Introduction

Scope of Mobile

Shopper Marketing Shopper-related Mobile Issues

Employee-related Mobile Issues

Organization-related Mobile Issues

Mobile Technology Related Issues

Conclusion

References

Abstract

The intersection of mobile marketing and shopper marketing, known as mobile shopper marketing, is a rapidly evolving area. We formally define mobile shopper marketing as the planning and execution of all mobile-based marketing activities that influence a shopper along and beyond the path-to-purchase: from the initial shopping trigger, to the purchase, consumption, repurchase, and recommendation stages. However, not much is known about mobile shopper marketing. We plug this gap by first discussing mobile shopper marketing and its scope in depth and then presenting a process model that connects the mobile shopping journey with four key entities, i.e., shopper, employee, organization, and mobile technology. For each of these themes, we identify the challenges that offer future research opportunities.

Introduction

Shoppers’ use of mobile, which typically refers to a mobile device, medium, technology, or channel, is growing at a tremendous pace. More than four-fifths of U.S. shoppers use a mobile device to shop even within a store (Google M/A/R/C Study 2013). Mobile adoption is truly global. Mobile devices are so ubiquitous that there are more people with mobile devices than there are with toothbrushes in the world (MMA Asia 2011). Mobile broadband is more pervasive than fixed broadband around the world and much of the surge in mobile usage emanates from emerging markets like China and India, which together account for roughly one-third of mobile handsets worldwide (mobiforge.com). In response to these trends, marketers are increasingly using mobile to meet the demands of mobile shoppers. Firms’ spending on mobile is now about one-fourth of all of their digital spending, and mobile will constitute about 22% of digital revenues in 2015 (eMarketer 2015). Over three-fourths of retailers plan to enhance their mobile marketing spending from 2015 onward (eMarketer 2015). While the use of mobile in marketing practice is growing dramatically, research on this topic is evolving gradually. Thus far, it has focused on issues such as the scope of mobile marketing (Shankar and Balasubramanian 2009), mobile service delivery (Kleijnen, De Ruyter, and Wetzels 2007), mobile interface usage and usability (Venkatesh, Thong, and Xu 2012), mobile browsing experience (Adipat, Zhang, and Zhou 2011), applications to retailing (Shankar et al. 2010), interfaces for mobile devices (Brasel and Gips 2014), mobile app demand (Garg and Telang 2013), mobile shopping carts (Van Ittersum et al. 2013), mobile advertising and promotions (Andrews et al. 2015; Bart, Stephen, and Sarvary 2014; Fong, Fang, and Luo 2015), and mobile shopping (Wang, Malthouse, and Krishnamurthi 2015). At the same time, shopper marketing is growing by leaps and bounds (Shankar 2011, 2014). Shopper marketing describes the planning and execution of all marketing activities that influence a shopper along and beyond the path-to-purchase (Shankar 2011, 2014). A shopper differs from a consumer in that an individual could purchase for consumption by others (e.g., an adult buying for kids) and that a shopper typically is in a shopping mode rather than consuming mode as is the case with a consumer. Specifically, a shopper is in a setting that facilitates purchase decisions, or is in a mindset to shop for items or products, whereas a consumer could be in any environment facilitating not just purchase but also consumption or disposal.

Emerging economies are increasingly vital to the sustainability of multinational enterprises (MNEs) doing business in those countries (Harvey et al., 2000). Effective talent management of employees, and particularly of knowledge workers and managersis of strategic significance for these organizations (Tymon et al., 2010; Uen et al., 2012). Talent management research, however, has been limited by a North American focus and thus needs to be studied through the lens of different environments (Collings et al., 2011; Thunnissen et al., 2013). This is especially true in emerging economies (Vaiman et al., 2012) where talent management and retention are particularly crucial (Tymon et al., 2010; Vaiman et al., 2012). This study argues that effective translation of corporate talent management (CTM) strategy within MNEs requires efficient adaptation of CTM strategies to local conditions. Acquiring suitable talent, developing that talent into local management capability (Collings et al., 2007; Farndale et al., 2010), and better recognizing local knowledge and factors (Tymon et al., 2010; Vaiman et al., 2012) are likely to be important elements of talent management strategies for MNEs expanding into emerging economies.

Even after the global financial crisis of 2008–9 (Sparrow et al., 2013), organizations continue to face severe difficulties recruiting and retaining the talent to support global business (Scullion et al., 2008). This challenge is most critical for young professionals and new managers in emerging economies, as there are insufficient qualified candidates to meet the demand for talent during economic expansion, corporate growth, and periods of moderate to low unemployment(Tymon et al., 2010). Atthe same time,these regions present different institutional structures that need to be considered when developing CTM strategies (Sidani and Al Ariss, 2014; Sun et al., 2015).

مقاله سال 2016

Better understanding of how businesses leverage digital technology to create value is of prime interest (Wheeler, 2002; Yoo et al., 2010). Mobile applications (apps) particularly provide organizations new opportunities to create value, for example by meeting new demands, increasing efficiency, supporting knowledge sharing and improving competitiveness (Sheng et al., 2005; Unhelkar and Murugesan, 2010). Several calls have been made to investigate how the strategic opportunities of apps can be achieved (e.g. Anthes, 2011; R.C. Basole, 2007; Ladd et al., 2010; Sheng et al., 2005).

When dealing with opportunities relating to digital technologies in new and dynamic markets, as in the case of apps, start-ups are often the first who identify and explore these opportunities (Hitt et al., 2001). Start-ups are ventures in the process of discovering, developing and implementing a viable and scalable business model to exploit market opportunities. Despite the dominance of start-ups in app development, previous theory on net-enabled value creation focuses on the value creation process of large organizations (Wheeler, 2002). Therefore we focus our research on app-enabled value creation by start-ups. Many studies investigating the value of IT have their roots in the field of production economics. These studies investigate what part of the value at the output of a production system can be accounted for by IT related inputs (Zhu and Kraemer, 2005). However, recent studies on IT business value contest the ‘black box’ production models, and aim at investigating the dynamics inside the production process (Kohli and Grover, 2008). We argue that looking inside a highly dynamic production system, as in the case of apps, there is need to focus on the Dynamic Business Capabilities (DBC) that shape an IT input and ultimately create value. For this purpose, the approach to the study takes a Dynamic Capabilities Perspective (DCP) that adjusts Wheeler (2002) DBC theory to the practice of app entrepreneurs.

Following the call of DCP, the goal of this study is to explain how app-enabled business value is created by start-ups, and what the business value of apps is. Consequently, we formulate two research questions. First, we want to know how start-ups create value by using apps for business purposes. Second, we aim to answer the question what type of value is created by start-ups that use apps for business purposes. We will answer both questions by combining insights of existing theory of e-business development and the experiential insights of eight app entrepreneurs. First, we develop an App-enabled Business Innovation Cycle (ABIC) model, which gives a new theoretical perspective on processes for transforming app business opportunities into real business value. This model is a variant of Wheeler’s Net Enabled Business Innovation Cycle Model (NEBIC) such that it becomes relevant for the specific context of startups and apps. Second, we present cases that ground the propositions of the ABIC model in the practice of start-ups that create business value through apps. Last, implications are drawn for further research and for practice.

مقاله سال 2016

Much professional learning occurs on the job (Day et al., 2014; Eraut, 2004). This informal learning on the job is of major importance in the development of professionals in complex jobs who have to deal with new and unexpected challenges in the environment (Day et al., 2014). For several reasons, this might especially be true for project managers, who mostly seem to ‘learn by doing’ from their experiences, rather than learn by studying. Firstly, many project managers fulfill their project responsibilities alongside another job; a more permanent position for which they have been educated. Secondly, even if being a project manager is their primary job, most project managers did not set out to work towards this role when they first entered the job market, but ‘rolled into it’ at a later stage in their career. This is in line with Palm and Lindahl (2015) in their findings among project managers in technical environments. They show that technical experts were often promoted to the project manager position, despite lacking formal management training, so they had to learn ‘on the job’. According to Palm and Lindahl (2015), project managers perceive a lack of formal structures for training, guidance and support. The consequence is that their formal education in project management is often limited. Thirdly, the application of the recognized bodies of knowledge (e.g., the PMBOK by PMI, 2013) is not standardized, as principals of project managers generally use their own personal norms and standards about what constitutes good practice in project management. This means that project managers frequently have to adapt their way of working according to the expectations of a new principal in a particular project, learning as they go along. In summary, informal learning through experiences seems to pave the development paths of project managers, i.e., the path through which a project manager develops as a professional over time.

Yet, knowledge of project managers’ developmental paths’ in practice is still limited, leaving many questions largely unanswered concerning what and how they learn. Increased insights into project managers’ development paths might not only spearhead their own motivation and career progression, but also the success of their projects and organizations. Although it is known that in practice, both formal and informal learning are inextricably intertwined (Marsick, 2009), most literature on the development of project managers mainly focuses on formal programs (Berggren & Söderlund, 2008; Crawford et al., 2006; Ojiako et al., 2011; Pant & Baroudi, 2008; Thomas & Mengel, 2008). Therefore, research that takes into account development through both formal programs and ongoing practice is called for (Cheetham & Chivers, 2001; Day et al., 2014). In addition, the extensive body of knowledge on the competences of effective project managers (see, e.g., Müller & Turner, 2007) gives little insight into the development paths through which they become such effective project managers. This raises the question of how the development of project managers progresses.

The first aim of this paper is to build a picture of the development paths of project managers, focusing on both their formal and informal learning experiences and to investigate the questions ‘what do project managers learn from their experiences and how do they learn it?’

In an increasingly competitive globalized market, the key to organization’s success is the ability to maintain and increase that competitive advantage (Porter, 1991). In this new paradigm, organisations cannot compete on their own. Success can only be achieved through cooperation with other organisations like truly integrated and flexible supply chains (Lambert & Cooper, 2000). Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a natural evolution of the 80’s manufacturing resource planning (MRP II), inheriting all the concepts and theories that date back to the 60’s with first attempts to rationalise lead times and possession stock costs. ERP rapidly became the standard enhancing operational efficiency with the integration of business processes throughout all organization (Akkermans, Bogerd, Yücesan, & van Wassenhove, 2003; Davenport, 1998). In the past decades, ERP systems’ usage numbers have increased tremendously, and the worldwide ERP market summed 22.4 billion euros by 2013. The competition is fierce, and the top five companies represent half of the market (SAP: 24%; Oracle: 12%; Sage: 6%; Infor: 6%, and Microsoft: 5%) (Pang, Dharmasthira, Eschinger, Brant, & Motoyoshi, 2013). After first failures of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in mid-1990’s, the IS research community became intrigued by the factors in such “productivity paradox” (Brynjolfsson, 1993). Making people adopt a new system was no easy process but is vital to the success of every organization (Basoglu, Daim, & Kerimoglu, 2007). Various studies were developed to understand the main drivers that led users to adopt a certain ERP system (e.g., Bradley, 2008; Chien & Tsaur, 2007; Gorla, Somers, & Wong, 2010; Nwankpa & Roumani, 2014; Nwankpa, 2015; Pan & Jang, 2008; Rajan & Baral, 2015; Sternad & Bobek, 2013; Tsai, Lee, Shen, & Lin, 2012; Youngberg, Olsen, & Hauser, 2009). Although the conclusions were very significant, reviewed studies are usually centred on a specific model or framework and fail to explain the relations between ERP user’s adoption and user’s satisfaction. Hence, through the review of scoped literature in the area, the state of the art about ERP Adoption and satisfaction is assessed. Founded on this review, a model proposal is built to have a structural body for validation. A survey is conducted to gather data, which is used as a base for model validation by the quantitative statistical method of PLS-SEM.

مقاله سال 2016

 مجله تحقیقات بازاریابی – Journal of Business Research

Pro-environmental behavior (PEB) refers to “behavior that harms the environment as little as possible, or even benefits the environment” (Steg & Vlek, 2009, p.309). Past research noted that contextual factors might impede PEB (Stern, 1999, 2000). Specifically, the lack of time, cost, and actual effort that the consumer is capable of performing, may be crucial hindrances to pro-environmental consumption choices (Grimmer, Kilburn, & Miles, 2015; Young, Hwang, McDonald, & Oates, 2010). Furthermore, Steg and Vlek (2009) postulated that the relationship between contextual factors and PEB might be mediated by intrapsychic factors such as attitudes, values, or beliefs.

ychic factors such as attitudes, values, or beliefs. This study answers calls in the literature for research on the impact of contextual factors on PEB (e.g., Steg & Vlek, 2009; Steg, Bolderdijk, Keizer, & Perlaviciute, 2014; Grimmer et al., 2015). Specifically, we set out with two goals: our first goal is to investigate the factors that underlie attitude toward PEB and determine the antecedents and impacts of attitude on PEB. Our second goal is to examine the direct effect of contextual factors on PEB, as well as their indirect effects through attitude variables. We provide empirical support to the proposition of a mediational mechanism between contextual factors and PEB, which could further explain the attitude-behavior gap or values-action gap.

uld further explain the attitude-behavior gap or values-action gap. This study contributes to the literature on PEB in three ways. First, by including the context within which pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors are formed, we provide a comprehensive delineation of the process that leads from context to behavior. For the first time, we examine context factors as subjective perceptions made by consumers about aspects of their own situation, specifically the extent to which they perceive themselves as having more or less time, money, and power (control). Second, in contrast to past research, which has generally considered one type of behavior (e.g., recycling), this research recognizes PEB as a heterogeneous, multi-dimensional construct including both public and private sphere behaviors. Private sphere PEB refers to “the purchase, use, and disposal of personal and household products that have environmental impact” (Stern, 2000, p. 409–410) such as using automobiles, public transportation, or recycling. Conversely, public sphere PEB is defined as behavior that affects the environment directly through committed environmental activism (e.g. active involvement in environmental organizations and demonstrations) or indirectly by influencing public policies (e.g. petitioning on environmental issues) (Stern, 2000, p.409). Third, we employ structural equation modeling (SEM) which permits simultaneous analysis of all the variables in the model and measurement of direct and indirect effects. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that considers both private and public PEB, as well as perceived context based on aspects of consumer’s own situation to delineate the relationship between PEB, context, and attitude, using both SEM and regression-based mediation analysis.

مقاله سال 2016

While it seems that every day brings more news of the end of traditional journalistic publications, layoffs in editorial offices, and the disappearance of job security in journalism, there is one related professional field that has been experiencing the opposite trend for decades: custom publishing. Companies, but also other organizations such as unions, associations, and NGOs, publish content that is edited in a journalistic manner and make it available, generally free of cost, to specific publics. The customer magazine, which dominates the market, represents the most well-known form of custom publishing. However, the scope of custom publishing is not limited to magazines, but also includes other media channels (e.g., corporate television, books, websites, software applications), and in addition to customers it also addresses other stakeholders (e.g., employees and members, companies, state officials).

These corporate publications are located in a field of tension between journalism and public relations (PR), and therefore occupy a special position in the media (Röttger, 2002): On the one hand, as an instrument of PR they communicate and advocate the particular interests of the client in question; on the other hand, they resemble journalistic publications from which readers expect critical, unbiased, and objective reporting (Haeusermann, 2013). Editors in custom publishing must therefore take into account the rules and norms of two different professions (Röttger, 2002). This study focuses on a conspicuous research gap between journalism and PR: While both of these professional fields have been comprehensively researched, there are no specific studies on the professional field of custom publishing.

Introduction

Silicon Valley is characterized as the high-tech region of the United States. Silicon Valley is the world’s best known area of electronics and computer-related industries whereby its success is a result of effective linkages and cluster policies (Saxenian, 1990, 1994, 2006; Kaplan, 2000; Rosenberg, 2002). The success of US Silicon Valley has become a technology catching up model for countries around the world to follow. In this study, the term ‘Silicon Valley’ is based on the scholarly research of Saxenian (1990, 1994, 2006) using such a prevalent term to describe an area of high-tech industries with network-based structure and agglomeration.

The focus of this study is the country case of Israel, one of the most successful countries in replicating the success of US Silicon Valley. The research attempts to understand the government policies contributing to successful start-up nation of Israel. The reason to choose Israel as a case study is because it is the most successful country after the United States in establishing high-tech industries. The creation of Israel’s high-tech Silicon Wadi is recognized as the most successful Silicon Valley-style economy outside the United States.

The government policies play an increasing important role in promoting innovation and economic growth. However, there are still considerable knowledge gaps in linking the government policies to innovation financing (Mani, 2004; Hyytinen and Toivanen, 2005). Therefore, this study attempts to fill the gap in the existing research literature. Specifically, the study attempts to answer the main research question – How could Israel become a high-tech powerhouse? The analyses of findings in this study are based on Porter’s cluster model (Porter, 1990, 1998, 2001) and the national innovation system (NIS) concept (Lundvall, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2003). This research aims to provide practical contributions as well as reflections on government policies for promoting national innovative capacity and industrial competitiveness. The policy lessons and experiences drawn from the country case of Israel can be applied to other developing economies.

Israel is an innovation driven country having made the successful transition from an underdeveloped economy to a high-tech powerhouse. The country was ranked 24th in the 2014 International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World competitiveness ranking and 27th according to 2014 World Economic Forum (WEF) global competitiveness index. Israel was also ranked 19th in the category of very high human development according to the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report Index in 2014. Israel was invited as a full member in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an economic group of developed countries since 2010. The competitiveness of Israel is a result of its entrepreneurial culture and the government-led technology policies in venture capital (VC) financing.

مقاله سال 2016

The emergence of the market for technology has a considerable influence on firms’ innovation process through the division of innovative labor and technology transactions in this market (Arora et al., 2001a, 2001b). Traditional perspectives on innovation have regarded the innovation process from idea generation to commercializationas being wholly conducted withinthe boundary of afirm. However,the growing marketfor technology implies that firms can profitfrom licensing their technologies and thatformal licensing-in becomes a window of access to external technologies (Arora et al., 2013; Laursen et al., 2010).

Recently,the literature on the marketfor technology has mainly focused on the supply side of the market. The demand side of the market also deserves scholarly attention to elucidate the nature of the market for technology (e.g., Arora and Gambardella, 2010; Laursen et al., 2010). From the licensee’s perspective, previous studies suggested several reasons for firms adopting external technologies through licensing-in. By engaging in licensing-in, firms can reduce the risks and costs associated with the innovation process, keep up with technological advances, and facilitate tech- ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: leejs@business.kaist.ac.kr (J.-S. Lee), jihoonpark@business.kaist.ac.kr, jihoonpark@kaist.ac.kr (J.-H. Park), ztbae@business.kaist.ac.kr (Z.-T. Bae). nological learning (Atuahene-Gima, 1993; Johnson, 2002; Lowe and Taylor, 1998). Additionally, firms sometimes enter into a licensing-in agreement to acquire industry standards or freedomto-manufacture (Grindley and Teece, 1997; Lowe and Crawford, 1984). Prior studies examined how licensing-in affects various outcomes, such as financial performance, innovation, and the speed of invention (Laursen et al., 2010; Leone and Reichstein, 2012; Tsai and Wang, 2007; Wang and Li-Ying, 2014; Wang et al., 2013a).

Despite the considerable body of literature, we ensured that value exists in highlighting whether adopting external technology through licensing-in is always beneficial for innovative performance and when does this effect become stronger according to the technological environment. First, in response to the academic need for a better understanding of the demand side of the market for technology, this study examined the treatment effect of licensingin on innovative performance (Arora and Gambardella, 2010; Kani and Motohashi, 2012). Furthermore, this study attempted to contribute to the literature on the market for technology by identifying the boundaries or environmental contingency factors for licensing-in practices that are advantageous to firms’ innovative performance (e.g., Lichtenthaler, 2011; Natalicchio et al., 2014). A technological regime reflects a significant environment that affects firms’ innovative activities and performance (Nelson and Winter, 1982). Technological regimes are characterized by three dimensions: technological opportunity, cumulativeness, and appropriability conditions (Malerba and Orsenigo, 1993). Thesethree dimensions influence firms’ innovative activities and the benefit from participating in the market for technology. The effects of licensing-in may vary with the technological regimes under which firms operate.

مقاله سال 2016

 مجله تحقیقات بازاریابی – Journal of Business Research

When we are happy, when we rejoice, we move our arms toward the sky: it’s a universal sign when we are experiencing a very positive emotion. Everything which points up in the air seems preferable, metaphorically speaking, to what points downwards. That is why it is difficult to believe that going down does not bring a feeling of depression with it. Look at watch or clock images in advertisements: the hands are always at ten to two, because that projects a subtle smile. What would it seem if they were pointing at six thirty? The same with trajectories: people seem to prefer something positive increasing in an exponential way, rather than with a slower pace because, when we deal with something positive, we want it all and we want it now! Think of an interest rate on one of your investments: would you prefer it increasing in a fast or in a slow way? In this paper we deal with marketing communications and try to apply these concepts to the design of animated company logos. We do this in a mobile marketing environment, where animation and short movements are allowed by the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), a widespread technology applied to electronic advertising.

مقاله سال 2016

Powered by the digital technologies for interactivity, connectivity and collaboration, social media has spearheaded the recent paradigm shift from public relations to public engagement (Taylor & Kent, 2014). As social media usage increases, so too does the potential for organizations to connect with stakeholders not conventionally accessible through traditional communication channels. With the direct, spontaneous, interactive, and relationship-centric features, social media has been advocated as a unique “social milieu that enables interpersonal communication” (Zhong, Hardin, & Sun, 2011, p. 1266), providing unprecedented opportunities for organizations to engage stakeholders in more personal and meaningful ways. Not surprisingly, an increasing number of organizations around the world have embraced social media to personify themselves and engage today’s digital-savvy publics (Men & Tsai, 2012).

The importance of interpersonal approaches to communication in building and enhancing organization-public relationships (OPRs) has been well documented in the public relations literature (e.g., Toth 2000). While the interpersonal approach is often studied in offline, face-to-face interactions (e.g., Hendriks, van den Putte, de Bruijn, & de Vreese, 2014; Zillich, 2014), recent research has stressed the importance of adopting this approach for organizational social media communications (Sung & Kim, 2014). Blurring the boundary between mass and personal media, social platforms provide an ideal environment for organizations to engage publics in a personal, intimate way. Interpersonal communication in online environments was found to positively impact organization evaluations (Kelleher, 2009). As an interpersonal communication tactic, an engaging corporate character on corporate SNS pages also enhances favorable organizational reputation and meaningful relationships with stakeholders (Men & Tsai, 2014; Verciˇ cˇ & Verciˇ c, ˇ 2007). Additionally, Sung and Kim’s (2014) experiment revealed that organizations’ interpersonal approaches to communication characterized by non-commercial, non-promotional messages and high degrees of interactivity leads to more favorable evaluations. As organizations strive to build and maintain relationship with stakeholders, it is important to develop theoretical frameworks for illuminating the dynamics influencing the effectiveness of interpersonal approach in social communication and relationship management. From the perspective of leadership branding, this study aims to advance the emerging literature on social media engagement by providing original insights on how the interpersonal approach of public relations may function in the social media environment. We focus on publics’ engagement with corporate leaders, specifically chief executive officers (CEOs), on CEOs’ personal pages on social networking sites (SNSs).

Recognizing the potential of social media to humanize organizations and cultivate meaningful relationships (Vidgen, Sims, & Powell, 2013), an increasing number of CEOs are embracing social media to change their images from distant and intimidating to personable and approachable, including such high-profile corporate executives as Burberry’s Angela Ahrendts and Virgin Group’s Richard Branson. Industry reports suggested that more than 80% of executives surveyed believe social media is an important gateway for CEOs to deepen connections with customers, employees, and investors (Brandfog, 2013), proclaiming that “social CEOs” who can engage their stakeholders in genuine conversations will become the new wave of corporate leaders (Weber Shandwick, 2012). Many CEOs themselves also believe their social media presence and engagement demonstrate innovativeness and improve their companies’ reputation (Weber Shandwick, 2012). However, despite the hypes and speculations in trade publications, there is little empirical evidence regarding why and how CEOs’ engagement with publics on social media is crucial for organizations.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) has quickly emerged as a new promising technology for future networks. With the separation of control plane from data plane thus enabling the easy addition of new, creative, powerful network functions/protocols, SDN has attracted significant attention from both academia and industry. In academia, since the publication of OpenFlow [33], which is a key component to realize the SDN concept, many research ideas based on SDN/OpenFlow have been proposed (and still go on) [35] [48] [6] [20] [26]. In industry, SDN is widely considered as the new paradigm for future networks, and many companies are deploying or plan to deploy such technology in order to strengthen their network architectures [24], reduce operational cost [19], and enable new network applications/functions [60]. The reason why many researchers and practitioners have interests in SDN is mainly because by decoupling the control logic from the closed, proprietary implementations of traditional network switch infrastructure, SDN enables us to design and distribute innovative flow handling and network control algorithms easily, and it helps us add much more intelligence and flexibility to the control plane. With the help of SDN, we can dynamically control network flows and monitor network status easily. For example, by employing SDN, we can easily implement a network load balancing function that is not easily and cheaply solved with existing techniques. These powerful and rich functions from SDN enable people to create new and creative network services or architectures. Some researchers propose a network virtualization service for a cloud network or a large-scale enterprise network [47] [37], and it has come into the spotlight due to its efficient resource management [17] [40]. In addition, a new wireless network architecture that can provide more robust wireless network services has been proposed based on SDN technology [38]. Besides these examples, there are many cases of employing SDN for a new service or a new architecture [35] [48] [6], and some have been already applied into real world network environments (e.g., Google data centers [24]).