Innovating firms’ strategic signaling along the innovation life cycle: The standards war context

Firms that develop market-focused technological innovations regularly employ strategic signals to influence market participants’ perceptions of the uncertainties that pervade innovation-based competition. Focusing on the standards war context, we argue that an innovation’s technical, market and standards uncertainties will vary as the innovation evolves through its life cycle, influencing innovating firms’ strategic signaling behaviors and, hence, the impacts of these signals on market participants’ perceptions of these firms’ likelihood of innovation success. We also examine how such influences vary depending on innovating firms’ strategic positions during different phases of the innovation life cycle. Our insights are developed into testable propositions.     

Transforming an Old Economy Company Through Strategic Communities

This paper describes how established companies can create strategic business communities in order to usher in innovation. The paper focuses on the case of NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile telecommunications carrier, which has utilised strategic community management principles in its efforts to cultivate and expand the mobile Internet market in Japan. In doing so, new markets were created, in turn leading to further opportunities for NTT DoCoMo. The paper distinguishes between strategic communities and other organisational forms such as projects and communities of practice and discusses the advantages of each. It concludes with the assertion that strategic community management is an effective methodology aimed at strategic innovation by major enterprises.     

Remote control: measuring performance for value creation and governance of globally distributed knowledge work

This article examines the governance of globally distributed knowledge work. To measure performance in knowledge work, it is important to focus on what the knowledge workers do and hence view knowledge as something one does, namely the practices, instead of something one has. By following the practices of knowledge work, it was possible to evaluate the effect of measures related to organizational processes, and identify what was not well covered by the measurement tool. Strategic and long term needs such as learning and employee competence are better managed through projects. This article shows how work performance in international organizations needs two different measures: one tool for measuring short-term value creation linked to the organizational processes; and, one tool for measuring long-term value creation linked to the practices of service work made in projects. Global governance of distributed employees is therefore successfully managed through key performance measures and through understanding projects through their multiple contributions, at both an individual and an organizational level. Global long term governance needs are strategic for the entire firm. The paper rests on an in-depth empirical case study of an international professional service firm.     

用户-企业共享价值诉求与企业创新能力关系研究——以顾客授权为中介

企业吸纳用户参与创新过程,是构建并提升创新能力的重要途径。但作为外部创新源,用户参与创新虽然将价值创造与价值消费形成闭环,却以企业开放创新过程为条件,这加剧了创新过程的复杂性,也使用户参与提升企业创新能力的内在机理难以洞悉。基于价值共创理论、用户创新理论与创新能力理论,本文从企业方面探索如何吸纳用户参与创新过程进而提升创新能力的内在规律。基于202份国内企业样本,首先探索了用—企共享的价值诉求构念内涵与结构。在此基础上,以"动机构建→授权导引→能力发展"为脉络研究价值共创视角下企业创新能力提升机理。发现：（1）用户参与的社会性价值预期能够有效提升企业二元性创新能力;（2）用—企共享的独异价值预期（功能性价值）能够有效提升企业渐进性创新能力;（3）顾客授权在"用—企"共享的社会性价值诉求与渐进性创新能力之间起到局部中介的作用。     

Does applying design thinking result in better new product concepts than a traditional innovation approach? An experimental comparison study

Both practitioners and researchers have developed various approaches to support product development teams in their creative process of generating new and valuable product concepts. A key concern of all innovation approaches is to translate the needs, wants and aspirations of users and customers into product and service solutions that match the underlying needs. Many existing innovation approaches focus predominantly on the translation process itself by providing support for aggregating data and making trade-off decisions between user preferences traceable. For that reason, we label these approaches user preference-driven. In contrast, over the last two decades, design thinking (DT) has emerged as an approach that assumes knowledge of user needs information to be fuzzy and unreliable; it addresses this challenge by focusing on developing user experiences through empathic in-depth user research and iterative prototyping. Consequently, we label approaches such as DT user experience-driven. Although DT has generated particular interest among both practitioners and educators, the academic literature investigating the usefulness of DT remains scarce. To help close this gap, we study the performance implications of applying DT processes and tools in terms of new product concept creativity relative to applying a traditional innovation approach. Using an experimental design and collecting quantitative data from 53 teams and their projects, we find that teams applying DT outperform the control group that applies an alternative innovation approach, namely quality function deployment (QFD), in terms of the feasibility, relevance and specificity of concepts, but not the novelty. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and practice.     

The role of organisational drivers of exploration and exploitation – Market dynamism as a contingency factor

Simultaneously engaging in exploration and exploitation is crucial to firms' short- and long-term survival. Therefore, it is remarkable that many open questions remain regarding organisational contextual factors which support these distinct and complementary practices. Consequently, this study analyses the relations of three knowledge-related organisational contextual factors, namely customer involvement, knowledge sharing, and data-driven decision-making, with exploratory and exploitative practices. We further propose that these relationships are contingent on the degree of market dynamism, which we identify as a pivotal environmental contingency factor. To test our hypotheses, we create and compare two structural equation models based on a sample of 779 German firms, which we split at the median value of market dynamism. The relationships of knowledge sharing and data-driven decision-making with exploitation are positive, stable, and contingent on the degree of market dynamism, while the relations between the organisational factors and exploration tend to be less systematic. These findings foster a nuanced understanding of knowledge-related organisational contextual factors facilitating organisations’ simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation in dependence on the market environment, which has not been extensively researched yet. Moreover, we illuminate links between the research on exploration and exploitation, ambidexterity, open innovation, information systems, and strategic management.     

Strategic Network Orchestration in Emerging Markets: China's Catch‐up in the High‐Speed Train Industry

Transitioning from catch‐up in production to catch‐up in innovation capabilities is essential to emerging market firms (EMFs) achieving internationalization and a competitive advantage. While some EMFs are now positioned among the world's most advanced firms, many struggle to become independent innovators. Thus, understanding how EMFs can develop internal absorptive capacity and progress towards catching up in innovation capabilities remains important. Our study seizes this research opportunity and develops a network‐based explanation of catch‐up, which complements existing technological and organizational explanations. Specifically, we address the question of ‘How does the orchestration of collaborative networks enable EMFs to catch up in production and innovation capabilities?’ by describing an important yet under‐researched process of strategic network orchestration and showcasing the dynamic interdependencies between network orchestration and organizational learning. Our study provides a detailed account of Chinese high‐speed train (HST) development from 1990 to 2020 and opens the possibility for future research on network orchestration in emerging market contexts. This provides EMF managers with a set of actionable network orchestration mechanisms that can be used when designing and purposefully managing their strategic nets of domestic and foreign partners.     

The Effects of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Performance through Knowledge and Innovation*

Today's information and knowledge society requires new leaders who can confront a reality based on knowledge and foster innovation to achieve improvements in organizational performance. However, organizations sometimes fail to achieve sustainable competitive advantage due to their limited understanding of the relationships between these strategic variables. To date, very little research has analysed the direct and indirect relationships between these variables. Our study seeks to fill this research gap by analysing theoretically and empirically how the leader's perceptions of different intermediate strategic variables related to knowledge (knowledge slack, absorptive capacity, tacitness, organizational learning) and innovation influence the relation between transformational leadership and organizational performance. Based on the literature, we develop a theoretical model that shows the interrelations between these variables. We then test the model using data from 408 Spanish organizations, discuss the findings and provide several implications for business practitioners.     

How high-commitment HRM relates to PC violation and outcomes: The mediating role of supervisor support and PC fulfilment at individual and organizational levels

Psychological contract (PC) constitutes a theoretical framework for; explaining labor relationships, and it has been considered as a; mediation step between structural variables and processes and work and; organizational outcomes. Whereas PC (un)fulfillment; showed consistent relationships with variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance, or absenteeism, the effects of PC; violation (emotional answers that develop after perceptions of PC; breach) have been less investigated. In addition, structural antecedents; of PC constructs had included Human Resources (HR) practices. This paper aims to extend; research on PC and its role as a mediator between HR practices and work; outcomes, both at individual and organizational levels. Specifically, we; examined the impact of human resource practices on employee performance; and sickness absences through a sequence of supervisor support, PC; fulfillment and PC violation. In a sample of 4648 employees from 214; companies of seven different countries, our results indicate that high-commitment; human resource practices were significantly and negatively; related to PC violation through supervisor support and positively to PC; fulfillment; in turn, PC violation was negatively related to employee; performance and positively to sick leave. These relationships at the; individual level were partially replicated at the organizational level, developing partial homologous models and showing that shared perceptions; about HR practices lead to shared perceptions on PC affecting collective; outcomes. Therefore, the findings shed new light on PC theory, regarding; the mediating role of PC constructs and negative emotions in the; relationships between HR practices and support from supervisors and performance at individual and organizational levels.     

The mediating role of leadership and people management practices on HRD and organizational performance

Drawing upon prior research, we identify strategic value and transaction effectiveness as two significant HRD contributions and examine their dyadic effect on leadership and people management practices, and influence on firm performance. Results of path analysis on 138 participants supported the dyadic effect hypothesis. More significantly, we found leadership and people management practices as a significant predictor on the relationship between strategic value and organizational performance, which suggests that organizational performance is affected by the combined effect of leadership and people management practices. A key implication of this research is that where organizations had effective leadership and people management practices, both types of HRD contributions – strategic value and transaction effectiveness – significantly enhanced firm performance.     

市场导向对组织创造力的非线性作用机理——组织二元结构文化与创业导向的影响研究

在我国加快实施创新驱动发展战略中,如何提升企业组织创造力以促使企业创新变得至关重要。企业战略是影响组织创造力和创新的重要情境因素。市场导向和创业导向是新兴经济体国家的企业发展的战略核心。然而,现有研究对市场导向与企业创造性产出之间关系的观点却不一致。创业导向如何影响市场导向对组织创造力的作用也尚未得到关注和研究。本研究以145家企业的979份高层管理人员与核心员工的套问卷数据为样本,研究发现：市场导向对组织创造力产生倒U型影响,且倒U型影响通过二元结构文化（一致性文化与适应性文化）的不同传导机制而产生,即：一致性文化在市场导向与组织创造力之间正向中介效应随市场导向的增强而减弱,并在高度市场导向时转变为负向中介效应,而适应性文化在市场导向和组织创造力之间发挥部分中介效应。研究还发现：市场导向对组织创造力的倒U型影响受创业导向的调节作用,即：当创业导向较高时,市场导向对组织创造力的积极影响随市场导向的增强而逐渐增强,反之,则逐渐减弱。研究结论为提升企业组织创造力提供新的思路和理论参考。     

组织顾客创新、供应商反应性与项目绩效的关系研究:基于组织服务市场的实证分析

随着用户创新研究与实践的日益增加,组织市场(B2B)上有关组织顾客创新的理论研究与实践活动也受到了前所未有的关注。本文对组织服务市场上有关组织顾客创新及其对项目创新绩效与项目运营绩效的影响进行了研究,剖析了供应商认知反应性和情感反应性在上述影响中可能扮演的调节作用。同时,本文还以中国电信工程服务业为实证研究背景,分别从组织顾客与供应商两个不同的视角收集数据,验证了组织顾客创新对项目创新绩效和项目运营绩效所产生的差异性影响,检验了供应商反应性所扮演的调节作用,并对顾客样本和供应商样本的分析结果进行了简单的比较。     

The Intervening Role of Innovative Climate: A Study of Middle Managers in Manufacturing Organizations in Iran

Based on a developed model, this study deals with an investigation on whether innovative climate is a variable that moderates the relationship among middle managers' technological innovation and organizational factors such as structure, strategic posture, and environment. We used path analysis framework to study this relationship. The respondents (N=158, n=96) were all the managers of large or medium manufacturing companies with headquarters in the province of Tehran in Iran. The study found that innovative climate has an intervening role in the relationship among organizational structure, strategic posture and environment, and middle managers' technological innovation. The results have implications for the executive and human resource management practices.     

制度转型期中国本土企业适应性成长路径——基于海尔不连续创新的经验研究

探讨了中国制度转型背景下动态环境对企业组织适应性成长路径的影响,提出不连续创新是中国企业适应性成长的战略选择。在文献分析的基础上,将中国本土企业的不连续创新的发生情境界定为战略更新、业务领域调整、组织结构战略性变革和海外市场扩张4种,并以海尔1984~2009年间发展历程中的不连续创新事件为对象进行分析和论证,研究外部环境特征、企业不连续创新和组织适应性之间的共同演化关系。研究结果表明:环境不连续变化是企业不连续创新的直接诱因;不连续创新是转型经济背景下中国企业加速组织适应性的战略性选择,其演化趋势是更加强调外部资源整合、战略柔性、多元化和组织结构的网络化;在动态环境下企业战略选择与组织结构变革的长期协同演化将导致企业组织适应性的形成。     

Innovative activity in small businesses: Competitive context and organization level

The effect of market type and product technology on innovation was studied using data from 3800 employees in 88 small businesses. Results demonstrate that: (1) organizational context effects on innovative activity are significant at administrative and strategic levels, (2) organizational members in consumer markets initiate more innovations but implement fewer than organizational members in industrial markets, (3) members of service-providing organizations report less innovative activity than those in goods-producing organizations, and (4) operative level employees appear to play a small role in the innovation process.     

Towards an integrative framework of performance in product development projects

This paper aims to identify the factors that are associated with high performance in product development projects. The study takes a multidisciplinary approach in order to first explore key characteristics of product development processes. A synthesis of literatures from the fields of organization theory, strategic management, innovation management, project management, and group effectiveness provides the necessary theoretical foundations for analyzing the complex organizational processes that are involved in a typical product development project. The theoretical development that follows leads to the formulation of a series of propositions regarding relationships between product development performance dimensions and a variety of factors. An integrative framework that summarizes the proposed relationships is then developed. The paper concludes with a discussion that focuses on key elements of product-development strategies and management processes and how these can be controlled in order to enhance product development performance.     

Breadth of external knowledge sourcing and product innovation: The moderating role of strategic human resource practices

Prior research has argued that external knowledge sourcing can be supported by effective strategic human resource (HR) practices. However, whether and how the adoption of new organizational mechanisms in group settings influences the relationship between external search strategies and innovation performance represents an unanswered question. Therefore, the present paper aims to explore the relationship between the breadth of external knowledge sourcing (i.e., external search breadth) and product innovation by unveiling the moderating effects of strategic HR practices, as represented by the implementation of heterogeneous work groups and brainstorming sessions. On the basis of data from the Italian Innovation Survey, our results reveal that external search breadth is curvilinearly (inverted U) related to product innovation, and its negative effects occur later in the presence of heterogeneous work groups and brainstorming sessions.     

Assigning migrants to customer contact jobs: a context-specific exploration of the business case for diversity

Ethnic diversity of both their labor forces and customer bases presents a challenge for companies and fuels debate on the business case for diversity: the view that diversity positively impacts firm performance. This study enriches the business case debate by focusing on a particular organizational activity, customer contact. It combines theory from strategic human resource management (SHRM), research on diversity, and research on marketing to analyze what drives companies to assign migrants to customer contact jobs and which performance impacts ensue. We test our hypotheses in data from 338 German business companies. Companies that recognize the value in ethnic diversity and seek to respond to customer diversity are especially likely to assign migrants to customer contact jobs. The analyses reveal a positive impact of migrants in customer contact jobs on company profitability. This impact is enhanced by a broad range of equality and diversity practices and a supportive works council. These moderators have stronger effects than two other moderators related to business strategy: the market served by a company, and its competitive strategy. The paper contributes to SHRM research in general and diversity research in particular through its original examination associating the business case for ethnic diversity with the role of equality and diversity practices and institutions. The study findings can help managers to decide whether to leverage staff ethnic diversity and show that collaboration between HR management and marketing functions is useful to achieve a strategic fit among practices.     

市场导向与组织绩效的关系:组织学习与创新的影响——珠三角地区企业的实证研究

近年来,市场导向的企业文化被认为是企业取得竞争优势的关键因素,但外国学者的实证研究却一直怀疑这一命题。改革开放以来,我国许多企业开始引入市场导向的管理观念,然而这种观念是否以及如何影响企业的绩效?国内外学术界尚未发表以中国内地数据为基础的实证结果,也就是说我国企业倡导以市场为导向的经营理念有一定的盲目性。本文以我国珠三角地区企业等为调查对象,对市场导向是否以及如何通过组织学习和组织创新影响组织的绩效进行实证研究。结果表明(:1)市场导向并不直接影响组织的绩效(;2)市场导向对组织学习有显著的直接影响,对组织创新没有显著的直接影响(;3)组织学习对技术创新和管理创新都有显著的直接影响(;4)市场导向通过组织学习对组织创新有显著的间接影响(;5)管理创新对组织绩效有直接正面的影响,技术创新并不直接影响组织的绩效(;6)组织创新可分为管理创新和技术创新,技术创新对管理创新有显著的正面影响(;7)组织学习通过影响组织创新进而间接影响组织绩效(;8)市场导向会通过影响组织学习,进而影响组织创新,并最终影响组织的绩效。管理创新在“市场导向—组织学习—组织创新—组织绩效”链中起到了至关重要的作用,是提升组织绩效的瓶颈。     

The social construction of strategic coherence: Practices of enabling leadership

The construction of “strategic coherence,” defined as the development of a system of mutually compatible meanings among organization members about desirable organizational directions, is clearly a crucial issue for organizations. Yet, how to achieve it is in part an open question. While previous studies have considered how strategic coherence may emerge across top levels of management through strategic planning activities and negotiations among senior leaders, we know much less about the contribution of other actors and processes behind the scenes (in non-strategy roles). Drawing on an ethnographic study of a public hospital's planning and project management practices, this paper therefore focuses on the bundles of practices, people and tools through which strategic coherence can emerge across different levels and sectors in mundane activities. We build on the concept of “enabling leadership”, grounded in practice theories of leadership, as our analytical lens. The study reveals how strategic coherence is socially constructed by practices of ‘fueling’, ‘shaping’ and ‘entwining’ mutually compatible meanings, in interactions among diverse people and tools. We propose a grounded model of the construction of strategic coherence as the progressive socialization of meanings about organizational direction that is not just administered from the top, nor naturally emergent from the grass-roots, but that is a collective and inherently socio-material accomplishment of enabling leadership.