE WASTED energy conservation and load reduction measures But even with a well-charted and proven Doppler building was occupied in late HEAT CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO AMAZON’S road map, the majority of projects face 2015 as the first phase of a planned DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM. tailored to each customer’s individual needs. inherent constraints that hinder the buildout on the three-block Denny Tri- aggressive pursuit of net zero at scale. angle campus. It will ultimately comprise Fortunately, new district paradigms are three high-rise towers, each at approxi- Amazon has contracted to purchase emerging that are practical and achiev- mately 37 stories with its own meeting this data center waste heat through a able.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 222 5Th Ave North | Seattle Wa 98109 Development
    SECTION 1 THE OPPORTUNITY 222 5TH AVE NORTH | SEATTLE WA 98109 DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY LISTED EXCLUSIVELY BY JLL 1 SECTION 1 THE OPPORTUNITY THE OPPORTUNITY JLL has been retained as the exclusive agent to sell Triple2, consisting The Seattle market is primed with low vacancy, strong leasing of 24,820 square feet on two adjacent parcels located in the shadow velocity, explosive population growth, superior proximity to top tier of the Space Needle in Seattle’s Uptown neighborhood. The existing employers and nation leading job and rent growth. Increasingly, building (currently occupied by a McDonald’s restaurant) and the younger employees want to work closer to home and enjoy everything adjacent parking lot are located within the Uptown rezone area, a vibrant urban setting has to offer. Half of all employees who work located at the base of Queen Anne Hill in and around the Seattle downtown live within 10 miles of their office. Almost two out of every Center. The Uptown rezone was approved by the City Council, 10 residents moving to Seattle between 2010 and 2016 chose to live in following the University District, Downtown, and South Lake Union the downtown core, and nearly 50 percent of downtown residents are neighborhoods. between the ages of 25 and 44. Triple2 is located in the eastern portion of Uptown, in a triangle of land near South Lake Union, between Denny Way, Broad Street and Aurora PROJECT SUMMARY – TRIPLE2 Avenue North, where maximum heights would increase from 85 to Address 222 5th Avenue N, 160 feet. Change is coming to the neighborhood with or without the Seattle, WA 98109 upzone, as the city and Seattle Public Schools plan to build a new King County Tax Parcels 1991200310; 1991200315 high school and stadium at Seattle Center.
    [Show full text]
  • The Global Positioning System
    The Global Positioning System Assessing National Policies Scott Pace • Gerald Frost • Irving Lachow David Frelinger • Donna Fossum Donald K. Wassem • Monica Pinto Prepared for the Executive Office of the President Office of Science and Technology Policy CRITICAL TECHNOLOGIES INSTITUTE R The research described in this report was supported by RAND’s Critical Technologies Institute. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The global positioning system : assessing national policies / Scott Pace ... [et al.]. p cm. “MR-614-OSTP.” “Critical Technologies Institute.” “Prepared for the Office of Science and Technology Policy.” Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8330-2349-7 (alk. paper) 1. Global Positioning System. I. Pace, Scott. II. United States. Office of Science and Technology Policy. III. Critical Technologies Institute (RAND Corporation). IV. RAND (Firm) G109.5.G57 1995 623.89´3—dc20 95-51394 CIP © Copyright 1995 RAND All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from RAND. RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve public policy through research and analysis. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of its research sponsors. Cover Design: Peter Soriano Published 1995 by RAND 1700 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 RAND URL: http://www.rand.org/ To order RAND documents or to obtain additional information, contact Distribution Services: Telephone: (310) 451-7002; Fax: (310) 451-6915; Internet: [email protected] PREFACE The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a constellation of orbiting satellites op- erated by the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Directory of Experimentation and Personalisation Platforms Contents I
    The Directory of Experimentation and Personalisation Platforms Contents i Why We Wrote This e-book ..................................................................................................... 3 A Note on the Classification and Inclusion of Platforms in This e-book ........................................ 4 Platform Capabilities in a Nutshell ............................................................................................ 5 Industry Leaders AB Tasty: In-depth Testing, Personalisation, Nudge Engagement, and Product Optimisation ............10 Adobe Target: Omnichannel Testing and AI-based Personalisation ...............................................15 Dynamic Yield: Omnichannel Testing, AI-Based Personalisation, and Data Management .................19 Google Optimize: In-depth Testing, Personalisation, and Analytics .............................................. 24 Monetate: Omnichannel Optimisation Intelligence, Testing, and Personalisation ........................... 27 Optimizely: Experimentation, Personalisation, and Feature-flagging .............................................31 Oracle Maxymiser: User Research, Testing, Personalisation, and Data Management ...................... 38 Qubit: Experimentation and AI-driven Personalisation for e-commerce ......................................... 43 Symplify: Omnichannel Communication and Conversion Suites .................................................. 47 VWO: Experience Optimisation and Growth ..............................................................................51
    [Show full text]
  • Revised 3/2/2021 Finance, Facilities & Technology Committee
    Finance, Facilities, & Technology Committee Meeting - Agenda Board of Trustees Revised 3/2/2021 Finance, Facilities & Technology Committee March 3, 2021 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Via Zoom The public is invited to view the meeting on YouTube. The link to the Board of Trustees YouTube page can be found the Board website: https://www.maine.edu/board-of-trustees/ AGENDA 9:00am - 9:30am EXECUTIVE SESSION The Finance, Facilities, & Technology Committee will enter Executive Session under the provision of: 1 MRSA Section 405 6-C. 9:30am – 9:35am TAB 10 Proposed Changes to Board of Trustee Policy 803 - Naming of Physical Facilities 9:35am – 9:45am TAB 1 Neville Hall Renovations, UM 9:45am – 10:05am TAB 2 Approval of FY2020 Maine Economic Improvement Fund Annual Report 10:05am – 10:15am TAB 3 Interim Financing Resolution 10:15am – 10:25am TAB 4 Financing Project Resolution, UM Ferland Engineering, Education, and Design Center (EEDC) 10:25am – 10:55am TAB 5 Rolling Capital Master Plan, UM 10:55am – 11:05am TAB 6 Capital Projects Status Report and Bond Projects Update, UMS 11:05am – 11:25am TAB 7 Sightlines Annual Facilities Report, UMS 11:25am – 11:45am TAB 8 Housing Public Private Partnership (P3), UMF and UMPI 11:45am – 12:00pm TAB 9 Review of IT Projects with a Value of $250,000 of Greater Action items within the Committee purview are noted in green. Items for Committee decisions and recommendations are noted in red. Note: Times are estimated based upon the anticipated length for presentation or discussion of a particular topic.
    [Show full text]
  • The University Magazine the WALLACE Cet·HER BLDG 05 TRACEY :J MELIJILLE
    Periodicals R·I·TRochester Institute of Technology 0001.00000 The University Magazine THE WALLACE CEt·HER BLDG 05 TRACEY :J MELIJILLE www.rit.edu BRICK CITY HOMECOMING & FAMILY WEEKEND Cheeron defendingAtlantic Hockey Association Champion Comedian and Frozen Four participant Tigersas they take on U-Mass Lowell Craig Ferguson in their home opener at Downtown Rochester's Blue Cross Arena! Host of the Late Late Show SIGN UP TO BE PART OF OUR ANNUAL TRADITION! WWW.RIT.EDU/BRICKCITY TheR·I·T University Magazine Fall 2010 Time to say goodbye, hello By the time you read this, I'll be out to pasture and a new editor will be tending The University Magazine. That's why I'm taking over President Destler's space for this one issue. When I became editor in August 2000, the magazine was just one year old. A decade later, it is still very young compared to other college magazines. For example, MIT has been publishing Technology Review Physician assistant TomGately '03 since 1899. Do the math: They got on this a 26 explains an eye exam to a patient. century beforewe did. Still, 11 years seems like a long time and we've published 32 issues. We've tried Kathy Lindsley, left, and Mindy Mozer very hard to make progress with each one. Certainly we've had plenty to tell you: RIT continues to grow, and more than a dozen important buildings have been constructed in the past decade. It's hard to imagine RIT without the Gordon Field House, for example. The physi­ cal transformation of the campus is nothing short of astonishing.
    [Show full text]
  • The Insecurity of Home Digital Voice Assistants – Vulnerabilities, Attacks and Countermeasures
    The Insecurity of Home Digital Voice Assistants – Vulnerabilities, Attacks and Countermeasures Xinyu Lei∗, Guan-Hua Tu∗, Alex X. Liu∗, Chi-Yu Liy, Tian Xie∗ ∗ Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] y National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan Email: [email protected] Abstract—Home Digital Voice Assistants (HDVAs) are getting the HDVA security should be specially considered. At this popular in recent years. Users can control smart devices and point, a natural question is: Do these commercial off-the- get living assistance through those HDVAs (e.g., Amazon Alexa, shelf (COTS) HDVAs employ necessary security mechanisms Google Home) using voice. In this work, we study the insecurity of to authenticate users and protect users from acoustic attacks? HDVA services by using Amazon Alexa and Google Home as case studies. We disclose three security vulnerabilities which root in Unfortunately, our study on Amazon Alexa and Google their insecure access control. We then exploit them to devise two Home yields a negative answer. We identify three security proof-of-concept attacks, home burglary and fake order, where vulnerabilities from them and devise two proof-of-concept the adversary can remotely command the victim’s HDVA device to open a door or place an order from Amazon.com or Google attacks. The victims may suffer from home security breach Express. The insecure access control is that HDVA devices not and fake order attacks. All the parties including the HDVA only rely on a single-factor authentication but also take voice service provider (i.e., Amazon), HDVA devices, and the third commands even if no people are around them.
    [Show full text]
  • The Complete Ask Scott
    ASK SCOTT Downloaded from the Loud Family / Music: What Happened? website and re-ordered into July-Dec 1997 (Year 1: the start of Ask Scott) July 21, 1997 Scott, what's your favorite pizza? Jeffrey Norman Scott: My favorite pizza place ever was Symposium Greek pizza in Davis, CA, though I'm relatively happy at any Round Table. As for my favorite topping, just yesterday I was rereading "Ash Wednesday" by T.S. Eliot (who can guess the topping?): Lady, three white leopards sat under a juniper-tree In the cool of the day, having fed to satiety On my legs my heart my liver and that which had been contained In the hollow round of my skull. And God said Shall these bones live? shall these Bones live? And that which had been contained In the bones (which were already dry) said chirping: Because of the goodness of this Lady And because of her loveliness, and because She honours the Virgin in meditation, We shine with brightness. And I who am here dissembled Proffer my deeds to oblivion, and my love To the posterity of the desert and the fruit of the gourd. It is this which recovers My guts the strings of my eyes and the indigestible portions Which the leopards reject. A: pepperoni. honest pizza, --Scott August 14, 1997 Scott, what's your astrological sign? Erin Amar Scott: Erin, wow! How are you? Aries. Do you think you are much like the publicized characteristics of that sun sign? Some people, it's important to know their signs; not me.
    [Show full text]
  • The Insecurity of Home Digital Voice Assistants – Amazon Alexa As a Case Study
    The Insecurity of Home Digital Voice Assistants – Amazon Alexa as a Case Study Xinyu Lei∗, Guan-Hua Tu∗, Alex X. Liu∗, Kamran Ali∗, Chi-Yu Liy, Tian Xie∗ ∗ Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] y National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan Email: [email protected] Abstract—Home Digital Voice Assistants (HDVAs) are getting security threats due to the openness nature of voice channels. popular in recent years. Users can control smart devices and Both owners and adversaries can speak commands to HDVA get living assistance through those HDVAs (e.g., Amazon Alexa, devices. At this point, the natural question is: Do these Google Home) using voice. In this work, we study the insecurity commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) HDVAs employ necessary of HDVA service by using Amazon Alexa as a case study. We security mechanisms to authenticate users and protect users disclose three security vulnerabilities which root in the insecure from acoustic attacks? access control of Alexa services. We then exploit them to devise two proof-of-concept attacks, home burglary and fake order, Unfortunately, our study on Amazon Alexa devices yields a where the adversary can remotely command the victim’s Alexa negative answer. We identify three security vulnerabilities from device to open a door or place an order from Amazon.com. The them and devise two proof-of-concept attacks. The victims insecure access control is that the Alexa device not only relies may suffer from home security breach and fake order attacks.
    [Show full text]